1. With lime-sulphur, winter strength, on the dormant wood in early spring.2. With lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead just before the blossoms open (may sometimes be omitted).3. With the same (or Bordeaux for scab) just after the blossoms fall.4. With the same two or three weeks later.5. With arsenate of lead eight or nine weeks later (may sometimes be omitted).(In the south and middle latitudes where bitter rot and apple blotch occur two other sprayings may be necessary.)6. With Bordeaux about eight or ten weeks after the blossoms fall.7. Again with the same about two weeks later.
1. With lime-sulphur, winter strength, on the dormant wood in early spring.
2. With lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead just before the blossoms open (may sometimes be omitted).
3. With the same (or Bordeaux for scab) just after the blossoms fall.
4. With the same two or three weeks later.
5. With arsenate of lead eight or nine weeks later (may sometimes be omitted).
(In the south and middle latitudes where bitter rot and apple blotch occur two other sprayings may be necessary.)
(In the south and middle latitudes where bitter rot and apple blotch occur two other sprayings may be necessary.)
6. With Bordeaux about eight or ten weeks after the blossoms fall.
7. Again with the same about two weeks later.
A Calendar for Spraying Apples
INSECTSNature of InjuryBefore Leaf Buds OpenBefore Flower Buds OpenAfter Petals FallIn 2 to 3 WeeksIn 8 to 9 WeeksMaterials to UseCodling MothEating WormxxxLead Arsenate or Par. Gr.San José ScaleSucking InsectxLime SulphurOyster Shell ScaleSucking InsectxLime SulphurBlister MiteLeaf MinerxLime SulphurPlant LouseSucking Insectwhen seenWhale Oil Soap or TobaccoCigar Case BearerEating InsectxxxLead Arsenate or Par. Gr.Apple MaggotEating Wormxxdestroy fruitLead Arsenate or Par. Gr.Bud MothEating WormxxxLead Arsenate or Par. Gr.CurculioEating Worm & BeetlexxLead Arsenate or Par. Gr.DiseasesApple ScabFungusxxxxif necessaryLime Sulphur or Bordeaux 3-3.50New York Apple Tree CankerFungusx?cut out infectionsLime SulphurLeaf SpotFungusxxxLime SulphurSooty BlotchxxxBordeaux Mixture and Lime Sulphur
Apples are practically never allowed to ripen on the trees but are picked and shipped green. By "green" we mean not fully ripe, not ripe enough to eat out of hand. This is necessary for all fruit which is to be shipped any considerable distance or which is to be stored. Used in this sense green has no reference to color, but as a matter of fact, much of our fruit is picked too green, before it has even reached its full size and is well colored. There is no exact time at which apples must be picked, but this depends on many factors such as the variety, the distance to be shipped, the soil, the climate, and various other conditions, to say nothing of seasonal differences.
The time at which any variety should be picked in a particular section will be learned by experience. In general, apples should be lefton the tree as long as possible in order to get the best size and color. When the apples begin to drop badly it is a pretty sure indication that it is time to pick. If the fruit is to be sold in the local market or for immediate consumption, it may be allowed to get riper than would otherwise be the case. With most varieties one picking is sufficient, but in the case of varieties like the Wealthy which does not ripen uniformly, or like the Twenty Ounce, which does not always color evenly, two or three pickings should be made. Two or three pickings are practically always necessary where fancy fruit is desired, in order to get the ideal size, color, and uniformity.
Ladders.—There are two general types of picking ladders, the rung and the step ladders. For large trees the rung ladders are the best. They may be obtained in lengths to suit the height of the tree. Lengths of more than twenty-two or twenty-four feet become too heavy and clumsy to handle, even when made of pine, which is the best material as it is light and strong for its weight. In very old, high trees extension rung ladders are sometimes used. They are also useful for interior work but are heavy to handle. Rung ladders cost from tento twenty cents a running foot. Step ladders are useful only on young and small trees. The two styles, the three (Japanese) and four legged, are both quite satisfactory where one can reach the fruit from them.
Receptacles for picking usually hold about half a bushel. Both baskets and bags are used, some preferring one and some the other, and a choice between them is merely a matter of personal preference. There is a little less liability of bruising the apples in bags than in baskets, but the latter are more convenient in some ways. Fruit should never be thrown or dropped into a basket but always handled carefully. Some varieties, as McIntosh, show almost every finger mark and literally require handling with gloves.
Handling.—The old custom of picking and laying on the ground in the orchard is a poor one and should not be followed, as it causes unnecessary handling and bruising. Moreover, fruit should be packed and hauled to storage as soon after picking as possible. Picking and placing directly on the packing table from which the apples are immediately packed is the best plan where it is practicable, but as the weather at picking time in the EasternStates is frequently quite uncertain, it is not always possible to follow this plan as closely as can be done in the West, where dry air and sunshine prevail. Still, wherever there is a considerable quantity of fruit and several pickers, the plan of packing directly from the table is best. Many growers pick in boxes and barrels and haul the apples to a packing shed to be packed later. Convenience and expediency must govern the general farmer who is not always at liberty to choose the best plan, often having to do as he can.
Packing Tablesenable the grower to pack his fruit better because he can see better what he is doing, and to handle the fruit more cheaply and quickly and with less injury. They should be portable so that they can be moved about the orchard. A convenient type has one end mounted on wheels so that it can be pushed from one place to another. The top of the table should be made of two strong layers of canvas, one tacked firmly to the framework of the table with about three or four inches of dip and the other laid loosely over it. This plan provides a soft resting place for the fruit and the table can be easily cleaned off by simply throwing back the upper layer of canvas.
Three feet six inches is about the right width for the table, and the same sloping to three feet four inches at one end, is the correct height from the ground. Most packers like to have this gradual slope to one end so that the apples will naturally feed toward that end. The length may be anything up to eight or ten feet, beyond which the table becomes heavy and unmanageable.
Barrels.—The standard apple barrel adopted by the National Apple Shippers' Association and made law in New York State has a length of stave of twenty-eight and one-half inches and a diameter of head of seventeen and one-eighth inches. The outside circumference of the bilge is sixty-four inches and the distance between the heads is twenty-six inches. It contains one hundred quarts dry measure. The staves are mostly made of elm, pine, and red gum, and the heads principally of pine with some beech and maple. In most apple growing sections barrels are made in regular cooper shops where their manufacture is a business by itself. Only the largest growers set up their own barrels. Practically all barrels are purchased "knocked down" and it costs from four to six cents each to set them up. Barrels canordinarily be purchased for about thirty-five cents each, but the cost varies somewhat with the season and the region.
Apple packages should always present a neat, clean, and attractive appearance. Never use flour barrels, soiled or ununiform barrels of any kind. If a head cushion is used a good deal of waste from the crushing and bruising of the fruit will be saved. A head lining of plain or fringed paper also adds much to the attractiveness of the package. The wrapping of apples for barrel packing is hardly advisable. The fruit is pressed into the barrel tightly with one of two types of presses, both of which are good.
The lever press is more responsive and the pressure is more easily changed, but it is harder to operate. The screw press distributes the pressure more evenly with less injury to the fruit and is more powerful.
The steps in properly packing a barrel of apples are: First, see that the middle and closed end hoops are tight, if necessary, nailing them and clinching the nails; second, mark the head plainly with the grade and variety and the name of the packer or owner; then place the barrel on a solid floor or plank andlay in the facing papers (the face end being packed first); select the "facers," which should be the best representatives of the grade being packed, andno others, and place them in two courses in regular order stems down; with a drop handle basket fill the barrel, using care not to bruise the fruit, and jarring the barrel back and forth on the plank as each basket is put into it in order to settle the fruit firmly in place; lastly, arrange a layer of apples stems up and apply the press, using a hatchet to get the head in place and to drive on and tighten the hoops.
The Box Packageis rapidly growing in favor, especially as a carrier of fancy fruit. There is no standard box the size of which is fixed by law unless it be a box labeled a bushel. But two sizes of boxes are in common use, both probably being necessary on account of the variation in the size of different varieties. The "Standard" box is 10½ by 11½ by 18 inches inside measurement and contains 2,173.5 cubic inches (the lawful stricken bushel is 2,150.4 cubic inches). The "Special" box is 10 by 11 by 20 inches inside measurement and contains 2,200 cubic inches. The bulge when properly made will add about 150 cubic inchesmore, making the two boxes hold 2,323.5 cubic inches and 2,350 cubic inches respectively.
Spruce is the most reliable and in general the best material. Fir is sometimes used, but is likely to split. Pine is good if strong enough. The ends should be of three-quarter-inch material; the sides of three-eighth-inch, and the tops and bottoms—two pieces each—of one-quarter-inch material. There should also be two cleats each for top and bottom. The sides of the box should be nailed with four, preferably five-penny cement-coated nails, at each end. The cleats should be put neatly on each end and four nails put into them, going through into the top and bottom. Boxes commonly come "knocked down" or in the flat and are usually put together by the grower. They cost from ten to thirteen cents each in the flat.
There are several kinds of packs, depending on the size of the apples and the choice of the grower. The diagonal pack with each apple resting over the spaces between others is preferable, but on account of the size of the apples one is often forced to use the straight pack with the apples in regular right angle rows for some sizes. The offset pack, first three (or four) on one side and then on the other, is verymuch like the diagonal, but not much used on account of its accommodating too few apples in a box. The following table gives the packs, number of rows, number of apples in the row, box to use, and number of apples used to the box, as used at Hood River, Oregon:
Size expressed in No. apples per boxTierPackNo. apples in rowNo. layers in depthBox used4533 St.5-53Standard5433 St.6-63Special5433 St.6-63Special6333 St.7-73Special643½2-2 Diag.4-44Standard723½2-2 Diag.4-54Standard803½2-2 Diag.5-54Standard883½2-2 Diag.5-64Standard963½2-2 Diag.6-64Special1043½2-2 Diag.6-74Special1123½2-2 Diag.7-74Special1203½2-2 Diag.7-84Special12844 St.8-84Special14444 St.9-94Special1504½3-2 Diag.6-65Standard1634½3-2 Diag.6-75Standard1754½3-2 Diag.7-75Standard1854¼3-2 Diag.7-85Special2004½3-2 Diag.8-85Special
It is good practice to wrap apples packed in boxes. For this purpose a heavy-weight tissue paper in two sizes, 8 by 10 and 10 by 10, according to the size of the apple, is used. A lining paper 18 by 24 in size and "white news" in grade is first placed in the box. Between the layers of apples a colored "tagboard"paper, size 17¼ by 11 or 20 by 9¾, according to the box used, is laid so as to make the layers come out right at the top. In packing the box is inclined toward the packer for convenience in placing the fruit. After laying in the lining paper each apple is wrapped and put in place. As an aid to picking up the thin wrapping paper a rubber "finger" is used on the forefinger. When the box is packed the layers should stand a quarter to a half inch higher in the middle than at the ends, in order to give a bulge or spring to the top and bottom which holds the fruit firmly in place without bruising.
There has been much discussion as to whether the box or the barrel is the better package for apples. This is needless, for as a matter of fact each is best for its own particular purpose. The barrel is best adapted as a package for large commercial quantities of fruit and where labor could not be had to pack apples in boxes even if the trade wanted them. The barrel permits the packing of a greater variety in size and shape than does the box, and these can be more easily and cheaply handled in packing.
On the other hand, the box is the idealpackage for small amounts of fancy fruit, to be used for a family-or fruit-stand trade. It presents a neater and more fancy appearance and is a more convenient package to handle, as well as one which is more open to inspection. It already has a better reputation as a quality container than the barrel. As a fancy package for a limited private trade from the small general farm orchard with high-class varieties like the Northern Spy, McIntosh, and others there is no comparison of the box with the barrel.
Storage.—Car refrigeration and cold storage of fruit are comparatively modern developments. Few persons who have not been affected directly realize what a tremendous influence they have had upon the fruit, and particularly the apple industry. Apples could not be shipped any very great distance. Crops had to be marketed immediately and when they were large the markets were soon glutted and the fruit became almost valueless. The first hot spell would demoralize the trade altogether. Then later in the season the supply would become exhausted and famine would ensue where but a few weeks before there had been a feast. Under such conditions it is not surprising that the apple industry did notdevelop very rapidly and that apple growing was mostly confined to areas near the larger markets.
The coming of the refrigerator car extended fruit-growing over a much wider area. Refrigeration on shipboard opened up and enlarged the export trade. Cold storage warehouses lengthened the season by holding over the surplus of fruit, thus relieving fall gluts in the market and providing a winter supply of apples. These conditions created a more stable market with more uniform prices, extending the business from a side issue to one of chief importance. Marketing has become almost a business by itself, inducing the formation of growers' associations and creating a profitable occupation for large dealers and commission men. These conditions, too, have led to speculation.
Two kinds of storage are used, common or cellar storage and cold storage. Both are about equally available, but the latter is too expensive for the small grower. There is always a question as to the advisability of the small grower storing his fruit. Storage means a degree of speculation. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," especially when thebird is a good one. So far as rules can be laid down, the following are pretty safe ones to keep in mind: It is safest to store apples when they are of the highest quality; in a season most unfavorable to common storage; when the fewest are being stored; when the price in the fall is medium to low, never when high; and when one can afford to lose the whole crop.
Successful storage requires several things: good fruit, stored immediately after picking, careful sorting and handling, subsequent rest, and a reasonable control of the temperature. The functions of storage are to arrest ripening, retard the development of disease, and furnish a uniform, cold temperature. Storage of apples does not remedy over-ripeness nor prevent deterioration of already diseased, bruised, or partly rotted fruit. There are three general methods of storage: (1) by ventilation, (2) by the use of ice and (3) by mechanical means.
Cooling by ventilation offers the most practical system for a farm storage. It requires that there be perfect insulation against outside temperature changes, adequate ventilation, and careful watching of temperatures. To provide for good insulation a dead air space is necessary. This can be secured by a course of goodtwo-inch boards with one or two layers of building paper inside and out, over a framework of two-by-fours. Over the building paper tight, well matched siding should be laid also inside and out. Two of the dead air spaces will make insulation doubly sure.
To provide for proper ventilation construct an intake for cold air at the bottom, and an outlet for warm air at the top of the room. These should serve all parts of the room, one being necessary for this purpose every twelve to sixteen feet. Do not depend too much on windows. Warm-air flues should be twelve inches square and six to twelve feet long.
The attention to such a house is most important. Keep it closed tightly early in the fall with blinded windows. When nights get cool open the doors and windows to let in cold air, closing them again during the day. On hot days close the ventilators also. In this way a temperature of 36 to 40 degrees Fahr. can be secured in early fall and one of 32 to 33 degrees Fahr. later. This is probably the cheapest as well as the most practical method of farm storage.
Ice storage is quite practical in the North, but more expensive. The principle of such astorage is to keep ice above the fruit, allowing the cold air to flow down the sides of the room. A shaft in the middle of the room will serve to remove the warm air. This method is open to the objection of difficulty in storing the ice above the fruit. Moreover the uniformity of its cold air supply is questionable. Mechanical storage in which cold temperatures are secured by the compression or absorption of gases is altogether impracticable for individual growers, as it costs from $1.50 to $2.00 a barrel of capacity to construct such a storage. Rents of this kind of storage range from 10 to 25 cents a barrel per month, or 25 to 50 cents a barrel for the season of from four to six months.
Having produced a good product, there remains the problem of making a profitable and satisfactory disposition of it. In many ways marketing is the measure of successful fruit growing. Of what use is it to prune well, cultivate well, spray thoroughly, or even pack well the finest kind of product, if after the expense of these operations is paid and the railroad and commission agents have had their share, no profit remains to the producer? Many growers find it easier to produce good fruit than to market it at a good price, and this is especially true of the general farmer. Failure to market well spells failure in the business of fruit growing. Successful marketing presupposes a knowledge of the requirements of different markets as to quality, varieties, and supply demanded in those markets. Methods of distribution are also one of the great factors in this problem of marketing.
Types of Markets.—There are two general types of markets, the local, which is a special market and the general or wholesale market, both of which have different but definite requirements. The local market handles fruit in small quantities, but usually with a larger margin of profit per unit to the producer. As a rule delivery is direct in a local market, and thus commissions are saved. Competition is also more or less limited to one's neighbors. More varieties, including less well known ones, are called for. Appearance does not count for as much as quality, which is of first importance. Fruit may be riper as it is consumed more quickly and meets with less rough handling. Packages are usually returned to the grower. Special markets are often willing to pay extra for fruit out of season, and they always require special study and adaptation to meet their needs.
The general or wholesale market handles fruit in larger quantities, usually with a smaller margin of profit. A selling agent or commission man is the means of disposing of fruit in such a market, where competition is open to the whole country and sometimes to the world. Only standard well-known varieties find a readyand profitable sale. Great attention is paid to appearance and comparatively little to quality. Fruit shipped to a wholesale market must be packed in a standard package, which is not returned, but goes with the fruit, and must be packed so as to endure rough treatment. Out of season fruit is not in demand, but even the general market sometimes has special preferences.
Almost every market has favorite varieties for which it is willing to pay a larger price than other markets. Just as Boston wants a brown egg and New York a white one, so these and other cities have their favorite varieties of apples. Some markets prefer a red apple, others a green one, although the former is most generally popular. In the mining and manufacturing towns working people want smaller green apples, or "seconds," because they are cheaper. Many second-class hotels prefer small apples, if they are well colored, as they go farther. The fashionable restaurant and the fruit stand are the markets for large, perfect, and highly colored specimens. Housewives demand cooking apples like Greenings, hotels want a good out-of-hand apple like the McIntosh, while private families have theirown special favorites. As will readily be seen, the producer's problem is to find the special market for what he grows.
It has been said that different markets have special varietal preferences, paying a better price for these than do other markets for the same quality. We can only take the space here to point out a few of these preferences. The Baldwin is by all odds our best general market and export variety. It is the workingman's apple and finds its best sale in our largest cities, particularly in New York and Chicago. The Rhode Island Greening is a better seller in the northern markets than it is in the southern, finding its best sale in Boston and in New York. The Northern Spy is highly regarded by all our large northern and eastern markets, is fairly well liked by the middle latitude markets, but not popular south of Baltimore and Pittsburgh or west of Milwaukee.
Central western markets appear to prefer the Hubbardson, but this apple is fairly good in all markets. King is well thought of nearly everywhere. Ben Davis is a favorite in the South, New Orleans especially preferring it on account of its keeping quality. Jonathan has a good reputation everywhere. Dutchess ofOldenburg is regarded as excellent in Buffalo and Chicago. Wealthy, although generally a local market apple, is well known and liked in all markets. Twenty Ounce is spoken well of nearly everywhere. The Fameuse is not well liked in the South, but popular in the North, etc. These particular facts as to varieties are best learned by experience and by observation of the market quotations.
The Commission Man.—The present system of marketing fruit products makes the commission man almost a necessity in the general market. Neither the grower nor the local dealer can ship directly to the consumer or even to the retailer, except in a very limited way. It may be impracticable to devise any other workable system, but it must be remembered that every man who touches a barrel of apples on its journey from producer to consumer must be paid for doing so, and this pay must come either out of the seller's price or be added to the buyer's price. But so long as present conditions of marketing and distribution prevail, so long will a selling agent in the general market be necessary, and the evil cannot be ameliorated by ranting against it.
An unfortunate impression prevails that allcommission men are dishonest. This is not true, although undoubtedly there are many scoundrels among them, as they have shippers almost completely at their mercy. The best method under our present system is to choose an honest commission man in the city where you sell, to get acquainted with him, to let him know that your trade will be in his hands only so long as he treats you fairly, and then supply him with as good quality of stuff as you can produce. This plan has worked out well with many successful growers and marketers.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty to be overcome in successfully finding good markets is that of proper distribution. As has been pointed out in the previous chapter, there has been a great increase in the production of apples and hence in competition, accompanied by speculation and more intensive methods in all phases of the business. A necessity has arisen for the production of the best at a minimum cost, as well as for finding the best market for that product. In the rush for the best market every seller is apt to be guided only by his own immediate interest without due regard for the fact that others are acting in the same way or that there is a future. The result is the piling up of fruit in a marketof high quotations, and a subsequent drop in the price. Then all turn from such a market to a better one with the result that a famine often results where but a few weeks or even days before there had been a feast.
Thus it often happens that one market may have more fruit than it can possibly dispose of at the time, while another, perhaps equally good, goes begging. Such conditions are ruinous to trade. Growers are disappointed and ascribe the cause to the commission man. Consumers are unable many times to profit by a glut in the market but promptly blame the middleman or the grower when the supply is small and the price high.
Other difficulties with our system of marketing are non-uniformity of the grades, the packages, or the fruit itself. There should be a clear definition of just what "firsts" and "seconds" are and this definition rigidly adhered to. Transportation is too frequently insufficient, not rapid enough, especially when perishable fruit is shipped in small lots, and usually at a too high rate. There are undoubtedly too many middlemen between producer and consumer. Growers sell to local dealers who sell to wholesalers at the receiving end. Thesesell to wholesalers at the consuming end, who may sell to jobbers, who sell to retailers. Each man must have his profits, all of which greatly increases costs.
Co-operation.—Individuals have practically no power to remedy such a state of affairs. So long as producers act independently they will have little power either to bring about favorable legislation or to better such market conditions. Acting together as a unit growers have accomplished great things which can be repeated. The co-operative principle has been well tried out in California, where it was first put into operation with citrous fruits, in several other Western States with apples, and in Michigan and the Province of Ontario.
Co-operative associations study carefully the law of supply and demand and take steps to adapt their shipments to it. They standardize the grade, the package, and the fruit, and govern their shipments to given markets by the needs and the demands of those markets. Their unity of effort enables them to make great savings in the purchase of supplies, such as packages, spraying material, fertilizers, etc., and in obtaining and distributing frequently knowledge of markets and market conditions.They also advertise their products, making them better known, creating a demand for them, and by means of correspondence or traveling agents seek out the best markets.
There are now several large fruit exchanges operating over wide sections of country. But the local associations are the vital units in any co-operative movement. Such associations should be incorporated under State laws so that they can do all sorts of business when necessary. Six simple objects should be kept in mind, namely, (1) to prevent unnecessary competition, and to supervise and control distribution of products; (2) to provide for uniformity in the grade, package, and fruit; (3) to build up a high standard of excellence and to create a demand for it; (4) to economize in buying supplies and selling products; (5) to promote education regarding all phases of the fruit business; and (6) when necessary to act as a buying and selling agent for the community.
Such an association requires a board of directors, a treasurer, and an active and well-paid manager. The latter is most important, as upon his honesty, ability, and energy will largely depend the success or failure of the organization. Sometimes where fruit is packed in acentral packing house or under an association brand or guarantee, a foreman packer is also necessary. The capitalization required for such an enterprise is not necessarily large, unless warehouses or packing houses are built. These are usually better rented until the organization becomes well established.
The shares should be small so that every member may be financially well represented, and members should be prohibited from holding more than a small percentage of the total shares, in order to prevent possible monopoly. Dividends on stock held should only be expected from business done outside the association membership, interest on money invested being obtained in the handling of members' products at cost. Receipts should be given growers for just what they bring in, and they should then be paid according to the grade of fruit which they contribute, prices for the same grade being pooled. The charge to growers for handling should be actual cost, but outsiders' products should be handled at a small profit in order to induce them to come into the association. The same method should be followed in purchasing supplies.
The general result of such co-operation isthat the consumer gets a better product for his money and the grower receives a better price for his product. It is very essential to the success of the organization that growers stick together, even through low prices and discouragement which so often come, until they are firmly established. Substantial reduction in the cost of the product to consumers can only come by similar co-operation among them at the buying end and by the co-operation of both consumers and producers for distribution and handling in market.
If a neighborhood does not feel yet ready to attack this problem in this thorough and businesslike way, it will be advantageous and a step in the right direction if they simply agree on certain standards of quality and packing and then pool their product for marketing. This method has also been followed with success.
Nearly every general farm in the humid part of the United States has its small, old apple orchard. For the most part these orchards were planted in order to have a home source of supply of this popular fruit. In fact, but few orchards have been planted on a commercial scale with a view of selling the fruit, until recently and outside of a few sections. Therefore, as a rule we find these old farm orchards to consist of a few acres containing from twenty-five to two hundred trees. These trees are usually good standard varieties which have been the source of much apple "sass," many an apple pie, and many a barrel of cider-vinegar.
Not having been set for profit, these trees received little care. Orchards were cropped in the regular rotation, or with hay, or pastured. Farmers then knew little of modern methods of orchard management. The orchard was regarded as an incumbrance to theland, which had to be farmed to as good advantage as possible under the circumstances, and if the apple trees by any chance yielded a crop, the owner regarded himself as fortunate indeed.
But conditions have now changed. Both local and foreign markets have been opened up and developed so that the demand for good fruit is great. It will be some time before the thousands of acres of orchards which have been and are being planted to meet this demand will be able to do so in any adequate way. It has been shown in Chapter I how heavy has been the falling off in the supply, even in the face of these heavy plantings. Meanwhile we must turn to the old neglected farm orchards for our supply of apples. Just at this particular time the renovation of these old orchards offers a splendid opportunity to increase the farm income.
The question is a live one on nearly every general farm in the East. Will it pay to try to renovate my old apple trees? If so, what should I do to make them profitable? What will it cost and what returns may be expected? The latter question will be taken up in the following chapter, but here we must try toindicate under what conditions it may pay to renovate an old orchard, as well as those under which it may not pay, and also how to go about the problem.
Necessary Qualities.—An apple orchard must have certain qualifications in order to make it worth while to spend the time and money necessary to accomplish the desired results. These we may take up briefly under five heads: (1) varieties, (2) age, (3) number or "stand" of trees, (4) vigor and health of the trees, and (5) soil, site, and location. The discussion of these subjects in Chapters II and III has equal application here, but we may perhaps point out their specific application more definitely in the case of the old neglected farm orchard.
(1) Varieties should be desirable sorts. If they are the best standard market varieties, as is often the case, so much the better. Otherwise little is gained by improving the tree and fruit. Poor or unknown varieties have little or no market value, except perhaps a very local one. If the trees are not too old and are fairly vigorous, poor varieties may sometimes be worked over by top grafting to better varieties. Characteristics which may make, a varietyundesirable are: inferior quality; unattractiveness in color, shape, or size; lack of hardiness in the tree or keeping quality in the fruit; low yield; or being unknown in the market with its consequent small demand. Summer varieties are worth renovating only when they are in good demand in a nearby local market.
(2) Vigor is more important than age in the tree, but is closely correlated with it. Ordinarily one should hesitate to try to renovate a tree more than forty or fifty years old, but this must always depend almost wholly on its condition and other characteristics.
(3) In order to make a business of renovation and to do thorough work which means expense, there must be enough of the orchard to justify the expenditure of the time and money. This affects the results not only in expense, but in economy in management, equipment, and marketing. There should be at least an acre of say thirty trees, and better, more than that number to justify the expense of time and money necessary for renovation. One hundred trees would certainly justify it, other conditions being favorable. Then, too, the trees should be in such shape that they can be properly treated without too great trouble and expense,i.e., not too scattered or isolated or in the midst of regular fields better adapted for other crops.
(4) Vigor and good general health are of great importance. Many old trees are too far gone with neglect, having been too long starved or having their vitality too much weakened by disease to make an effort for their rehabilitation worth while. Good vigor, even though it be dormant, is absolutely essential. Disease weakens the tree, making the expense of renovation greater. Moreover, all diseased branches must be removed, requiring severe cutting and often seriously injuring the tree. Disease too often stunts the tree to such an extent as to make stimulation practically impossible. Such matters should be carefully looked into before attempting renovation.
(5) If the soil, site, and location are all unfavorable or even if two of these are not good, time and money are likely to be wasted on renovation. What constitutes unfavorable conditions in these respects has already been pointed out in Chapter III.
Practically the same principles of pruning, cultivation, fertilization and spraying apply in the management of the old orchard as in any other orchard. It may be well, however, torestate these, briefly pointing out their special value and application to the old neglected orchard together with the few modifications of practice necessary. The steps to be taken are four: (1) pruning, (2) fertilizing, (3) cultivating, and (4) spraying.
(1)Pruning.—Old and long-neglected apple orchards usually have a large amount of dead wood in them. This may be removed at any time of the year, but fall and winter are good times to begin the work. If the trees are high and the limbs scattered and sprawling so that the middle of the trees is not well filled out, the trees should be headed back rather severely. Such trees may safely have their highest limbs cut back from five to ten feet. It is best not to remove too many branches in one year, but to spread severe cutting back over at least two years, as so much pruning at one time weakens the tree and causes an excessive growth of "suckers." Each limb should be cut back to a rather strong and vigorous lateral branch which may then take up the growth of the upright one. The effect of such heading back will be to stimulate the branches lower down and probably to bring in more or less "suckers." The following year the best of these suckersshould be selected at proper points about the tree, headed in so as to develop their lateral buds, and encouraged by the removal of all other suckers to fill in the top and center of the tree in the way desired. All such severe heading in should best be done in the early spring.
(2)Fertilizing.—At some time during the late fall or winter twelve to fifteen loads of stable manure should be applied broadcast on each acre, scattering it well out under the ends of the branches. This will amount to a load to from three to five trees. In case manure is not available, or sometimes even supplementary to it in cases where quick results are wanted 100 to 200 pounds of nitrate of soda, 300 to 500 pounds of acid phosphate, and 150 to 200 pounds of sulphate or muriate of potash should be applied in two applications as a top dressing in spring, as soon as growth starts, and thoroughly worked into the soil. This will give the trees an abundance of available plant food, which is usually badly needed, and help to stimulate them to a vigorous growth. Such heavy feeding may easily be overdone and should be adjusted according to conditions and the needs of the orchard.
(3)Cultivating.—If the orchard hasbeen in sod for a number of years, as is often the case, it is usually best to plow it in the fall about four inches deep, just deep enough to turn under the sod. By so doing a large number of roots will probably be broken, but such injury will be much more than offset by the stimulus to the trees the next season. It is a good plan to apply the stable manure on the top of this plowed ground early in the winter. Fall plowing gives a better opportunity for rotting the sod and exposes to the winter action of the elements the soil, which is usually stale and inactive after lying so long unturned. In the spring the regular treatment with springtooth and spiketooth harrows should be followed as outlined in Chapter V.
(4)Sprayingin the old orchard is essentially the same as elsewhere. It is necessary, however, to emphasize the first spray, the dormant one, winter strength on the wood. This is the most important spray for a neglected orchard and it should be very thoroughly applied. It is a sort of cleaning-up spray for scale, fungus, and insects which winter on the bark. In orchards where the San José scale is bad a strong lime-sulphur spray should also be used in the late fall in order to make doublysure a thorough cleaning up. It is usually a pretty good plan to scrape old trees as high up as the rough, shaggy bark extends, destroying the scrapings. For this purpose an old and dull hoe does very well. This treatment will get rid of many insects by destroying them and their winter quarters.
Patching Old Trees.—A few suggestions on patching up the weak places in an old tree may not be entirely out of place. The question is often asked, will it pay to fill up the decayed centers or sides of old trees? If the tree is otherwise desirable to save, it usually will. Scrape out all the dead and rotten material, cleaning down to the sound heart wood. Then fill up the cavity with a rough cement, being careful to exclude all air and finishing with a smooth, sloping surface so as to drain away all moisture. This treatment will probably prevent further decay and often acts as a substantial mechanical support.
Trees which are badly split or which have so grown that a heavy crop is likely to break them over should be braced with wires or bolts. Where the limbs are close together a bolt driven right through them with wide, strong washers at the ends is very effective instrengthening the tree. Where limbs must be braced from one side of the tree across to the other wires are the best to use. They may be fastened to bolts through the limbs with wide washers on the outside hooks on the inside, or by passing the wire around the branches. In the latter case some wide, fairly rigid material such as tin, pieces of wood, or heavy leather should be used to protect the tree from the wire which would otherwise cut into the bark and perhaps girdle the limb.
Cost.—For the benefit of those who would like to get some idea of the probable cost of renovating old apple orchards, the following estimate made by the writer in a recent government publication on this subject is given. This estimate has been carefully made up from actual records kept on several New York farms. Because these costs are very variable according to the condition of the orchard, both maximum and minimum amounts are given per acre for the first year only.