STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 125 



TILLAGE AND PRUNING IN THE ORCHARD.* 

 Prof. W. M. Munson, Orono. 



The subject of tillage is so commonplace that one seldom 

 thinks of it as having had a history, as being the result of a 

 slow process of evolution. Doubtless the principal reason that 

 most persons would give for tillage, if asked for a reason, 

 would be that they are obliged to do it to secure a living. To 

 till the soil would seem to be the simplest and dullest thing in 

 the world. The simple guiding of the plow, or following of the 

 harrow, or it may be "the man with the hoe," is brought to 

 mind. If viewed only as labor, to be most quickly and easily 

 disposed of, this conception of tillage is a natural one; the 

 work must be done because in some way plants thrive best 

 when it is done. 



From the earliest times tillage has been a mere necessity, 

 forced upon the husbandman by natural conditions. The first 

 step in its evolution was doubtless the breaking of the earth to 

 get in the seed; the second was the removal of other plants 

 (weeds) which interfered; the third was the stirring of the soil 

 in harvesting certain crops. In course of time men began to 

 realize that there was something in the practice which aids the 

 growth of plants, wholly aside from the lessening of the con- 

 flict with weeds. Not until the last century, how^ever, was there 

 any serious attempt to discover the reason for the beneficial 

 effect observed. Jethro Tull. in advocating his horse-hoeing 

 husbandry, while misapprehending the reason for beneficial 

 efifect, did a grand work in inducing farmers to till for the sake 

 of tillage. 



The immediate efifect of tillage is to ameliorate and modify the 

 soil itself. Its secondary and most important effects are directly 

 concerned with the plant. Food materials are set free ; the 

 process of nitrification is promoted ; the capillarity of the sur- 

 face soil is lessened, and thereby moisture is conserved. 



*Tbe two operations here discussed are among the most important in tlie man- 

 agement of orchards. Those interested in a fuller discussion of the subject will 

 do well to study Roberts' Fertility of the Land, and Bailey's Principles of Fruit- 

 growing, from both of which 1 have drawn freely.— \V. M. M. 



