476 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



satisfactory than one of the "orchard gang' ' plows (usually a gang of three 

 small plows). After plowing the soil is "fitted" in good shape with the 

 disk and other harrows, and then is kept in good condition with some type 

 of cultivator up to about July 1st. The essential points of such a cultivator 

 are that it shall cover enough ground to do the work cheaply, that it shall 

 leave the soil in good condition and that it shall work well under the trees 

 without necessitating that the team get close to them. This latter point 

 is particularly important with stone fruits, since they are almost universally 

 headed very low. About July 1st the cover crop is sown in the orchard 

 and the season's work on the soil is finished. The date of sowing this crop 

 varies great ly with different growers and under different conditions. Where 



Block of Young Peach Trees with Strawberries as an Inter-crop. 



trees are carrying a large crop of fruit and the soil and season are dry, 

 cultivation may profitably be kept up considerably later in order to con- 

 serve the moisture, but it must always be borne in mind that moisture is 

 saved in this way one season at the expense of the next season, because the 

 longer the sowing of the cover crop is delayed the less growth it will make, 

 and consequently the less humus it will add to the soil the following year. 

 The chief functions of this cover crop are to prevent washing (and this is 

 especially important in peach orchards, since they are usually on high and 

 rolling lands) , to check the growth of the trees in autumn and to add humus 

 to the soil. If the cover crop is a legume, a large part of the required nitro- 

 gen may be secured. One of the best crops for this purpose is barley. 

 Another is dwarf rape. Either may be combined with one of the clovers 



