254 ANNUAL EEPORT 



sun's rays impart their greatest heat at about 2 P. M., and in sum- 

 mer the trees become stunted on that side from sap-scald, and in 

 winter the reflection from the ground when covered with snow 

 causes the sap to rise prematurely, and the succeeding cold night 

 ruptures the sap cells upon that side, enfeebling the tree and caus- 

 ing premature decay and death. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. 



The man who expects to grow and harvest a good and paying 

 crop of corn, would prepare his ground for the crop in the best and 

 most careful manner. Still more important is it that the ground 

 for an orchard, where the trees are expected to endure and produce 

 fruit for a lifetime, should receive a thorough preparation before 

 the trees are set upon it. All soils where clay predominates, are 

 greatly benefited by under-draining. It is a question of expense, 

 and is not much practiced in this State, but would make some of 

 our wet and tenacious soils the most profitable for orchard plant- 

 ing. Where under-draining cannot be done, we will do best to 

 pass by such places and select soil of a more loamy friable nature, 

 (any land where, if a hole were dug three feet deep and filled with 

 water, it would settle away and disappear in three or four hours, 

 will not require under-drainage). In most localities the prepara- 

 tion is best done with a heavy team and plow. It is well to plow 

 the ground very deep the fall before the trees are to be set, leaving 

 it as rough as may be for the winter, and go over it in the spring 

 with a harrow to level and fine the surface. It would be still bet- 

 ter to plow the ground once in August and again just before winter 

 sets in, harrowing once or twice between. If the ground is too 

 compact it may be stirred in the spring with a cultivator. If the 

 orchard is to be located on untamed and unbroken soil, it should 

 first be broken up and the sod given time to rot, and then one or 

 more hoed crops, as corn or potatoes, taken from it. The deeper 

 the plowing the better, and as good surface drainage is imperative, 

 if the land is nearly flat, as is the case with much of our prairie, it 

 is well to back-furrow on a line where the trees are to stand so that 

 they may be planted on a ridge which will give considerable sur- 

 face drainage and leave open furrows between the rows to conduct 

 away the surplus water and in which at some future time, if found 

 necessary, tiles may be laid. The natural inclination of the sur- 

 face should be observed before plowing, so that the dead-furrows may 

 have sufficient fall to carry off all water that may run into them, 

 and yet not have so much that the running water would wash out 



