Mistakes in Orchard Culture. 169 
the fall rains. We may, therefore, sow some catch 
or cover crop. (See Chapter IV.) 
4. Till in such manner that the land shall be 
in uniformly fine tilth. Every good farmer knows that 
the value of his crop depends more upon the tilth 
of the soil than upon the mere richness of it. Fer- 
tility is largely locked up in poorly tilled lands. 
Orchards which are plowed late in spring are usu- 
ally in bad condition all the season, especially if the 
soil is clay. Fall plowing upon stiff and bare lands 
is apt to result in the puddling of the soil by the 
rain and snow, as already explained; if there is sod 
on the land, this injury is less likely to follow. 
In general, it is best to let orchard lands pass the 
winter under a cateh crop. 
5. Remember that tillage may be overdone. Trees 
may be made to grow too much wood, and there- 
fore too little fruit, and they may be sent into the 
winter in soft and unripened condition. If land is 
in good tilth, as it is when in best condition for 
the growing of potatoes or melons, tillage beyond 
that needed to conserve the moisture is useless; and 
even this conservation-tillage may well stop in late 
summer in very many cases, as already indicated. 
It is a common practice to severely head-in trees 
which are making a too vigorous growth, but this 
practice usually aggravates the difficulty rather than 
corrects it. The fundamental treatment for such 
trees is to check the growth by some means, as by 
lessening the tillage or by withholding stimulating 
fertilizers. 
