Mulchingis a process about which much has been said and written, but of which, it is to be feared, very little is known and understood. The very objects of mulching do not appear to be properly appreciated by many persons. Its uses are two-fold: primarily, to keep the surface of the earth moist by preventing evaporation, and to maintain that open, friable condition we always find in the forest, under the natural mulching of the leaves. Mulching keeps the earth cooler in summer and warmer in winter; the first, by shading from the burning rays of the sun, the second, by protecting from frost; the material itself, and the confined air among it, being bad conductors of heat. Now, what material shall we use for producing these results? Almost anything that will fulfill these indications will answer—either stones, chips, boards, twigs, saw-dust, tan-bark, weeds, straw, either long or cut, coarse manure, hay, freshly-cut grass, or, perhaps the very best for all the purposes of mulching, leaves themselves, except that they are difficult to retain in their place. A combination of leaves and twigs, small branches or weeds, may be made to answer a very good purpose, for winter mulching especially. For summer mulching there is another material which has been found to answer anadmirable purpose, though not mentioned in the above list; it is mellow earth—yes, mellow earth admirably fulfills most of the conditions of a good mulching material, but it must be kept mellow by constant stirring. The air is thus admitted, and deposits its moisture whenever the earth is cooler than the atmosphere; the presence of the air among the particles of the soil makes it a worse conductor of heat than when it is compacted together.
Mulching the newly-planted trees is a very valuable application, whether in summer or winter, and should be practiced wherever it is possible, always remembering that we can not well combine with it culture, which, for the summer treatment, is most essential to the successful growth of trees, and in winter we shall present a harbor to the mice if the mulch be placed too near the tree. He who may have been induced, by the recommendations of high authority, to plant an orchard in a stiff blue-grass sod, or who may allow such sod to surround his trees, in the belief that this constitutes a good mulch, will be sadly disappointed; for, though the surface is shaded, the grass will absorb the moisture from the soil at the expense of the young trees. Clover, on the contrary, makes a denser shade, and seeking its supplies more deeply, is less injurious, while its abundant broad foliage attracts ample supplies of dew to irrigate the soil. In this respect it resembles the Indian corn, which is considered the best crop to put among young trees, as it produces shade, attracts the dew, and, more than all, it demands and receives the thorough culture which the trees also require.
IMPORTANCE OF JUDICIOUS SELECTION—LARGE TREES NOT DESIRABLE. THRIFTY YOUNG TREES PREFERRED—REASONS FOR THE PREFERENCE—ADVANTAGES OF SMALLER TREES—LOW HEADS AND THE PROTECTION BY LATERAL BRANCHES—PERSONAL INSPECTION AND SELECTION RECOMMENDED—DIGGING THE TREES—CAREFULLY AVOID MUTILATION OF THE ROOTS—PUDDLING—TYING AND LABELING—PACKING—AVOID EXPOSURE TO SUN AND WIND, AND FROST—TREATMENT OF FROZEN TREES IN COLD WEATHER—HEELING-IN—MULCHING—MAKING RECORD—DRIED TREES, HOW RESTORED—SEASON FOR PLANTING—BANKING THE TREES—MULCHING—DISTANCE BETWEEN TREES—DEPENDENT UPON THE HABIT OF THE VARIETY—ASSORTING THE VARIETIES ACCORDING TO SIZE—CLOSE PLANTING—COMBINATION PLANTING—DIFFERENT CROPS—APPLES AND PEACHES, OR CHERRIES—SMALL FRUITS BETWEEN—ORDER OF PLANTATION—QUINCUNX—ASSORTING VARIETIES—CONVENIENCE IN HARVESTING TO HAVE EACH KIND GROUPED TOGETHER.
IMPORTANCE OF JUDICIOUS SELECTION—LARGE TREES NOT DESIRABLE. THRIFTY YOUNG TREES PREFERRED—REASONS FOR THE PREFERENCE—ADVANTAGES OF SMALLER TREES—LOW HEADS AND THE PROTECTION BY LATERAL BRANCHES—PERSONAL INSPECTION AND SELECTION RECOMMENDED—DIGGING THE TREES—CAREFULLY AVOID MUTILATION OF THE ROOTS—PUDDLING—TYING AND LABELING—PACKING—AVOID EXPOSURE TO SUN AND WIND, AND FROST—TREATMENT OF FROZEN TREES IN COLD WEATHER—HEELING-IN—MULCHING—MAKING RECORD—DRIED TREES, HOW RESTORED—SEASON FOR PLANTING—BANKING THE TREES—MULCHING—DISTANCE BETWEEN TREES—DEPENDENT UPON THE HABIT OF THE VARIETY—ASSORTING THE VARIETIES ACCORDING TO SIZE—CLOSE PLANTING—COMBINATION PLANTING—DIFFERENT CROPS—APPLES AND PEACHES, OR CHERRIES—SMALL FRUITS BETWEEN—ORDER OF PLANTATION—QUINCUNX—ASSORTING VARIETIES—CONVENIENCE IN HARVESTING TO HAVE EACH KIND GROUPED TOGETHER.
We now come to the consideration of a matter of great importance to the success of the future orchard—the selection of the plants we are to set therein. No matter how favorable the site, how good the soil, nor how thorough the preparations may have been; all may be spoiled by a bad selection of trees, and subsequent disappointment will be the consequence.
Formerly, and in some sections of the country even now, very erroneous notions prevailed upon this subject. Large trees, of several years' growth in the nursery, were preferred by those who were planting orchards: trees, ready to bear fruit, were eagerly inquired for, and preferred; even if they had been crowded together so as to be drawn up to a great hight without any lateral branches, and had formed their heads at the hight of seven or eight feet, so as to be out of the way of browsing by cattle and horses, they were the more admired by the purchasers. Now-a-days there is a great change in the sentiment of tree-planters as to the age, size, and shape of the trees that are to be set out.
Thrifty young trees are preferred to older and larger ones on many accounts. They are more vigorous and will endure the disturbance of digging, transportation, and change of locality from the nursery to the orchard, much better than larger and older trees. They are more easily dug, and will have a larger proportion of roots removed with them than those which have stood longer in the nursery-rows, so as to have pushed their fibres beyond the reach of the spade. Such trees are more stocky, and are furnished with lateral branches, or they should be so furnished, but these would be smothered and removed from older trees in crowded rows, as they are usually found in the nurseries. If these younger trees be not already furnished with laterals and elements for the formation of low heads, by the judicious treatment of the nurserymen who produced them, the orchardist can at least bend them to his will. He may make of them just what he pleases by his own manipulations at the time of planting orafterwards, without feeling that he is sacrificing to his fancy and judgment the growth of two or three years, by freely using the knife and saw, in the removal of the surplus and overgrown top, leaving him only a bare and mutilated stock to set out at the beginning of his orchard.
Another advantage of selecting small trees, especially to those at a distance from the nursery, is, that they are so much more easily transported, and freight bills are a serious item in the expense account of a large orchard plantation—these may be reduced to a minimum by the selection of small instead of large trees. As to forming the heads of our trees, if we cannot get the nurserymen to do this for us, since we are unwilling to remunerate them for the extra labor, and greater space required to form such stocky specimens as we prefer, the difficulty is obviated by planting out young trees upon which we may form the heads where we please.
As already suggested, there is a great revolution going on in the minds of tree-planters as to the proper age for planting. Instead of the inquiry for huge and cumbrous, overgrown trees, that had stood four or five years or more in the nursery, we now find a growing demand for small, stocky trees, of two or three years, or even less. Of many thriftily growing kinds, good yearlings are much better for the orchard than large trees, especially such as have been crowded in the nursery and are devoid of side branches, and whose tall naked stems are exposed to the burning heats and blasting cold of their new homes in the open field, and to the depredations of hosts of insects. Those purchasers, who seek after the tall trees, with bare stems, running up like fishing poles, they who desire tobuy their trees by the running yard and to get as great a length as possible for their money, can be accommodated by the nurseryman, who will produce the article to order; but such planters will soon find that their orchards are much less satisfactory than those set with short and stocky trees, and which have been encouraged to branch out so as to form low heads. As set forth in the chapter uponThe Nursery, such trees can be produced, and they are greatly to be preferred on many accounts, but their production by the nurserymen must depend upon the intelligence of the orchardists producing a demand for trees of such a character, and a willingness on their part to pay the grower a liberal price for the increased labor and expense, (in space at least), requisite for their production. This no one should object to, for there is economy in planting good trees; the successful orchardist will purchase the best; he will not have the refuse or trash that may be offered him at a low figure, for he well knows that it is dear at any price.
Where it is practicable and within reach, it is best for the planter to visit the nursery and make his own selection of the trees, especially if the demand be for a limited number; but he may generally depend upon the judgment and honesty of the nurseryman, if he has given his order distinctly as to the shape of the trees he desires to purchase. In a common nursery, he will often observe at the ends of the rows, and where there may have been a gap or break in the continuous line of any variety, so that the trees are less crowded, some trees that are better furnished with lateral branches, and are consequently more stocky than where the rows are crowded. Here he willbe likely to find the specimens that suit his fancy, and he will mark them for removal.
Digging.—At the proper season, and for most kinds this is at the fall of the leaf, the trees should be dug from the ground. This operation, as usually and necessarily conducted in large establishments, has to be done expeditiously and with less care than the amateur will be disposed to bestow upon this very important operation; and it sometimes happens that he will offer to pay the nurseryman a bonus for the privilege of digging his own trees with his own hands.
In performing this operation he will be very careful to avoid mutilating the roots with the spade, or by using more force than is absolutely necessary in lifting the loosened tree from its bed after the roots have been pretty thoroughly liberated from the soil. He will follow the directions given under this head in the appropriate section of the chapter onThe Nursery. The importance of puddling the roots as soon as the trees are dug, cannot be too forcibly impressed upon the planter and nurseryman; its value to the trees is so great as a protection of the tender covering of the roots from exposure to the blighting influences of light, wind, and frost, that the trifling labor and expense involved in the operation, should not receive a moment's consideration.
A puddle hole should be within convenient reach of the nursery-rows where the digging is in progress, and each sort should be taken to it as soon as dug. The excavation should be about a foot deep, or more, for large plants, and as wide as is necessary to receive all the roots of the trees to be puddled. A plentiful supply of water shouldbe at hand to put into the hole, and fine dry loamy soil should be sifted into this, or simply thrown in from the shovel, and thoroughly mixed, so as to bring the fluid to the consistency of thick cream. Into this mud the roots are dipped, until every fibre is endued with a coating of the fine material; the trees then are ready for tying snugly together, and a little dry dirt may be sprinkled or sifted upon the roots while they are still wet, so as to give them a further protection from the elements. They are then securely bound, each kind by itself, and each carefully labeled, if not already done; and as soon as all are grouped together, they are ready for transportation to their new homes. If the distance be short, so that the trees may be carried on the farm-wagon, no packing is used, unless the weather proves very inclement, but it is always safer to guard against both wind and sun, by covering the roots from their influence. For distant transportation, too much care cannot be taken to have the trees well packed to protect the roots from drying and freezing.
In our uncertain climate, it not unfrequently happens that we receive an invoice of trees in the midst of a severe storm of cold, when the ground is frozen hard, and we have reason to suppose that the roots in the cases are frozen. This need not discourage nor alarm us, if the packing be good, for we have only to be patient and allow them time to thaw out thoroughly in the dark, and we shall find our trees all right. The packages should be placed at once in a dark cellar, and allowed to thaw gradually—if no such convenience be at hand, the boxes may be buried in the soil, or covered heavily with straw or hay, materials whichare generally abundant in a prairie country, where commodious cellar room is not always at command.
Heeling-in, as it is called, is a very important operation to be performed so soon as possible after the receipt of the trees. It consists in placing the fibrous roots in immediate and close contact with the fresh and mellow soil, at some point convenient to the future planting. A ditch is dug with the spade, or a deep furrow is opened with the plow, in a sheltered, but elevated and dry situation, and in light mellow soil; into this the trees are placed as fast as they are removed from the packages, each kind being separated from the next by a distinct marking stick, and it is well to place the labeled tree first, as taken from bundles when untied. The trees are inclined at an angle, generally leaning towards the south, so as to have the stems shaded by their own branches. They are carefully placed separately and held in this position by one person, while the fine mellow earth is thrown upon the roots by another, who should take great care to see that all the interstices are filled with soil, so as to exclude the air from the fibres. This is especially necessary where the trees are to remain in this situation during the winter, when they will be alternately frozen and thawed. To secure them from injury, the earth should be banked up against them several inches; and it is well also to cover this with a heavy coating of leaves or some other mulching material, if it can be safely used without danger of attracting the field mice, which might ruin the trees. It is well at once to make a record of the trees as they stand, so soon as they are heeled-in, beginning at one end of the ditches or rows, and pursuing a definite order. This record willprove of great value, and very convenient in selecting the different kinds at the time of planting, and will enable us to restore the names in case of accidental loss of labels during the winter. The heeling-in of trees as they are received is recommended, even if everything is ready for immediate planting, unless the number be very small; but if the weather and our convenience permit us to place them at once in their permanent stations, the trees need not be heeled-in with so much care as when they are to remain for a longer period.
It sometimes happens that, from accident, detention by the way, bad packing, or exposure, we receive our trees in bad condition; they are dried, and the bark appears to be shriveled and shrunken—they seem to be dead. Such trees may often be entirely restored by a little care, and will grow as well as any. The best treatment for such is to bury them at once. Opening a sufficiently large trench, a layer of trees is placed flat upon the bottom, fine mellow earth is sifted upon, and among their roots and branches, another layer of trees is spread down and covered in the same way, and so on until they are all secured, when they are left to quietly and slowly absorb the moisture from the soil. In a few days they will be found to be well plumped, and will look as fresh as ever, and should be exhumed, trimmed, and planted, selecting a moist or showery day for the operation.
Season for Planting.—This topic has already been discussed, and the advantages of fall planting have been presented: but it is well to bear in mind that there are reasons for preferring the spring, and for some fruits the latter season is generally preferred.
When planting an orchard in the fall, it has been recommended to raise an embankment of earth about the stem, for the double purpose of protecting the roots from the frost, and also of preventing the action of the wind swaying the tree and straining the roots. A copious mulching is sometimes applied to keep out the frost, or at least to prevent the frequent thawing and freezing of the surface in our variable winters; but whenever loose material is left near the base of a young tree, we must expect damage from the mice, which are attracted and sheltered, and may commit sad devastations upon the bark before spring. The banking and mulching may be combined with advantage, and with less danger from the mice, which only work under cover and are often more injurious upon older trees, surrounded with grass and weeds in neglected orchards, than upon those newly planted and mulched, if a little care has been taken to remove the straw or tramp it down near the stem.
Distance.—The distance between the trees is a matter that should be carefully determined. Their habit should be considered, and their size, when fully developed, must be studied. Some varieties will be more crowded at forty feet apart, than others at fourteen. If possible, the larger and widely spreading sorts should be assorted and planted by themselves, and the more compact, upright and smaller ones should be grouped together. It is difficult to do this, however, for want of the necessary data; we can only make an approximation to the desired result. Thus, the Yellow Bellflower, Summer Queen, Fall Pippin, King of Tompkins County, Talman's Sweet, Golden Sweet, Pennock, Northern Spy, and several others, are of the largest kind oftrees, and may be allowed as much as forty feet of space between them, while the upright character and moderate growth of the Lady, Bullock's Pippin, Red June, Benoni, Early Joe, American Summer Pearmain, Summer Rose, Red Astrachan, and others, of similar habit, would enable us to crowd them into half as much space without serious injury—and there are trees of intermediate size and vigor, such as the Winesap, Rambo, Greening, Russet, Early Harvest, Fall Wine, Autumn Strawberry, Hubbardston, Jonathan, and a host of others that, at the same ratio, should have thirty feet spaces between them.
There is also a great diversity of opinion among orchardists as to the proper allowance of space for each tree, and many western planters are advocates of close planting of the apple, which I have seen placed as near as sixteen feet, occupying the whole space in a very few years, and bearing luxuriantly. The advocates of such crowding urge, that they protect one another, and that alternate trees can easily be removed whenever they become too much crowded. In other places, the old rule, of allowing two rods (33 feet), or even forty feet, between the trees, is still followed and considered the best.
A favorite method with some planters of fruits is, to make a combination of different kinds in the same orchard, so as to have the whole surface occupied from the first. In this way, by introducing a temporary crop of another variety which will make speedy returns, and will soon be ready to come away and make room for the permanent plantation, the ground may be rendered productive of remunerative crops from the first. It is a very common plan to combine in this way the apple and thepeach—the latter come into bearing rapidly, and are generally ready to be removed by the time the apple trees need the whole space. Alternate rows and alternate trees are usually planted with peaches, and the small growing cherries, such as the Early May, often called the Early Richmond, can be planted in the same way. I have seen a still further combination of fruits made by the introduction of the raspberry, or even of the blackberry, the currant, and the gooseberry, in alternate rows, so that, by setting the apple trees at forty feet, with alternating cherry trees, and the cherry rows in the middle space, or twenty feet each way from the apple and cherry rows, and in the intermediate strips of twenty feet the berries, which were also set between the trees, the whole ground was laid off in rows of fruit separated by strips of ten feet wide. Nothing is then needed for the full occupation of the ground, and to yield a return of fruit the next year, but to plant a single row of strawberries in each of these ten feet spaces; these, if well treated, would make four beds in the spaces between every two of the apple tree rows, or each ten feet, which is nearly half as much as would be planted in the open field; and these would yield a half crop the next year after planting, and as much the next season, when they should be plowed up to give cultivation to the berry bushes that would then also bear a crop of fruit, and continue to do so until the larger trees needed the ground for their support. The peaches or cherries would commence bearing the third or fourth year, and some of the apples would follow quickly afterward, yielding partial crops. By such a combination, as has been represented, the land is made to yield asuccession of paying fruit crops from the second year of the foundation of the orchard.
Figure 26.Fig. 26.—DIAGRAM OF PLANTING QUINCUNX.
Fig. 26.—DIAGRAM OF PLANTING QUINCUNX.
The order of planting is a matter of some consequence, and should be settled upon before commencing the work. The simplest form, and that most usually adopted, is the square; furrows are drawn across the field, at whatever distance the plants may be desired to stand, and crossed by others equally distant and at right angles to the first. These will, by their intersections, indicate the stations to be occupied by the trees. Some planters introduce a tree at the centre point between each four, and this has been calledquincunx, but erroneously—for the truequincunxis constituted by one central tree surrounded by six, and all are equidistant, as illustrated by the diagram, figure 26. This gives as many trees as possible upon the ground, all equidistant, at twenty feet apart, or at any other distance. It will be seen, that, in laying off this ground, whether with the plow or simply with stakes toindicate the stations which the trees are to occupy, we may first strike our furrows or set our sight poles, all in one direction, parallel, and at seventeen feet four inches apart. Crossing these at right angles, we may draw parallel furrows every ten feet, and by setting our stakes at each alternate intersection of these furrows, the proper stations will be found for planting trees in the truequincunxorder, in which every tree will occupy the corner of an equilateral triangle, and will be equidistant from six surrounding trees. If any one prefers to dig holes with the spade, instead of the more economical method proposed, by using the plow, the stakes may be set in parallel rows, in such a manner, that in every alternate row the first stakes shall be advanced one-half of the desired distance from the base line. It will be desirable in this, as in every other system, to have a measuring-line at hand to prove the work from time to time, and make corrections; for, otherwise, the most careful planter will soon get out of range. When the stakes are set properly, on level ground, they should range correctly in all directions. If the plantation be upon an uneven or hilly surface, it will be found almost impossible to lay off the ground with absolute precision; but this is a matter of very little consequence, as the growth of the trees will soon conceal any slight defects, particularly if they be trained with low heads. In the small fruit garden greater precision is desirable, and should be attempted, but in the commercial orchard, containing hundreds or thousands of trees, such exactitude is scarcely attainable if it were desired. Sometimes the aid of the civil engineer, with his instruments, is called in by the very precise planter.
THOROUGH CULTURE SHOULD FOLLOW THOROUGH PREPARATION—HOED CROPS RECOMMENDED—NO WHITE STRAW CROPS, NOR GRASSES ALLOWED—HOW LONG SHALL WE CULTIVATE THE ORCHARD?—LIMITS—THE SPADE AND FORK, AND MULCHING SUBSTITUTED—HORSE CULTIVATORS NECESSARY IN LARGE ORCHARDS—THESE SHOULD NOT BE DEEP TILLERS, BUT SHALLOW, TO AVOID DISTURBING THE ROOTS—SEEDING WITH CLOVER—MULCHING IMPRACTICABLE ON A LARGE SCALE—CLOVER MULCH—THE MELLOW EARTH AS A MULCH—PASTURING AN ORCHARD—OBJECTIONS—DAMAGE DONE BY HORSES AND MULES—BY CATTLE, BY GOATS—SHEEP—THEIR ADVANTAGES—SWINE AND POULTRY MAY BE ADMITTED—HOW THEY MAY BE USEFUL—DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS—POULTRY AND CURCULIO.
THOROUGH CULTURE SHOULD FOLLOW THOROUGH PREPARATION—HOED CROPS RECOMMENDED—NO WHITE STRAW CROPS, NOR GRASSES ALLOWED—HOW LONG SHALL WE CULTIVATE THE ORCHARD?—LIMITS—THE SPADE AND FORK, AND MULCHING SUBSTITUTED—HORSE CULTIVATORS NECESSARY IN LARGE ORCHARDS—THESE SHOULD NOT BE DEEP TILLERS, BUT SHALLOW, TO AVOID DISTURBING THE ROOTS—SEEDING WITH CLOVER—MULCHING IMPRACTICABLE ON A LARGE SCALE—CLOVER MULCH—THE MELLOW EARTH AS A MULCH—PASTURING AN ORCHARD—OBJECTIONS—DAMAGE DONE BY HORSES AND MULES—BY CATTLE, BY GOATS—SHEEP—THEIR ADVANTAGES—SWINE AND POULTRY MAY BE ADMITTED—HOW THEY MAY BE USEFUL—DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS—POULTRY AND CURCULIO.
In a previous chapter, reference has been made to the necessity of thorough cultivation of the soil among young trees; but the importance of the proper attention to orchard culture is so great, that it deserves separate consideration. The thorough preparation of the soil before committing the roots of our trees to its embraces, which was fully impressed upon the orchardist, might have induced someto think that this was to be sufficient for them; but it ought rather to be inferred that any crop for which these preliminary labors were recommended, should receive continuous attentions of a similar character. It is with the desire that these views should obtain, and to indicate and specify, some of the most suitable modes of procedure, that the following remarks are presented in this place.
If the ground, which has been appropriated to the orchard, be also occupied as farming land, as is usually done for a few years after planting, while the trees are small, it should be exclusively devoted to hoed crops; by which is meant those that require constant cultivation and stirring of the soil. Indian corn is a favorite on account of the thorough culture which is bestowed upon it, but there are some objectors to its use; by such it is considered too rank a grower; it is thought to absorb too much of the moisture of the soil, and too greatly to over-shadow the young trees if they be so small as has been recommended under the head ofSelection and Planting. To this objection, however, it is urged by others that the partial shade during the latter part of summer is a benefit rather than an injury. If the stalks be left standing upon the ground during the winter, they modify the force of the winds, and may even be of benefit, by the protection they furnish to the stems of the young trees; and when they fall to the ground, with their abundant foliage, these materials constitute a winter mulching of considerable value. Even if the fodder has been cut up, as is usually done by prudent farmers, the shocks scattered through the fields must exercise a considerable protecting influence.
Melons, cucumbers, cabbages, potatoes, turnips, andother root crops, which require frequent cultivation, are preferred by some orchardists, because of their being lower, and thus they will shade only the surface of the ground, without affecting the trees themselves. Let it ever be remembered, particularly in respect to soils that are of poor or of moderate fertility, that all these crops will remove their full share of plant-food from the land that we have already appropriated to another object, and that the main crop which we desire to draw its sustenance from the earth for a long series of years may thus be robbed of its proper nourishment. Under such circumstances we must meet the emergency by applications of fertilizing materials. I am aware that it may be urged by the theorists of agriculture, that these crops call upon the soil for different elements, and that, according to the customary views of the objects attained by a rotation, they may even be of advantage to those which are to follow. Others will make the practical observation that the fertilizing materials of common use in modern agriculture, may so readily be applied to compensate for these abstractions from the soil, that this is a matter of little moment, and not worthy of serious consideration. But it should be observed that, while men will often be induced to apply fertilizers to the temporary crop, counting upon an immediate return for their outlay, they seldom feel willing to make any return to the soil in compensation for what they have already removed from it, and rather wait until the necessity for such enrichment becomes painfully apparent in the diminished productiveness of their fields.
Hoed crops, such as those above mentioned, should alone be allowed to occupy the space between the young trees,and on no account should any white straw crops, or grasses be introduced, at least for several years, nor until the orchard shall have become well established. In many species of fruits, it is undoubtedly better to keep up the surface cultivation continuously, at least wherever the characters of the site and soil will permit it; but there are many situations where the abruptness of the declivities appropriated to fruit-growing, and often admirably adapted to such purpose, absolutely forbid continued cultivation. In such places it will be necessary soon to withdraw the plow, and to depend upon loosening the soil about the trees with the spade or fork, and upon the mellowing and meliorating effects of mulching. The expense of all the operations that are performed by human labor renders them inapplicable, except in small orchards and gardens; and in all large plantations we must depend upon the common earth-workers that are drawn by horses. Among these, a preference should be given to such as stir and pulverize the soil near the surface only; shallow culture of the upper layers of earth effects the objects in view better than that which is deeper. The intruding weeds are subdued and a mellow condition of the earth is the result, while the roots are not torn and bruised, but are encouraged to turn their feeding fibres into the stratum of mellow soil above them. When the trees have become well established, or when the nature of the soil and the broken character of the surface of the orchard require it, we may seed down the ground with clover, which is preferred to any of the grasses: the broad foliage will shade the ground, and may remain on the surface as a mulch, or be moderately pastured by suitable stock.
Mulching the young orchard has some advantages over cultivation, but except in the proximity of the salt-marshes of the East, or near the great straw piles on the vast grain fields of the Western prairies, it is almost impossible to procure mulching materials for extensive orchards; so that, unless we consider the clover and other legumes as a living mulch, or grow such crops upon the land itself, to be used in this way, we shall be thrown back upon culture of the surface, which, in the mellow soil thus produced, furnishes a most admirable mulching, that fills all the indications, at least in the season when it is most needed. This is a matter of the greatest importance, especially during the first year after planting, when our trees so imperatively demand the protection of a mulch; and it is found that when the usual applications of straw or similar material cannot be obtained, or are unsuitable for the situation, especial attention to the condition of the upper layer of earth about the trees is of the greatest importance; this should be kept thoroughly loosened and finely disintegrated for the admission of air and moisture.
Mulching, even of an old and apparently exhausted orchard, has been found to exercise a most happy effect upon its health and productiveness. Such a one growing upon a tenacious clay, which had ceased to yield any crops for years, was restored to abundant fruitfulness by covering the ground with a couple of inches of spent bark from an adjoining tannery, and similar effects have been produced by the application of straw, and of the bagasse from sorghum, where those materials could be procured; but these were necessarily limited to a small number of trees, and they can never be adopted in the treatment oflarge orchards. Fortunately, for us, however, in some kinds the trees themselves provide us shade for the ground, when they are properly trained and closely planted, which will prevent the intrusion of weeds and grasses, and the falling leaves and spray will also yield a mulching of no mean value. Indeed, the trimmings from the orchard, as well as the decaying foliage that annually falls to the ground, belong to the soil, and might be left upon it with great advantage to keep up its fertility by their decay, and even to increase it, as they do in the natural forest, were it not for the slovenly appearance they produce.
Dr. Ward, of New Jersey, has practiced mulching rather extensively, and with excellent results. He uses salt hay from the marshes; after plowing the ground in the spring, he applies the mulching in a heavy layer, which keeps down the weeds, preserves the moisture of the soil, and exerts a very happy influence upon the trees.
From what has preceded, the reader may infer that the orchard is not to be used for a pasture field, and yet this is a very common appropriation of the inclosure that contains our fruit trees—at least after they have attained sufficient size to be considered out of the way of serious injury. Let it not be supposed that the indiscriminate pasturing of an orchard is advocated; on the contrary, it is wholly deprecated, except as will be indicated below. All stock will trample and harden the soil. Low-headed trees will be sadly injured by live stock of all kinds. Horses and mules will often ruin the trees by destroying the bark, and trimming off the twigs, as high as they can reach. Horned cattle will browse the spray, and where within reach they will also break and twist branches ofconsiderable size. Though much smaller, goats are entirely inadmissable, since they not only trim off all the foliage within their reach, but they will also greedily devour the bark from the trees, and thus commit sad havoc among them. Sheep, on the contrary, may often be introduced into an orchard with advantage, as they will eat off a great many weeds, and thus clear the land of such intruders; but they will also spoil low-headed young trees by eating all the leaves within their reach, and they should never be allowed access to the orchard in winter, at least not while there are any trees remaining with smooth bark, as they will often attack such and strip off all that they can get at: sheep are often very desirable in cider orchards when used to crop off the herbage closely, just before the ripening and fall of the fruit.
The only domestic animals which should ever be allowed free range in the orchard, are swine, and the different sorts of poultry. All of these will prove really useful in the destruction of vast numbers of the insects that are particularly injurious to our cultivated fruits, and which are often enormously multiplied in our old orchards. Swine, it is true, will sometimes learn to climb small trees that have very low branches, which they break off in their attempts to help themselves to the fruit—this has been observed particularly in peach and cherry orchards. These animals are of use too as earth-workers, when they have not been mutilated, for with their peculiarly formed snouts they will turn over a large extent of the surface, while in pursuit of the larvæ and pupæ of many of the destructive insects, that in such stages of their existence occupy the soil beneath our fruit trees; in this manner, swine arevaluable adjuvants to the practical entomologist. The hog is a most useful scavenger, and also a great economist in the orchard, for, being omnivorous, after feeding upon the luxuriant herbage of the red clover, he takes his dessert from the fallen fruit, which, being defective, would otherwise be wasted: but we must remember that most of these wind-falls are occupied by the larvæ of insects which are thus put out of the way of doing further harm, while contributing variety to the porcine diet. The additions of manure to the soil, which are distributed over the orchard by these animals, are also found to be of service. Trees, which are frequented by swine, are generally healthy, and the bitter-rot is reported to have disappeared from orchards that were badly affected with that malady before the swine were admitted.
The advantages resulting from keeping both swine and poultry, but particularly the latter, confined among plum trees, is a matter of general notoriety; nor need we inquire whether this depends upon the far-reaching instinct of the insect, which warns her against depositing her eggs where the progeny must surely be destroyed, or upon the actual destruction of the larvæ by these animals, to such an extent as to diminish the number of depredators the following season. We must not, however, depend upon these and other valuable aids, to the exclusion of personal efforts, if we desire to secure good crops of the delicious fruits that usually fall a prey to their attacks.
In conclusion, the orchardist cannot be too strongly impressed with the importance of cultivating his young trees in the most thorough manner; nor can he exercise too much care in avoiding injury to the stems and roots, inpractising this constant culture of the soil. In collections of dwarf fruit trees, he will have less difficulty on this score, because he will be restricted to hand-labor; but the spade and fork will be found much more expensive in their use than the plow and cultivator.
Plowing Up Old Orchards.—A question frequently arises as to the best course to be pursued with an old neglected orchard, which has become covered with a dense sod of grass, and this often of an inferior character, and full of disagreeable weeds. Orchards that have been widely planted, and which have gaps from the decay of trees, especially when these have been trimmed up with high stems and long naked branches, do not cast sufficient shade upon the ground to prevent the growth of grass and weeds. These intruders occupy the surface soil to the disadvantage of the roots of the fruit trees, and we may wonderfully improve the health of such orchard by plowing the ground, and at the same time severely pruning the branches and cleansing the bark of these old trees. These good results may be continued by shallow culture of the soil, with suitable applications of manure where needed. By giving a dose of lime, or of marl, and ashes, we shall infuse a new life and growth and productiveness that will astonish and delight us, and reward us for our labors and outlay.
It may be urged as an objection to breaking up the sod, that the most careful plowman will unavoidably damage some of the roots that approach the surface, but this is an injury that must be submitted to; and after all it is not such a serious affair, and is overbalanced by the advantages of renewing the productiveness of the exhausted orchard.
PRUNING, NATURE'S—WE PRUNE, FIRST, FOR SHAPE AND COMELINESS; SECOND, FOR FRUIT—PRUNING YOUNG TREES IN THE NURSERY—RULES FOR—SEASON FOR—PRUNING FOR FRUIT IS TO BE DONE CHIEFLY IN SUMMER—THINNING OUT—SHORTENING-IN—ROOT PRUNING—PHILOSOPHY OF—ADVANTAGES OF—CHARACTER OF ROOTS PRODUCED BY IT—IN THE VINE—SEVERE IN WINTER TO PRODUCE WOOD AND DIMINISH BLOSSOMS—ADAPT TO VARIETIES—IN SUMMER TO DIMINISH EXCESSIVE FRUITAGE, AND TO DIRECT SAP INTO NEW CANES—TRIMMING IN GARDENESQUE, REQUIRING A CORRECT EYE AND GOOD TASTE—PRUNING SHOULD BE CONDUCTED UPON TRULY PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES, OR NOT AT ALL—QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED IN THOSE WHO PRUNE—THE OPERATION SELDOM WELL PERFORMED—PRUNING OF THE GRAPE, SHORT AND LONG—REASONS FOR AND OBJECTIONS TO EACH—SEASONS FOR PRUNING THE VINE.
PRUNING, NATURE'S—WE PRUNE, FIRST, FOR SHAPE AND COMELINESS; SECOND, FOR FRUIT—PRUNING YOUNG TREES IN THE NURSERY—RULES FOR—SEASON FOR—PRUNING FOR FRUIT IS TO BE DONE CHIEFLY IN SUMMER—THINNING OUT—SHORTENING-IN—ROOT PRUNING—PHILOSOPHY OF—ADVANTAGES OF—CHARACTER OF ROOTS PRODUCED BY IT—IN THE VINE—SEVERE IN WINTER TO PRODUCE WOOD AND DIMINISH BLOSSOMS—ADAPT TO VARIETIES—IN SUMMER TO DIMINISH EXCESSIVE FRUITAGE, AND TO DIRECT SAP INTO NEW CANES—TRIMMING IN GARDENESQUE, REQUIRING A CORRECT EYE AND GOOD TASTE—PRUNING SHOULD BE CONDUCTED UPON TRULY PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES, OR NOT AT ALL—QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED IN THOSE WHO PRUNE—THE OPERATION SELDOM WELL PERFORMED—PRUNING OF THE GRAPE, SHORT AND LONG—REASONS FOR AND OBJECTIONS TO EACH—SEASONS FOR PRUNING THE VINE.
Pruning is one of the most important operations that we perform upon plants,—especially woody plants. Pruning, in some sort, has to be performed at all periods of their existence and growth, and upon all plants, from the noble forest tree, or the fruit trees of the orchard, ofwhatever kind, to the humble bushes and brambles that yield us their abundant and most welcome fruits: the trailing vine that adorns our arbors and covers our trellises with its rich and tempting clusters of grapes, also needs to be pruned. Many herbaceous plants are also submitted to judicious pruning, and yield in consequence an increased product of fruit. Our ornamental gardeners and plant-growers practice pruning most admirably upon their house-plants, and by their successful practice, they produce the most wonderful effects, which are manifested in the vigor, thrift, symmetry, and blossoming of their specimens.
And yet, when we come to travel about the country, and to see the shrubberies, the parks, the orchards, fruit-gardens, and vineyards, as they are, we shall be struck with the great amount of ignorance or neglect manifested by what we everywhere behold! Still more shall we be surprised, when we hear nurserymen and orchardists, men who have had opportunities for extended observation, and those too, who are considered successful cultivators, advocate the idea that trees should not be pruned at all. An apology may be found for them in the many instances of bad pruning that may frequently be met with. They may say that no pruning is better than such mutilation, and with some varieties of fruit, they may have a show of reason on their side, as there are many sorts that will very naturally produce an open head, every where provided with abundant fruit-spurs, which are the great desiderata of the fruit-grower.
We prune our plants for the most opposite purposes; we prune to make them assume some desired form, we prune to produce symmetry, and we prune to torture them as muchas possible from their natural habit. Again, we prune to make them grow vigorously, and we perform other pruning operations, in order to dwarf and stunt our specimens, and to make them as diminutive as possible. The experienced orchardist will tell you to prune a barren but thrifty tree, in order to make it productive of fruit; and he will also tell you topruneone that has expended all its energies in fruit-bearing, and appears likely to exhaust itself to its own destruction. Upon very high authority, supported by universal and annual practice, the vine dresser will tell you to prune your vine in order to make it fruitful; the same authority will advise you to prune in such a manner as to prevent an over-production—and he will insist that you shall prune again during the season of growth, to promote the same objects.
Thus it appears that the ends to be attained by this important operation are exceedingly diverse, and apparently contradictory: nor is it any wonder that the novice should feel bewildered in the midst of directions so opposite, nor even that those who have grown gray in the orchard, should have arrived at the strange conclusions just mentioned,not to prune at all. And yet, notwithstanding these apparent contradictions, there is a reason for each of these various modes, as well as for the different seasons that have been recommended for performing the several operations of pruning.
It may be said that in natural trees, whether standing alone in the midst of a prairie, thinly grouped in the "opening," or crowded together in the dense forest, we may behold the most perfect models of beauty and fruitfulness; yet these have never been subjected to the actionof the knife, the saw, nor the hatchet. True, and yet they have all been pruned bynature. She prunes and trains magnificently, and gives us the finest models for imitation, whether for park scenery, as in the lone tree of the prairie, or in the scattered groups of the island groves that are so often seen in the broad savannas of the West, or in forests of noble shafts, gazed at with admiration, then felled by the ruthless ax, and converted to man's economic uses. She also shows us the pattern in the dense pineries, and other timber tracts of our country. All these have been pruned into their present condition by the hand of nature. In the single specimen, free access of air and light have enabled it to assume its full proportions, developing itself on every side, and giving us the grand and beautiful object we behold. The winds have tossed the branches and some have been broken, the lower ones have quietly and gradually yielded to the smothering influence of those above them, which, in turn, have swept downward toward the ground. In the groves, the scattering trees have for a while enjoyed the same opportunities for development; but at length their branches have met together, and interlocked in friendly embrace. Those that were nearest the ground had already begun to suffer from the denser canopy above them but the great sturdy boughs that had shot upward so as to form a part of the crown, were able to retain their vantage ground, and continue as important members of the trees. In these illustrations, we have seen more of nature's training than of her pruning; but it must be remembered that training is one of the objects, and indeed, a leading element of pruning, and is very properly a matter for our consideration.
In the dense primeval forest we see nature's pruning exhibited upon a grand and perfect scale; tall, straight, and noble trunks rise majestically on every hand; not a twig nor limb breaks the symmetry of the gradually tapering shafts, that are clothed in bark which does not indicate that they had ever been furnished with branches; and yet they have borne branches from their base to their summit, and nature has so neatly removed them that we cannot detect the marks of her pruning-saw. How this has been effected, may be seen in any dense thicket of young forest growth. It is simply a smothering of the lower branches by those next above them, which has destroyed their vitality, and their decay has soon followed; while a new growth of branches at a higher point, in turn, performs the same office of destruction upon those next below them. As there is no outlet for the wood-growth but in an upward direction, upwards they must needs go, and as there is no light nor air for lateral branches under such a canopy of shade, death and decay ensue, and down they perforce must come.
If it be asked why we prune at all, it may be answered in general terms that in the orchard, our objects in performing this operation, are two-fold.
1st—We prune for shape and comeliness, and for the removal of dead and dying branches, in aid of nature, but working in sympathy with her.
2d—We prune for the sake of inducing fruitfulness.
Let us consider some of the principles that are to guide us in these operations.
The first object, that of producing the desired shape of the future tree, is chiefly done upon the young subject,even in the nursery-row. The judicious pruner, being well aware of the upward tendency of young growth, and that this is increased by the crowded condition of the trees in the nursery square, seeks to overcome the evil by proper pruning. If the growth be altogether upward, with no side branches the first season, the stem will be slender, often so much so as to bend over with its own weight. The wise nurseryman carefully avoids disturbing the leaves or lateral branches, well knowing their importance in forming the woody trunk. At the proper season he trims his trees down, instead of trimming them up—this he does by heading them back to the hight at which he desires them to form their branches—at the same time, he shortens in the laterals; his object in both instances being to check the upward tendency of growth by removing the strong terminal buds, which would naturally have formed the new shoots the coming season. The result of this treatment is to call into action several buds at the upper part of the stock. These are to form the arms of the tree, and hence a very important part of the pruning and training of the plant is thus performed at once by this simple operation of heading-back the young nursery tree. But further attention is needed, as these arms develop themselves during the next season of growth; they should not be too numerous, nor too much crowded together; they should not be too nearly matched in strength, and one should be kept as a leader, stronger than the rest. Never allow two shoots to remain contending for the mastery; one of them should be subordinated by cutting, breaking, or twisting, as soon as it is observed; for how beautifully developed, a tree grown in this way, mayappear when well balanced, there is always danger of its splitting down when heavily laden with fruit. This very common error of our orchards used to be quaintly illustrated by a dear old friend on the prairies of Illinois, who cited the advice of a Scotch jockey to whom he had applied for counsel in the purchase of a piece of horse-flesh. "Ne'er buy a horse whose twa fore-legs cum oot frae ae hole," said he, and Mr. W. Stewart applied the same principle to his young fruit trees, by never allowing them to have two equal leaders, branching from one point. It is also important to have the lateral branches regularly distributed on different sides.
The precise point or elevation point at which this heading-back should be done, will depend very much upon the object of the cultivator, and whether he desires to produce a high or a low head, a standard, half standard, or a dwarf, or conical tree—such as are often called pyramids. He will study the wants and fancies of his customers in this matter, but we of the West, have learned the importance for us, at least, oftrimming our trees down, and not trimming them up, as is often done by those who anticipate plowing and planting crops under the shade of their orchards. The proper point for forming the branches to make the head, will very much depend, however, upon the habit of the variety; whether it be drooping, spreading, or upright. The former will require the branches to be started at a higher point. The proper season for performing this kind of pruning is in the early spring, or after the severe frosts of winter have passed; and with some kinds of orchard trees, it may be done at the time of transplanting them, when they need a severe pruning.
The second object of pruning being done with a viewto the production of fruitfulness in the tree, is to be practised chiefly in the summer. At the same time, or during the growing season, much may be done to advantage, both in thinning-out and shortening-in such parts of the tree, as may need these plans of treatment. Various methods are pursued to produce fruitfulness, all of them depending upon the fact that this condition arises from the natural habit of a tree to make its wood-growth freely for a series of years. After it has built up a complicated structure of limbs and branches, with some consequent obstruction to the flow of sap, depending upon the hardening of the woody tissues, and the tortuous course of its circulation, it then appears to have reached its maturity, or its fruit-bearing condition. It then ceases to make such free wood-growth, and prepares a set of buds, which develop flowers and fruit.
Now this period of growth and unfruitfulness may continue for a longer or shorter time in different varieties of fruits; and the shortening of this, is the great object of summer pruning, and of other methods of producing fruitfulness that may be classed under this second head of the objects of pruning.
To appreciate their importance and the mode in which the effect is produced, we must ever bear in mind the two great acts of vegetable life, that of wood-growth or growth by extension, and the wonderful morphological change of this growth into flowers and fruit. These are, in some sense, antagonistic. The first is essential to the production of timber, to the building up of the tree, and should be encouraged to do its work undisturbed, up to a certain point, that we may have a substantial frame-workby which our fruits can be supported. The latter, however, is the ultimate desideratum with fruit-growers, and in our impatience to reap a quick reward, we often resort to measures that tend to curtail the usefulness, size, and beauty, as well as the permanence of our trees. This is an illustration of the axiom, that whatever threatens the vitality of a plant, tends to make it fruitful; it calls into activity the instinctive effort to perpetuate the species by the production of seed, that may be separated from the parent, and establish a separate and independent existence, to take the place of that, the life of which is threatened.
Summer pruning and pinching interferes with the growth by extension, and threatens the very life of the tree; the entire removal of all new shoots and their foliage, and the removal of the successive attempts by the tree at their reproduction, will cause its death in a little while. Their partial abstraction, as practiced in summer pruning and pinching, being an attack of the same kind, results in the formation of fruit-buds. The operations of budding and grafting upon an uncongenial stock, interrupting the circulation by ringing, by ligatures, by hacking, twisting, and bending downward, all tend to check the growth by extension, and are attended by similar results, since they are antagonistic to the mere production of wood. Shortening-in the branches of some species, which form their fruit-buds upon the shoots of the current year, has the effect to give them a fuller development, if performed during the summer, but if deferred until the following spring, it will have the directly opposite result, and will cause the production of woody shoots at the expense of the fruit.
The season for pruning has been made the subject of much discussion, and different periods have been very confidently advised by different authorities, from which it may safely be inferred that all are somewhat right, or may be supported by good reasons. This refers of course to pruning in its general sense, of trimming, and applies to the removal of limbs of greater or less size. We always desire to avoid the removal of large limbs, and should endeavor to provide against the necessity of such removal, by trimming our orchards sufficiently when they are young, and while the branches are small; but when such removal becomes absolutely necessary, it should be performed late in the autumn, when vegetation is at rest, because it is found that such large wounds, which cannot be soon healed over by the new growth, will at this season dry in, and resist the action of the elements better than if the section had been made when the wood was full of sap in active circulation.
Early spring is a favorite period for pruning, chiefly because it is comparatively a period of leisure; the weather is less inclement than in winter, and the absence of foliage affords us an opportunity to see our work and to anticipate its effects upon the tree. So soon as the buds begin to swell and the foliage to expand, pruning should be arrested, unless in small trees, because the sap is in active motion, and the material calledcambiumis not yet developed, hence the wounds will bleed, and are not so readily healed over; besides, the bark at this season is very readily separated from the wood, and bad wounds are thus frequently produced by the pruner, which may seriously damage the tree. Then follows a period when pruning hadbetter be suspended until the time that the trees have completed their growth by extension, and formed the terminal bud at the ends of their shoots. The date cannot be given, but it is sufficiently indicated by this mark in nature's calendar; the formation and full development of the terminal bud, and by the copious deposits of woody matter throughout the tree. The annual layer of fibres is then being produced, and the tissues are in the formative stage; the tree now possesses within its own organism the best of all plasters to cure and cover the wounds made by the saw and knife, now the tree possesses the truevis medicatrix naturæin the highest degree.
A few intelligent nurserymen have learned this very important lesson, and have applied it in the preparation of their trees, for the exposure incident to their removal from the nursery to the orchard. A very few practice it systematically; I knew one, (alas, for the lamented Beeler, of Indiana), who acted upon the suggestion made to him by observations and experiments in vegetable physiology. He left the side branches, though subordinated by shortening when necessary, in order to give stocky stems to his trees, and then removed them with the knife during the summer before they were to be sold and planted, instead of waiting until they were dug and sent to the packing house in the fall or spring. The result was, that while his stems were stout and stocky, they were also smooth, the wounds neatly healed over with new bark, instead of being open from the fresh cuts and liable to crack or bleed, as they would have done had this pruning been deferred until after digging, either in the fall or spring. This may be considered a small matter, but it isan illustration of the principle involved in selecting the period for pruning.
For the removal of small limbs from young trees, hardly any time can come amiss—better to do it out of season than to neglect it, and it is a good rule to have a sharp pruning knife always at hand when passing through our young orchards. There is but one time when pruning is absolutely interdicted, and that is when the wood is frozen. When so circumstanced, it should never be cut nor disturbed in any manner—not even to gratify your best friend, by helping him to a few grafts from your proved tree of some coveted variety. Let him wait for a thaw, or go away without the grafts, rather than commit such an outrage upon your tree: as to approach it with a knife when frozen.
While considering the question of the proper season for pruning, there is one axiom of great importance which should be firmly impressed upon the mind of the orchardist. Much will depend upon which of the two leading objects, above indicated, he may have in view—vigor of growth and symmetry of form, or simply fruitfulness, as the result of his labors in pruning his trees. Pruning at one season will induce the former result, at a different period of the year the same work will conduce to the latter; hence the postulatePrune in winter for wood; in summer for fruit.