42 QUINCE CULTUKE. 



be efficient. If done with a plow, the furrow slice 

 should be narrow, that the whole of the ground may be 

 thoroughly pulverized very deep. Where we find a light 

 sandy or mucky soil on a compact subsoil, it may be well 

 to cross-plow, the more thoroughly to mingle the two 

 together. 



DRAINAGE. Whenever it is found best to underdrain, 

 the method should depend on facilities. Where there are 

 plenty of cobblestones, it is a good plan to place them in a 

 suitable ditch, and cover them so as to leave the surface 

 much as it was before the drain was dug. This will be best 

 in many parts of the country. In sections destitute of 

 such material, tiles become a necessity. The ditch is better 

 made between the rows of trees, so as to be reached only 

 by the smaller roots ; and for the same reason it is well 

 to cover the joints of the tile. Three feet may be deep 

 enough; but always make sure that the fall to the outlet 

 is sufficient to carry out the water. Land that needs 

 draining at all is never likely to be made too dry by good 

 underdrains between the rows of trees. Some prefer 

 open drains to tile or cobblestone. If proper drainage 

 has not been secured before the planting of the trees, it 

 will pay to do it afterward. The drains, however, must 

 always be so placed as to carry off the water. 



CULTIVATION. The importance of thorough cultiva- 

 tion for this fruit can not be too well understood. Clean 

 culture is helpful in avoiding the borers, because it leaves 

 no weeds and grass around the tree to make a shelter for 

 them. If the ground is stirred often, besides keeping 

 it free from weeds, it will absorb a much larger por- 

 tion of nitrogen from the air, and so be enriched. The 

 atmosphere presses it into the soil with a weight equal to 

 a column of water thirty-three feet high; and if it is con- 

 stantly kept pulverized its power of absorption is greatly 

 increased, and it is much less affected by drought. 



The quantity of water evaporated from a soil well 



