Orchard Management 99 



piece of land without the intervention of other crops of im- 

 portance. Usually on account of the condition of the soil, 

 it is not regarded as good practice to replant an orchard 

 site with trees until after some time has elapsed and the 

 condition of the soil has been improved. Even the making 

 of replants after an orchard has reached bearing age is usually 

 a doubtful practice, though because of the unfavorable 

 competition of the young trees with the older ones, rather 

 than because of soil depletion. 



An extreme case of old age in a peach tree is indicated 

 in Plate X, which shows an Oldmixon Free tree in Caroline 

 County, Maryland, which was fifty-four years old when the 

 picture was taken. The tree lived for several years after 

 that time. 



The effect of actively stimulating vegetative growth either 

 by tillage or the use of nitrogenous fertilizers, or both com- 

 bined, may result in a material delay in the ripening of the 

 fruit. So well is this recognized by some growers, that they 

 definitely aim to extend considerably their "peach season" 

 by these means even when only a single variety is planted. 



MAINTAINING THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 



Fundamentally, the methods of maintaining or increasing 

 the fertility of the soil in a peach orchard are the same as 

 those used in the culture of other fruits or general farm crops, 

 except, of course, that so far as the latter are concerned there 

 is an opportunity for crop rotations that are not possible 

 in an orchard. 



It is always far better to maintain the fertility of the soil 

 at a high standard than to permit it to become depleted to 

 such an extent that restoration is necessary. Good tillage 



