EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 29" 



DEEP OR SHALLOW CULTIVATION. 



The question of deep or shallow cultivation will perhaps never be set- 

 tled to suit all minds, but all experiments thus far conducted indicate that 

 stirring the soil tends to admit the air and to deprive the stirred portion of 

 moisture. But on the other hand the soil, being loosened, capillary action is 

 checked and the surface soil, acting as a mulch, retains the water in the sub- 

 jacent layers, for the use of the plants. In wet seasons, and especially in 

 the spring, deep tillage removes the surplus water from the surface soil. In 

 dry seasons and in the summer it destroys the surface roots, thus depriving 

 the plants of their water supply and exposing an unnecessarily large amount 

 of the soil to the drying influences of the air. From these results a rule has 

 been derived which, like all others, has its exceptions : cultivate deep in the 

 spring, and in wet seasons when there is no danger from breaking the roots, 

 but by all means use surface tillage in dry seasons. 



Proper cultivation promotes a healthy growth and increases the size of the 

 plants, thus giving them strength to mature fruits larger both in size and 

 number. 



Harm is often done by late cultivation; as, when the plants have made 

 their growth for the year and have commenced to mature their fruit or ripen- 

 their buds, the stirring of the soil will often cause a new growth of the plant, 

 which will lessen the amount of fruit in the one case and produce a new 

 growth, liable to to winterkill, in the other. 



FERTILIZATION" AND FERTILIZERS. 



No one can expect to obtain good crops unless he provides food for them. 

 The source of the supply makes little difference if it is furnished in proper 

 kind and quantity. Experiments in stock feeding have demonstrated that 

 animals can be molded at will in both form and structure, and, except that 

 they are more exposed to climatic influences, our plants can with equal cer- 

 tainty be subjected to our Avill. 



With a knowledge of the wants of plants and of the sources of plant food, 

 we can bring the feeding of plants down to a rational system. 



A few years ago much was said of the advantages of soil analysis, but it is 

 now considered of importance as a general indication of the soil constituents. 



Stable manure is the main dependence of the horticulturists of the country, 

 and as such it should be husbanded and applied to the extent that the increase 

 in return will warrant. 



While the time has not yet come for the general use of commercial fertil- 

 izers by the ordinary farmer, the fruit grower and gardener will even now 

 find their rational use a profitable investment. 



The commercial fertilizers are in a soluble form and furnish food to the 

 young plants, in the spring, thus giving them a vigorous start before they 

 can obtain a full supply of food from the soil. For forcing early vegetables, 

 nitrogenous fertdizers will prove a paying investment. 



The fruit grower desires a fertilizer which will produce a strong, healthy 

 plant and an abundance of fruit. Stable manure, especially if it be unde- 

 composed, when applied in large quantities is likely to cause a rank growth 

 of the plant at the expense of the fruit. On the other hand, such mineral 

 fertilizers as ashes and ground bones tend to correct this and improve both 



