216 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



as a gutter to carry off an excess of surface water; thus, 

 a cheap method of superficial drainage may be effected 

 by the mere plowing of the land judiciously ; and this 

 will be found of great advantage in level lands with a stiff 

 subsoil. When such fields are selected for the orchard, 

 this plan should always be pursued ; nor does it preclude 

 the subsequent use of tile, which is the best draining ma- 

 terial, at any period afterward. These gutters being at a 

 distance from the tree rows, can be deepened, and the tile 

 laid, without disturbing the roots ; or the mole drain plow 

 may be drawn through these furrows, if the subsoil be of 

 a suitably tenacious character to admit of the use of this 

 implement. 



Very satisfactory preparation of the soil is done with the 

 plow and a good team ; indeed, except for the limited sur- 

 face of a small fruit garden, no other and no better imple- 

 ment need be desired. With it we can produce a very thor 

 ough disintegration and perfect subversion of the soil; these 

 are the objects we have in view. But here we have a choice 

 of instruments, in which we must be guided by the chai 

 acter of the soil to be dealt with. If this be shallow, 01 

 thin, and underlaid by a sterile subsoil that would be un- 

 fit for the surface, we must plow more shallow, but there 

 are few sites, in the Western country, where we do not find 

 a sufficient depth of soil to satisfy the most thorough 

 plowman, and beneath it,a subsoil that .will be benefited 

 by aeration, and which will become good surface soil if 

 subjected to the influences of the atmosphere. 



We have few soils that may not be trenched with the 

 plow or spade to any depth that is attainable. And here 

 let me explain what is meant by trenching : it is the trans- 



