The Tillage of Peach Orchards 105 



without tillage may be cited, the conviction of the best 

 growers in practically all peach-producing sections is that 

 thorough tillage is essential to the continued successful 

 maintenance of an orchard, and that any other method, if 

 long continued, is inevitably at the expense of the trees. 



"Thorough tillage" does not mean the same to every 

 grower. To one it may consist of plowing the orchard in 

 the spring and harrowing it once or twice later in the season ; 

 to another, who has a very high estimate of tillage as a means 

 of preventing the evaporation of moisture from the soil, 

 it may mean going over the orchard with some tillage im- 

 plement twice a week or twenty to twenty-five times during 

 the growing season. 



No arbitrary rules for tilling an orchard can be given. 

 But if a grower keeps in mind the objects of tillage and 

 understands the principles involved, there should be little 

 difficulty in deciding on a rational plan of procedure. 



Generally speaking, a peach orchard should be tilled 

 throughout its entire life, beginning with the first season 

 after the trees are planted. If, for the sake of economy or 

 for other reasons, it is impracticable to work the entire 

 area between the trees, it is usually feasible to confine the 

 tillage for the first year or two to a relatively narrow strip 

 along each row. But the width of the tilled strip should be 

 extended each season, and by the third year the entire sur- 

 face should receive attention. By that time in the life of 

 a peach tree the roots are extending beyond the spread of 

 the branches ; and the entire space between the rows, where 

 the trees have been planted the usual distances apart, is 

 rapidly becoming filled with small rootlets and root-hairs 

 through which moisture and plant-food in solution are 

 taken up. The root development of peach trees, indicating 



