1544 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF I'RACTICAI. HORTICULTURE 



ideal for a top. It may be advisable to 

 head in the shoots of the new top during 

 the first summer to stock them up and 

 prevent long, slender, weak branches. 

 The ends of the old branches should be 

 painted with red lead to prevent the en- 

 trance of fungi and bacteria which cause 

 their decay. If care is exercised in all of 

 the operations, the new top may bear 

 profitable crops for many years. 



G. Hakold Powell, 

 U. S. Departniciil .VKrioiiIlwrc Yearbook, 1902. 



Cnltivation 



The peach tree needs cultivation the 

 same as any other farm crop, and for the 

 same reason. Cultivation keeps down the 

 weeds that would, if allowed to grow, com- 

 pete with the trees for food. Cultivation 

 pulverizes tne land and retains the moist- 

 ure. Cultivation aerates the soil and 

 makes plant food that is in the soil avail- 

 able. 



The land should be plowed in the 

 spring or the autumn, depending upon 

 conditions. If there is a lack of moisture, 

 fall plowed land will hold the winter 

 snows and rains better than if the plow- 

 ing is delayed until spring. But the plow- 

 ing, whether in autumn or spring, should 

 be shallow, because the roots of the 

 peach tree form laterally near the sur- 

 face, and deep plowing will injure them. 

 After the first plowing, it is a matter of 

 simple cultivation with ('ultivator or har- 

 row, or both, the same as for corn or 

 cotton, or for other trees. 



IntercropphiK 



The question of intercropping until 

 such time as the peach trees come into 

 bearing, is a controverted one. The an- 

 swer depends largely on the conditions. 

 If the land on which the orchard is grow- 

 ing is rich, there can be no reasonable 

 objection to growing some other crop 

 w^hile the trees are coming into bearing. 

 If the land is ])0or. intercropping roljs 

 the soil of food which the trees will need 

 later to mature the best quality of fruit. 

 However, this may be supplied by the use 

 of barnyard manure, and if this is added 

 to the land to an amount equivalent to 

 that which is taken oft by the crop, the 

 intercropping imjjroves the soil. It is a 



inistaUf to suppose that cropping injures 

 land, provided as many tons of fertilizing 

 substance is put on as the crops take off. 

 The process of intercropping could be 

 kept up for years with profit to the grow- 

 er, provided the land were properly fed, 

 and iirovided the trees did not interfere 

 with the crops. It is mainly a question 

 of feeding the land. 



GUANVILLE LOVVTHEU 



Cover Crops 



It will prove to be both economical and 

 profitable to sow a cover crop in the peach 

 orchard, and soils deficient in nitrogen 

 and organic matter may be much im- 

 proved by such practice without great 

 expense. And where trees are likely to 

 make a late growth in fall because of 

 liberal quantities of moisture and avail- 

 able plant food, a cover crop can be chosen 

 and planted that will consume much of 

 the available plant food and reduce the 

 moisture content of the soil; this will 

 check the growth of the trees and result 

 in a better ripening of the wood for the 

 winter season. 



A cover crop may also prove to be 

 beneficial in preventing washing of the 

 surface soil, leaching, alternate freezing 

 and thawing and winter injury to the 

 hark of the main root near the surface of 

 the ground. 



Where the soil of the peach orchard is 

 deficient in both nitrogen and organic 

 matter, a cover crop of crimson clover 

 or hairy vetch is to be recommended. 

 Crimson clover becomes almost an ideal 

 orchard cover cro]) where there is suffi- 

 cient moisture in the late summer to in- 

 sure good germination and where it does 

 not winter-kill. Hairy or winter vetch of- 

 ten gives better results than crimson clov- 

 er where there is lack of moisture in the 

 late fall, and usually passes the winter 

 with but little injury. The vetch will con- 

 tiiiM(> to make growth during quite cold 

 weather, which is often an advantage un- 

 der orchard conditions where it is always 

 desirable to plow early in the spring. 



Fifteen pounds of crimson clover seed 

 to the acre should be sufficient to ensure 

 a good cover unless the soil conditions 

 are unfavorable. 



