92 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



stages of the youth, manhood and old age of the orchard, we find 

 no such accord. The most of our counsellors, some on one plea and 

 some on another, advise us to discontinue the practice after a few 

 years, and I doubt whether a single member of this society or of 

 this assemblage will seriously' advocate the mulching of a grown 

 orchard on the same scale that is applied to newly planted trees, 

 that is, so as to cover all the roots, which in a bearing orchard, even 

 a comparatively young one, would amount to mulching the entire 

 surface. That is something that once seemed to me unquestionably 

 advisable, and I wish that I could now feel the same confidence, for 

 it is much more satisfactory to write an essa\' when one feels that he 

 has only solid ground under his feet, firm convictions to back up some 

 positive advice, than when one sits astride the fence of indecision. 



Like most points in farm or garden practice, thei'e are many if's 

 and and's to the mulch question, and to clear the wa}' for a proper 

 consideration of the most important, let us make a list of the ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages, allowed or alleged, of the practice. 



Among the advantages of mulching I would enumerate the fol- 

 lowing : (1), protection of the surface soil from excessive drying; 

 (2), the protection from sudden changes of temperature and there- 

 fore from alternate freezing and thawing in absence of snow in the 

 cold season ; (3), the prevention of the encrustiug of the surface or 

 of washing by rains, to which some tilled lands would be subject ; 

 (4), prevention of weeds; (5), securing to the roots undisturbed 

 possession of the surface soil; (G), the promotion of nitrification 

 and perhaps of other chemical changes in the constituents of the soil 

 which render them more available for food for the trees; (7), the 

 addition of fertilizing materials to the soil. 



The objections ma}^ be marshalled thus: (1), to mulch a grown 

 orchard thoroughly is expensive ; (2), the mulch harbors insects and 

 mice ; (3) , there is danger of fire sweeping through the orchard and 

 destroying the trees; (4), the discontinuance of mulching after it 

 has been long employed gives the trees a serious set back. 



The limits which I have proposed to myself for this paper will not 

 admit the consideration of all the specifications enumerated above, 

 even were they matters of dispute. I will therefore ask attention to 

 a few of the points involved. 



The possession of the surface soil as a feeding ground seems to 

 be a matter of great importance, when we consider tlie greatly 

 superior fertility of that part of the soil. The first three inches may 



