254 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



tion. While the practice has become quite 

 general during the past few years, and is 

 growing more so, the principles underlying 

 the operation are not so fully understood as 

 they should be. A better understanding of 

 these principles will make the operation 

 more effective, because it will be more thor- 

 ough. 



The offices of tillage are several. Among 

 the more important ones are : 



I. The setting free of plant food by in- 

 creasing the chemical activities in the soil. 



-'. The soil is made finer and hence pre 

 seats greater surfaces to the roots, thus in- 

 creasing the area from which the roots can 

 absorb nutriment. 



3. The surface of the soil is kept in such 

 condition that it immediately absorbs all the 

 rain that falls during the summer, when it 

 is apt to be dry. Little is lost by surface 

 drainage. 



4. Moisture is conserved thereby. Where 

 the surface remains undisturbed for weeks 

 the soil becomes packed, so that the moisture 

 from below readily passes to the surface and 

 is evaporated,' thus being lost to the growing 

 crop. If the surface is kept light and loose 

 by tillage, so that the capillarity is broken, 

 but little of the soil moisture comes to the 

 surface and evaporation is not so great. In 

 this way nearly all the moisture remains in 

 the soil, where it can be used by the plants. 



5. Thorough tillage has a tendency to 

 cause deeper rooting of the plants. The 

 surface of the soil is made drier by tillage 

 during the early part of the season than, it 

 would otherwise be ; hence the roots go 

 where the soil is moist. The advantage of 

 deep rooting during drouth is obvious. 



The relation of plant fo*^ J and moisture 

 to the welfare of crops anu the influence of 

 tillage thereon should perhaps receive some 

 further attention. Doubtless all farm crops 

 — not excepting the tree fruits — suffer more 

 from lack of moisture that they do from lack 



of plant food in the soil. All of the nour- 

 ishment which the plant gets from the soil 

 is taken in solution, and unless there is an 

 abundance of soil moisture to dissolve the 

 mineral plant foods it is evident that then* 

 presence in the soil, even in limitless quanti- 

 ties, could avail nothing for the good of the 

 crop. The ideal tillage, then, is that which 

 begins as early in the season as the soil can 

 be worked, while there is still an abundance 

 of moisture in it, and continues until mid 

 season — that is, through the growing season 

 of the plant. The aim should be to keep 

 the surface, to a depth of 2 or 3 inches, as 

 light and as loose as possible. This will be 

 equivalent, so far is conserving the moisture 

 is concerned, to spreading a mulch of straw 

 or sawdust over the soil. The constantly 

 moist condition of the soil under such a 

 mulch is a matter of frequent observation. 



But tillage, to be of value in fruit grow- 

 ing, -must be practiced judiciously. If the 

 soil is tilled when it is too w-et, more damage 

 may be done by a single cultivation than a 

 whole season's effort in corrective methods 

 can overcome. 



There are cases where conditions will sug- 

 gest that tillage of any kind is unwise. Such 

 fruits as the strawberry, which produces :ts 

 crop clos^ to the ground and early in the sea- 

 son, obviously should receive little, if any, 

 cultivation before the fruit is harvested. 

 The practice of tillage, however, is correct 

 in principle. The wisdom of the grower 

 must suggest the proper application of it. 



SOW A COVER CROP. 



THIS is the month to cease cultivation 

 of the orchard, and to seed it down to 

 some cover crop ; a course which not only 

 lessens the labor of cultivation, but gives the 

 busy fruit grower an opportunity to harvest 

 his fruit during the autumn months. Oats 

 or rye have been sown in some parts, but if 

 rye is used it must be plowed under early in 



