CULTIVATION AND MULCHING 



Cultivation, like every other good thing, is good in its place, 

 and bad when out of its place. All fruit trees should and 

 will, if conditions are normal cease growth about July i. Later 

 growth will prevent fruit from ripening, and will send the tree 

 into winter with sappy wood and buds. Now, when trees have 

 not ripened as they should, buds and twigs are hurt by freez- 

 ing to an extent seldom appreciated. We cannot always see 

 this damage. Few realize that it ever is done. But a crop 

 often is frozen one or two years ahead, and when we do not 

 get fruit we say that something is wrong, yet fail to learn 

 what that something is. 



Cultivation must stop not later than August i in young 

 orchards, and three or four weeks earlier in bearing orchards. 

 A cover crop that will use up moisture and nitrogen should be 

 sown, to make sure that ripening begins. There are other 

 reasons for cover crops; but, from the cultural standpoint, 

 this is most important. Allowing the ground to bake might 

 accomplish the ripening, too, but it would produce bad effects 

 as well. To aid ripening, mulches sometimes may be pulled back 

 from trees in August. This applies particularly to young trees. 



When to cultivate, when to mulch, and when to use sod, 

 depends entirely upon the conditions. Each will produce its 

 own effects. The grower must decide what methods are best 

 must decide what he wants to do with his trees, then use the 

 means that produce that result. Consider every effect of what 

 you are going to do. For instance, sod will ripen wood and 

 fruit weeks earlier than cultivation, in the same way that a 

 too-early cover crop will, by using up the moisture and nitro- 

 gen. Again, cultivation will destroy mice and insects; and 

 still again, with mulch, fire always must be guarded against, 

 particularly near railroads, woods and houses. Fire almost 

 surely would kill the trees. There are dozens of points to con- 

 sider. Study all, and use the methods best suited to your condi- 

 tions, but modify them or change them entirely if this will 

 produce better results. 



SUMMARY 



We do not cultivate to kill weeds nor mulch to keep frost 

 out. We do these things to save moisture; to promote drainage; 

 to change insoluble plant-food elements into available plant 

 food; to improve the texture of the earth; to mix dead vegetable 

 matter in the soil; to increase the depth of useful soil; to make 

 the temperature of the soil average higher and have less range; 

 to prevent winter damage to trees; to keep plant food from 

 leaching away; to produce conditions under which soil will 

 warm up sooner or stay colder longer, as desired, in the spring; 

 to supply plant food; to help friendly bacteria grow and increase; 

 to destroy unfriendly bacteria, insects, fungi and animals. 



Mulching with straw and hay, growing and turning down 

 cover crops and cultivating with plows, harrows, dynamite, 

 and underdraining are the means we have of giving culture to 

 orchard land. 



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