Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1879 — The Orchard in February. [ARTICLE]

The Orchard in February.

From tlw American Jprfca/mr/<f. ’ Il one U <o set out ninul! frug-, whether for home use or merkipt, the sooner the preliminary work »>f selecting the hinds, and orderis* ihtf plants is done, the belief. The present is one t.f those periods lH»l every now mid then occur in friiil culture. There are a number ot new' varieties of great promise, but that have not been, sufficiently tested, to warrant planting them largely. The grower for market feels much like the hunter who wished tn aim at an animal, that he would miss if a calf, bnt hit if a deer. The. safe way for those who grow fruit for sale, i, to plant out tiinl btds of the promising kitids, and if the result is satisfactory, you have a stock of plants for setting a plantation. The market and the neighborhood have both to be considered. If the market is a distant one, the fruit, whatever other quality it may have, must be firm enough to reach its destination in good order. It there is a local or neighborhood trade—a matter quite too often overlooked by growers, then a very different class offruitsmaybegrown. Pruning ommitted last fall, should bo attended to now as soon as the weather will permit. Grape-vines need the first care, and should be pruned long before the buds begin to swell. Currants and gooseberries start early, and should be primed early. Preparatory work in the way of trellises and other supports may be attended to and the materials got«- ready. In the family garden, the best support for raspberries, is a single wire strained between posts at the ends of the rows, and we think that the bert grape vine trellis, is that with horizontal slats 4 feet apart, with upright wires where needed.