S July, 1908.] Raising an Export Apple Orchard. 391 



No portion of the orchard should remain untilled. By means of a false 

 head to the plough and a long chain the ploughing can be done right up to 

 the trees in most cases, ^^'^hat cannot be done this way must be accom- 

 plished by hand. During summer the surface soil should be kept in as 

 fine a state of tilth as possible to conserve the moisture. The smaller the 

 particles of soil can be rendered the greater the capillary attraction, and the 

 lilms of moisture surrounding these particles reduce the plant-food to a 

 soluble state bv which the roots are enabled to obtain nourishment for the 

 ^vood and buds above. 



No encrustation of the surface should be permitted in summer after 

 rain. The soil, whenever this is likely to occur, should be lightly stirred 

 with a cultivator. 



Of course, as before explained, cultivation varies as the requirements of 

 the orchard demand. When trees are bearing heavily, we cannot be ad- 

 judged guilty of over-cultivation. 



When the orchard is young, growers are often found producing cereal 

 crops between the trees. This is a great mistake. An ordinary crop of 

 hay is computed to take about 300 tons of moisture out of an acre ; and as 

 this hay is cut off in late spring the fruit trees begin their summer in a dry 

 and thirsty soil. Owing to the want of moisture the food thaf is in the soil 

 is unavailable to the roots of the trees. If the orchardist must grow some 

 thing, a few rows of potatoes or strawberries or other crop that will require 

 frequent summer tillage may be grown, but at such a distance from the 

 trees as not to interfere with their roots. 



The primarv object, that of establishing an orchard profitable through- 

 out a long life, must not be lost sight of. Time is too short to rectify 

 serious errors in the establishment of an orchard, so do not woO' returns 

 from catch crops, probablv at the expense of your fruit trees hereafter. 

 r^Ianv have done so, and wish thev had not 



Manuring. 



As a rule the young orchard requires, if any, but little manure. It is 

 a mistake to have to amend root treatment with the knife. All the grower 

 wants in his young trees is standard progress — even, moderate growth. 

 If his trees are not doing this for him 2 cwt. of bonedust to the acre will 

 remedy matters. But when his trees come into bearing they will require 

 liberal and intelligent feeding. 



Owing to the variability of soils even in the same orchard it would be 

 useless to give here any special treatment for any one orchard. The grower 

 must study closely the behaviour of his trees, the surrounding circumstances 

 that may modify their growth or their bearing, and by experience — the 

 only infallible guide — determine and supply their requirements. He must 

 understand that the tree requires every element of plant food, and soils 

 rich in any one of these elements in an available form are not visibly bene- 

 fited by it's addition in an artificial form. In fact, only those constituents 

 in which the soil is deficient should be added in the form of fertilizers. 

 By the soil's deficiency in any particular constituent is, of course, meant 

 when that constituent is unavailable to the plant. 



Concentrated fertilizers though strong in chemical quantities are lacking 

 in physical action, and should be regarded only as supplementary to thorough 

 tillage and green-manuring. 



The incorporation of organic matter with the soil, as in the case of green - 

 manuring, ameliorates its physical condition. It influences the warmth and 

 moisture of the soil, alters its mechanical constitution, and renders it in 

 a better state for the appropriation of food by the plant. 



