Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 202, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1920 — HOME ORCHARD PLANTATION SHOULD HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF FRUIT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME ORCHARD PLANTATION SHOULD HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF FRUIT

(Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture) In many sections of Florida and California the housewife needs only to step outside of her kitchen door to gather the grapefruit for breakfast or the oranges for dinner. This cannot be done everywhere, but there is no reason why any rural or suburban housewife, even if she lives close to the Canadian border, should not have fruit of some kind growing in the back yard. This is the opinion of specialists in the United States department of agriculture, who treat in detail the subject of “Growing Fruit for Home Use” in a publication under that name. It is Farmer’s Bulletin 1001 and may be obtained on application to the division of publications, U. S. department of agriculture, Washington, D. C. The ideal fruit garden or home orchard should contain several different kinds of fruits, represented In many cases by a considerable number of varieties ripening one after another over a long period. Large yields, good shipping quality and attractiveness in appearance, which are aims of the commercial grower, may be made secondary to high dessert quality or special excellence f</r cooking purposes. Plans for Home-Orchard. The home fruit plat should be planned carefully, and in general with a view to supplying fruit continuously throughout the year either in the fresh state or canned or otherwise conserved. Throughout a large part of the country one may grow in the same garden, if he so desires, the following fruits: Apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, quinces, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, currants, gooseberries and grapes. In the colder sections the winters are too severe for peaches and also for some of the other fruits nanlted, unless they are protected; while in the warmer parts apples, currants, gooseberries and certain varieties of several of the other fruits fail because they are not adapted to the long, hot summers and mild winters. But in these warmer regions Japanese persimmons succeed, and in some of them figs and certain other fruits can be planted successfully. Therefore one of the most important features of the plan for the home-fruit plantation is the selection

of kinds of fruits and varieties of those kinds which do well in the given locality and which will serve best the purpose for which they are desired. The location of the land on which the fruits are planted, other things b&ing equal, should be convenient to the house. It should be well drained, since fruit trees cannot thrive in poorly drained soil. The air drainage also must be good. Cold air settles to the lowest levels, and If a site is so located that cold air settles over it from some surrounding higher elevation, the fruit may be injured by freezes in the autumn when sites located on the sides of slopes or at points which are higher than the surrounding area escape Injury. ~ Most fruits can be grown $n a great variety of soils, but where possible it Is better to avoid light sandy soils and heavy days. A deep subsoil, which is friable and porous enough to permit a ready penetration of the roots and a

free movement or soil moisture, is desirable. Good nursery stock of suitable kinds and varieties is fundamental to success in fruit growing. While many of the long-established nurseries sell their stock largely through agents whose Interglty is unquestioned many other nurseries have no traveling agents but sell direct to purchasers. It Is better, as a rule,-for a grower to deal directly with a nurseryman rather than through an agent. When to Plant Fruit Trees. In the North and wherever the winter conditions are severe on plant life, either from low temperatures, drying winds or other causes, fruits are usually planted in the spring as early as the soil can be put in suitable condition. It is very Important that they be set out while the plants are perfectly dormant and before the buds have started. Many failures result from delaying the planting until the buds have started into growth. If the prospective planter prepares the soil where his fruits are to stand as thoroughly as he should prepay his garden before planting vegetable seeds, the subsequent growth of his fruit trees will amply repay him. Where the site selected Is In sod it is advisable to cultivate it during one season at least after the sod Is plowed under, in order that the grass roots may decay before the fruits are planted. Where the fruit plantation occupies a garden site usually it should receive about the same tillage that Is given a vegetable plat. In the popular mind this represents a high standard of excellence. Frequent tillage to maintain the surface soil In the condition of a fine dust mulch, In most cases to any other method of treatment. The tillage of fruit trees should be continued until midsummer in the North, but it may be kept up to good advantage somewhat later in the South. Strawberries, as a rule, should be cultivated until the approach of cold weather.

Under most conditions the same methods of maintaining the fertility of the soli which are followed In a vegetable garden are successful with fruits. Where stable manure Is available Its liberal use generally gives excellent results. The three kinds of Insect pests and fungous diseases that are found in a commercial orchard In any region may be expected to occur In a fruit garden or home orchard located in the same region. Therefore, In planning a home-fruit plantation the grower should Inform himself as completely as is possible in regard to the methods of confrolling the common Insects and diseases to which the fruits he is growing are subject in his locality. This information may be found in bulletins issued by state experiment stations, agricultural college extension divisions, the United States department of agriculture and elsewhere. The bulletin, which discusses these points at length, also gives attention to other problems that will confront the amateur fruit grower/buch as seasons of planting, handling the stock from the nursery, planting, cultural methods, maintaining soli fertility, pruning and training, irrigation, varieties of fruit for different regions, fruit varieties, age of bearing and varieties for different districts.

A Few Peaches, Pears, Apples, Plums and Cherries Will Vary the Product In an Agreeable Way.

Barrel Pump Suitable for Spraying the Fruit Garden or Home Orchard.