30 FRUIT CULTURE. 



give clean culture wherever the land is suitable. 

 But it remains an important question to decide 

 by trial whether the many waste and rocky 

 slopes may be profitably utilized by planting 

 with apple trees, with no attempt at regularity, 

 or purpose to cultivate with the plough. 



FERTILIZERS. 



It is true economy to bring the land into good 

 heart at the time of planting, as the work can 

 be done at less expense than afterwards, and the 

 benefits resulting will be immediate and perma- 

 nent. If the spot has a fair quality of loam, an 

 addition of stable manure at the rate of ten cords 

 to the acre may be worked in at the last light 

 ploughing. It is wasteful to bury it too deeply. 



If a little care is exercised to prevent the ma- 

 nure from coming in immediate contact with the 

 roots, no harm will result from spreading the 

 freshest horse-manure broadcast upon the land. 

 Dry earth is such a powerful absorbent that 

 shrewd cultivators recognize the economy in 

 using the manure at its full strength, which is 

 before heating, or " rotting," as it is called. 



Stable manure contains all the elements of 

 plant-food, always and in all soils giving good 

 results, and hence it is called a perfect fertilizer. 

 But it does not follow that it is always a judicious 



