32 BULLETIN 140, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



carried on by the general farmer when carefully done. The old time 

 orchard must go, however, or be rejuvenated and given consistent 

 care if it is to serve any purpose very useful in the economy of the 

 farm. It must be admitted also that there are certain objections to 

 the extremely large orchard. Many of the tender-fleshed and 

 thin-skinned varieties which the best retail markets desire are not 

 amenable to ordinary methods of handling. Skilled help can 

 undoubtedly be secured in many cases, but it is exceedingly difficult 

 through all the processes of care and attention to give all the 

 orchard and all the fruit the personal attention which enables the 

 individual grower of, say, 10 to 20 acres to secure the highest prices 

 of special markets or of retail trade. 



Another excellent opportunity of the present time is to bring the 

 old orchards into good bearing condition as soon as possible. In 

 this way a few very profitable crops may be secured before the larger 

 orchards of recent and present plantings bear much fruit. 



The diagram, figure 2, based upon estimates prepared by the State 

 board of agriculture, so far as production is concerned, shows the 

 relative importance of different parts of the State as apple-growing 

 sections. In many of these towns important plantings have been 

 made since the preparation of these estimates. Similar interest and 

 activity in towns not included in these lists will bring them also 

 above the 10,000-bushel minimum not many years hence. In the 

 diagram (Fig. 2) the approximate location of these townships is 

 represented by symbols. Surrounding areas — not townships — of rel- 

 ative but not necessarily equal production are indicated by a system 

 of lines. 



CULTURAL METHODS IN ORCHARDS. 



It is not the purpose of this report to discuss orchard cultural 

 methods beyond calling attention to prevailing practices. 



The profitable peach orchards are almost always cultivated, and 

 those most profitable are cultivated assiduously until midsummer, 

 when an annual cover crop is grown. The crops used for this pur- 

 pose are many — rye, buckwheat, rape, cow-horn turnips, crimson, 

 red and alsike clovers, winter vetch, etc., being in common use. 

 Rutabaga seed is often thickly broadcasted, the best roots being sold 

 and the remainder left as a cover crop. 



The best of the commercial apple orchards are also cultivated to 

 midsummer and then laid by with some of the cover crops named 

 above. The sod-mulch system is also practiced to some extent and 

 gives very good results where the plan is consistently and thoroughly 

 carried out. The most common difficulty with this method is the 

 failure to apply sufficient mulch to prevent the growth of any grass 

 or weeds within a circle which should extend for a few feet beyond 



