Tillage of the young Orchard. 159 



bend low with fruit. An implement of the grape - 

 hoe type may be used with advantage in some eases 

 to loosen the earth about the trees. A single -horse 

 plow, with a set-over beam (as in Fig. 16), is also 

 most excellent for plowing close to trees and bushes. 

 The objection to medium -low heads to trees arises 

 from the use of the old-fashioned implements of till- 

 age, and also from a misconception of what the 

 plowing of an old orchard should be, for if the or- 

 chard is properly cared for in its earlier years, heavy 

 plowing will not be needed in its later life. 



This labor of working about trees is greatly facil- 

 itated by the use of harnesses which have no metal 

 projections. There should be no names with elevated 

 tops, and the turrets on the back -pads should be 

 simply leather loops. The back -pad itself should be 

 reduced to a single wide strap entirely devoid of 

 wadding. Harnesses of the Sherwood type, with no 

 traces, but drawing by a single chain between the 

 horses, are excellent in orchards, as they require no 

 whiffletrees, and they are likewise handy and efficient. 



The better the plowing and other tillage of the 

 orchard in the first few years of its life, the easier 

 and more efficient the subsequent plowing will be. If 

 care is taken to keep the land friable and well -filled 

 with humus, it may not be necessary to turn furrows 

 at the spring plowing after four or five years. Per- 

 sons commonly suppose that an orchard must be 

 plowed the same as corn or potato ground is, by in- 

 verting the land and running regular furrows ; but 

 inasmuch as the object is simply to keep the land 



