CH APTER X. 



CULTIVATION. 



It very often happens that the owner of a fruit tree is 

 disappointed because his fruit is not so large and excel- 

 lent as specimens of the same variety that he has seen 

 elsewhere. He is then ready to pronounce the variety 

 a failure, or the nurseryman a fraud, when the fault is 

 really his own, and the lack of proper cultivation the 

 principal cause of his disappointment. If a tree is de- 



Fig. 57.— The orchard that is neglected and the one that is well cultivated. 

 prived of cultivation, the same results may be expected, 

 that every farmer knows will follow, if his corn is allowed 

 to stand in soil that is baked and grown up with weeds. 

 From the planting of the seed, through all the stages 

 of the trees' growth, clean cultivation is necessary. After 

 orchards come into bearing, it is better to give up the 

 land entirely to the trees, giving them repeated plow- 

 ings and a top dressing of manure each year. A com- 

 post containing lime and ashes is excellent. Do not in- 

 jure the roots by plowing too deeply, and carefully avoid 

 mutilating the trees with the plow. 



Low growing, hoed crops may be cultivated in orchards 

 without injury, but never corn or sown crops. 



