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of the ground, which would be avoided by every good 

 wine-farmer if proposed to be applied to a vineyard, is for 

 the same reasons and in the same measure, not good enough 

 for fruit-trees. At least let the peaches and apricots, the 

 oranges, apples and pears, get the same chance dealt out 

 to them which we accord to the vine. 



Manuring of Orchard Ground. 



19. During the time of trenching is the best time for 

 manuring the ground if its natural poorness requires that 

 assistance. The old method of putting a basket of manure 

 in a hole near the foot of the tree will not do at all. But 

 as the strata of spaded earth are taking their new position, 

 a labourer is told off with the six-pronged fork to scatter 

 the manure between their layers. By this means the 

 manurial ingredients are diffused pretty evenly throughout 

 the whole mass. If your supply runs short, let the third 

 foot of the depth go without the dung, and give what you 

 have to the upper two feet. "With a still shorter supply 

 you will have to be very sparing. You will find it more 

 thrifty to have the top spit of the ground left very rough. 

 Then scatter what manure you have over the ragged sur- 

 face, and turn it in when you finally level it down to a 

 cultivable smoothness. Practically this Amounts to a top- 

 dressing only. "Where you are working with a clayey 

 soil, manure that is not particularly rich in animal matter, 

 but contains much of incompletely decomposed straw, finds 

 its best use in assisting aeration and preventing the pack- 

 ing together of the soil. 



Do not suppose that in such soils as fall to the lot of the 

 average fruit grower at the Cape, there is necessarily a 

 call for much manuring. We are very apt to look upon 

 manuring as a sort of cure-all, which with excessive irri- 

 gation is to save us the labour of trenching up the soil, 

 pruning the trees to fruiting condition, and looking well 

 after them generally. Have we not given them plenty of 

 rich compost ? Then why don't they bear satisfactorily ? 

 The fact is the majority of fairly fertile soils that have 

 been industriously cultivated will suit fruit trees without 

 other manure than a light top dressing, for years, if only 



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