222 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



CROPPING ORCHARDS. 



We have been somewhat surprised at finding in the 

 Gardener's Monthly an editorial article recommending 

 seeding orchards down to grass. The editor of the 

 Monthly is an experienced horticulturist, and his opinions 

 on this subject are entitled to respectful attention. We 

 give his article entire, as follows: 



"A question of immense importance to the fruit grower 

 has for some time been under discussion, namely, Should 

 orchards be kept cultivated with other crops, be kept 

 hoed and cleaned without other crops, or be laid down 

 as a pasture or be kept in grass? We have forborne for 

 some time any fresh allusion to the topic, as it is one 

 worthy of discussion without prejudice, or with an influ- 

 ence in favor of foregone conclusions ; as an orchard in 

 bearing is not the work of a da}', and we should be slow 

 in adopting a practice either way that may injuriously 

 affect our trees, without a conviction, founded on some 

 pretty sound reasoniug, that it is a correct and proper 

 one. 



"There are several good reasons in favor of cultivating 

 and cropping an orchard. A soil that has a loose upper 

 surface such as the cultivator leaves is always cooler and 

 moister in summer than one which is suffered to lie iu a 

 hard and neglected state. This must be conducive to free 

 growth and to a full and perfect setting of the fruit. 

 Another good point is that in cropping, manure is gener- 

 ally applied, aud a portion of this plant food is appropri- 

 ated by the fruit tree. This also stimulates an active 

 growth, and in certain periods of the tree life is of 

 course a benefit. There are no other advantages claimed 

 for this course, and they are summed up in this way: 

 Cultivating aud manuring make the trees grow. 



"On the other hand, vigorous growth is not always 

 emblematic of health and productiveness, — rather the 

 reverse, for vigorous growth is antagonistic to abundant 

 fruitfulness. A tree that bears young is soon exhausted, 

 becomes stunted, and is never worth the room it occupies ; 

 while one that is in a continued state of vigorous growth 

 rarely bears fruit in any abundance : and this is the ad- 

 vantage claimed for laying an orchard iu grass, that this 

 exuberant growth is held in check, while, by annual top- 

 dressings, a sufficiency of nutrimeut can be furnished the 

 trees to keep up a sufficiently vigorous growth to maintain 

 the productiveness of the tree. 



"We have advocated and still defend this practice. The 

 writer was raited in an orchard. Circumstances so ordered 

 that trees and plants were very near the sole companions 

 of his boyhood days. Not until the threshold of manhood 

 was reached, had he much other amusement or occupa- 

 tion than to note the beauties and attraction, the wants 

 and wishes, of his vegetable friends. Yet, from that 

 early day to this, he cannot remember an instance where 

 fruit trees, in a well-kept and cultivated garden, remained 

 perfectly healthy for a long period, or ever produced but 

 a very moderate crop of fruit,— the Dwarf Pear alone 

 excepted, and this reservation he is not sure need be made 

 under all circumstances. On the other hand, orchards in 

 rich pastures, or in well-cared for meadows, have uni- 

 formly been as healthy, moderately vigorous, and with a 

 prolonged productiveness, as the most exacting fruit, 

 grower could desire. And since the existence of this 



journal, we have noted all that has appeared on even 

 side of the question, both by actual observation and froti 

 the experience of others ; and we cannot but conclude 

 that the uncropped orchard has the best of the argument 

 all things cousidered. 



"Advocates of this practice are at times charged witl 

 inconsistency. ' You oppose great vigor in fruit trees, 

 say some, ' and recommend root-pruning as a corrective 

 yet, when we root prune with the cultivator, you opposi 

 the practice ! ' But root pruning and fibre pruning ar> 

 different matters, and have differeut results. The on> 

 checks growth — the other increases it. Such is th> 

 consequence in practice, and we need not enter hep 

 ints an argument to explain why it is so ; our limits wil 

 only permit us to say, as the result of a careful ex 

 animation of the subject, that when trees appear weal 

 and stunted, cultivate aud manure until you get then 

 into a fair, free growth ; after that seed the orchard dowi 

 in grass, bearing particularly in mind that annual to] 

 dressing or mulching under each tree, must by no mean 

 be neglGcted." 



Remarks. — If our friend of the- Monthly will favor u 

 with a visit, we can show him in a drive of a few hour 

 many instances of the good effects of cultivating th 

 ground among peach trees, and of the bad effects o 

 letting ground lie in grass or clover. 



Whenever a poor, sickly-looking peach orchard is seet 

 there he will find that the laud is either in grass, clove! 

 or some grain crop that is not cultivated. The effect ca 

 be seen at a long distance. It will not be necessary t 

 leave the carriage. The yellow leaves aud stunted growt 

 of the trees tell the story. He who runs may read. 



Perhaps, though, our friend did not mean to includ 

 peach trees, though the only exception he makes is tin 

 of dwarf pears, and he is not sure that even this reservt 

 tion is necessary ! 



One of the best apple orchards that we have seen i 

 Western New York is cultivated with hoed crops and tt 

 ground is kept as clean and mellow as a summer fallov 

 There are many good apple orchards which, after tl 

 trees begin to occupy and shade the ground, are allow 

 to lie in grass. It is more convenient. But we nev< 

 heard the idea advanced that the trees were any better I 

 more productive for this treatment. 



The Distinction between a Carantion and a Picote 

 — The Cottage Gardener gives two cuts, one of a perfa 

 Carnation and the other of a Picotee, and in the artic 

 which they illustrate says, with an apology for supposif 

 any one ignorant on the subject, that one can be distil 

 gnished from the other by the markings on the petal 

 In the carnation, they are in bars from the base to tl 

 edsje of the petal ; while iu the picotee they are confim 

 to a lacing on the ed^e. 



Mulch the Tomatoes. — The Gardener's Monthly say; 



"Tomatoes do best when suffered to grow flat on tl 

 ground ; but in such cases the soil should be covered wil 

 a mulch of straw or litter to keep the tomatoes from ge 

 ting soiled and rotten by dampness. Brushwood is 1 

 excellent material for them to lie on, and they seem | 

 thrive well with it about them." 



