72 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Ploughingr OF Mulching" an Apple Orchapd. 



60ti. Sir, — I have a small orchard, ten years planted, which has been seeded for 

 three years with clover and timothy. The trees are rather close together to allow of 

 breaking up the ground easily. I have put on a heavy dressing of manure ; and would like 

 to know whether you would advise me to plough it under, or simply give it a good 

 harrowing. J. D. Oliver, Bubcaygeon. 



Where practicable, there is no doubt that the best treatment any apple 

 orchard can receive is frequent cultivation with both plough and harrow, because 

 in this way, not only is the manure better mixed with the soil, but the fertilizing 

 elements already in the soil are rendered more available by the roots of the trees. 

 Besides this, many soils become too closely packed for the beneficial action of 

 the air to be exerted upon, unless occasionally worked up. 



However, in the case before us, it is quite possible that in a small orchard* 

 a sufficient quantity of manure could be applied to mulch the surface and keep 

 it moist. The test will be in the growth of young wood at the tips of the limbs. 

 So long as there is an annual growth of a foot or so, the orchard is in sufficient 

 vigor, and needs nothing in the way of fertilization, or cultivation. 



Small Fruits, Cultivated or Wild. 



603. Sir, — Would you advise me to grow small fruits ? I am situated in a section 

 where there is any quantity of wild fruits, with a small town on each side, and no opposi- 

 tion. 1 am a beekeeper, and am fond of fruit growing. J. D. Oliver, Bobcaygeon. 



Cultivated fruits are usually so much superior to wild, at least in size and 

 appearance, that there is always a demand for the former at higher prices. No 

 doubt that our subscriber would find it a material help to his income, were he 

 to plant a half-acre of strawberry plants ; a half-acre of red and black rasp- 

 berries ; a half-acre of blackberries ; a half-acre of currants and gooseberries^ 

 more or less, according to the size of the towns which will be his markets. 



What is a Shrub ? 



604* Sir, — What is a flowering shrub ? Are Clematis Jackmanni, and Aristolochia 

 Sipho, shrubs ? A Subscriber. 



A shrub is a woody plant of less size than a tree, usually with several stems. 

 If the extreme height of a plant exceeds twenty feet, for example, it would be 

 called a tree and not a plant. The stems of Clematis Jackmanni are sufficiently 

 woody to class it among the shrubs, and so are those of Aristolochia Sipho. 



