Tillage and Fertilizing. 495 



Method of Tillage. 



Cultivation should begin as early as possible in the spring. Plow 

 the orchard shallow, turning the furrows towards the rows. Cut the 

 sod, if necessan,^ with a disk, and then harrow with the spring tooth. 

 Cultivate thoroughly about evcr>' two weeks with a spring tooth, or other 

 suitable implement, until the first of July. Be careful to cultivate 

 close to the trees, and yet never allow the implement to bark them. 

 If necessary use a grub hoe to dig close to the base of the trunk. Do 

 not cultivate after July ist. Late cultivation induces late growth of 

 the trees and does not allow the wood to mature early. In the case of 

 the tree fruits, early maturity is desirable, because the color of the 

 fruit depends on the ripening. The ripening of the fruit depends on the 

 ripening of the wood. Therefore we should seek to ripen up the wood in 

 the orchard as early in the summer as possible; this is the reason for 

 stopping early. 



About the middle or latter part of July plant some cover crop which 

 at the time of harvesting will have made sufficient growth to form a 

 compact mat on the ground. Never allow an orchard to pass the winter 

 without a cover of some kind. If the soil has no covering in the fall, 

 a little rain makes the ground so muddy that it is almost impossible to 

 work in the orchard. Moreover, it makes the apples dirty to fall on the 

 bare ground. Not only does a cover crop protect the soil and trees 

 during the winter, but it also forms a convenient mat which makes the 

 orchard operations much easier and more agreeable. Good cover crops 

 are mentioned below. 



Fertilization. 



The orchards which are well tilled require less fertilizing than the 

 untilled ones, since cultivation renders the plant food in the soil avail- 

 able. Every orchard, however, requires some fertilizing, either in the 

 form of barnyard manure, commercial fertilizer, or by means of cover 

 crops. A two-year average yield of the fertilized apple orchards in 

 Wayne county gives fifty-five bushels more per acre than the unfertilized. 



Barnyard manure. — Barnyard manure is the best all-round fertilizer 

 for the orchard. Usually orchards receive too little of it. It is possible, 

 however, since it is rich in nitrogen which produces vigorous wood 

 growth, to apply it too often and in too great quantities. The best 

 results are obtained when it is used alternately with commercial fertiliz- 

 ers. Often barnyard manure is applied one year, and a commercial 



