HORTICULTURE 29 



the material accumulated on the surface will be needed. If there 

 is but little matter to turn under, a lighter plow or even some of the 

 better types of cultivators or harrows will suffice. On the heavier 

 clay soils the first two or three cultivations in spring, when the soil 

 is lumpy, should be done with rather heavy implements like the 

 spring-tooth or other harrows, but later in the season when the 

 object of cultivation is chiefly to conserve moisture by means of a 

 dust mulch the lighter spike-tooth drags will more nearly meet the 

 requirements. The present system of heading orchard trees low 

 practically prevents the use of any tools for cultivation having high 

 wheels or handles. The singletrees should be short and the ends 

 covered with cloth to prevent barking the trees, or a traceless harness 

 used instead. If the limbs are low, some one of the extension harrows 

 now in use will prove very useful. Or if one has rather long 

 whiffltrees any of the usual cultivators can be separated in halves 

 sufficiently far apart to reach under the trees. The harnesses should 

 be free from metal projections and there should be no high tops to 

 the hames. Harnesses are now made which draw by a single chain 

 between the horses and without whiffletrees. (U. S. E. S. B. 178.) 



With the modern tools for orchard cultivation this work can be 

 done very thoroughly and cheaply. The work for a season has been 

 variously 'estimated at from $10 to $25 per acre. In plowing an 

 orchard that has been long in turf, the greatest care must be taken 

 not to cut and tear the large roots and to plow only three or four 

 inches deep, using shallow working tools after the plowing has been 

 done. With the modern low-headed orchard tree it will be impos- 

 sible to plow close up to the trunks, and either the land will have to 

 be plowed in strips only, or after the plow, may follow the wide- 

 spreading harrows which will keep down the weeds and keep the soil 

 under the branches light and loose if the work is done early in the 

 spring while the land is soft. A low-hanging landslide plow with a 

 long point and mold board will do much better work than the swivel 

 or side-hill plow, though it may take more time to get about with it. 



Many kinds of harrows have been tried, but those found most 

 satisfactory are the acme or shears harrow, the wheel harrow and the 

 spring-tooth harrow, all of which are arranged with the sections 

 spread apart so that the horses will go outside the branches while the 

 harrow will reach under them several feet, leaving but little hand 

 hoeing to be done. 



Two sections of the common spring-tooth harrow, attached to the 

 evener with a chain about two feet long, will work well where the trees 

 are not too close together, being drawn in under the branches by 

 swinging the horses around each tree, leaving but little hand hoeing 

 to be done. The California orchard harrow is largely used on the 

 Pacific coast and would no doubt be of great value in other sections 

 where there are large areas to cultivate. The grape hoe is found of 

 great value in orchard cultivation, for being drawn by one horse it 

 can be more easily guided than with a pair of horses. The common 

 weeder is a great labor saver and if used frequently will keep the 

 surface of the soil fine and mellow for about two inches in depth, but 



