INDIANA HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY . 623 



wood and get rid of them entirely that it is to let them stand and cumber 

 the ground. But there are a great many others that if they were properly 

 eared for would return a good, handsome profit to the owner. I want 

 to say that while there may be a great many who believe in the practice 

 of using these old orchards as calf pastures and horse pastures and hog 

 pastures, and all that sort of thing, but they get from the orchard an 

 inferior qualitj^ of fruit. While it may be proper in some cases to make 

 this kind of a compromise, it is not the proper thing to do as a rule. 

 The farm may be so arranged that there is a more logical solution of the 

 question, but if we intend to get the real good of these trees, we must 

 not undertake to make a pasture or a meadow out of the orchard. 



I presume that j'ou have all heard of the grass mulch method of 

 orchard treatment. Ihere are several orchards in this countiy that are 

 in successful bearing under this sort of treatment. They are not among 

 the oldest orchards, but still some are quite old. I refer particularly to 

 the orchard of Mr. Kitchens, in New York. I have been in this orchard 

 many times. Some of the trees are about sixty years old, and are in 

 thrifty, healthy, profitable bearing condition standing in the grass. This 

 man holds strictly to the practice of taking nothing whatever from the 

 ground excepting the apple product. The grass is mo"wed once a year, 

 and he mows this orchard and leaves the hay on it to rot on the ground. 



Now there is another case in Ohio, near Delaware. The orchard is 

 owned by Mr. Burgoyne. These are two of the most notable cases of the 

 successful grass mulch method. The soil is adapted to this kind of treat- 

 ment. There are »i3rings above them that come out and penetrate the 

 soil, keeping it moist and the grass grows rank and green throughout 

 the summer. This is not the case in the ordinary apple orchard. Other 

 people are trying this method, and some are plowing up th^ir orchards. 

 If we would take this matter in hands right away, and would plow up our 

 orchards between now and fall before cold weather sets in, it would not 

 hurt. I would sow something (cow peas or clover) ou this ground, and 

 next spring turn it under. This makes it fertile. The nitrogen will be 

 taken up by these growing plants and if left upon the soil helps it. By 

 all means do not put hogs in an orchard. Sheep will not hurt old trees, 

 especially if j-ou will feed them grain or bran. They will keep adding fer- 

 tility to the soil, and what they take from the land will be given back 

 again. I think a fine thing to plant in an orchard is cow peas. They are 

 very fine to turn under to fertilize the ground. You would be surprised to 

 see what a condition the soil will be in afterwards. When you have cow 

 peas in the orchard you can turn the hogs in and they will not bother 

 the trees. The hogs will fatten on it, and you will have brought your 

 orchard into a very much better state and so will profit thereby. You 

 must not always be taking something away fi'om the orchard and not 

 returning anything. The average farmer wants to see how much he can 

 take away from his trees instead of how much food he can supply to them. 



