368 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



About the Care of Orchards. 



In September the first thing to do in the orchard is to see that alf 

 the grass and weeds around the trees are cleared away. If the tree» 

 have been somewhat neglected, and weeds or grass have grown up^ 

 then, by all means, the ground should be plowed, if it is possible to 

 plow at all, before September 1 ; and if it cannot be plowed, then the 

 trees should be cleaned about so that they will mature well to go into 

 winter quarters. No cultivating should be done after the first of Sep- 

 tember, but we should not allow grass or weeds to stand about the 

 trees. 



Orchard Work For July. 



Too many of our fruit-growers think that there is nothing for 

 them to do in the orchard during July ; all of our farmers think the 

 same way, and so neglect the care of the orchard, not only during^ 

 July, but during the whole year, usually. 



Orchards if not plowed or cultivated before this season should be 

 plowed and cleaned up now, and then cultivated once or twice until 

 the middle of August, when cultivation should cease. This cultiva- 

 tion will so loosen the ground that the trees will go the dry season 

 without injury. 



The Orchard. 



How shall we manage the old orchards which have been neglected 

 for years ? is a question, not unfrequently asked, to which Professor 

 Baily, of Cornell, replies : "Such orchards, of course, are in sod. The 

 roots are so high that the land cannot be plowed. In this case, the 

 best that can be done is to break up the turf in spring when it is soft, 

 using a sharp-toothed or disc harrow. When the sod is once well cut 

 up, sow on fertilizers, and continue to work it shallow. But the tree 

 tops are often so low that a team cannot be used. An orchard in which 

 horses cannot be driven is worth little, and it is doubtful how much 

 labor can be spent upon it with profit. Trees which have been culti" 

 vated from the first have their tops formed by gradual and timely prun- 

 ings, the owner scarcely knows how, but the untilled trefes often de- 

 velop into brush heaps which no amount of good intentions can correct. 

 But, if possible, these old orchards must be trimmed up to admit of 



