THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 365 



CULTIVATION, PRUNING, THINNING, AND MULCHING. 



CULTIVATION AND MOISTURE. 



The Western Farmer gives the following figures to show the advantage of 

 deep cultivation : Take 1,000 tons of soil und dry it in its packed state, then 

 expose it to an ordinary summer's atmosphere for 24 hours, and the absorption 

 of moisture will be found in sandy loam equal to about five tons, clay loam 

 seven tons, and garden mold twelve tons. Take the same soil, thoroughly 

 pulverize and dry it, and then expose it in like manner to the other, and the 

 sandy loam will absorb 26 tons, clay loam 30 tons, and the garden mold 45 

 tons. Thus it will be seen that the latter process is a guarantee against 

 drought, to say nothing of allowing the roots of plants free scope to grow and 

 seek nourishment for the plant, which they could not otherwise do. The 

 saving of manure will be an item of importance, and the increase in production 

 incredible. When the subsoil is clay, it will require several years of deep cul- 

 tivation to thoroughly amalgamate it with the top soil, but once done, the 

 productiveness of it will repay for the trouble and time taken to do it. 



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On the other hand, the New England Homestead talks about the danger of 

 deep culture in certain cases, as follows: Fruit-growers must be reminded 

 that their hoes, cultivators, and plows may do more damage to plants than 

 good, if not' used with discretion. The small fruits — berries, currants, grapes, 

 also dwarf pears, quinces, etc., root near the surface. Here are found the best 

 roots, those that provide most nourishment. Nature designed these to be 

 mulched by the dead leaves, and in our fields mulching would be the best 

 treatment if it were possible. As it is the best we can do is to give frequent 

 shallow cultivation. I have seen intelligent men plowing deep furrows along- 

 side of their raspberries, currents, and grapes, well satisfied that they were 

 doing thorough work that would secure an abundant harvest. Let such men 

 dig up one plant before thus plowing and one after, and see what butchery 

 they have committed. There are no tap roots stretching far down into the 

 subsoil, but simply a few laterals branching out say from two to four inches 

 below the surface, and more than half of these have been sacrificed by the plow- 

 share. When we set green hands hoeing strawberries and newly-set raspberries 

 we know what they will do if not watched — they will destroy half their roots 

 and loosen the hold for life that the struggling plants have secured by chopping 

 close about them. 



CULTIVATION AND DROUTH. 



Patrick Barry in his address before the Western New York Horticultural 

 Society, of which he is president, said : 

 And now let us consider very briefly what the cultivator may do to avert the 



