THE IDEAL COMPANION CROP 69 



and wood, is soft and tender and no more able to resist freezing 

 than a potato or a turnip. It is therefore killed outright or 

 severely damaged and the next year the trees, though they may 

 leaf out, will be found in a very bad condition. Many of them 

 will probably die, and others might as well do so, for they 

 will be so badly crippled as to be of little use. 



4. The companion crop should be one which does not take 

 from the soil exactly the same food elements as the trees them- 

 selves require. This is aimed especially at nursery stock, which 

 for several reasons is a peculiarly objectionable crop, but it 



FIG. 30. Pea-beans as an orchard crop. This is another excellent crop from the stand- 

 point of the orchard. 



probably applies with more or less force to all fruit crops. Of 

 course this is a difficulty which can be obviated to a certain 

 extent by applying extra fertilizer, but it is far better to choose 

 some other crop. 



5. It should be an annual crop. Anyone who has ever 

 attempted to crop an orchard with even a biennial crop like 

 strawberries, or still worse with a perennial one like raspberries, 

 will appreciate the importance of this point. Cross-cultivation 

 is usually entirely prevented after the first year, the block grows 

 more and more weedy and the trees in the block show more and 

 more distinctly the handicap under which they are working, till 



