230 THE POME FRUITS 



Cultivation. — Young trees should be well cultivated during 

 the early part of the growing season, but this operation 

 should be stopped during the late summer or early fall so 

 the trees will ripen up their wood before winter. 



Occasionally some crop like the potato, squash, cabbage 

 or tomato can be planted between the trees, which not 

 only produces an income from the land but at the same 

 time necessitates good and thorough cultivation of the ground. 

 The practice of intercropping is not always recommended. 

 Sometimes the orchard is badly neglected, unless intercropping 

 is practised, and it is better for the trees to have a cultivated 

 crop growing between them than to have the soil filled with 

 weeds. 



After the trees begin to bear it is sometimes advisable 

 to seed the land down with clover, which should be plowed 

 under every two or three years and the soil cultivated the 

 year the sod is turned under. Occasionally the orchard is 

 seeded down with blue grass. Under some conditions this 

 practice is permissible, as, for example, on steep slopes. In 

 sodded orchards the trees should be heavily mulched by 

 placing straw or manure 1 foot or more deep around them 

 to the limit of the drip of the branches. Occasionally 

 such orchards become sod-bound and must be culti- 

 vated. 



Mulching. — The advantage of a mulch around a tree is not 

 generally appreciated. A mulch will check evaporation 

 and will prevent the running off of the water. It permits 

 the water to soak into the soil and helps to equalize the soil 

 moisture throughout the growing season. In dry locations 

 it is of the greatest assistance and its use makes success pos- 

 sible with many varieties of apples. A mulch is especially 

 desirable on hilly land where cultivation is impossible. It 

 is likewise valuable to mulch trees on sandy soil and on 

 southern exposures. If the trees are set in sod and culti- 

 vation is impossible a mulch is always desirable. 



The mulch not only regulates the moisture supply of the 

 soil but it is of great value because it continuously adds 

 plant food to the growing tree. The plant food is supplied 

 by the gradual decay of the mulching material. When the 



