-4- 



Cultivati on. 



— — I^MW^—l— M ill ■ li 



There ere many methods of apple orchard culture end 

 individual growers, as v/ell as scientific pomologists, 

 have not yet decided on a unlverssl standard of what the 

 best orchard culture should be. Perhaps it would be well 

 to briefly compare the different methods. 



(•'■) Tjie Continuous Clea n C ul tur e Method. By this me- 

 thod the lend is plowed in the spring and cultivation con- 

 tinued throughout the growing season until lete autumn 

 when cultivation ceases end the soil is allowed to lie 

 undisturbed and uncovered until the next spring when the 

 process is repeated. This method is generally if not al- 

 ways found to be unsuccessful because of the severe wash- 

 ing and loss of soil due to rains. 



(2) The Cover-Crop Method. This method consists in 

 plowing end disking the ground as early in the spring as 

 the soil will permit. Cultivation is continued until the 

 middle of July, when some cover crop is sown and allowed 

 to remsin for the remainder of the season. 



(3) The Sod Culture Me tho d. This method consists 

 in allowing the grass to grow and fonn a sod over the en- 

 tire surface of the orchard, except a circular area of 

 ground under each individual tree which is dug up and kept 

 mellow during the growing season. The grass is mowed and 

 allowed to remain where it falls. 



