64 FRUIT-GROWING 



truth back of our cultural methods we will find 

 the cultivators and non-cultivators are in fact 

 not so very far apart. 



The real reason for cultivation is to conserve 

 moisture and we must first realize how this is 

 accomplished. Real orchard cultivation con- 

 templates not simply the plowing of the land in 

 spring and perhaps working it down with a 

 harrow of some sort. It means more than that. 

 It means that we must stir the earth not deeply 

 but thoroughly, very early in the spring. This 

 can best be done by shallow plowing, or, as I 

 prefer, with a very heavy cutaway disk harrow. 

 We have such a harrow with disks twenty-four 

 inches in diameter which we use on the tail of 

 one of these little measuring worm tractors, 

 and after that implement has gone over the 

 ground the effect is equal to a pretty good 

 plowing and at the same time it is not so liable 

 to cut and drag to the surface any stray apple 

 roots that may be encountered. 



After the ground is broken in the spring, as 

 early as possible, it must be kept stirred at reg- 

 ular intervals until well into the summer. In 

 dry weather the soil must be gone over with 

 some surface cultivating tool (we use an Acme 

 harrow), which breaks up the clods and forms 

 a surface layer of fine dust. It is not enough 

 that the surface be simply broken into clods 

 the size of hickory nuts, It must be absolutely 



