APPLES 



117 



Brush Land 



Much of the orchard pUinting is being 

 done on rough brush land. Some growers 

 have planted the trees after simply cut- 

 ting and burning the brush, leaving the 

 plowing and harrowing till later in the 

 season. There is a strong objection to this 

 method for the subjugating process is 

 rendered more difficult by the presence 

 of the trees, and even with the utmost 

 care some trees are sure to be injured. 

 A more satisfactory method is to fit the 

 land the first season and set out the trees 

 the following spring. There would be no 

 loss of time by this method if the trees 

 are purchased the first season and planted 

 in nursery rows for a year. On account 

 of the trees being limited to a small 

 area in this way they may receive the 

 very best treatment and may be properly 

 trained. Any one who is contemplating 

 the clearing of rough land is advised to 

 consult some of those who have had ex- 

 perience in such work. Briefly, the oper- 

 ation consists in cutting and burning the 

 brush, removing stumps and stones and 

 plowing and harrowing. In some cases 

 where the growth is small the brush may 

 be cut with a mowing machine or with 

 brush scythes, and gathered up with a 

 horse rake. A modern stump-puller may 

 be used to advantage, but the work is 

 more frequently done with dynamite. 

 When they do not interfere with the lo- 

 cating of the trees, the larger stumps 

 are sometimes left to decay, but in order 

 to facilitate cultivation it is usually best 

 to remove them at the time of clearing. 

 The plowing will be a rough job at best, 

 but two or three times over with the 

 cut-a-way harrow will compensate for all 

 irregularities. The work should be com- 

 menced as early in the season as pos- 

 sible so as to have the ground ready for 

 a cover crop by the first of August. 

 Where there are many large weeds and 

 other herbage buckwheat is probably the 

 best kind of a cover crop for the first 

 season. If the ground is in good condi- 

 tion of tilth it may be advisable to use 

 clover, which is more valuable from the 

 standpoint of fertility, but lacks the 

 characteristic "smothering" action of 



buckwheat. Clover has the advantage al- 

 so in that covers the ground and prevents 

 washing during the winter and spring. 

 In the following spring the cover crop 

 should be either ploughed under or 

 worked into the soil with a cut-away 

 harrow. The work should be started 

 early enough to permit at least two har- 

 rowings before planting. Old pasture 

 land, and even land that has been under 

 cultivation, should have the same treat- 

 ment with regard to tillage and cover 

 cropping. Much of the run down land 

 of the state is sadly in need of humus, 

 or decaying vegetable matter, and the 

 turning under of a cover crop will go a 

 long way toward restoring fertility and 

 making the land productive. Any land, 

 and more particularly pasture land, 

 should be very deeply ploughed or sub- 

 soiled before being used for orcharding. 

 Subsoiling is almost out of the question 

 on stony land, but the necessity for it on 

 such land is not so great. 



C. D. Jarvis, 

 Storrs, Conn. 



Prepariiigr the Land 

 Plowing: 



The principal requirement in prepar- 

 ing laud for planting an orchard is deep 

 tillage, and the more thoroughly this 

 work is done the more certain is success. 

 The preparation had best be done late in 

 the fall, so that the land will be ready 

 for early spring planting or for fall 

 lilanting. if preferred. Many successful 

 orchardists, especially in the western 

 states, plow the ground in "lands" so as 

 to make an open land furrow where each 

 row of trees is to be set, and then, after 

 the trees are planted, back furrow the 

 ground so as to make lands with tree 

 rows in the center. 



This method affords a deeper tilth 

 under the trees, and at the same time 

 surface drainage into the open land fur- 

 rows midway between the rows, which 

 will receive and, if properly graded, carry 

 off any surplus water which may accum- 

 ulate from heavy rainfalls. 



G. B. Bbackett, 

 Washington, D. C. 



