106 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is, what is thorough cultivation — such as will prepare the ground in the best 

 condition for root-feeding? 



We fruit growers have all been warned a thousand times not to cultivate 

 our trees or plants late in the fall. Now, without wishing to invite discussion 

 on this subject, whether it be injurious generally or exceptionally, I am firm 

 in the belief that we may cultivate or plow our fruit orchards from the time 

 the leaves begin to fall until the ground freezes, without incurring any risk 

 of being injured or winter killed. The fruit grower who begins his cultiva- 

 tion in his fruit orchard in the spring, after the fruit has set, and keeps his 

 ground clean until the last of August, should then cease cultivating until 

 about the last days of October, when he should prepare his ground for winter 

 and spring. 



The chief object of this late cultivation is not entirely for winter protec- 

 tion, but to avoid the necessity of plowing and cultivating trees and small 

 fruits so early in the spring, while in blossom or before the full leaf. But 

 more than this, if our grounds are left from the last of August until the next 

 May without any cultivation, it not only necessitates a great amount of labor 

 to subdue the grass and packed soil, but can not be done without more or 

 less injury to the roots. This brings us to the question of late fall ridging. 



For several years I have practiced this system of late fall ridging with all 

 small fruits with very satisfactory results. With a one-horse plow I turn the 

 furrows toward the bushes, being careful to plow as shallow as possible the 

 first one or two furrows, then go gradually deeper to the center of the space 

 between the rows. The last two furrows should be done with two horses, as 

 deeply as possible. Then, with one horse, turn two furrows to the center 

 again, and in these furrows I would put the manure or fertilizers for feeding 

 the roots for next year's crop of fruit. My rule is, as nearly as possible, to 

 have these furrows which contain the manure or commercial fertilizer three- 

 fourths the distance from the row to the dead-furrow. In the spring, when 

 the ground needs to be cultivated, this fertilizer can be worked to and from 

 the centre and being thoroughly mixed with the soil it becomes available plant 

 food. This method of cultivation and enrichment of the soil is in direct 

 opposition to the practice of applying fertilizers to the surface, either in the 

 fall or spring. I am satisfied from experience that surface manuring in the 

 ordinary way, as applied to all small fruits, except strawberries, is wrong 

 both in theory and practice. Whatever the material may be, either compost 

 manure or commercial fertilizer, the common practice of placing it on the 

 surface near the bush or tree is unnatural, causing the small, fibrous roots to 

 grow back toward the base of the tree, or receive no benefit from the fertilizer. 

 Trees and plants feed and derive their sustenance mostly from the roots which 

 are furtherest from them, as they are constantly reaching out in search of food. 

 If the ridging is properly done in the fall, the tree or bush will be suf- 

 ficiently protected and mulched without the aid of manure, and if the middle 

 part of the space between rows is worked deeply in the fall, every two or 

 three years, the increase in the crops of fruit will prove the benefits of such 

 cultivation. 



It may be asked: " llow are you going to do this deep plowing in the dead- 

 furrows and not injure the roots by breaking them off? The answer is that 

 this plowing would only be done once in three or four years, according to the 

 conditions of the soil, and being done late in the fall, after growth has ceased 

 and the tree is at rest, no harm will ensue. This could not be done in safety 



