Seven years from
planting is almost too soon to decide how well I have succeeded, but the
results attained and the promises for the future lead me to believe that
there will be no failure in my plan.
The three essentials for beginning such an orchard are: prepare the land
properly, get good stock (healthy and true to name), and plant it well.
I could do no more this year than to plough deep, smooth the surface,
and plant as well as I knew how. Increased fertility must come from
future cultivation and top dressing. The thing most prominent in my plan
was to get good trees well placed in the ground before cold weather set
in. At my time of life I could not afford to wait for another autumn, or
even until spring. I had, and still have, the opinion that a
fall-planted tree is nearly six months in advance of one planted the
following spring. Of course there can be no above-ground growth during
that time, but important things are being done below the surface. The
roots find time to heal their wounds and to send out small searchers
after food, which will be ready for energetic work as soon as the sun
begins to warm the soil.
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