No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 503 



planted and the time that I could market fruit and insisted that in- 

 stead of tutting off my revenue by planting our regular fields with 

 fruit that I should clear more forest land and start my orchards 

 on new land, which I did. The first year after the timber wa.? 

 cut we would plow the land, plant our orchard and then raise a 

 crop of watermelons among the young trees and stumps. That is 

 an ideal condition for a crop of watermelons and they usually did 

 well and brought me about |1()0.00 per acre for the crop. The next 

 year, we Avould plant this same piece in sweet potatoes and have a 

 freshly cleared piece for more watermelons. Here again is the ideal 

 condition for a crop of sweet potatoes and they would pay me about 

 as well as the watermelons had done the year before. I kept on 

 clearing land and raising truck crops between the trees and stumps 

 till ruy peaches and cherries began to bear and I was able to buy 

 land ready cleared. 



To make a success of a fruit business, pluck, energy and enthu- 

 siasm are essential and any crop raised among the trees must not 

 damage those trees in the least nor interfere with their proper care 

 nor culture. On our soil thorough culture seems necessary espec- 

 ially on young trees, and if we can raise truck crops at a profit and 

 at the same time help the orchard it is a good business proposition. 

 We believe that the ripening of grain crops, excepting corn in a 

 young orchard, is detrimental and we also object to hay and grass 

 crops. Oats and rye do very well for winter cover crops but clover 

 is better and we plow them all in green. 



Now I have done a good deal of this kind of work, planting 

 orchards, and at the same time make the truck crops pay the way, 

 and in some eases the crops planted betw^een the trees have paid for 

 the farm before the trees themselves came into bearing. The first 

 crop we plant is peas. They grow easily and are a soil improver 

 instead of being an exhaustive crop. These are gone in time to 

 plant another crop on the same ground such as cantaloupes, toma- 

 toes, watermelons, beans, cabbage or squashes. Then at the last 

 farming of these second crops we aim to sow crimson clover, mak- 

 ing two crops and a cover crop beside on most of our land. Such 

 crops as potatoes or sweet potatoes take so much of the season that 

 we simply get the one crop and the clover crop. In some soils, this 

 system doubtless would cause too much growth of the tree and we 

 have to modify this system a little for our peaches, but for apples we 

 do not hesitate to recommend it. 



It does not cost much more to care for an orchard with a crop 

 in it than for a bare orchard and we generally do it better. How- 

 ever, the time soon comes when Ave come to the parting of the ways 

 and the question is, shall it be fruit or truck? Peas and beans can 

 be raised longer than most crops in an orchard without disadvantage 

 for the reason that we do not cease to cultivate them. Crops like 

 cantaloupes, tomatoes and melons have a period when they take all 

 the land and must be let alone to mature their fruit, but peas and 

 beans have no such period and we farm them every time we pick 

 them till we are ready to cut them in. Small fruits too can be raised 

 in young orchards with satisfaction, but special care must be given 

 to the trees to prevent injury from borers. Strawberries, or in fact 

 any of the berries, if planted directly next a tree affords an ideal 

 protection for the borers. Currants and gooseberries are more 



