MULCHING. 409 



Now we are having some success with the king of fruits — 

 and some failures, too. But we can look back and profit by the 

 experiences of the past. We see that the cold of winter is not 

 the only hard thing in the climate for apple trees ; but the heat 

 of summer and the drouth and, perhaps, the moisture too are 

 possibly as hard as the winter. What can be done to overcome 

 these diflficulties ? 



There are several ways of ameliorating these summer trou- 

 bles, and one of them is mulching, its object being to keep the 

 earth cool and moist around the roots of the trees. 



There are many opinions concerning the utility of mulching. 

 Some are very much opposed to it; some put the question this 

 way, "Mulching vs. cultivating." 



I do not think mulching should be considered a substitute for 

 cultivation but should be used in conjunction with it. 



In fact, cultivation has come to be considered one kind of 

 mulch, as we speak of a "dust mulch." 



Consulting Webster as to the definition of mulch, I find he 

 says "half rotten straw." But I will not consider it in this re- 

 stricted sense, but to mean any covering for the ground to re- 

 tain moisture and coolness. Dust mulch is coming into great 

 favor of late and with considerable reason, for it is adapted to 

 use on a large scale and costs nothing but the labor of preparing 

 it, and this labor at the same time does away with weeds. 



There is no doubt but the dust mulch is a very good thing, 

 but it has its drawbacks and failures. It is made, as is well 

 known, by a thorough cultivation of the surface of the soil, 

 and when this is well done it will retain moisture for a consider- 

 able time. However, the slightest shower causes a crust to form 

 and spoils the mulch. Well, it will be said, "Just run the culti- 

 vator over it after every rain, and you will preserve your mulch 

 all right." Just so, but this is sometimes hard to do. 



Our most severe drouths are often characterized by frequent 

 little showers, and it was from their bad effect in crusting the 

 soil that the old idea came that a little moisture is worse than 

 none at all. 



It is often very difficult to keep the surface stirred after every 

 shower, especially for a busy man. Once a week is often enough 

 to stir to keep the weeds down, and that is about as mHch labor 

 as most of us think we can afiford to put on cultivation. But 

 we will suppose we have just got our orchard worked to a good 

 mulch. It is planted between the rows, say, with various garden 

 crops, as sweet corn, peas, beans, melons, etc., as is so often 



