370 A YEAR IN AGRICULTURE 



If the soil is sour, limestone should be used. To ascertain 

 whether the soil is acid, take a ball of moist soil from beneath 

 the trees and press it about a strip of blue litmus paper. If 

 after ten or fifteen minutes the paper turns red, it is an indi- 

 cation that lime is needed. Spread about two bushels of 

 slaked lime on the ground under each tree. Work it into the 

 ground. This may be done at any time. 



If the ground about the trees has not been cultivated, good 

 results may be obtained by the use of dynamite. About one- 

 fourth of a stick placed about two feet deep in the ground 

 on each of the four sides of the tree will loosen up the ground 

 and revive the tree. The dynamite should be used only by 

 an experienced man. 



If practicable, the soil about the trees should be spaded 

 or plowed up as early in the spring as possible. About a 

 half ton of stable manure should be spread about under each 

 tree, when only a few trees are to be cared for. Providing 

 a mulch of strawy manure under each tree would be the most 

 practical way to treat the soil in this project. 



Pruning 1 . At any time before the buds open in the spring 

 the fruit trees should be pruned. The older apple, pear, or 

 peach trees will probably need severe pruning. This will 

 consist mainly in lowering the crown, cutting out dead and 

 dying branches, and all limbs that run criss-cross and rub 

 against other branches. The following principles should gov- 

 ern the work of pruning : 



1. Be able to give a reason for every cut made. 



2. Never leave stubs always prune immediately above a 

 living branch which is to be left. 



