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fective must be thick enough to keep the soil from drying 

 out during the dry season and suc'h large amount of 

 grass or any other kind of .plants can .seldom be obtained 

 without too great cost. Another drawback is the danger 

 of fire in a grove mulched all over. These objections 

 can be overcome in young groves by mulching around the 

 trees only and cultivating the middles. In this way less 

 mulch is needed and thie danger of fire is lessened. In 

 mulching trees the roots form in the surface soil and 

 for that reason it is necessary to remove the mulch and 

 cultivate the ground during the rainy season^ in order 

 to keep the root system from becoming too shallow or 

 else to continue mulching without interruption during 

 the life of the tree. 



Cultivation is a broad term denoting all work in con- 

 nection with weeding and stirring the soil. In young 

 groves it is strictly necessary to keep the weeds away 

 from the tree and unless mulching is used it is necessary 

 to work the soil with some instrument in ordeFto prevent 

 the moisture from evaporating too quickly. This is on 

 the same theory as mulching. The moisture rises to the 

 surface in compact soil like the oil in a lamp wick and 

 from there it evaporates by the 'heat of the sun. In order 

 to prevent this the surface is broken and pulverized, 

 the moisture then rises to the pulverized layer and no 

 further. To receive the practical benefit from cultivation 

 a planter imuist .plow his soil just before the rainy s<eas'om 

 is over and harrow it before it dries out. After that he 

 must harrow or cultivate 2 to 4 inches deep after every 

 sprinkle of rain, or frequently enough to prevent the 

 pulverized layer from coming in solid contact /with the 

 underlying uncultivated portion. Many planters know 



