THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



71 



In order to facilitate frequent culti- 

 vation afte* the plants and trees are set 

 out, everything should be placed in rows 

 so as to admit the passage of a horse in 

 doing the work. There is nothing more 

 essential to success with small fruits, and 

 with large fruits, while the trees are 

 young, than constant clean mellow cul- 

 tivation. If the work is to be all done 

 by hand labor, it will be sure to be neg- 

 lected, and a hard crusted and weedy 

 surface will result in nearly total failure. 

 If annual manuring is given in autumn, 

 crops of vegetables may be taken from 

 among the larger trees. 



The inquiry will natui*ally be sug- 

 gested by occupants of new places : 

 "How many years must I wait before I 

 can have plenty of fruit T Under the 

 usual management you may have a good 

 supply of strawberries next year from 

 plants set out this spring, and rasp- 

 berries will begin to bear next year, 

 and more freely a year later. Currants 

 and gooseberries will require about the 

 same length of time, and grapes will 

 come into moderate bearing nearly as 

 soon. Dwarf pears will begin to fur- 

 nish a fair supply the third year, if you 

 select early bearers. Even standards 

 of some sorts will be nearly as soon 

 in coming into bearing — such, for in- 

 stance, as the Bartlett, Washington, 

 Summer Doyenne, &c. Much will 

 depend on the treatment they receive. 



SEEDING ORCHARDS. 



As to the treatment of Apple or- 

 chards, we know that when they are 

 established on light gravelly or sandy 

 soils they require periodical applica- 

 tions of manure, that the ground 

 should also be kept loose by shallow 

 plowing, and afterward to be surface- 

 stirred with the harrow or cultivator — 

 all of which is re(piisite to maintain a 

 proper degree of fertility. 



We have learned that to sow grass 

 on the surface of the orchard planted 

 in such soils is simply the first step 

 toward the destruction of the trees, so 

 far as regards their fruit-bearing capa- 

 cities. Of course, we are now con- 

 sidering ordinary condition and man- 

 agement, for it is quite practical, 

 merely considering it as a question of 

 possibility, to so enrich the surface of 

 even the liglitest of soils as to obviate 

 necessity of further surface culture. 



On the other hand, we may imagine 

 the case of an orchard placed in a con- 

 dition of things very much the reverse 

 of the one we have considered. In this 

 the soil is a strong, rich loam, perhaps 

 with a preponderance of clay in its 

 composition, and the trees are growing 

 vigorously, and for some years have 

 been making a great quantity of wood 

 and but very little fruit. 



When a case of this kind occurs, we 

 know that in order to produce fruitful- 

 ness we must, by some means, weaken 

 the growth, and the most available 

 means, is to cover the orchards with 

 grass. This will have a tendency to 

 check the growth of the shootc, and as 

 a consequence favor the production of 

 fruit. This is in accordance with the 

 general law that " whatever tends to 

 weaken a plant favors the production 

 of flowers and fruit, and whatever tends 

 to the luxuriant growth of leaves and 

 branches is unfavorable to the produc- 

 tion of fruit." 



Therefore it is that the question as 

 to whether orchai-ds should be kept in 

 grass or cultivated like a corn-field 

 cannot be answered with regard to 

 orchards in general ; but when the 

 question is applied to any particular 

 orchard it admits of a definite answer, 

 the condition of the trees (and soil) 

 indicating what the answer will be. — 

 William Saunders, be/ore the Foto- 

 mac Fruit-Grower 8. 



