No. 4.] FRUIT CULTURE. 243 



of themselves. They are in the sod, they arc left to the 

 attacks of insects and fungous diseases. The wonder is we 

 have any orchard at all, from the condition we find all over 

 the country. In most uncultivated orchards seldom above 

 20 per cent of strictly fine No. 1 apples can be barreled ; 

 GO per cent will run No. 2, while 20 per cent will be un- 

 marketable. Where cultivation is given, it should be done 

 by plowing very lightly at the earliest opportunity in the 

 spring, and then keep the ground frequently harrowed up 

 to July 10 or 15. 



I will give you, as briefly as possible, my own method 

 of handling an orchard. I am a believer in hijjh tillage. 

 The cultivation practically is this. Begin as early as pos- 

 sible in the spring, stir the ground, plow the land lightly. 

 We do not practise deep culture, but surface culture, for 

 two purposes, — the conservation of moisture and elimina- 

 tion of the plant food that is in the soil. 



There is going to come before Congress at this present 

 session a great demand for enormous sums of public money 

 for public irrigation in the west. It is a question whether 

 general taxation is wise to provide water for the arid acres 

 of the west. I believe it is possible for us at the east, and 

 very much of the west, to so pursue a system of cultivation 

 that we can dispense with public irrigation. I know Ave can 

 do it here at the east, and the processes are proper tillage, 

 and also the conservation of moisture by the introduction of 

 cover crops to our orchard lands. Cultivation is given, fre- 

 quently stirring the soil, and as a result, by this process we 

 can conserve to a large extent the moisture that is in our 

 soil. Take, for instance, the section of soil about our trees. 

 [Blackboard.] What is the action of the water in the soil? 

 Why, there is a constant effort to the surface. In the spring, 

 as hot weather approaches there comes greater pressure and 

 effort on the part of the water to come to the surface and 

 pass off by evaporation. If we properly till the soil and 

 keep the surface in the finest possible condition, we con- 

 serve and hold the moisture that under a crude system of 

 cultivation will pass off most rapidly by evaporation. The 

 roots of trees will obtain more water, provided we hold it 



