86 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



grow is not so material. When you come to a year like the one we 

 have just passed through where in the larger portion of the fruit 

 belt in Nebraska, we went from the latter part of June to the middle 

 of September, with practically no rain at all, and during this time 

 we had over 40 days that the temperature reached 100 degrees 

 fahrenheit or oyer, that proper methods of tillage in the orchard 

 counts. 



Perhaps I might begin my discussion by saying what should b^ 

 done in order to conserve the moisture in our orchard? Or perhaps 

 t should say what an orchardist should not do in the handling of his 

 orchard. In the first place, and above everything else I would say 

 that no orchardist should permit, under any circumstances, the grow- 

 ing of blue grass in his orchard. I think that is the worst thing that 

 can possibly be permitted in an orchard. The blue grass forms a very 

 compact solid sod, which not only is a great absorber of moisture, 

 from the soil, but it forms a kind of a floor over the surface of the 

 earth, and the rain fall that comes is carried off very much as though 

 you had your orchard floored. In a year like this, an orchard that 

 is sodded with blue grass, even though it may be properly pruned, 

 and sprayed, could not be expected to produce fruit of much value. 

 So first I would say that we never should permit under any circum- 

 stances, the growing of blue grass in an orchard. 



Second, I do not believe that any orchardist should permit timothy 

 to grow in his orchard. Although timothy is not as bad as blue 

 grass, yet it forms a sod and should be kept out of an oi chard. I 

 should eliminate them both. Whether we should sow in our orchards, 

 clover or some other legume or whether we should follow careful 

 cultivation is dependent largely upon the topography of the ground 

 on which the orchard is located. 



To illustrate: Last summer, I visited an orchard north of Omaha, 

 owned by Edison Rich, the general Attorney of the Union Pacific 

 Railway, in this state. This orchard was located right up in the 

 bluffs along the Missouri River. The inclines are so steep that it 

 Vvould be utterly impossible to drive over some parts of it without up- 

 setting an ordinary wagon. In an orchard like that I would not rec- 

 ommend cultivation. If you did, the soil would all wash away. Such 

 an orchard as I have described, should be seeded to clover. Clover is 

 different from any other grass. It does not form a sod. It leaves 

 the soil porous and loose. It also feeds and fertilizes the soil. A 

 bearing orchard that is cropping regularly needs some fertilization, 

 and the clover supplies it. In an orchard located on a hill side where 

 careful cultivation will cause severe washing of the soil clover should 

 be planted. An orchard on level ground or ground that is gently 

 rolling, where the washing from heavy railfall will not be severe, then 

 I think proper cultivation is preferable to clover. At home we have 

 been cultivating our orchard for a number of years. We use two 



