FRUIT ON THE FARM. 261 



injure them. Only a gentle horse and a careful man should be 

 allowed to cultivate among them, and a short single-tree should 

 be used, and the end of it well padded. A quince or peach 

 orchard should be cultivated as long as it remains in bearing; 

 but apples, pears, and cherries may have clover sown among 

 them after they have a good, thrifty start of three or four 

 years, and be pastured with hogs. 



I think hogs a great benefit to an orchard if they are 

 properly managed, as by eating the fruit which falls prema- 

 turely and that which is decaying they destroy the many inju- 

 rious insects which, if not kept in check, would soon make it 

 impossible for us to grow fruit. Hogs allowed the run of the 

 orchard should be rung, and should be shut out during wet 

 weather, when the land is soft. 



I think clover better than grass in the orchard, because it 

 does not form a sod, and the growth is not heavy in dense 

 shade, and if pastured moderately close the orchard will be 

 benefited more by the droppings of the hogs than damaged by the 

 clover. I would not leave the orchard in grass or clover for a 

 series of years, but would cultivate it thoroughly every third 

 year. In plowing up an old orchard, the plow should not run 

 so deep as to tear up many of the roots, but as shallow as can 

 be done to kill out weeds and grass and give a mellow surface. 

 Where plenty of material can be had, it is a good plan to mulch 

 the ground under the trees, so as to kill out all grass and 

 weeds. If this mulching is done with coarse, half-rotted ma- 

 nure, all the better. To manure or mulch a fruit tree prop- 

 erly is not merely to put it around the trunk, but it should 

 extend as far as the drip of the branches. Thorough cultiva- 

 tion and manuring will often work wonders on an old, unthrifty 

 orchard. 



In the chapter on Entomology you will find a description of 

 insect enemies, with directions how to combat them. 



Apples. I would plant apples thirty-three feet apart, 

 which gives forty trees to the acre. If peaches are wanted, 

 they may be set between the apple-trees each way, which will 

 make three peach-trees to one of apple, and make the trees just 



