CULTIVATION.

Here is where failure usually comes. If the young tree is to grow, the cultivation must be thorough. The weeds must be kept down and the ground moist. The tools necessary are a plow, harrow, extension disc harrow, a "Kimball" cultivator and a plank drag. The ground should be stirred with one of these implements at least once in every ten days during the growing season. For young trees cultivation should cease about August 1; for bearing trees about August 20.

COVER CROPS.

Next in importance to cultivation, and a necessary adjunct to it, is the winter cover crop. Constant cultivation in summer without a cover crop for the rainy season is even more wasteful than the old summer fallow for wheat. The common vetch is the best cover crop for Western Oregon conditions and for those portions of Eastern Oregon which do not have severe winters. The seed should be sown at the rate of about forty pounds per acre in the latter part of August or early in September. It may be sown at the time of the last cultivation. It must be sown early in order to acquire sufficient growth to be turned under early in May. Where the winters are cold and conditions are not favorable for the common vetch, the hairy vetch may be substituted for it. The vetch being a leguminous plant will gather sufficient nitrogen to supply the needs of the orchard, and will provide humus so that moisture can be held throughout the dry season. Where this system has been followed for three or four years I have seen in the middle of August the soil so moist just below the surface that it could be squeezed into a compact mass in the hand.

After a good growth of the trees has been obtained or when they are four or five years old the cover crop may be allowed to grow one summer instead of being plowed under. This will tend to check wood growth to some extent and to induce the formation of fruit buds. The heavy mulch will retain as much moisture as is necessary and the crop will re-seed itself.

SPRAYING.

This subject is covered in detail in another part of this report, but I will give here a few special instructions regarding the apple. At the present time one is reasonably sure of getting good, clean stock from the nurseryman; but personal attention should always be given to this point, and if there is any reason for suspicion the stock should be fumigated, dipped or sprayed before planting. Then keep it clean by continued spraying; don't wait for it to become infected with all kinds of trouble before beginning to spray. Every young apple tree should have a good annual spraying with lime and sulphur. The best time to apply this is early in November or at latest just as early as the leaves fall. The scale can be killed easier at that time than at any other and the spores of fungous diseases can be reached at the same time. When the trees come into bearing they should have another spraying with lime and sulphur just before the buds open in the spring. This is to prevent apple scab, and is very essential for this purpose.

For the codling moth the first spraying with two or three pounds of arsenate of lead to fifty gallons of water should be applied within five to ten days after the blossoms fall. The apples at this time are pointing up and the calyx end is still open so that the cavity can be filled with poison awaiting the coming of the worm several weeks later. This spray should be applied with a coarse nozzle like the Bordeaux, and be sprayed directly against the end of the apple with great force. To do this have a bend in the end of your spray rod, and if the trees are very high use a tower and get up above your tree. Great thoroughness is absolutely essential in this

work, for one apple overlooked may mean several hundred worms in August and September. The second spraying for codling moth should be given about June 25 to July 1 and a third August 1 and a fourth about September 5 to 10.

PRUNING.

There are many different ways of pruning the apple tree: high head or low head; open center or full center, etc. Unquestionably the low-headed tree is the best. The high tree can neither be sprayed thoroughly nor can the fruit be thinned or gathered economically. In setting out the tree head it back to 18 inches from the ground, and a right start will have been made. Further explicit directions can not be given, for no two trees will grow exactly alike; each must be treated according to its individual needs. It has been said that a tree will never grow a limb just where or how you want it.

Aim to grow a tree that will support itself just as nearly as possible; avoid all Y or V-shaped crotches and do not cut all the center out under the mistaken idea that it is necessary to do this to let in the sunlight. A well loaded tree will bend under the weight of the fruit until it will open up the center all that is necessary. A tree with the center all cut out is already deprived of its natural support and artificial aid must be provided from the start.

THINNING THE FRUIT.

Apples need more or less thinning every year if a large percentage of first-class fruit is to be obtained. With the Spitzenburgh thinning is absolutely essential to procure perfect development. The general rule is to leave only one apple in a place, and far enough apart so they will not touch at maturity. This will require from four to six inches of space, according to the size of the apple. Hand-thinning should be done early, as soon as the crop is well set and nature has completed her process of thinning. The work may be done with the fingers without the aid of any instrument by merely bending the small apples sharply back as in regular picking; but the work is best accomplished by the use of small shears made especially for the purpose. These shears were used by a number of orchardists last season and can be obtained at leading hardware dealers this season. It is contended by some that this is too much bother and expense, but those who are doubtful are urged to give it a trial on a few trees at least. Note carefully the cost and the benefit. These surplus apples must be picked some time, and it can be done cheaper at thinning time in June than at picking time in September or October. The remainder given opportunity for full development will equal in quantity and surpass in quality the unthinned fruit.

PICKING.

It is difficult to tell just when to pick an apple. Experience can be the only guide. Weather conditions enter largely into the question, as it is certainly better to pick a little early when a storm is threatening than to risk the loss from wind and rain. Fruit for storage and long keeping must be picked before full maturity is reached. Correct storage being merely a process of keeping the apple from ripening, it is plain the apple must not be fully ripe at the beginning. Fruit that is to be marketed locally or early in the season can be left upon the trees much longer, thus securing higher color and fuller flavor. A safe general rule is to pick as soon as sound fruit begins to fall from the tree in normal weather, and when the seeds are well browned; although these two conditions are not always simultaneous.

There are many picking devices, patented and otherwise, but perhaps the most generally satisfactory way is to use deep, galvanized iron pails holding twelve or fourteen quarts and a stout hook to hang them to a limb. The one point of prime importance is to get the apples gathered without bruising, and to do this they must be handled like eggs and not poured like potatoes. With the buckets the foreman can instantly tell by the sound if a picker is dropping the fruit into them. In emptying, the bucket is set down next the box and with both hands the picker or sorter quickly transfers the fruit. If sufficient help is at hand the fruit can be sorted more quickly and cheaply at this time than at any other. Apples should be cool as possible when hauled to the packing shed or storage room. When weather conditions will permit, it is a good plan to do the hauling in the morning, leaving the afternoon picking stacked up under the trees to cool over night.

The best lalders are the self-supporting styles of stepladders. Do not use a ladder that must be leaned against the tree except for the apples high in the top that can not be reached otherwise, and then only after the others have all been gathered.

HAULING.

A low truck with a solid, wide platform sloping slightly to the center so the boxes will not slide off, is the most convenient vehicle for hauling the boxes from the orchard to the packing shed. If to be hauled any distance, as to the shipping station, bolster springs should be provided.

PACKING.

The first step is sorting and wiping. Provide the sorters with cotton gloves or mittens made of Turkish toweling, and they can wipe all apples that need it as they sort. It is not advisable to wipe the apple unless they are dirty or marked with spray. Grade to three or four sizes for convenience in packing. About equal quantities of the two sizes of boxes, the "standard” and the "special" will be needed. The paper required is the lining paper, pink, red or white, as preferred, the blue cardboard for layers and an assortment of wrapping paper; 10x10 sheets for the largest apples, 8x10 for medium and 8x8 for small. Only first-class apples should be wrapped, and the cardboard need be used only for long distance shipment or storage. The diagonal pack, the two two, and three two, should be used wherever possible, as the fruit is bruised less by this method than by any other, and also it is easier to secure a firm pack and a proper bulge to the box. Good packing requires training and experience, and is nearly-one-half the battle in marketing the fruit. A nailing press is essential in nailing on the box covers.

MARKETING.

Wherever possible this should be done through a fruit growers' union. The individual, unless he has a very large orchard, is at a disadvantage; the reasons are too obvious to need mentioning in an article of this kind. The matter is no longer an experiment; the details have all been worked out by the several strong organizations now in existence in the State, and the beginner can get all the information necessary.