TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 181 



and fungi, and these same men are enthusiastic over the results, and well 

 they may be. A few hundred barrels of choice apples during the months 

 of IS'ovember and December, selling at !i?2 to $4 per barrel, as they have 

 for the past three years, helps wonderfully toward paying off hired help 

 and taxes. But how slow we are to catch this truth! 



But let us return to our theme. If you feel that you must grow some 

 crop among your yoting trees, do so, but the more of it you do the poorer 

 will be the results from the orchard itself. Depend upon that. 



The cultivation of a young orchard should begin each year as soon 

 as the ground will work well. Xever put it off until the other crops are 

 planted. The best practice is to plow early, then do the rest of your cul- 

 tivation frequently, with the harrow, but never plow deeply after the 

 roots begin to fill the soil. This is much sooner on well cultivated ground 

 than most men would suppose. As the trees attain age and begin to 

 bear, this culture should be shallow but even more persistent than when 

 young. 



Fertilization. — If an orchard is started on fairly good land and is not 

 cropped to death before it arrives at a bearing age, it will not need much 

 in the way of fertilizers until it has borne a few crops; but when it 

 begins to bear I would begin to supi>ly the soil with moderate 

 dressings of xx^f'^ssh and phosphoric acid, in the form of wood ashes 

 or muriate of potash and ground bone. You can rest assured 

 that it will beat money in the bank for profit. It may take a little time 

 for the tree to appropriate it to its own use, but it will never be lost. 

 What is not used right away is carefully stored in the soil for future 

 c}-ops. Barnyard manure may be used on apples, pears, quinces, and even 

 plums, to advantage, but under no circumstances would I use it in a peach 

 orchard unless it had been heavily cropped or badly neglected and I could 

 not get the potash and phosphoric acid in the forms named. 



Traininij. — The training of a tree in proper form is of the utmost con- 

 sequence in its future development, and should begin as soon after set- 

 ting as growth starts. The correct shaping of the top of a tree should 

 begin when the growth is but a few inches long. To do this properly 

 a man must have an ideal type in view and must be able to see the future 

 framework in his mind. Then he can determine at a glance which limb to 

 save and which to remove. Foi' most trees I would prefer a body of 

 twenty to thirty inches to first limb, then a top evenly distributed in four 

 or five main limbs, scattered in such manner as to avoid the formation of 

 a crotch and give an even, symmetrical head. 



If the growth should be strong the first year, as in case of the peach, 

 I would cat back the strong, leading growths to a point equal in length 

 with the Aveaker ones, and each year following I would cut back one 

 third to one half the annual growth on the strong limbs; and if this 

 caused too much growth of small limbs I would thin them out evenly. 



The common practice of beginning at the body of a tree and trimming 

 up to naked limbs with a tassel at the end can not be too strongly con- 

 demned. The proper way is to commence at the top by cutting back or 

 shortening in, then trim back toward the body, aiming to leave as much 

 bearing wood near the body as i)0ssible. A tree pruned in this manner 

 always produces more and better fruit, is easier to pick, stands the strain 

 of heavy crops, gales, etc., far better than one grown in the ordinary 

 manner. 



