STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. §1 



dared to say so, I would have you trench every foot with pick and 

 spade till you reached the hard pan, or a depth of eighteen inches. 

 Pile the stones back into the trenches for a drain. The furrows 

 should run in the direction of the natural drainage of the land. 

 Treat in the foregoing manner just as large a strip as you have 

 the time and means to accomplish that season, and no more. Haul 

 on to the strip all the manure you can afford of whatever kind, 

 and plow it in. The next spring manure in the hill and plant and 

 cultivate thoroughly for a crop of corn. As soon as it is har- 

 vested, spread over the ground a generous coat of manure, plow 

 it in as deep as you can, and harrow it smooth. Stake out the 

 spots for your trees at a distance of twenty-five, or better still, 

 thirty feet from each other. Plow six furrows in one direction so 

 as to have the dead furrow directly over the spot where you plant 

 the tree. Cross plow it with six furrows in the same manner. 

 The furrows need not be more than eight feet in length. This 

 will save much shoveling and prepare the soil for the roots of the 

 tree. Shovel out a generous hole, say four feet or more square, 

 and fill in with old compost manure and soil mixed together. 

 Probably the cheapest and best manure for this purpose, is com- 

 posed of vegetable mold, muck, leaves, ashes and lime, and ex- 

 posed to the soap suds from the house, and carefully worked over 

 several times during the season. Level off the spot and let it 

 remain till spring. 



The next step is to select good trees and set them out very 

 carefully. Prepare the ground and plant with beans in drills just 

 wide enough for your narrow cultivator to run between the rows, 

 and at the same time place some coarse mulch around each tree. 

 For several successive years any hoed or root crop may be cutli- 

 vated, provided you are not stingy in the use of manure, and keep 

 the ground mellow bj' clean cultivation. Some would prefer no 

 crop at all after planting the trees. Of this I am not quite sure in 

 our hot summers, but no grasses or grains should be sown till the 

 trees have acquired sufficient growth to bear. Everything should 

 have this end in view. Keep the rest of your acre under good 

 cultivation, and take up another strip each year till you have in 

 this manner gone over your acre. By this time your one thou- 

 sand dollars will be expended, but at the end your trees will be 

 worth, at least, ten dollars apiece, and you could not be induced 

 to sell one of them for fifty dollars, you would love them so well. 

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