264 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



of the main planting. The growers of the 

 latter class are advised to set their trees 

 at moderate distances and to grow among 

 them some kind of a crop such as pota- 

 toes, corn, or vegetables that require cul- 

 tivation during the early part of the sum- 

 mer. Even then, there is danger of grow- 

 ing these crops too near the trees and 

 of not supplying the necessary plant food 

 to make up for that removed from the 

 soil by the secondary crop. 



C. D. Jarvis, 

 Storrs, Conn. 



Tillage with Intercropping 



The system of tillage and intercropping 

 is generally practiced in the orchard be- 

 fore the trees arrive at a profitable bear- 

 ing age, and after it has served its pur- 

 pose is usually succeeded by tillage and 

 cover crops. The growing of companion 

 crops or intercrops in the young orchard 

 affords the orchardist an opportunity, by 

 careful management, to make such crops 

 pay for the care and management of the 

 orchard during the period elapsing be- 

 tween the time of setting the trees and 

 the age of their profitable bearing. The 

 kinds of crops which may be grown in the 

 young orchard are only limited by the cli- 

 matic and soil conditions. Generally 

 speaking, however, they should be re- 

 stricted to hoed crops. Vegetables and 

 small fruits are the most desirable. The 

 writer prefers vegetable because the or- 

 chardist can choose such crops as may be 

 planted rather late and still mature a 

 crop, thus permitting early and unre- 

 stricted cultivation of the soil for a short 

 time before planting, thereby furnishing 

 moisture and plant food to the tree when 

 it is making its most vigorous leaf and 

 wood growth. Such crops as late cabbage, 

 squash, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, etc., 

 may be used to good advantage. Corn 

 and potatoes may be grown if not planted 

 too close to the tree rows. Strawberries 

 are preferred among fruits followed by 

 the bush fruits — currants, gooseberries, 

 raspberries and blackberries. The objec- 

 tion to these crops is that their season 

 of growth is practically identical with 

 that of the apple tree, and that unless, as 

 has been said, they are planted at some 



distance from the rows, they are apt to 

 deprive the young trees of needed mois- 

 ture and plant food. The successful prac- 

 tice of the intercropping system is wholly 

 dependent upon the intelligence displayed 

 by the orchardist in furnishing a suffici- 

 ent amount of plant food to meet the ex- 

 tra demand made upon the soil by both 

 tree and companion crop, as well as upon 

 the intelligent selection of intercrops. 

 For the past four seasons the writer has 

 grown Hubbard squash upon certain por- 

 tions of the young station orchard. The 

 squash is usually planted about June 17- 

 20 and as yet has not failed to mature a 

 crop. This late planting permits unre- 

 stricted cultivation of the orchard prac- 

 tically up to .July 1.5. or later if desired, 

 as the vines do not begin to run much 

 before that date. The returns from an 

 intercrop will of course vary with the 

 kind of crop grown, the care and fertiliz- 

 ation, and the market. Owing to an al- 

 most total failure of the crop throughout 

 New England the Hubbard squash inter- 

 crop grown in 1907 in the station orchard, 

 returned about $1.50 per acre. The aver- 

 age receipts for four seasons have approx- 

 imated $75 per acre. Of course such re- 

 sults are possible only where a good home 

 market is available, and are not to be 

 expected from shipments to larger mar- 

 kets where charges for freight and com- 

 mission, as well as competition, serve very 

 greatly to reduce the profits. 



WrLLLiM Stu.\rt, 



Burlincton. Vt. 



Fillers 



E. H. Favor, author of "The Fruit 

 Growers Guide," on the subject of "Fill- 

 ers" says: 



"The use of 'fillers,' or temporary 

 trees, in an orchard is not always to be 

 recommended. Such trees can in many 

 instances serve a useful purpose, but 

 they too often become permanent. After 

 they come into bearing the owner always 

 wants just one more crop from them be- 

 fore they are removed. Years pass by in 

 this way and the orchard becomes so 

 crowded that the yield from all the trees 

 is less than it would be if the fillers were 

 out. 



