CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 2UO 



CARE OF SURFACE 



The plan of operation was immediately after setting 

 the. trees to double-disk the entire surface, because the 

 hauling of the wagons and the tramping of the men over 

 the moist soil while setting the trees resulted in packing 

 the ground considerably. A two-horse disk was used for 

 this work, which enabled us to get very close to the tree. 

 As soon as a rain of any magnitude had fallen, the ground 

 was gone over with the pulverizing harrow, crossing the 

 work done with the disk. This harrow is a tool pretty 

 generally known, and a most valuable instrument for this 

 class of work. No weeds were allowed to grow. About 

 two and a-half inches of the surface was kept constantly 

 loose and fine by the use of the harrow until July, when a 

 second double-disking was applied. The object, of this 

 occasional disking was to cut deeper to prevent even the 

 slightest degree of crusting beneath, the mulch. Then the 

 harrow was used, going at right angles each time with the 

 previous cultivation until September 1st. 



LATE CULTIVATION 



Up to this time we had been inclined to follow the ideas 

 of most orchard and tree men and horticulturists, which 

 was to discontinue cultivation after August, the object 

 being to check the growth of the tree and allow the new 

 wood to mature before freezing time. This idea presum- 

 ably is correct in the more humid portions of our country. 

 But in the semi-arid section we are inclined to discredit 

 this theory in its full extent, especially where the rainfall 

 is below fifteen inches. We believe the cultivation should 

 be continued, but less frequent. We must not lose too 

 much of the moisture from around the main roots and 

 their branches, if we would carry our trees safely through 



