NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 59 



our fathers handed down to us. and this is so, not simply 

 because it involves different horticultural operations, but 

 because it is based upon a different philosophy. Under the 

 old regimd the hope of getting profit incidentally from pas- 

 turage or from farm crops, interfered with managing the 

 orchard primarily for the trees' sake. When a man decides 

 to give the orchard thorough tillage during the growing 

 season, he has brought himself to decide to do first of all 

 what is best for the tree. He manages the orchard first of 

 all to get fruit. He commits himself to the idea that the 

 best crop to grow in an apple orchard is apples. 



The reasons for tilling the orchard may be here stated 

 briefly without attempting at this time to discuss them at 

 length. 



In the first place, tillage improves the physical condition 

 of the soil, making it a more congenial home for the feed- 

 ing rootlets. 



Secondly, by conserving the soil moisture by tillage, the 

 time during which growth takes place is often increased 

 because the activities of the trees are less liable to be 

 checked in periods of drought. A continuous uniform 

 growth is generally conceded to be best for the trees and 

 for the fruit of the current season. It appears reasonable 

 also that with trees of bearing habit tillage during the 

 principal growing season favors the development of fruit 

 buds for a crop of fruit the following year, Goff has shown 

 that the apple fruit buds may begin to develop quite early 

 in the season. He found that the first distinct features of 

 them may be seen as early as the last of June, while by early 

 autumn their development for that season had practically 

 ceased.* 



Cover Crops. — But where constant tillage is practiced 

 and no vegetable matter is returned to the soil, the amount 

 of humus must necessarily decrease. The humus is 

 important not only because of the plant food it contains, 

 but because it increases the moisture holding capacity of 

 the soil. For this reason it is well to provide for keeping 

 up an abundant supply of vegetable matter in the soil. 

 Under ordinary conditions this can be done most economi- 



*Goff, E. S., 16 An. Rep. Wis. Exp. Station, 1899. 



