408 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



in an old orchard, such as we are considering, to do anything Hke a 

 thorough job of plowing. If one can secure an ox team they will do 

 the work better than a team of horses, as they will be able to get 

 under the trees better, and the slow, steady gait of the oxen is better 

 than that of most horses. Do not be alarmed over cutting some tree 

 roots with the plow, even some large roots. A little root pruning 

 will not hurt the trees, and the fresh, new, feeding-roots, sent out from 

 the broken and cut ends of the old roots, will very soon equal in ab- 

 sorbing ability the parts of the old roots which are cut away. Another 

 point in plowing is the question of throwing the furrow towards or 

 away from the trees. One frequently finds an old orchard in which 

 the plowing has been for years always in the direction of the trees, 

 until each row stands along a ridge, with deep hollows between. Such 

 an orchard should be plowed away from the trees, until the land gets 

 back reasonably level again. After that it is well to plow the orchard 

 alternately towards and away from the trees, — one year north and 

 south and the next east and west. In this way the land can be kept 

 in the best condition for the trees. 



Occasionally it is impossible to do even a makeshift job of plowing, 

 and then one can sometimes begin operations by running a heavy disc 

 harrow through the orchard, to cut up the sod and start things in the 

 right direction, and perhaps plow it the following year. 



After the plowing has been done it is always advisable to use the 

 disc harrow and follow it with the spring-tooth harrow, going both 

 ways with each one of them, and going over the land several times, so 

 as to get the land in good tilth. After this, through the balance of the 

 season, it is best to cultivate the land once every week or ten days, 

 up to perhaps the middle of July. And let this weekly cultivation 

 be thorough! If the two harrows suggested, disc and spring-tooth, 

 are available, it is well to run the disc over first, the long way of the 

 orchard, and then finish with the spring-tooth, the opposite way. This 

 insures all the land being worked over, and leaves it more level than 

 if one finishes with the disc, which of course is desirable on account of 

 reducing evaporation. It is difficult to overdo cultivation at this season 

 of the year, and with an old, neglected orchard I should feel inclined to 

 let this be the principal feature of the programme, so far as the soil is 

 concerned. 



Now for our second point in the programme, pruning. This is apt 

 to vary more in the extent to which it is needed and in the character 

 of it which is best to apply than any one of the other factors. If the 

 trees are very high, with little or no bearing wood near the center, as 

 is very apt to be the case, then they should be given very drastic 

 pruning, so as to grow an entirely new top, a good many feet nearer 

 the ground than the old one. It will practically amount to the removal 

 of all the top in perhaps two years, and the branches should be cut 

 down at least six or eight feet, and sometimes much more. This seems 

 like heroic treatment and it is, but in the great majority of cases, if 



