sou IX THE OKCUAllD. 31 



CHAP TEE VIII. 

 SOD IN THE ORCHARD. 



For the first eight or ten years after apple or pear trees 

 are set, they demand cultivation with the plow and a lib- 

 eral application of manure. After this the orchard may 

 often be seeded down for a time to advantage. Whether 

 or no an orchard should be seeded will depend upon the 

 richness of the soil, the condition of the trees and the 

 amount of manure or mold at the command of the 

 grower. There is no general rule. If there is a doubt 

 as to the expediency of seeding, it is best to cultivate. 



If an orchard has been properly managed during the 

 first ten years of its life the soil will be rich and in good 

 tilth. The trees will be making a good growth, and they 

 will present a dark and vigorous apj)earance. Such or- 

 chards will bear seeding down and they may profit by it. 

 But even under these favorable conditions I do not be- 

 lieve that seeding should be permanent. Two or three 

 years of June grass, orchard grass or clover should com- 

 monly be the limit, and dnring this time the sod should 

 be closely pastured. One trouble with high grass in 

 orchards is the increased liability to danger from drouth. 



I have said that cultivation is always safe and profit- 

 able, and yet I have seen orchards on heavy land 

 which made prodigious wood growth and bore but lit- 

 tle. When such orchards were seeded down, the growth 

 was checked, and more fruit was the result. These are 

 exceptional cases. Apples on cultivated trees are usually 

 lighter colored than those on trees in sod. Highly col- 

 ored apples are oftenest borne on slow growing trees. 



