What effect will a crop of wheat have on new cleared land, to be planted in fruit trees later on?

One crop of wheat or barley will make no particular difference with the cleared land which you expect to plant to fruit later.  It would be better to grow a cultivated crop like corn, potatoes, beets, squashes, etc., because this crop would require summer cultivation which would kill out many weeds or sprouts and leave your land in better shape for planting.

Depth in Planting Fruit Trees.

I have been advised to plant the bud scar above ground in a wet country. 
Is that right?

On ordinary good loam, plant the tree so that it will stand about the same as it did in the nursery:  a little lower, perhaps, but not much.  The bud scar should be a little above the surface.  It is somewhat less likely to give trouble by decay in the upset tissue.  If the soil is heavy and wet, plant higher, perhaps, than the nursery soil-mark, but not much.  In light, sandy soil, plant lower — even from four to six inches lower — than in the nursery sometimes.  In this case the budscar is below the surface, but that does not matter in a light, dry soil which does not retain moisture near the surface.

Fruit Trees in a Wet Place.

One part of my orchard is low and wet, much scale and old trees loose.  Will much spraying be a cure and can I use posts to hold the old trees firm, or would you take out and put in Bartlett pears!

Spraying would kill the scale but no spraying will make a tree satisfactory in inhospitable soil.  As pears will endure wet places better than apples, it would seem to be wise to make the substitution, providing the situation is not too bad for any fruit tree.  In that case you can use it for a summer vegetable patch.

Cutting Back at Planting.

I have planted a lot of one-year-old cherry trees and would like to know if I should cut them down the same as the apple tree?  I have also planted a lot of walnut trees.  Shall I cut them off?

Yes for the cherries and no for the walnuts — although we have to admit that some planters hold for cutting back the walnuts also.  If you do cut back the walnuts, let them have about twice the height of stem you give the cherries and cover the exposed pith with wax or paint.

Branching Young Fruit Trees.

It is the practice in this locality to wrap all young trees to a point 24 inches above the bud, for the purpose of protection against rabbits, to protect the bark from the sun and to prevent growth of sprouts.  These wrappings are kept on indefinitely, the rule being that no sprouting is to be permitted below the 24-inch murk.  Is there any virtue in this, and why is it done?

The wrapping is desirable both to protect them from rabbits and from sunburn, and either this or whitewash or some other form of protection should certainly be employed against the latter trouble.  It is not desirable to have all the branches emerge at the same point, either 24 from the ground or at some lower level, as is preferable in interior situations, but branches should be distributed up and down and around the trunk so as to give a strong, well-balanced, low-headed tree.  So far as wrapping interferes with the growth of shoots in this manner it is undesirable.