476 * ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



the soil iu orchards often is the cause of apples dropping prema- 

 turely, and the ripening of winter fruit during the fall months. 

 While it may be impracticable to attempt to supply water artifi- 

 cially, in most cases at least, to orchards in this State, yet much 

 can be done by good management to prevent the needless escape of 

 the natural supply, and in this way large quantities of water may 

 be retained in the soil for the use of the trees when it is needed by 

 them. 



As stated before, at the last cultivation, the land should be seeded 

 to some cover crop to protect it during the winter and to retain its 

 water-holding and retentive capacity. By the time winter sets in 

 the ground should be covered by a heavy mat of herbage. Plow 

 the orchard as nearly in the spring as conditions will admit in order 

 to hold the winter rains in the ground, and to give the trees a 

 vigorous early start. The addition of this vegetable matter to the 

 soil greatly prolongs the wood-growing ])eriod and pumps out tons 

 of water in its growth. 



The great problem in orcharding of tin' present day is to save 

 moisture. A>'e can not afford to leave weeds and grass use up food 

 and moisture, so much needed by the trees. During a season, a 

 sod of timothy, making two tons of hay per acre, will pump out of 

 the soil five inches of water, equal to more than four thousand bar- 

 rels of water per acre. Imagine the time it would take to replace 

 this amount of water. It would require a man and team an entire 

 month, even though the haul was only one-fourth of a mile. The 

 trees need all tliis moisture and if we leave nature alone, she will 

 plant weeds and grass, which takes the breath out of the leaves and 

 the blush from the fruit. Cultivation saves moisture. A mulch on 

 the surface prevents the wind and sun drying the soil. 



It has been demonstrated by experiment that orchard soil with 

 a clover top turned under and good cultivation retains twice the 

 amount of moisture as that conserved by orchard soil which had 

 no humus and no cultivation. For practical irrigation a harrow 

 beats a sprinkling cart ten to one. A suitable orchard soil that has 

 been tilled from early spring until the middle of June, and which 

 contains considerable humus, will retain enough of the rains, caught 

 during tln^ winter, to keep the apple orchard growing vigorously 

 tlie entire season, in spite of the most severe summer droughts, 

 wliile aii iidjoining orchard in sod, or in fallov\', nmy lose its foliage 

 and ri{)('n itF fruits when half grown. 



TREES USE SUNLIGHT. 



The amo',:nt of work done in a year by an apple tree is a study 

 and a wonder. It is no small task to collect the material required 

 to mature fruit and in manufacturing it into such refined products 



