STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 19 



A third exception is shown here — an orchard on very rich, 

 moist land. That is one of our famous Albemarle Pippin or- 

 chards, lying in one of the coves on the eastern slope of the 

 Blue Ridge. The soil is naturally sub-watered from springs 

 on the Ridge above, and is rich, deep and moist. To plow and 

 cultivate such an orchard would make it grow too luxuriantly 

 and favor blight. These cove orchards on "pippin land" are 

 some of the most profitable in Virginia and they are seldom 

 tilled. So there are these exceptions in Virginia when tillage is 

 not as practicable as some other method, and there may be some 

 in Maine. 



Mulching and pasturing the orchard. If the mature orchard 

 is to be left in sod there are two ways of handling it — by mulch- 

 ing and by pasturing. In mulching, the grass and herbage is 

 cut and left on the ground, which is fertilized so as to get as 

 much of a growth of herbage as possible. A supplemental 

 mulch of straw is sometimes brought in to make a still heavier 

 mulch around the trees. We rarely use that in Virginia ; straw 

 costs too much. The more common method is shown here, 

 which is in my York Imperial block, where the grass is simply 

 cut with the mowing machine two or three times a year and is 

 left to lie in the orchard. 



If the land is not mowed it can be pastured. In many cases 

 sheep are the most useful animals for this purpose, since they 

 keep the weeds down and the herbage cut close. They do not 

 let the ground get filthy with weeds, and they do not browse 

 the limbs as high as cattle. Hogs are used to some extent, and 

 are very useful for that purpose. Cattle are very hard on apple 

 orchards, as you know. Sometimes calves and young cattle are 

 allowed to run in orchards, as shown here, but you can see 

 how high they browse the limbs. They are heavier than sheep 

 and hogs and compact the soil, and altogether are not desirable 

 in the orchard. We have many profitable sheep and hog pas- 

 tured orchards in Virginia, especially on the stronger lands. I 

 am not advocating that Maine apple growers should follow these 

 methods. I am simply saying there are conditions in Virginia 

 where they have proved successful. 



Orchard tillage. If the orchard is to be tilled, plowing should 

 be done early for several reasons. When plowing is delayed 

 and there is freshly turned ground under the trees when they 

 are in bloom, there is more danger of frost killing the bios- 



