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 CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF ORCHA%S. 



Bulletin Xo. 12 dealt principally with the preliminary work in starting 

 commercial orchards, and I now propose to deal with the care and manage- 

 ment of orchards after they are fairly under way. Before proceeding further, 

 I will again refer to an unaccountable error which occurred on page 3 of 

 Bulletin 12, where, in advising the selection of a site, I am made to say that 

 western and southern exposures are not adapted for orchards; this should 

 read eastern and southern. And further on a north-eastern exposure is 

 recommended; this should read a north-western exposure. The context 

 shows the intention, but the errors are nevertheless probably very perplexing. 



CULTIVATION. 



Possibly the most potent factor in the success of an orchard is the 

 proper cultivation of the soil, keeping it free of weeds and plant growth 

 generally, and by this means having the surface in a perfect state of tilth and 

 thus keeping the trees healthy and strong, so that they are better able to 

 withstand the attacks of diseases and insect pests. It is an undeniable fact 

 that new diseases are constantly finding their way into our orchards, in spite 

 of the utmost vigilance of the Board of Horticulture, and the best way of 

 resisting and eradicating these diseases is keeping the trees healthy ; thorough 

 cultivation is a beter specific than any after-methods prevention is always 

 better than cure. As a matter of course, some soils naturally require more 

 cultivation than others, but all soils should be kept in a state of cultivation, 

 either by means of shallow ploughing, disc harrowing, or by use of the culti- 

 vator until the period of full maturity of fruit and foliage is attained, when 

 cultivation may be discontinued until the following season. Referring to 

 the subject of cultivation of the soil, L. H. Bailey says in Bulletin 19, Cornell 

 University : 



" A finely divided, mellow, friable soil is more productive than a hard 

 and lumpy one of the same chemical composition, because it holds and retains 

 more moisture; holds more air; presents greater surface to the roots; pro- 

 motes nitrification; hastens the decomposition of the mineral elements; has 

 less variable extremes of temperature ; allows a better root hold to the plant. 

 In all these ways and others the mellowness of the soil renders the plant food 

 more available, and affords a congenial and comfortable place in which the 

 plant may grow." 



There is no harm in fact, it might be done with profit during the first 

 few years in the life of an orchard to raise hoed crops between the trees, but 

 as soon as the trees begin to send their roots any distance and the foliage 

 shades the land, it is not advisable to continue the practice. Seeding down 

 with clover and ploughing in, when the trees are several years old, is recom- 

 mended for the purpose of adding humus and fertility to the soil. Grasses 

 and grains are on no account permissible, and the practice so common in 

 British Columbia to attempt to get crops of hay out of the same land which 



