. Better fruit. Fruit-culture. Six-year-old tree planted in a blasted hole. can plant it only once, and its health and growth, the age at which it begins to bear, and the quantity and quality of fruit borne, depend chiefly on the care and thoroughness used in plant- ing ; Up to a few years ago, the method follow-ed by most good orchardists was to dig a hole seldom more than two feet in diameter and 18 inches deep, then plant the tree in top soil or a mixture of top soil and subsoil. Un- der this system the loss the first year ran from 25 percent to 50 percent, depending on soil and wea
. Better fruit. Fruit-culture. Six-year-old tree planted in a blasted hole. can plant it only once, and its health and growth, the age at which it begins to bear, and the quantity and quality of fruit borne, depend chiefly on the care and thoroughness used in plant- ing ; Up to a few years ago, the method follow-ed by most good orchardists was to dig a hole seldom more than two feet in diameter and 18 inches deep, then plant the tree in top soil or a mixture of top soil and subsoil. Un- der this system the loss the first year ran from 25 percent to 50 percent, depending on soil and weather condi- tions. Then tree planting with explo- sives was taken up by a few orchard- ists who realized the shortcomings of. A Fig. 1. BCD Different types of hardpan encountered in the orchard. the intersections, kicks some soil over the roots, tramps it down, and moves on to the next intersection. This method expresses a touching confi- dence in nature, but results indicate such confidence is misplaced. A tree that survives such treatment must have as many lives as the pro- verbial cat, and if it lives, how many years must elapse before it bears any fruit? What grade of fruit can be ex- pected from a tree aged and bent with the fight for existence before it saves strength enough to bear at all? Going to the other extreme we find a horticulturist advising: "Forget you are about to plant a tree and imagine you are going to bury a horse, and dig a hole accordingly. Remember you the ordinary methods, and the neces- sity of cutting down first year losses, and speeding fruition. The first objections to the new method were largely financial. The cost of explosives, blasting cap, fuse and labor ran from 8c to 15c per hole, whereas trees could be planted with a spade for 3c to 5c per hole. The trouble with this comparison is that the work performed is not the same, hence costs should not be compared. The question involved is, how soon does the planter want a return from his inves
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