300 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



icles of earth as they are separate conduct the suu's heat but poorly, 

 as compared with a hard, compact soil, which can be proven by exam- 

 ining- the different conditions of soil on any hot summer day. It also 

 assists the capillary attraction of moisture from below and retains it, and 

 is not so easily carried away by the drying winds during the day. Now 

 one of the difliculties to be overcome in growing trees and plants in 

 our long, dry summers is drouth, hence the need of cultivation to pre- 

 vent its deleterious effect, but how long should this cultivation be kept 

 up, is a question upon which all are not agreed. I would say as long 

 as the drouth and heat lasts, or the weeds put forth. Weeds should 

 not be allowed to grow, as they pump up and evaporate through their 

 leaves an immense amount of water. If we quit cultivation early, a 

 luxurient growth of weeds spring up, take up and evaporate its moist- 

 ure, leaving the ground hard and dry, forcing the tree to stop growing 

 and into permanent ripening of wood, and poorly supplied with stored 

 food. Should this be followed by fall rains and warm weather, a new 

 spring-like growth is started, the buds swelled and sometimes burst 

 into bloom, the whole organism filled with crude sap, which has not 

 time to thicken nor the wood to ripen up properly before winter. To 

 produce a healthy tree a steady, uniform growth must be kept up dur- 

 ing the entire growing season. Yes, but sir your late cultivation will 

 keep up a late growth which can not ripen before cold weather and 

 will be winter killed. It will prevent a premature ripening and keep 

 the tree or plant growing until it is ripened according to the God given 

 laws of nature. Mulching is universally recommended to prevent the 

 earth drying and stopping the growth, and who would recommend re- 

 moving it in the middle of summer, for fear of too late a growth. Now, 

 cultivation and keeping the ground fine acts as a mulch and a far better 

 one than that made of straw. Cultivation of the soil increases its fertility 

 by exposing it to the elements, thus making its plant food available. 

 Many persons believe the roots literally eat their food, and that it 

 should be placed in direct contact with them, as we frequently see ma- 

 nure placed immediately around the trunk of the tree, which can do 

 but little good. It is the fibrous roots that take up its food and that 

 in a very thin crude state. 



A fertilizer must be spread as far as the roots extend, that the ex- 

 tremities may get the benefit. Corn or late potatoes would be a good 

 crop to grow in a young orchard ; when it is large enough to bear, then 

 sow down clover and pasture with hogs or else mow and let lay on the 

 ground as a mulch. In no case should the grass be entirely removed, 

 to let the heat suddenly in upon the ground, drying and destroying 



