An Earth Mulch For Root Protection 



IN the peach orchards of Mr. Hamil- 

 ton Fleming, Grimsby, a corner of 

 which is shown in the accompanying 

 {illustration, fall plowing is practised 

 fprevious to the time of freezing with the 

 lobject of leaving a loose mulch of earth 

 to prevent the frost taking too severe a 

 bold on the fibrous roots of the trees. 

 iThe depth of plowing is only three 

 (inches, no deeper. Thus, there are three 

 [inches of non-frost conducting earth to 

 act as a protection in winter. 



Last year we tried as an experiment 

 la cover crop of clover growing side b} 

 ide with a patch that had been fall- 

 [plowed as has been already described, 

 fin the clover-sown portion, the frost 

 Ipenetrated more quicklv and more deep- 

 fly and remained considerably longer than 

 [in the fall-plowed portion. This showed 

 [the value of loose earth in resisting the 

 [inroads of frost, in comparison with the 

 Itightly packed and more solid form in- 

 cidental to a cover crop. Besides, the 

 solidity imparted to the ground by a 

 cover crop, the packing of the ground 

 during the picking season also affords 

 reason for fall plowing. 



I do not approve of an annual cover 

 crop, believing that it collects the mois- 

 ture that is essential to the full develop- 

 ment of tree and fruit. On land that is 

 deficient in humus, however, a cover crop 

 sown once in, say, every three years may 

 be beneficial. 



.'\s evidence of the success of the fore- 

 going method, my experience of the past 



J. A. Johnson, Grimsby, Ontario 



condition, producing poor fruit and little 

 of that. Owing to the practice of the 

 method mentioned, improvement is so 

 marked that the orchard now yields 

 large crops of fruits that can truly be 

 stamped ' ' Fancy. ' ' 



As soon as the land permits in spring, 

 plowing is commenced. The soil is plowed 

 away from the trees and at a depth of 

 about three inches, no more. Immed- 

 iately following the plowing, the cultiva-^ 

 tor and harrow are brought into use. At 

 least once a week and, in dry seasons, 



twice a week, the orchard is gone 

 through. This is continued until the mid- 

 dle of September. The land is then 

 given a short period of rest. This al- 

 lows chickweed and other light weeds 

 time to grow until time for fall plowing. 

 Note. — Mr. Johnson's theory in re- 

 spect to fall plowing is interesting. Ex 

 pressions of opinion in regard to it from 

 those who have followed the practice 

 and from others, will be welcomed for 

 publication in The Canadian Horticul- 

 TVRisT.— Editor. 



Why Wc Prune 



I 



Prof. J. C. Whitten, College of Agriculture, Columbia, Missouri 



( Continved from last issue) 



N recent years an investigation of the 

 dormant period of trees and of prob- 

 lems relating to their hardiness is 

 throwing much light upon the subject of 

 pruning. This applies with particular 

 force to pruning the peach. 



For better understanding, let us adopt 

 a somewhat technical conception of what 

 is meant by the dormant period. Ordin- 

 arily we speak of the dormant period of 

 a tree as being that period between the 

 shedding of its leaves in autumn and its 

 starting into new growth in spring. 



Investigation has recently shown that 

 during the first half of this winter-rest, 

 our fruit trees are in a deep sleep, from 

 which they cannot easily be awakened, 

 but that during the last half of it they 



A Beautifal Lawn and Home in the Famou Niagara Peninsula 

 ReHldence of Mr. Hamilton Fleming, Grimsby. A coiner of the Peach orchard is shown, 



Mr. J. A. Johnson. 



ten years with all kinds of fruit and 

 with various .soils is that I have never 

 lost a tree by winter killing. In 1905, 

 Mr. A. Burland purchased this farm and 

 placed me in charge. It was then in bad 



This is managed by 



(particularly the peach) may easily be 

 forced into growth, providing warmth 

 and moisture are supplied. 



One may easilv test this point. If a 

 peach tree is taken from the open and 



planted in the greenhouse during the first 

 half of winter, it will lie dormant until 

 about midwinter. If it is brought to the 

 greenhouse in midwinter or later, it will 

 promptly begin to grow. The same 

 thing may be shown by bringing in peach 

 twigs and putting them in a vase of 

 water in a warm room. During the first 

 half of winter they remain dormant, but 

 they are ready to begin growth any time 

 after midwinter. 



Much of the winter killing of peach 

 buds is due to the fact that they start 

 into slight growth on warm, sunny days 

 during late winter, and this growth 

 renders them too tender to endure subse- 

 quent cold. Much of this injury may be 

 avoided by inducing their true dormant 

 period (that deep sleep from which they 

 are not easily awakened) to continue 

 until later in the winter. The earlier a 

 peach tree sheds its leaves or stops grow- 

 ing, the earlier its dormant period begins 

 and the earlier may the Ijuds become 

 ready to grow if warm, sunny, winter 

 days prevail. The later growth is kept 

 up in autumn, the later will the trees 

 shed their leaves and the longer will their 

 dormant period continue. 



If peach trees in this climate are cut 

 back severely enough in winter so they 

 grow late the following summer and shed 

 their leaves after cold weather comes on, 

 their buds are not likely to awaken into 

 growth until danger of winter-killing is 

 past. This may not apply in colder cli- 

 mates than ours, in which tender, late 

 a^rowth may be killed by excessively low 

 temperatures, even though dormant. 



Finally, the man who prunes should 

 understand the habit of each kind of tree 

 with which he works. He should be able 

 to tell the age of the tree by the char- 

 acter of the limbs. It is desirable to be 

 able to observe how much length growth 

 has occurred during each year of the 

 tree's history. The difference between 

 fruit buds and wood buds should be dis- 



