Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 129, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 June 1919 — Back Yard Orchard Sure to Bring as Good Returns as Does the Vegetable Garden [ARTICLE]

Back Yard Orchard Sure to Bring as Good Returns as Does the Vegetable Garden

The back yard orchard will make as valuable a return for the average family as does the vegetable garden itself. Everyone who puts out a garden can just as well be growing a small home, orchard in It, according to J. C. Whitten of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture. The cultivation given the vegetables is just what is required by the young trees. Select apples, cherries, plums, peaches and pears of varieties that will ’ furnish a succession from the early Richmond cherry, which ripens in May, to the late-keeping apples, Jjke Ingram qnd Lanslngburg, which keep until the following May. One tree of each variety is enough.

Apple trees should be planted 25 to 30 feet apart each way, and plum and peach trees 16 to 20 feet apart. One-year-old trees should be selected for planting, although in the case of the apple, sour cherry and pear two-year-old trees will usually transplant successfully if they have not grown too large. The trees may be planted either In fall or spring. They should be set just about as deep as they stood in the nursery. As soon as they are planted the tops should be pruned back somewhat. Fruit trees should be given as thorough cultivation as corn or vegetables, at least until they reach bearing age. Any kind of garden vegetables, or strawberries, or other small fruits, may be grown between the tree rows. If a rank-growing crop like corn grows higher than the trees one row should be left out, preferably north and south, in the tree row, so that the fruit trees will not be shaded until they are well established. Low-growing vegetables or berries may be planted as close to the trees as desired.