THE KANSAS PEACH. 19 



in the orchard, but they should not be planted too near the trees, and 

 the space around the young trees should not be neglected, but should 

 be kejjt clear of weeds and grass and the surface mellow. 



The cultivation of young orchards should be suspended about the 

 1st to 15th of August each year, in order that the young wood may 

 mature before winter. Cultivation should' be kept up in the orchard 

 as long as it lives. It should commence in the spring, as soon as the 

 blossoms open, when the orchard should be carefully plowed, being 

 careful not to plow so deep as to injure the roots. 



For subsequent cultivation, on lands not too rough or stony, the 

 Acme or Cutaway harrow may be used, thus saving much time and 

 expense. It will, however, usually be necessary to vise a one-horse 

 cultivator directly in the row and next to the trees. 



We need scarcely caution the orchardist that great care should be 

 exercised in the work of cultivating not to break the branches or in 

 any way mutilate the trees. Cultivation should be kept up as often as 

 necessary to maintain the surface in good condition until in August. 

 It is a good plan to sow peas in drills in the orchard, say early in 

 July. Give them one or two good cultivations, then allow them to 

 cover the ground, in this way both protecting and enriching the soil. 



IX — FERTILIZING. 



Of the three essential constituents of jDlant food — nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid, and potash — nitrogen is of the greatest value in promot- 

 ing growth and forming wood. This fact indicates that manures or 

 fertilizers rich in nitrogen should be used during the first years of 

 growth in the young orchard. 



Of this class of fertilizers, we might mention well-decomposed barn- 

 yard or stable manure and cottonseed-meal, which should be apjplied 

 early in the season, to be turned under at the first spring plowing. 



When planting no manure should ever be put in direct contact with 

 the roots, but in some soils a few handfuls of fine bone may be mixed 

 in the soil about the roots. When the peach tree comes into bearing, 

 phosphoric acid and potash are necessary to the proper development 

 of size, beauty and flavor of the peach. These elements can be suj)- 

 plied by fine ground bone and muriate of potash, or hardwood ashes,, 

 ashes of cottonseed hulls, etc. Many orchards become unprofitable 

 because they are not properly fertilized. One great reason for the 

 failure of so many orchards is because they are starved. After the 

 trees come into bearing, they have to perform the double function of 

 developing wood growth and perfecting the fruit, and the failure to 

 perform either of these functions properly is evidence that the soil 

 must be enriched or the orchard will no longer be profitable. 



The rootlets that absorb the plant food necessary to the growth of 



