A matter which is quite nearly related to pruning is thinning the fruit, and may properly be treated here. That this is not as common a practice with most fruit-growers as it shoul...
Many people make the common mistake of thinking that a green manure crop must be allowed to grow until late in June in order to secure the maximum amount of growth. There are sever...
The necessary plant food is best supplied by stable manure applied at the rate of ten loads per acre for a light application to twenty loads per acre for a heavy application. This...
The more important fungicides, the commercial lime sulphur and the self-boiled lime-sulphur, are practically superseding Bordeaux as a fungicide, not because they are necessarily b...
The most important of the non-leguminous crops are rye, buckwheat, turnips or rape, barley, oats, and millet. The first mentioned are the most commonly used. Also in order of impor...
The application of the foregoing spray mixtures is fully as important as the sprays themselves, for on the right application at the right time depends the efficacy of the spray. Fo...
Three elements are necessary for the growth of apple trees, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. To these lime may be added, although its benefit is indirect rather than direct a...
The general method of pruning the old trees and the ideal in mind for it will also influence the pruning of the young tree, especially the shaping of it. Once determined upon, the...
The spraying of fruit trees in the United States is of comparatively recent origin, having been a general commercial practice for less than two decades. It involves the principle o...
Although not as numerous as insects, the diseases which attack the apple inflict great damage and are fully as difficult to control. They are caused by bacteria and by fungi which...
The best tool to use in pruning is one which brings you nearest to your work and over which you have the greatest control to make all kinds of cuts. In the writer's experience no t...
In general, legumes are more valuable as cover and green manure crops than non-leguminous plants, because as a rule they are more rank growers and more deeply rooted, as well as be...
It is a common saying among farmers who have grown apples on their farms for many years that there are many more pests to fight than there used to be. How often we have heard a far...
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 brie...
Two factors have always operated to deter many persons from taking up fruit growing as a business or even as a side issue on the farm, and they will probably continue to be an obst...
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...
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 growi...
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 s...
The common tillage practice in the sections where it is most followed is to plow either in late fall or as early as possible in the spring. Whether fall or spring plowing is best d...
When there is an abundance of food and conditions are otherwise favorable, any animal or plant will thrive better than when the food supply is scarce and conditions unfavorable. As...
The value of records depends on their accuracy and on their completeness. There are a great many factors which enter into the cost of production. For convenience these may be class...
In its broad sense cultivation is the treatment of the soil. Thus understood orchard cultivation includes the sod mulch system as well as the stirring of the soil with various impl...
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 c...
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 necessar...
Fortunately it is not necessary to make a separate application for each insect and disease, but they may be treated together to some extent. In most cases expediency demands that t...
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 o...
With these fundamental principles in mind we may safely outline a method of pruning an apple tree. As the desired end is different so will the method of pruning a young tree differ...