54 



of nitrate of soda has revolutionized the apple business on the clay 

 hill lands of Virginia, Ohio, and other American states. I have also 

 proved many times that grass will kill a young apple tree if it gets 

 the chance. 



Cultivation is merely one form of feeding. There are others. The 

 facts of farm management raise a very great argument against the 

 desirability of cultivating any additional crop on most farms in the 

 eastern part of the United States. This is true, because the cultivation 

 period is already full of labor. 



Cultivation comes chiefly during April, May, June and July. At 

 this time there is an absolute crush of labor on most eastern farms, 

 such, for example, as the livestock farm which grows corn, oats, or 

 wheat and clover, or alfalfa, or the truck farm, or the fruit farm. 

 They are all already overloaded with work and the new nut crop has 

 unfortunate competition to meet. Every summer on my farm I see 

 many things I would like to have done. They are things that I think 

 would pay; things that I would be glad to pay for. But the men and 

 the equipment are not to be had at that time and place. A thoughtful 

 man once remarked to me that plowing corn was sometimes worth 

 twenty-five dollars a day and I believe he was right, in that a farmer 

 would lose that much if he did not do it that day. 



The Object of Cultivation 



The object of cultivation is to cut down rival plants, thereby leav- 

 ing more food and moisture for the desired crop plants. 



The same results can be obtained in some situations by mulching the 

 tree when little, by applying chemical fertilizers all the time, and by 

 making water pockets to catch rainfall and increase the moisture 

 supply. 



I have applied all these things in a small way which promises 

 success to the trees and which also fits into farm management, per- 

 mitting something to be done which could not otherwise be done. That 

 is the big point. 



I have a blue grass pasture field on a farm that is now rented to 



