/i4 FIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTUKE. 



CHAPTER VI. 



HOW TO PLOW AN ORCHARD.— ORCHARD TILLAGE. 



Whether to plow the orchard to the trees each year, or 

 to turn the sod in opposite directions in alternate years, 

 must depend upon the soil and location. It is only in 

 exceptional cases that the former course should be pur- 

 sued. In poorly-drained orchards, on low, black land, 

 this practice of heaping the sod about the trees has the 

 advantage of favoring drainage. Even in this particular, 

 however, it is doubtful if the benefits will overbalance 

 the inconvenience resulting from such a practice. Bet- 

 ter tile-drain the orchard and keep the surface even. 

 Drainage is not always secured by the deep dead fur- 

 rows. The ground must have a good natural slope, or 

 deep pools will be formed in the dead furrows just where 

 the young roots demand warmth and drainage. The 

 constant lowering of the dead furrows cuts off the smaller 

 roots and drives them deep into the subsoil where there 

 is little nutriment. The valuable surface soil is piled up 

 about about the trees, where it does no good. Roots feed 

 largely upon the valuable elements which leach down 

 from the surface soil. The most active roots of large 

 trees are far from the trunk. An uneven surface in an 

 orchard is a constant source of aggravation, especially in 

 picking-time, when one must enter with a wagon. Wind- 

 falls roll into the dead furrows, and become bruised, wet 

 and decayed. The sod furrow does not usually strike close 

 against the body of the tree. As a consequence, a little 

 depression is formed there, into which drifts litter, form- 



