n8 BEGINNERS' GUIDE TO FRUIT GROWING 



deficient in neglected orchards. Buckwheat is prob- 

 ably one of the very best crops for use under these 

 circumstances. 



General good management must replace general 

 neglect all along the line in accomplishing what we 

 have here in view. This will mean cultivation of 

 the soil throughout the summer, and a regular cam- 

 paign of spring and summer spraying. In fact, this 

 is the essence of the whole method ; namely, that all 

 these various lines of work shall be applied at once 

 and in organized co-operation. Attempts at reno- 

 vating old orchards often fail, but the reason is that 

 some one has a notion that the whole thing can be 

 accomplished by grafting or by spraying, or by 

 some other one or two partial reforms. In most 

 cases it is not worth while to undertake any one 

 of these unless the whole scheme is to be put 

 through vigorously and systematically to the end. 



When such a campaign is intelligently carried 

 out, however, upon trees whkh have a reasonable 

 hope of life, the results are often surprisingly good. 

 Hundreds of cases are known where such old 

 orchards have been brought to a highly profitable 

 condition. This usually requires two to five years. 

 Commonly the results begin to show in a small crop 

 of fruit the second or the third year. From that 

 time forward the crop should increase in quantity 

 and improve in quality. 



