ORCHARDS. 37 



three feet, at the root of each tree : A man will dig 

 round one hundred trees in a day; the trilling loss of 

 grass and labour, will be fully remunerated by the im- 

 proved vigour of the tree. When the ground can be 

 spared from cropping, four or five furrows on each 

 side of a row, will be found a most eligible mode of 

 promoting the growth of a young orchard. 



All fallow crops are most favourable to the growth 

 of orchards, at every early stage of their cultivation 

 iridian corn, potatoes and vines, are preferable to oats 

 or barley; and these again are more favorable than 

 winter grain : Buckwheat is among the most beneficial 

 crops for the promotion of the autumnal growth of 

 trees Clover is by many farmers believed to be inju- 

 rious to young trees ; its tendency to check the growth 

 of trees will be found, I believe, to be in proportion to 

 the air and moisture which its greater or less vigorous 

 growth may keep from the roots ; light and heat, ap- 

 pear as necessary to the roots as to the branches of 

 trees clover, while it occupies the ground, must pre- 

 vent cultivation ; so far I apprehend it will be found 

 pernicious, but probably not in a greater degree than 

 any other luxuriant and deeply rooted species of grass, 

 absorbing the moisture, and exhausting the strength of 

 the soil which covers the roots of small trees. In the ar- 

 rangement of an orchard, both convenience and beauty 

 will result from planting each kind in distinct contigu- 



