August 27, 1V90.] 



Garden and Forest. 



419 



One of the Sacred Olive-Trees of Blidali. — Pee page 414. 



All these things being successfully attended to, there are 

 yet other matters equally important. The cultivation and fer- 

 tilization of the soil of an orchard requires skill and knowl- 

 edge. That the land should be first thoroughly put in condi- 

 tion before the trees are planted, is assumed at the start. But 

 what shall be done with it while the trees are advancing to- 

 ward the age of profitable bearing ? What crops may be 

 grown in a young orchard without injuring it, what manuring 

 will it need and what shall be the method of tillage ? 



It may be set down as a positive rule that grain crops of any 

 sort ought not to be grown in a young orchard. If a funda- 

 mental guiding principle is wanted, let it be that whatever crop 

 is planted among fruit-trees must be one that will make its 

 growth mainly after the trees have made theirs. In my own 

 experience I have found Beans to be the best. They are not 

 planted until the trees have made considerable growth, and 

 do not draw much on the land before their terminal buds are 

 formed. They come off early and allow of the superficial 



