Eecbnt Apple Failures in Western New York. 57 



mine of plant food, and the first thought of the farmer should be 

 to utilize it. The buying of fertilizers should be a second thought. 

 As a rule, an orchard should never be seeded down ; or if sod appears 

 to be necessary, pasture it close. Do not make a meadow of the 

 orchard nor attempt to raise grain in it, even from the beginning. 

 Hoed crops may be grown during the first few years, if one culti- 

 vates well and allows sufficient space about the trees — and tree roots 

 extend much farther than farmers are aware — but the temptation is 

 to continue the practice too long and to expect too much from the 

 crop. If the trees are to be of secondary importance, do not plant 

 them ! It will be cheaper to leave them in the nursery. 



Persons often tell me that they know of productive orchards 

 standing in sod. So do I ; but this only proves that the land is 

 unusually good. The great majority of orchards contradict this 

 experience, and reason is against it. For myself, I should consider 

 that I could not afford to run the risk of placing orchards perma- 

 nently in sod. There are cases in which thrifty young orchards 

 can be thrown into bearing by seeding them down, but this is only 

 a temporary expedient, and if the land is again brought under 

 cultivation when the desired result is obtained, no harm will come. 

 If the old orchard is giving satisfactory returns in sod, it would be 

 folly to plow it up ; but if it is improfitable, something must be 

 done. Next to tillage, pasturing closely with sheep or hogs is the 

 best thing which can be done ; and if the stock is fed grain, so much 

 the better. 



Thus far, I have spoken of apple orchards which have been under 

 good treatment from the first. How shall we manage the old 

 .orchards, which have been neglected for years ? Such orchards, of 

 course, are in sod. The roots are so high that the land cannot be 

 plowed. In this case, the best that can be done is to break up the 

 turf in spring when it is soft, using a sharp toothed or disc harrow. 

 When the sod is once well cut up, sow on fertilizers, and continue 

 to work it shallow. But the tree tops are often so low that a team 

 can not be used. An orchard in which horses can not be driven is 

 worth little, and it is doubtful how much labor can be spent upon 

 it with profit. Trees which have been cultivated from the first 

 have their tops formed by gradual and timely prunings, the owner 

 scarcely knows how ; but the unfilled trees often develop into brush- 



