248 ECONOMIC PLANTS 



damage to the trees, if not planted too near them. 

 Grass and weeds are injurious to the young orchard, 

 except, perhaps, a crop of clover or soy beans, sowed 

 late in the summer as a cover crop and plowed under in 

 the spring. Care should be taken not to injure the roots. 



Note. Although the largest number of successful orchardists 

 cultivate their orchards and keep all growth of grass or weeds out of 

 the orchard during the summer, some have achieved notable success by 

 allowing sod to form and doing no cultivation. To conserve the 

 moisture and to fertilize the trees a heavy mulch of hay, straw, or 

 weeds is placed about the trees and is kept there at a depth of not less 

 than four inches. The mulch should be spread out as far as the 

 branches extend. 



Pruning. Judicious pruning is important for six 

 reasons: I. It checks growth and this increases fruit- 

 fulness. 2. By thinning the fruit, thus reducing the 

 quantity of the fruit allowed to be borne by the tree to 

 the capacity of the tree, the quality of the product is 

 improved. 3. It aids in controlling some of the most 

 dreaded plant diseases. 4. It makes cultivation easier 

 by removing the branches near the ground. 5. It al- 

 lows the sunlight to get at the fruit, giving a better color 

 to it. 6. It regulates the head of the tree so that har- 

 vesting the fruit is made easier. 



Root and top pruning, when transplanting takes 

 place, is also practiced, the mutilated and dead root 

 branches of the sapling being removed, and most, if not 

 all, of the top. Care must be taken in all pruning, 

 no matter when done or whether to roots or top, that 

 a smooth, clean surface is left, or injury to the tree 

 may follow. 



Branches of considerable size should be cut close to 

 the trunk or to the larger branch from which they grow, 



