EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 239 



barley or buckwheat. If it is desirable, hoed crops, such as corn, pota- 

 toes or beans may be raised among the trees. The cultivation necessary 

 for them will usually suffice for the trees. They should not be planted 

 nearer than 3 or 4 feet from the ends of the branches, however, and 

 greater care will need to be taken to maintain the fertility of the soil. 

 Grain crops, such as wheat, rye or oats, should never be raised among 

 the fruit trees, as the}- are heavy users of moisture and plant food. A 

 clover sod may be grown between the rows, if sufficient space is left 

 along the rows to cultivate. On the steep side of hills, or rocky fields, 

 which should be avoided if possible, sod or straw mulches may be sub- 

 stituted for cultivation. Such a method, however, encourages surface 

 root systems that are liable to injury in winter or drouths. 



In cultivation, care should be taken to cover the ends of the whiffle- 

 trees with leather or rubber, and high hames or other [>rojections on 

 the harness should be discarded to avoid barking the trunks and limbs 

 of the trees. A muzzle upon the horses's nose will avoid many nipped 

 limbs. 



In addition to the cultivation, the trees need to be fed to make them 

 thrifty. There is nothing better for this than barnyard manure, if 

 applied late in winter and also in the spring, so that the trees get the 

 benefit early in the season. Two or three handfuls of nitrate of soda 

 incorporated into the soil about the tree, but not in contact with the 

 roots, several times in the season will be very beneficial. It is very 

 quickly available and should be used with great care. Unleached hard- 

 wood ashes will furnish potash and lime that assist the tree in making 

 a firm wood growth. Small quantities of phosphates will assist the 

 trees in appropriating the other plant foods and help to mature the tree 

 in the fall. 



It is necessary, also, to keep the trees free from all injurious insects 

 and diseases. Of the leaf-eating insects, there are the canker worms, 

 cut worms, tent caterpillar, fall web worm, bud moth and tussock 

 moth. These may be controlled by the use of some arsenical poison as 

 arsenate of lead or Paris Green. Cut worms can usually be controlled 

 by scattering two or three handfuls of a mixture of Paris Green and 

 bran or Paris Green and finely cut clover leaves on the ground a few 

 inches from the trunk of the young trees. Curl leaf on peaches and leaf 

 diseases on apples, pears, cherries, etc., can be controlled by the use of 

 Bordeaux mixture. Examination should frequently be made of the 

 trunks to destroy all borers. San Jose scale may be controlled by spray- 

 ing with the lime-sulphur wash. 



Care should be taken to remove all weeds, grass or other litter which 

 might harbor mice. It is also frequently advantageous to wrap the tree 

 trunks with wire netting, tar paper, or thin boards to protect them from 

 mice or rabbits. 



If a peach, apricot or plum tree develops yellows or little peach, im- 

 mediately remove and destroy it. 



