HOW TO GROW AND MARKET FRUIT 



hay, grain, etc., from an acre of orchard could not possibly 

 be worth more than a fraction of the value of a full fruit crop; 

 yet to raise any of these in the orchard will reduce the value 

 of the fruit crop to only one-fifth or even less of what it would 

 have been without them. Never think of removing a non- 

 cultivated crop from between rows of fruit trees. 



Apples, pears, cherries, and plums, in light sandy soil, espe- 

 cially where rainfall in the growing season sometimes is short, 

 always are best clean-cultivated. Peaches and dwarf pears, in 

 any soil, always should be cultivated well. To facilitate this, 

 larger growing trees may be headed high enough at the 

 trunk so that limbs will clear the team, and the limbs of smaller 

 trees will not project far enough to interfere. Keep harrows 

 and plows away from trunks of trees. Turn plows out when 

 near trees on all sides. Finish this space with a hand hoe if 

 it needs to be cultivated. Use center-trace harness whenever 

 possible; this is made by putting the doubletree across the 

 collars in front, and hitching by one chain or rope from the 

 center of the doubletree directly to the plow or harrow. 



Cover all the surface in harrowing, except that little space 

 around tree trunks. Harrow in every direction if you can. In 

 all cultivation try to keep the surface even and level. Allow 

 no dead furrows or ridges. Even on hillsides, where there is 

 a furrow next to the sod strip, harrow or drag this shut soon. 



In case severe economy is necessary, or where help is scarce, 

 a combination of the clean cultivation and the mulch methods 

 can be used. Plow a narrow strip alongside each row of trees. 

 Cultivate this and cover the rest with sod, and mow. A man 

 by the name of Hitchings, in New York, uses this method en- 

 tirely, in preference to any other treatment he could give his 

 orchard, and he is certainly very successful. 



Up to the time trees are six or seven years old, their roots 

 will not occupy all the space, and cultivated double crops can 

 be used. Even when filler trees are planted as close as fifteen 

 or twenty feet, the ground between can be made to yield a 

 profit while the trees are small; and at the same time, if proper 

 fertilizers are supplied, the orchards will be benefited by cul- 

 tivation given to these double crops. 



Some of the best business farmers of the country say it 

 costs entirely too much to bring an orchard into bearing with- 

 out between-tree crops. When a man wants to start an orchard 

 and does not have the money, he often can do it by growing 

 four or five crops of strawberries, tomatoes, asparagus, or 

 something similar between his trees. Do not plant potatoes, 

 or any crop requiring digging after August i, as this will 

 act the same as late cultivation and force fall growth of trees. 

 The May and June cultivation given these crops is just the thing 

 required by young trees. Markets are waiting for these pro- 

 ducts. All that is required is to study how to pack them, and 

 make proper arrangements for selling them. We advise sowing 

 a cover crop with any intercrop, at the last cultivation, and 

 let it come on. Rye or rye and vetch are good, and will make 

 a cover crop to carry through fall and winter. 



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