CULTIVATION. 115 



failure of the fruit to set, or a subsequent shedding if the sea- 

 son was bad ? Furthermore, suppose a severe drouth fol- 

 lowed, as often does, would not the loss of those roots not 

 only interfere greatly with the development of the crop that 

 remained, but seriously impair the vitality of the trees them- 

 selves ? In thousands of orchards over the country this pro- 

 cess is kept up for years, tearing up the roots from spring till 

 summer, then leaving the trees the balance of the season for 

 replacing them, only to repeat the operation of destruction 

 the next spring. 



After adopting a form of tree that induces or compels it 

 to root shallow, allowing it to bear all it will, and furnishing 

 it no extra supply of food, is there any wonder, after all this, 

 supplemented by an annual ripping up of the roots them- 

 selves, that orchards grow prematurely old ? Of course, I 

 am now writing of the general run of orchards, to which 

 there are thousands of honorable exceptions all over the 

 country, both cultivated and in grass, where careful pruning 

 and thinning of fruit, as well as a free use of manure and 

 shallow cultivation, have attained the best results for a time; 

 but the fact still stands that the profitable bearing period of 

 all fruit trees has been steadily shortening of late years, and 

 I feel confident that this is largely due to the three causes 

 now given, aggravated by two others yet to be treated. 



I will now briefly allude to a few other benefits from plant- 

 ing close root-pruned trees of all kinds on ground plowed as 

 shallow as possible, or better, in virgin sod, if practicable, 

 and mowing or cultivating shallow immediately around the 

 trees from the day they are set, and a few years later putting 

 the whole ground down to some kind of grass, whatever may 

 be best for different sections, mowing close, at least until the 

 fruit is gone, and-top dressing annually with some form of 

 potash and phosphoric acid. Here Bermuda grass would 

 head the list. I know of peach trees standing where they 

 came up in this city, in a compact Bermuda sod, that has 

 been closely cut with a lawn-mower for twelve years, that are 

 to-day pictures of health and vigor. They have been moder- 

 ately pruned, have never failed of a heavy crop, have never 



