GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS. 187 



branches which will make a well-balanced and symmetrical 

 top, the new grafts must not be neglected when the first 

 begin to grow. Every one should be examined frequently, 

 and pinched, if necessary, or trained so as to grow into a 

 beautiful portion of the tree. 



Ploughing old Orchards. Perhaps the land around the 

 trees has already been ploughed too much. If so, plough- 

 ing the ground again will operate like applying whip and 

 spur to a jaded horse, after he has been urged and whipped 

 and spurred, until he has galloped so long and so far, that 

 the poor brute is just ready to drop from exhaustion. 

 There are instances in which ploughing the ground of an 

 old orchard will be the means of rendering the trees pro- 

 ductive. Yet they are so rare, that it is safe for us to re- 

 cord our protest against ploughing such ground, as there 

 is a far better way to make the trees fruitful. If the land 

 is covered with a tough sod, we would never disturb one 

 square foot of it with a plough. The surface-soil round 

 about such old trees is full of roots, ready to devour all 

 the fruit-producing material that can be found in the* upper 

 stratum of the earth. The mere process of breaking it up 

 with a plough will not promote its fertility to such an ex- 

 tent that the trees will yield a crop of fruit. Besides this, 

 those old trees do not need such a severe root-pruning as 

 they will be obliged to suffer if the ground is ploughed. 

 The far better way will be to feed the hungry roots by 

 applying fertilizing material to the surface round about 

 each tree, as far as the branches extend. Pomace is excel- 

 lent when spread on the surface, as it will furnish a boun- 

 tiful supply of apple-producing pabulum. But let not 

 pomace be applied too bountifully near a tree, lest it de- 

 stroy every root. A layer two inches deep will effectually 

 destroy every thing that has life beneath it for several 

 years; while six to ten bushels according to the size of 



