I64 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Cultivating the Young Orchard. Probably most northern hor- 

 ticulturists advocate using the spaces between the rows of a newly 

 planted orchard for the purpose of growing some crop. If the 

 process of cultivation is followed up and the weeds kept down con- 

 tinuously, there is no harm in this, provided all grass crops are 

 strictly avoided. In our observation, however, we are inclined to 

 think that unless the owner is particularly cramped for space, the 

 best results are obtained by keeping the orchard clear of everything 

 from the very start. Particularly is this true if he desires to bring 

 his orchard into early bearing. It must not be forogtten that what- 

 ever is grown between the rows will take from the soil an amount 

 of humus, nitrogen and other properties that would otherwise go 

 into the building of the tree. It would, therefore, follow as a gen- 

 eral conclusion that not only must a great amount of fertilizer be 

 put back on the ground, but there is also lost a considerable time in 

 bringing the tree to a bearing age. 



Fertilisers and Mulches are features of orcharding so closely 

 allied in results to the problem of cultivation that they should here 

 have- at least a passing consideration. In a young orchard on good 

 land it is not always necessary to use any fertilizer, especially if 

 the cultivation is kept up faithfully ; but after the trees have 

 reached a large size, and especially when they have commenced bear- 

 ing, a small amount of stable manure spread around each tree, when 

 the farm work is not pressing, will more than repay the owner in the 

 size and quality of the crop, and also in the resulting growth of 

 the tree. It is a simple matter of feeding the tree in the same man- 

 ner as you feed your horse. During the winter, when the horse 

 is doing very little or no work, he will live well on straw or other 

 joarse food, but when you begin putting him in the harness for 

 regular work, you are wise if you begin an immediate increase both 

 in the quality and quantity of his food. 



Apply this example to the fertilization of orchard land, and you 

 have a good working basis upon which to act. Remember that by 

 the time the trees are of a bearing age the soil so smooth and ap- 

 parently devoid of life upon the surface is emmeshed by a vast net- 

 work of fine fibrous roots reaching in every direction. The more 

 you expect of a tree, the more you must give it in the way of ma- 

 terial upon which to work. In many respects it is like a factory 

 machine ; the soil and the air furnish the raw material, and the fruit 

 represents the finished product. It is your duty to see that all the 

 cogs are in place and the journals well filled with oil; this is what 

 you do when you cultivate to keep the moisture in the soil, and 



