REPORTS OF AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 377 



etation. Mineral substances are tlie foundation upon which to build, but the 

 building is constructed of herbage. 



Now the true work of man, as an agriculturist, as a horticulturist, as a pom- 

 ologist. is to take hold on nature's methods and improve them. A natural soil 

 as it comes out of the forest is soon worn out by cultivation and cropping. 

 Everytliing is taken otf, nothing is i)ut on; but let this process be reversed by 

 a skillful hand and even nature's methods are outdone. If a luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion is plowed under it enriches the soil, if taken off its productiveness is impov- 

 erished. It will be admitted by all who are familiar with the growth of veg- 

 etation that it draws much nourishment from the atmosphere. Now by plow- 

 ing under a large growth of foliage of any kind the producing qualities of the 

 soil must be improved. It follows therefore from this discussion that the more 

 abundant and luxnriant the growth of any cereal used as a fertilizer the greater 

 will be the benefit derived therefrom and the more remunerative will be the 

 effect on the orchard where the work is done. 



In sowing rye for fertilization it becomes necessary to put it in the ground 

 about the Inst days of August in order to secure an abundant foliage before 

 winter. If this work is deferred until October the growth of straw is always 

 slender and cannot produce very beneficial results. It must not be forgotten 

 that a luxuriant foliage is the grand source of wealth to the land thus treated. 

 Whatever interferes with this makes the process less remunerative. It follows 

 also that when rye is plowed under for fertilization the work should be done as 

 early in the season as heads begin to appear. Then the sap is in full flow and 

 every day's delay diminishes the properties which enrich the soil. As the 

 growing straw begins to harden it seems to lose those properties which make 

 it valuable as a fertilizer and the result is a great disappointment to the culti- 

 vator. Another marked benefit to be derived from early sowing is that the 

 growing rye in autumn forms a thick mat of green over the ground and keeps 

 it warm during the cold blasts of winter, — a protection which growing trees 

 always need to give tbe best results. 



Nature c<jvers her forest rootlets with an abundance of leaves every autumn, 

 to keep them warm when they are asleep. Man will do well to imitate nature 

 in this regfird, for she is always true to her best interests. 



Some may ol)ject to sowing rye in orchards in August, lest the cultivation 

 produce a late growth of tree which cannot be well ripened for winter. We 

 think this result is not to be feared where the land is so poor as to be in need 

 of lertilization. Every orchard ought to be thoroughly cultivated during the 

 dry part ol the summer, even if the drought continues until September, so that 

 the growth may not stop too early in the season ; for as soon as the growth of 

 wood is finished, the development of the fruit buds begins more rapidly, and 

 may go on too far for the safety of these precious germs during the winter. 

 Not a tew pear, apple, and peach trees in some parts of this county put forth 

 blossoms last autumn. This was evidently the result of continued dry weather 

 by which the wood ceased to grow, and ripened for winter; but when the warm 

 mins of September came, these trees put on a new growth as if it were spring 

 time, and with all, blossoms and fruit. Now, if cultivation had been continued 

 around these trees, so as to have kept them in a growing condition during all 

 of the dry season, blossom buds Avould not have ripened so early as to be sub- 

 ject to a second growth. Then too, if rye is sown in August, it will for a time 

 take that vitality from the soil which might otherwise go to the tree and pro- 

 long its growth when it ought to be preparing its wood for cold weather. 



When spring has well opened, this same rye that has depleted the soil in 



