FRUITS. 163 



CULTIVATION. A previously uncultivated or virgin soil 

 is the best for an orchard, but if such is not to be had, that 

 which has been long in pasture or meadow is most suitable. 

 The most efficient manures are swamp muck, decayed 

 leaves and vegetables, rotten wood, chip manure, lime, 

 ashes, gypsum, &c. Trees, like any other vegetable, draw 

 their own specific food, largely from the soil, and to supply 

 the elements of their growth in abundance, the earth should 

 occasionally be renewed with those materials which may 

 have become partially or wholly exhausted. When care- 

 fully plowed and cultivated in hoed crops, orchards thrive 

 most rapidly, care being always taken to protect the trees 

 from damage either to the trunks or roots. All tearing of 

 the roots is objectionable. The ground should be kept rich 

 and open, so as to be pervious to the influence of rains, the 

 sun and the atmosphere. Under these conditions the trees 

 will thrive vigorously. When lands are kept in grass, a 

 space of three to six feet in diameter, according to the age 

 and size of the tree, should always be kept free from turf 

 around them. Pastures which are trodden by animals, 

 are so bared by this and the closeness of their cropping that 

 the roots of the trees get their share of benefit from the sun 

 and rains. From this cause pastures are better suited to 

 orchards than mowing lands ; for the latter are so com- 

 pletely covered by the rank growth of grass that the tree 

 suffers, and without the aid of manures and the annual 

 loosening of the ground for a few feet around; the tree in 

 some cases dies from exhaustion. All kinds of cereal grains 

 are bad for orchards, except perhaps buckwheat. The pre- 

 paration of the ground for this crop by early summer plow- 

 ing, is highly condusive to the growth of trees, and its nutri- 

 ment being drawn largely from the air, it robs the roots of 

 a small amount only of the materials in the soil. 



A neighboring farmer, whose management many years 

 since came under our notice, had a small mowing lot adjoin- 

 ing his barn and cattle sheds, which was surrounded with a 

 stone wall. The soil was a moist gravelly loam, every way 

 fitted for the growth of apple trees, as was shown by there 

 having been several flourishing orchards on similar soils in 

 the immediate vicinity. He filled this with apple trees set 

 in small holes at the proper distances, the rows terminating 

 on each side close to the wall and also near his barn and 

 sheds. After setting out, the trees were staked and then 

 left to grow, as best they could without farther cultivation. 



