Preparation of Land 93 



well fitted and naturally in good heart, often gives excellent 

 results when turned over and set at once to orchards. Yet 

 most soils need the previous tillage to bring them into a 

 mellow and uniform condition. Many of the "bad places" 

 in orchards, where trees die out the first two or three years, 

 could have been discovered and corrected if the land had 

 been devoted to one or several tilled crops. Lands look 

 more uniform when in sod than when cultivated, and the 

 farmer may be led to overestimate their value for orchard 

 purposes. It may also be said that the familiarity with a 

 particular piece of land, which comes of frequent tilling, 

 enables the careful grower to judge accurately of its 

 adaptability to particular fruits or even to particular 

 varieties. 



If the land is not in good condition, it may be well to 

 prepare it two years or so in advance by careful plowing 

 and tilling and the turning under of clover, alfalfa, cow- 

 pea, or other humus-maker. Speaking of new land in 

 Colorado, to be used for the raspberry industry, Herrick 

 and Bennett say that "Not infrequently fruits of various 

 kinds are set in raw land that has never been plowed except 

 in the rows where the plants were set. In such cases the 

 plants often grow in a stunted way and never acquire the 

 vigor that they should attain. One of the best crops for 

 growing on raw land is alfalfa. If alfalfa has made a good 

 growth it may be plowed under the second fall and if the 

 soil is poor in humus it would be well to plow under the 

 last cutting. This will do much in bettering the physical 

 condition of raw soil. It is well to follow the alfalfa with a 

 hoed crop of some kind, such as potatoes, corn, and so 

 forth. This will help to do away with the weeds and 

 leave the soil in fine condition for planting. 



"Another reason why land should be cropped before 



