No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 219 



about the trees, but it is better to bring in from outside as much 

 material as is needed for mulching, to the depth of three or four 

 inches. In no case should the grass be removed from the orchard, 

 stimulate the growth of grass so as to produce on the ground as 

 mucli material as possible for mulching. A little manure or nitrate 

 of soda spread broadcast may be helpful. 



In case of thin soil it will not be possible to get a satisfactory 

 growth of grass without the use of some manure, but the aim should 

 be to grow grass, taking care, of course, by mulching, to prevent 

 harm to the trees by the grass. The young trees do not suffer in 

 any way but make a satisfactory growth and come early into bear- 

 ing. The uniform condition of the soil about the trees as to mois- 

 ture and nitrates is remarkable. There is much that may be said, 

 pro and con, regarding the merits of this method, but the unity of 

 my paper would suffer by taking up the argument. 



There is only one thing to be considered here and that is the 

 lindeniable fact that while the trees are young and are making \ ery 

 light demands upon the soil, there is a gain rather than a lOss in 

 fertility. The humus supply is increasing rather than diminish- 

 ing. It may be objected that it is a v/aste to allow the soil to 

 stand almost idle for nearly a decade. We have no right, how- 

 ever, to charge any more than rental value of the land to the orchard 

 in addition to labor and material. If we should charge the net 

 value of the crops which might be grown, then the fertility which 

 has been taken must be charged against the crops. We must go 

 further than that and insist that after the cropping, all of the fer- 

 tility which has been removed must be returned to the soil. Let 

 any one plow up an old pasture or a good meadow and crop it for 

 ten years, leaving it as good as he found it. If he accomplishes 

 this he will practice better farming than do most orchardists who 

 crop the soil in their young orchards. 



My contention against the cropping of young orchards, is not 

 to oppose the practice itself, but to object to the method which 

 robs the future for the sake of the present. An orchard is not 

 well started unless its future is fully considered. The only reason- 

 able and safe attitude whicli one can take Vvlio proposes to crop his 

 young orchard is to place the needs of the orchard first and the 

 crop second. He must look ahead and consider carefully what 

 effect the present management will have upo-:i the orcluii.i. Half 

 of a ten year old orchard at the Ohio Experiment Station has 

 been in grass, and the trees mulched, sine?? planted. The other half 

 has been managed according to the covei- crop system since the be- 

 ginning. It was intended that the cultivated portion should be 

 divided and half devoted to ordinary cropping and the other half 

 given over to the cover crop system pure and simple. There is some 

 slope to the field, however, and washing began to take place on that 

 ]>ortion where no crop was standing in the winter. It was, there- 

 fore, found advisable to change the plan so as to include all of the 

 cultivated portion under the cover crop system of management. 



The ])lan which has been followed thus far is to sow soy beans 

 in drills two feet apart, about the first of June. The beans are kept 

 cultivated until August, when rye is sown, to be plowed under in 

 the spring. The soil is rather thin and the beans have not been 

 cut but allowed to stand over winter. Had the soil been very poor 



