CHAPTER X. 



SUMMER CULTIVATION. 



KEMOTAL OF MOSS AND DECAYED BARK LOOSENING THE SOIL MULCH- 

 ING THINNING THE FRUIT RINGING — WATERING, TYING, SUPPORT- 

 ING, AND GATHERING THE FRUIT PRESERVATION. 



n^HE labors demanded of the fruit-grower during 

 the summer are varied, and will be considered 

 in the order in which they will necessarily require 

 his attention. 



The removal of moss and decayed bark. The pres- 

 ence of moss or lichens is not itself injurious to 

 trees, except as providing a shelter for insects ; but 

 it is generally an index to a bad state of health in 

 the tree. They are among the agents which nature 

 employs to restore vegetable substances to earth, 

 after life has left them. They never attack any part 

 of the tree which is still alive, but only those which 

 are in a state of decay. A tree which is in full 

 vigor, as it grows and its trunk increases in size, 

 bursts its old covering, and it peels off. When it is 

 persistent it shows that the health of the tree is 

 bad, on account of the barrenness of the soil, or, 

 more frequently, the want of drainage. 



The evils resulting from such a state, are that the 



