The principles of fruit-growing

Front matter

^h tTHERURALl SCIENCE Sga

SERIES!

BY LH- BAILEY m. L. Jiv^hUis

Preface To The Second Edition

It is nearly a year since I left this work with the printer. The first copy of the book which I saw was procured in a foreign land; and now that a second edition is called for, I find myself again in fields and orchards of another country. These personal remarks are not of themselves worth making here; but they shall be my excuse for writing a few contrasts of American and European fruit-growing.

Classified in respect to the objects in view, there are two kinds of fruit-growing, — that which desires the product primarily for home use, and that which desires it primarily for market. Of market or commercial fruit-growing, there are again two types, — that which aims at a special or personal market, and that which aims at the general or open market. The ideals in these two types of fruit-growing are very unlike, and the methods and the varieties which succeed for the one may not succeed for the other. The man who grows fruits for the special market, has a definite problem. The product is desired for its intrinsic qualities; and special products demand special prices. The man who grows fruit for the world's market, has no personal customer. The product is vi Preface.

desired for its extrinsic or market qualities; and the world's products bring the world's prices. The special -market fruit-grower generally works on a small base. The world's -market fruit-grower works on a large base ; or he sells to another who, by combining sirnilar products of many persons, is able to command the attention of the market.

Now, it is the large base upon which American fruit-growing is established which enables it to enter European markets. In America are thousands of acres of one variety, and the conditions under which the fruits are grown are so similar as to produce uniformity in the product. We speak one language, and, although we are two nations, we live in practically the same political environment. • We go to Europe, and to our own great markets, with wholesale quantities.

In Europe, on the contrarj', nearly every fruit-growing center is unique. The industry is the outcome of years, may be of centuries, of local effort and tradition. There is no general uniformity of methods and varieties. Community of interests on a large base is impossible. There are insurmountable difficulties of physiography, of races, languages and political systems. In the staple products, the European grower may not be able to compete with Americans in his own markets, so long as those markets remain naturally open.

The American fruit-grower quickly assimilates new methods. He is unfettered by tradition; and how much this means only those can understand who know

Preface. vii

the European customs and ideals. He is bold and confident. He easily buys and sells land. He controls his own efforts and destinies. He has more help from teachers and experiment stations than the European has. A single instance will illustrate all this. Spraying for fungous diseases is a European development, whereas large -area spraying for insects is an American development. The American has assimilated the spraying for plant diseases and has made improvements in the machinery, while he has at the same time made equal progress in fighting insects; but the European has not assimilated the American methods of handling insects, and spraying for plant diseases is probably less generally understood than in America.

In many parts of Europe, the farmer is a tenant, and he therefore has little interest in planting trees. But even if he owns land, the area is usually small, notwithstanding the fact that there are manj^ very large individual plantations. There are few great geographical regions which are adapted to fruit-growing, or which, if they are adapted, can be utilized for that purpose. The environments of the Old World farmer are relatively inflexible. The result is that his methods tend to become stereotyped and rigid. He lacks the inspiration which comes of conditions which are easily recast and modified. His small areas must be so crowded with many kinds of plants that machinework is impossible. There are few orchards in Europe, as that word is understood in America, meaning an area devoted exclusively to tree fruits set at regular viii Preface.

distances and cultivated systematically with laborsaving machinery.

For these and other reasons, as well as for the fact that our fruits and their manufactured products are attractive and of good quality, I believe that the American fruit-grower will find an increasing market in Europe. But the greater the quantity sent abroad, the more discriminating will that market become; and it must be true that the brands and the varieties of inferior quality tend to supply the inferior markets.

But if I believe that American fruit-growing is in advance of the European in its general commercial aspects, I am equally convinced that the European is in advance in growing for special and personal uses. The narrowness of the enterprises, the competition in restricted areas, the respect for traditional methods and varieties, conserve the very elements which appeal to the discriminating consumer, while, at the same time, they develop grea't skill in the fruit-grower. The care which is bestowed on individual plants, the niceties of exposure and of training, the patient handwork, may almost be said to develop personal traits in the fruits themselves. Such fruits may not find a place in the open market, but for that very reason they may have a higher commercial value.

At the head of a little valley, closely shut in by the Alps, is a famous apple orchard. The trees are trained upright on the opposite sides of a double espalier or trellis, the sides of which are less than two feet apart. In each of these rows, the trees are two to four feet asunder. These trellises are perhaps ten feet

Preface . ix

the one from the other, and between each two is a row of apples on cordons or single horizontal wires; and in the spaces potatoes or other annual crops are often planted. Even the wires that brace the end posts of the trellises have apple trees trained on them like strands of vines. Each tree is trained to a definite number of branches or arms, and even the fruit -spurs are carefully determined. This plantation is the property of a company whose business it is to care for the land and the trees, and to find a market for the fruit. It is expensive to grow apples in this way ; but the best Calvilles often bring a gulden (about forty -one cents) apiece.

Perhaps the most important lesson which the American fruit-grower has yet to learn is the fact that there are two types of effort in commercial fruit-growing, and that there may be pecuniary reward in fruits which are unknown in the market. Failure to. distinguish these two categories is the result of a confusion of ideas. One grows fruit either for a special and personal market, in which case he looks for his own customer and is independent of general trade; or he grows what the market demands, and allows the machinery of trade to handle the product. In the latter effort, the American fruit-grower is preeminent; but in the former he has made little more than a beginning.

L. H. BAILEY.

BozEN, Tyrol, May 20, 1898.

V

CHAPTER I. Introductory Discussion

Inventory of fruits. Orchard culture or tree-fruit culture— VomsiCGona fruits -Drupaceous or stone fruits — Citrous fruits -Moraceous fruits -Anonaceous fruits— Myrtaceous fruits -Sapotaceous fruits— Anacardiaceous fruits-Ebeiiaceous fruits -Leguminous fruits -Nut-fruits -Palmaceous fruits -Miscellaneous tree-fruits.- Fme-/nn'i citZtore- Viticulture— Passifloraceous fruits. — Small-fruit culture — Rubaceous fruits -Ribaceous fruits -Miscellaneous bush-fruits -Strawberry culture -Cranberry cnlture.- JVon-woody or herb-like /rjri^s -Musaceous fruits -Pineapple -Cactaceous fruits— Miscellaneous herb-like fruits

The geography of fruit-growing. The temperature determinant— The moisture determinant— The soil determinant—The parasite determinant

The course of evolution of a fruit-region.

The outlook for fruit-growing. The two factors concerned—Farmers do not become rich— Always a demand for the unlike— Choice of business is a matter of taste and capital—Farmer must master his local conditions — The fruit-grower, therefore, must be trained — Best farmers are often not brought up on the farm -The farmer is his own business manager— Outlook best in those fruits which make the greatest number of secondary products. -Js there over production of /rwif.?— Insufficient distribution -Tendency must be for cheaper fruit— Normal failure of many plantations. .

(xi)

Pages 1-36

2-7

7-25 26-27

27-36 xii Contents.

CHAPTER II. Paqks The Location and its Climate 37-131

The place. The geography of a fruit farm— Choice with reference to markets and frosts. — Location with reference to marfcet — Importance of transportation facilities — The personal markets. — Location with reference to frosts — Frosts and freezes — Proximity to bodies of water— Nature of the influence of lakes — Retardation of bloom— Elevation and frost— Climate held responsible for too much— The declining peach &rea,s.— Winds and air-currents in relation to fruit-growing—High and rolling lands— High winds to be avoided

— Effects of winds in drying up land and plants — Low wind-breaks to" lessen evaporation. — Atmospheric drainage — The currents of air— Cold and dense air settles in low places— The frosty belt below a wood— Very small objects intercept movement of cold air— Temperatures of high and low stations 37-57

The site for the fruit plantation. Elevated sites usually better— The exposure. — T?<e aspect — North and south slopes 58-61

Wind-breaks for fruit plantations. Tabulated opinions of fruit-growers — Epitome of benefits of wind-breaks- Experiences adverse to wind-hreaks. — Statements of authors

— Wind-breaks for many kinds of fruits and in various parts of the country. — J'^ores^s and frtiit-growing — InQnence upon wind and moisture— Its relation to insects and diseases. — Review of the influences of wind-hreaks upon fruit plantations— Yfhait winds it is desired to break — Winds from bodies of water— The effect of a wind-break upon winds. — Po.s'<7t ox of the wind-break with reference to the fruit plantation — The prevailing winds — Opinions of fruit-growers. — ^ow to make the wind-break — Kinds of trees — Opinions of fruit-growers — Conclusions. — (re weraZ summary upon wind-breaks — Condensed statements of benefits and injuries .... 62-92

Protecting plantations from frost. Mulching to enable plants to escape frost— Ex^^eriments at Ithaca— Mulching strawberries — Conclusions. — Covering plants for protection — Methods of covering— Laying down blackberries and raspberries—Protecting peach trees. — Adding vapor of water

Contents. xiii

Paoks to the air— Irrigating and flooding— Spraying for frost— Tilling— Systematic evaporation of water in orchards. — Tfce making 0/ smttdgres — Characteristics of a good smudge — Materials to use — Spraying the smudges— An account of European exTperience. — Making currents of air— Heating the air

-Use of large fires 92-121

The prediction op frost. Records of frosts — Frost charts — The psychrometer— Finding the dew-point. . . 121-131

CHAPTER III. The Tillage of Fruit Lands 133-174

Evolution of tillage — Apparently contrary to nature — Comparison with the forest— Weeds — Neglect of apple orchards.

The philosophy op tillage. Three main objects of t\\\- age. — The texture of the soi?— Physical conditions more important than mere •plant-food. — The moisture of the soil- Drought and rainfall — The moisture reservoir— Fall plowing — Tillage to save moisture — The earth-mulch. . . . 138-145

Use of the various tools in relation to conservation of moisture. Plowing to save moisture — The test ot good plowing. — Harrowing to save moisture— The spring-tooth harrow — The acme harrow— The disc harrows — The smoothing harrows. — Cultivators and conservation of moisture— hevel culture vs. ridge culture. — T/ie roller in its relation to soil moisture — Di&iculty of using the roller properly—Its relation to seeding— Should be followed by tillage . 145-154

Suggestions for the tilling op fruit lands. Draining— Subsoiling— Preliminary preparation of land for fruit plantations — The plowing of the orchard— Level culture — The tools — Harnesses — The tillage in the early and late years of the orchard.. — Specific remarks — 1, Begin to till when the orchard is planted, and till the entire surface— The deep rooting of trees — 2, Tillage should be begun early in the season, in orchards — The early growth of trees — 3, Tillage should generally be stopped in late summer or very early fall— 4, Till in such manner that the land may be in uniform fine tilth — 5, Tillage may be overdone — Too rapid growth ,. . . 154-169 xiv Contents.

Pages Cropping the orohard. The open space about the tree—

The kind of crops for an orchard— Nursery stock in fruit

plantations — Sod in the orchard— Fallowing the orchard . 170-174

CHAPTER IV. The Fertilizing of Fruit Lands .... 175-223

Plants will grow without fertilizers — Profit may lie in using additional plant-food, however— Humus — Formation of soils— Weeds.

The lesson op nursery lands. Injuries to such lands- Source of fertility in soils— Man's treatment of the land — The features of the nursery lands — The conclusions respecting the depletion of nursery lands 178-183

Cover crops. What they are— Objects of their use— Experiments with covers at CorneU. — The kinds of cover crops —A local question — Rye — Corn, buckwheat and cereals — Peas and beans— Cow pea— Vetch — Crimson Clover— Analyses . 184-202

Fertilizing the fruit plantation. Trees vs. annual crops — Plant-food taken up by trees — Effects of the various elements — New Jersey experiments in fertilizing peaches.— Stable »na«Mre — Rotation in manures — Danger of over use of barn manures. — Chemical fertilisers — Nitrogen — Potash — Phosphoric acid — Recommendations by Voorhees. — Summary statement .......... 202-22.3

CHAPTER V. The Planting of Fruit Grounds .... 224-27G

The choice of varieties. A personal question — The mental ideal— 1, Follow personal preferences — 2, Obtain a specific ideal of the purpose for which the fruit is to be grown— 3, Do not covet varieties of other geographical regions— 4, Choose with reference to local environment— 5, Choose with reference to inter-pollination— The mixing of varieties— Lists of self-fertile and self-sterile varieties — 6, The choice should be aided by inquiry of many persons and accessible writings . 224-230

Contents. xv

Paoks The selection op the plants. What is first-class stock?

— Age at which to buy. — Dwarfs vs. standards — The parentage of the stock may affect Us value — Buying the trees- Peddlers— Near-by nurseries 230-237

The setting of the plants. When to plant — F&ll vs. spring— Stripped trees.- Distance apart— The mixing of species, or double planting — The opinions of Van Deman.— How to plant the stock — Preparing the land — Making the holes — Mulching— Puddling. — Trt)/r»n»;7 the trees — The two ideals — Illustrations of methods — Trim after planting — Trimming fall-set trees 2o7-2.54

The laying out of the fruit plantation. Surveying the land — The corn marker— Tree placers. — To layout with the plow — Laying out with a line — Another line method- Staking methods — Orchard plans — The hexagonal or Van Deman plan — The alternate plan — The Wellhouse plan — The Parker Earle plan — The Olden plan — Hale and Olden -plana for -peach orchards. — The family fruit plantation . . 2.54-276

CHAPTER VI. The Secondary and Incidental Care of the Fruit

Plantation 277-343

Epitome of methods of tilling the land — May not be necessary to plow when orchard is grown — Effect of breaking the roots— The tools— Importance of saving the moisture.

The general care op the plants. Staking young trees — Sun-scald— Ba rk-hound trees — Scraping trees — Girdled trees and girdling — Pruning and heading -in— Winter preparations — Depredations of stock and birds— Top -grafting hearing trees— Thinning the fruit ..... 282-306

Maps and records. Record books and plans — Labels . 307-313

Injuries by cold and rain. Winter -killing of the wood.

— Winter -killing of the fruit-buds — Injuries to the stvelling buds — Injuries to flowers and growing parts— What is an injurious degree of cold? — The effect of rain upon blossoms . 313-340

Renovating old orchards. Nature of the problem— How to begin and what to expect— Why are orchards barren f . 340-343 xvi Contents.

CHAPTER VII. Pages Diseases, Insects and Spraying 344-377

Historical coirtrast respecting spraying— Secondary results of the spraying idea— Calls attention to pests — Forces new ideals — Will bring in some of the discarded varieties— Forces a closer study of companionships of pests and crops, and of rotations— Will take its place as one of the cardinal operations of fruit farming— Will force better care of the plantation—Will make the grower more watchful— Will enlarge his horizon— Classification of pests and diseases — Insects — Parasitic fungi— Physiological and germ diseases — Borers — Rootgalls— Injuries by hail — Bagging,

Specific remarks upon spraying. 1, Sprayiyig is only one of the requisites to success in fruit-raising — 2, Spraying is an insurance — 3, Spraying is of some value every year upon apples, pears, plums, quinces, grapes and various other fruits — ^, Spray thoroughly, or not at all — 5, Prepare for next yearns work during the winter— 6, The style of pump and nozzle to rise depends almost wholly upon the particular kind of work to he done — 7, The farmer should know what he wants to kill before he begins to spray — 8, The time to spray must be determined for each particular case— 9, Prepare stock solutions for the Bordeaux mixture, rather than to make each batch in the quantities called for by the formula — 10, ffoiv can one tell if soluble arsenic is present in Paris green .? — 11, ffow can one determine if Paris green is pure ? — 12, What becomes of the arsenic when it falls upon the soil ? — Summary. 353-377

CHAPTER VIII. Harvesting and Marketing Fruit . . , . 378-479

Picking fruits. When to ptcfc— Long-keeping and ripeness — Apples — Pears — Peaches and apricots — Cherries and plums. — How to picfc— Pick by the stem — Leave the stem on —Fruit is picked in temporary receptacles — Ladders— Fruit-pickers — Keep fruit away from the 9,\in- — Keepirig records with the pickers — Necessity of hand-picking . . . . 378-401

Contents. xvii

Pages The packing of fruit. What is first-class fruit? — Importance of uniformity in size. — How in pack — The tiers or layers of fruit— Facing fruit in barrels — Packing for export

— Packing in California— German agitation— Wrapping the fruits — Snugness in packing — Trade-marks — Fruit must be

well grown. — Packages 401-425

Packing houses and appliances. Two types of houses

— Packing tables— Sorting tables — Apple presses . . . 425-434 Storing fruits. General advice — Storage is a business

by itself— Temporary storage — Risks in storing— Cooperative storage. — Eequisifes for domestic 6-^oragre — Ventilation

— Moisture — Fruit trays. — Storage Buildings — Various types

— Vermont apple house — Alwood's house — Alcoholic vapor

as a fruit preservative 435-461

Shipping and reaching the consumer. The grower and the consumer-How to reach the market.— Refrigerator cars — Shipping associations — An illustration of a fruit market 461-479

APPENDIX (pages 481-500)

1. How DID THE VARIETIES OF FRUITS ORIGINATE? 481-482

II. Remarks on classifying and describing fruits 483-487 III. American books on fruit-growing. . , 488-501

0'^-

THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT GROWING.