87 



has to be cut out just in its prime. But this has absolutely 

 nothing to do with the question further than being responsi- 

 ble for most of the failures of the scheme. If the trees have 

 been the most profitable thing you could have on the land 

 while there, they have done their whole duty, and have vindi- 

 cated your judgment in setting them out; and the fact that 

 if they were somewhere else they might continue to be profit- 

 able, while an interesting fact, has nothing more to do with 

 the question at issue than the price of gas. 



The last point which I wish to discuss, and one which 

 is also largely a personal question, though there are some 

 general principles involved, is the matter of what crops to 

 grow in the orchard for the profit to be gotten out of the 

 crop, and not, as with cover crops, solely to benefit the or- 

 chard ; for, while the bearing orchard, of course, uses all the 

 land and pays a profit on it, or ought to, the young or- 

 chard is for several years a source of out-go, and the land 

 ought to be planted to some crop which will yield a profit, 

 and at the same time either directly benefit the orchard, or 

 at least not injure it. 



A crop to be satisfactory in an orchard must first of all 

 be a cultivated crop. I do not believe in either a hay crop 

 or a grain crop for an orchard, whether young or old. And 

 if the crop is to be cultivated, the more thorough cultivation 

 it requires and the more nearly its season for cultivating 

 corresponds to that of the orchard, the better. I am sure that 

 a cultivated crop is usually far better for the orchard than 

 if no crop is grown, for unfortunately the average man will 

 cultivate his annual crops when he might neglect his orchard. 



Secondly, a crop to be entirely satisfactory ought not to 

 disturb the soil late in the growing season, as, for example, 

 in digging a crop of early potatoes. If the crop grows late 

 in the season, which is in itself no objection, but rather the 

 reverse, it ought to be something like cabbage or squash, 

 which does not disturb the soil when gathered; or else late 

 potatoes, which are dug so late that the trees will not have 

 their growth prolonged. Of course this objection can be over- 

 come by planting the crop far enough from the trees, but 



