FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 43 



check the growth of a tree you may do this, but when the trees are 

 young they should be stimulated to grow fast. The first year or two 

 the first pruning of the tree is most important to make — whether the 

 limbs are well distributed or whether they are bunched, whether weak or 

 strong, whether well set or have crotches. Some of you are planting 

 in the spring. If you are planting in the fall you had better leave the 

 pruning back of the top until spring, because there may be some winter 

 injury follow and if you have pruned the tree after planting in the 

 fall and it gets injured, it may destroy the top you have tried to make. 



If you are planting in the spring you may prune the tree just be- 

 fore or just after planting as you see fit. Most people will find it 

 better to" wait until after planting. You are liable to do damage if 

 you use a knife but this is not the case when you use a shear. 



Now a word about the cultivation of a young orchard. Most men 

 prefer to cultivate orchards right after they are first planted. The 

 importance of getting the tree to growing vigorously and rapidly when 

 voung cannot be over estimated. It must be stimulated as fast as you 

 can, as long as you do not stimulate it late in the season so that it 

 will be liable to winter injury. Cultivate the young orchard as early 

 in the spring as you can and give it enough frequent shallow cultiva- 

 tions to break up the small lumps, conserve moisture, kill weeds, so 

 as to make as large a feeding surface for the soil bacteria, soil moisture 

 and soil acids to feed upon and liberate plant food and consequently 

 to stimulate its growth. 



Conserve moisture and liberate plant food by making the soil parti- 

 cles small. With frequent cultivation the surface or soil will be kept 

 from baking and packing. Then it should be discontinued about the 

 first of August and a cover crop planted. 



Put a leather or rubber on the end of the whiffle trees next to the 

 trees and keep off all projections of the harness, etc., to prevent break- 

 ing limbs or in any way injuring the trees. Keep the man, whom you 

 are hiring to cultivate these trees, in good humor. If you do not, you 

 may have some experience such as I did with a hired man of ours 

 when lie got miffed at something and did more injury to our orchard 

 in one week's cultivation that came to it in three years before. If you 

 are inter-cropping with corn or beans, the cultivation of these crops 

 will suffice for the cultivation of the orchard but if you are using clean 

 cultivation in the orchard do that just as faithfully as you would for 

 a potato or corn crop. These young trees need plant food and plenty 

 of moisture. Discontinue the cultivation about the first of August and 

 put in the cover crop so that these trees will be hardened up for winter. 

 You have stimulated tender excessive growth. Put in the cover crop 

 so this will harden up for winter. 



DISCUSSION. 



Question — Would you cultivate a young pear orchard as you just 

 stated? 



Answer — Yes. unless the blight was very prevalent I would depend 

 on the pruning knife to keep it in check. 



Pears do well in a sod mulch system and are not so apt to blight. 



