34 SUCCESSFUL FRUIT CULTURE 



It is the practice of many orchardists to keep the 

 land in turf for a series of years, then to plow and 

 cultivate for a year or Jwo and reseed, but better 

 results will be obtained by constant cultivation, because 

 the roots are kept well in the ground, while after they 

 have stood in turf for several years they work close 

 to the surface and are seriously torn and cut when 

 the land is plowed again. A heavy mulching of the 

 ground, close to the trunks of the trees, during the 

 summer, has the same effect, but if once begun must 

 be kept up or the trees will be injured by cold or 

 drouth when the mulch decays. 



IMPLEMENTS I^ CULTIVATION 



The plow is an indispensable implement in the 

 cultivation of the orchard. It is needed for turning 



under green ma- 

 nuring or cover 

 crops and where 

 weeds have be- 

 come too large to 

 be uprooted by 

 the harrow or 

 cultivator. This 

 tool should never oe run so deep as to go under the 

 roots, and the furrows should not be turned the same 

 way every time, so as to form ridges along the line of 

 the trees or to draw the soil too much away from the 

 roots. On sloping land, where a ridge is likely to be 

 formed along the line of the trees, it is well to turn 

 the furrows uphill to overcome this tendency. A low- 

 hanging landside plow, like the one shown in Figure 

 12, will do much better work than will a sidehill plow. 

 The wheel harrow of the common or cutaway form. 

 Figure 13, is now made with a long arm or spreader 

 by which the shears are carried under the branches 



Pig. 12— Low-Hanging Landside Plow 



