42 QUINCE CULTURE. 
be efficient. If done with a plow, the furrow slice 
should be narrow, that the whole of the ground may be 
thoroughly pulverized very deep. Where we find a light 
sandy or mucky soil on a compact subsoil, it may be well 
to cross-plow, the more thoroughly to mingle the two 
together. } 
DRAINAGE.—Whenever it is found best to underdrain, 
the method should depend on facilities. Where there are 
plenty of cobblestones, it isa good plan to place them ina 
suitable ditch, and cover them so as to leave the surface 
much as it was before the drain was dug. This will be best 
in many parts of the country. In sections destitute of 
such material, tiles become a necessity. The ditch is better 
made between the rows of trees, so as to be reached only 
by the smaller roots ; and for the same reason it is well 
to cover the joints of the tile. Three feet may be deep 
enough; but always make sure that the fall to the outlet 
is sufficient to carry out the water. Land that needs 
draining at all is never likely to be made too dry by good 
underdrains between the rows of trees. Some prefer 
open drains to tile or cobblestone. If proper drainage 
has not been secured before the planting of the trees, it 
will pay to do it afterward. The drains, however, must 
always be so placed as to carry off the water. 
CuLTIvATION.—The importance of thorough cultiva- 
tion for this fruit can not be too well understood. Clean 
culture is helpful in avoiding the borers, because it leaves 
no weeds and grass around the tree to make a shelter for 
them. If the ground is stirred often, besides keeping 
it free from weeds, it will absorb a much larger por- 
tion of nitrogen from the air, and so be enriched. The 
atmosphere presses it into the soil with a weight equal to 
a column of water thirty-three feet high; and if it is con- 
stantly kept pulverized its power of absorption is greatly 
increased, and it is much less affected by drought. 
The quantity of water evaporated from a soil well 
