CI I/riYATION 



115 



fruit development. The farm must indeed be rich that can stand 

 this drain upon its plant-making substance. Moral : Cultivate 

 and save. 



Cultivation releases plant food in the soil. The action involved 

 in frequent cultivation is a grinding and turning of the soil particles. 

 By this process portions of fertilizers so near the surface that they 

 are not available to the tree roots are turned under and placed in 

 a more suitable position, perhaps being dissolved by water or acted 



Fig. 48. A fine old orchard 



Modern practices were used in this orchard, located in Albion, in the midst of the apple 

 region of western New Vork 



upon by the root acids or broken down in some other way so that 

 they may be absorbed. 



Soil that has lain dormant for years is sometimes plowed up 

 and fined by frequent cultivations, which exposes the particles of 

 the newer soil to the action of air, root acids, bacterial life, and 

 other agencies, thus finally making available the food elements 

 and thereby increasing the total available food supply of the soil. 



Cultivation improves the physical condition of the soil. The 

 principal work of improving the physical condition of the soil by 

 cultivation is in reducing the size of the larger lumps of earth, 

 thus making the soil more porous and increasing the amount of 

 air that can be admitted into it and also the amount of storage 



