Summer Meeting. 107 



the tree without driving' so close as was formerly necessary, is also a 

 great convenience. 



With the emphasis that has been placed on orchard culture, there 

 have also arisen ceitain misconceptions as to what the idea embraces. 

 This is due-, in a measure, to the lack of a clearer knowledge regarding the 

 vast system of a plant, and its work. Many think that the clean culture 

 idea requires the stirring of the soil up close about the stem. This is 

 feasible, only while the tree is young. As the top becomes larger it be- 

 comes difficult and expensive, hence the tendency is to either lop off the 

 lower limbs, thus heading the tree higher, or else cease cultivating as the 

 tree becomes large. As the top increases in size, there is less necessity for 

 cultivating close, and the greater part of the benefits of clean culture may 

 be obtained without doing so. 



The root system of a plant serves two important purposes. The one 

 is to hold the plant in place — to stay it. The second is to take in plant 

 food. 



The staying power of the root system of a plant is well exemplified 

 in a large tree, on a windy day. The leverage afforded by its broad 

 spreading top is tremendous, and were not the roots good stayers, the 

 tree would certainly, move off. We also hav^ the practical example of 

 this same power in the "back muscle," required in pulling weeds in the 

 garden. The large roots serve the important office of holding the plant 

 in place, and also act as a conductor of food material. The small root- 

 lets and root-hairs are the organs of absorption or the feeding roots, as 

 we call them. The feeding-roots are situated at the outer extremity of 

 the root system, and the plant is entirely dependent upon these for the 

 absorption of nutrient material. 



Examining the root system of a thrifty bearing apple tree, you will 

 find that even where the rows are thirty-three feet or more apart that 

 these feeding-roots reach beyond the middle and interlap freely. 



This being the case, it is evident that the place where the soil is really 

 being fed upon most freely and the place where there is the greatest de- 

 mand for moisture, is not up close to the stem, but out in the middles, 

 where these feeding roots are found in such great abundance. Hence 

 the presence of a dust mulch in the centers conserves moisture at the 

 place where it is needed most. 



I recently visited a thrifty young orchard, which had reached bear- 

 ing age. It has received good cultivation up to this time, and the trees 

 have made an excellent growth. The owner now proposes to seed the 

 orchard down, with the exception of a small circle around each tree, 

 which he proposes to cultivate with the hoe. 



