SITE FOR AN ORCHARD. 345 



manure on cultivated land, often make so rapid a growth, late 

 in the season, that the wood is not properly matured. Such 

 wood is often winter-killed, and scions set from such growth 

 are sure to die ; such scions, that are enfeebled by the frosts 

 of winter, can be distinguished by the brown color of the pith 

 toward spring. 



In selecting a site for an orchard on our mountain farms, 

 we should choose a southern or eastern exposure, if possible ; 

 but any land with a strong, dry soil, or moderately moist, 

 will answer all purposes. Avoid a wet or hardpan subsoil, 

 unless thoroughly underdrained. On any land suitable for 

 raising corn, apple-trees will flourish. So small a proportion 

 of our mountain farms are suitable for cultivating crops, that 

 it becomes a matter of necessity, if we have orchards at all, 

 to put them on land so hilly or rocky that they cannot with 

 profit be cultivated ; and consequently, for the same reason, 

 if we set our orchards on such land, we cannot cultivate them. 

 If we set our best land, suitable for cultivation, to orchards, 

 we can cultivate them ; but we have no such land to spare for 

 an orchard. Hence, we are driven to these alternatives, — we 

 must either go without the orchards, or set them on land that 

 we cannot cultivate ; for if we attempt their cultivation, it 

 is at the risk of their washing, year by year, into the valley 

 below. 



MANAGEMENT. 



Then the question arises, How shall we manage orchards on 

 such lands ? Evidently we cannot cultivato them ; yet by 

 mulching and top-dressing we promote a suitable growth of 

 well-ripened wood. The idea that orchards must always be 

 cultivated, prevents many from commencing what they know 

 to be a herculean task on our mountain farms. 



The cultivation of orchards is often carried to extremes, doing 

 more injury than good. The land is ploughed and ploughed 

 and cropped, without manuring the trees, and ploughed so deep 

 near the trees that most of the roots that get any nourishment 

 and warmth from the surface-soil are destroyed, from year to 

 year, as soon as they attempt to extend themselves to perform 

 their otBce. If not disturbed, these innumerable rootlets will 

 extend themselves all through the surface-soil and gather food 

 from anything suitable that man or nature may provide. 



44 



