The Tillage of Peach Orchards 



109 



strong motive power for efficient work, the outfit shown in 



Plate XI has proved especially well adapted. The team of 



leaders is driven by a "jerk line," the 



driver riding the near pole horse. The 



man who rides the harrow not only serves 



the useful purpose of weighting it down, 



so that it will cut deep, but he also guides 



the harrow past the trees by properly 



adjusting the positions of its two sections. 



In this way the trees are rarely injured, 



and yet the harrow can be run very close 



to them. However, in this particular 



orchard the use of the harrow is usually 



preceded by two or three bouts with 



a light one-horse plow along each row 



of trees. 



The leveler shown in Fig. 9 is also a 

 very useful tillage implement in some 

 orchard districts. Its use could doubt- 

 less be greatly extended to good advan- 

 tage. Though of special importance in 

 some of the irrigated districts for leveling 

 the irrigation furrows, it is effective in 

 crushing clods and in smoothing the surface 

 of the soil. It is a home-made affair, 

 consisting of two side pieces of 2-inch 

 plank, 12 or 14 feet long and 7 or 8 

 inches wide. The crosspieces are 7 or 8 

 feet long. The lower edges of the cross- 

 pieces where they come in contact with 

 the ground are protected with strips of 

 iron or steel to prevent undue wearing and also to 



