Tillage of the Young Orchard. 159 
bend low with fruit. An implement of the grape- 
hoe type may be used with advantage in some cases 
to loosen the earth about the trees. A single-horse 
plow, with a set-over beam (as in Fig. 16), is also 
most excellent for plowing close to trees and bushes. 
The objection to medium-low heads to trees arises 
from the use of the old-fashioned implements of till- 
age, and also from a misconception of what the 
plowing of an old orchard should be, for if the or- 
chard is properly cared for in its earlier years, heavy 
plowing will not be needed in its later life. 
This labor of working about trees is greatly facil- 
itated by the use of harnesses which have no metal 
projections. There should be no hames with elevated 
tops, and the turrets on the back-pads should be 
simply leather loops. The back-pad itself should be 
reduced to a single wide strap entirely devoid of 
wadding. Harnesses of the Sherwood type, with no 
traces, but drawing by a single chain between the 
horses, are excellent in orchards, as they require no 
whiffletrees, and they are likewise handy and efficient. 
The better the plowing and other tillage of the 
orchard in the first few years of its life, the easier 
and more efficient the subsequent plowing will be. If 
eare is taken to keep the land friable and well-filled 
with humus, it may not be necessary to turn furrows 
at the spring plowing after four or five years. Per- 
sons commonly suppose that an orchard must be 
plowed the same as corn or potato ground is, by in- 
verting the land and running regular furrows; but 
“inasmuch as the object is simply to keep the land 
