40 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



where it was necessary to save all the moisture I should plow 

 earlier than on a soil where this was not so necessary. Where 

 a great deal of humus is being plowed in a sufficient amount 

 of lime should be applied to keep the soil sweet. 



]\lr. Geek. How often do you cultivate your land? 



Mr. Dkew. An orchard should be cultivated very thor- 

 oughly the first part of the year, as it tends to preserve the 

 moisture in the soil. Under ordinary conditions cultivate 

 about once in ten days, sometimes oftener, and keep it up 

 until the latter part of June. Some seasons it would be advis- 

 able to run over into July. It depends entirely on whether 

 the orchard is a young or a bearing orchard, and the variety 

 of fruit you are growing. With the Northern Spy I should 

 stop cultivation sooner than with other varieties, because the 

 tendency of that tree is to make too much growth. 



Question. In renovating an old orchard would you in- 

 variably tear up the sod ? 



Mr. Drew. In almost every case. Sometimes it is not 

 advisable to plow, as the roots are too near the surface, in 

 v,-hich case the use of the cutaway harrow early in the spring, 

 going first one way and then the other, will, if persisted in, 

 accomplish all that is aimed for in plowing. 



Mr. W. C. Jewett. Have you had any experience using 

 mulch ? 



Mr. Drew. Not with the strictly mulch method. I have 

 sometimes, when I was not getting the color I wanted, seeded 

 down and cut the hay several times during the season, letting 

 it lie where it fell. In this way I have gro^^•n some nice fruit, 

 and developed better color than I could by cultivation alone. 



Mr, Jewett. Mr. Drake, who follows the strictly mulch 

 method, gathering up the grass and placing it around the 

 trunks of the trees, out as far as the branches extend, grows 

 better and higher-colored apples than most growers, and takes 

 the greater part of the premiums at shows around Worcester. 

 In addition, he loses very few apples, as they are not injured 

 when they fall from the trees. He admits that the system is 

 more expensive, in time and fertiliser both, than the cultiva- 

 tion, with a cover cro]\ but he thinks it the best and cheapest 

 for him. 



