Janu.'iry, 191 5 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIiST 



Cultural Methods in the Orchard* 



Harold Jones, Prescott, Ont. 



1\ the early days of orcharding in On- 

 tario, the soil, rich in humus and un- 

 depleted of its natural resources, ga\e 

 satisfactory crops of fruit with trees 

 growing in sod. As time went on, with 

 intercroppinjf of hay and grain, the soil 

 became depleted of its humus and readi- 

 ly a\ailable plant food, and it became 

 more compact and less able to hold 

 moisture, until the trees declined in \ig- 

 or and productiveness. 



Many of these orchards were stimu- 

 lated into vigor again by breaking up 

 the sod and adding fertilizers mostly in 

 the form of barnyard manure and giv- 

 ing cultivation through the growing sea- 

 son. This system, although it doubled 

 the crop in many instances, gave unsat- 

 isfactory results in some cases. It ap- 

 peared to extend the prowth of the tree 

 too late in the season and retarded the 

 ripening of the wood and the trees were 

 unable to endure the low temperature of 

 winter without injury. Root killing was 

 also observed on soils uncovered with 

 vegetation when there is very little or 

 no snow covering. 



To obtain the good results of thorough 

 cultivation and eliminate, as far as pos- 

 sible, the unsatisfactory results men- 

 tioned, cultivation should cease at or 

 near the close of the growing season of 

 the tree and the land should be sown 

 to .some cover crop. The length of time 

 that cultivation may be safely continued 

 varies in different sections of the pro- 

 vince, but a study of the growth of the 

 tree and the temperature in winter are 

 the two factors to be considered when 

 deciding to cease cultivation. 



The season of growth in most woody 

 plants extends scarcely to midsummer; 

 most, if not all, of our native trees cease 

 growing very early in the season. This 

 is no doubt the reason why they endure 

 the winter so successfully. Trees that 

 complete their growth early in the sea- 

 son and mature their wood and terminal 

 bud well are said to be "determinate" 

 in their growth, while those of the op- 

 posite habit, like some of the Japanese 

 plums, are said to be "indeterminate." 

 It is, of cour.se, apparent why plants of 

 indeterminate growth are not hardy, as 

 a rule. 



It has bi-en observed that practicallv 

 all of our hardy apple trees are quite 

 "determinate" in their growth, forming 

 their terminal bud early in June. It has 

 also been observed that the vigorous 

 growth of a tree can be prolonged past 

 lis normal period by excessive cultiva- 

 tion and fertilization. 



The active normal growth of the tree 

 is completed early in June. Then it 

 settles down to ripen and m ature the 



•Extract from an address at the recent annual 

 convention of the Ontario Fruit Growers' A.S80-- 

 <iation. 



newly made tissue and store up plant 

 food in its cells for the early forcing of 

 leaf and flower the following spring. 



In the colder sections of Ontario cul- 

 tivation should cease at or about the 

 time that normal growth is completed, 

 say the early part of June, and the cover 

 crop sown. F"or some time after this 

 the trees receive the full benefit of the 

 cultivation before the cover crop has 

 made sufiicient growth to take up and 

 hold the excess moisture and liberated 

 plant food. 



The cover crop to use is best deter- 

 mined by the character and the richness 

 of the soil,' and the vigor of the trees 

 in the orchard. If the trees are growing 

 slowly and the land is in a good state 

 of tilth, it is advisable to use a nitrogen- 

 ous crop, such as red clover or vetch, 

 with applications of fertilizer. If on the 

 other hand the trees are making a lux- 

 uriant growth and the soil is a heavy 

 loam, some r.on-nitrogenous crop should 

 be used, such as oats, rye, buckwheat, 

 and others. 



.'\ good combination for most soils 

 where the clovers do not make a good 

 stand is six to ten pounds Dwarf Rssex 



rape and twenty pounds of common 

 vetch to the acre. The rape should be 

 cut in September, when the vetch will 

 then grow to cover the ground for win- 

 ter. A cover crop in connection with 

 cultivation is valuable in many ways. 

 It improves the physical condition of the 

 soil, prevents hard or clay soils from 

 cementing or puddling, and holds the 

 rains and snow until they have a chance 

 to soak into the land. It prevents, also, 

 alternate freezing and thawing of the 

 surface, adds humus that improves the 

 chemical and mechanical condition of the 

 soil and renders locked up plant food 

 available. 



Some unfavorable reports have come 

 to my notice where cabbages or rape 

 were used as a cover crop. One case 

 was at St. Henri, on the Island of Mon- 

 treal, where cabbages were grown where 

 the heads were cut for the Montreal mar- 

 ket and the stalks and leaves left on the 

 ground, where the fruit was under-sized 

 and of very poor color. Another case 

 has Ijeen reported by the District re- 

 presentative for Durham, where an or- 

 chard sown to rape and vetch gave un- 

 der-sized fruit of poor quality. In other 

 cases the results have been very satisfac- 

 tory, notably in my own orchard and at 

 the Central P'xperimental Farm, Ottawa. 



The Principles of Cooperation* 



M. B. Davis, B. S. A., Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



c 



00PI-:RATI0N has been the scene 

 of many wrecks and disasters, but 

 these failures only serve as an in- 

 dication of the pitfalls and snares to be 

 avoided in a successful cooperative en- 

 terprise. Though particular cooperative 

 ventures may fail, the time must come 

 when others will succeed, because the 

 principle which underlies the cooperative 



•Extract from a paper read before the Quebec 

 Pomological and Fruit Growers' Association. 



mo\ement is sound, its necessity absol- 

 ute, and its desirability an accepted fact. 

 It has been repeated by eminent men 

 time and time again, that for every dol- 

 lar the consumer pays for farm produce, 

 the man who raises that produce only 

 gets thirty-five cents. This indicates 

 that there is something radically wrong 

 in our present methods of distribution. 

 And it is gratifying to learn that not 

 only is the producer attempting to ovt-r- 



Packing Fameiiw- apples for exhibition purposes at the Oka Ajricultural Institute, La Trappe, 

 Que. Rev. Father Leopold, tho director of hortifulture, stands the second from the left. 



