CARE TAKING 



fruit may be made to thrive in sod if special care is given. The 

 grass in these orchards should be kept closely mown and used as a 

 mulch about the trees. Commercial fertilizers, as well as a mulch, are 

 absolutely necessary to sod-mulched trees, nitrogen in particular be- 

 ing required. The man who keeps his trees in sod must not expect as. 

 large a return of fruit, but, to offset this, it is usually better colored. 

 There are several reliable guides to tell when trees 

 of T'll need to be cultivated. The usual guide is the crop of 



or Cultivating weeds, but the man who waits until weeds force him 

 to till is not doing his duty by his trees. The 

 amount of moisture in the soil is a better guide. When soils become 

 dry thejr need to be tilled. The ph^ysical condition of the land is 

 another guide. Stir when the crust needs breaking and when there 

 are clods to be pulverized. 



Tillage should begin in early spring, when the land must be broken 

 with a plow or deep-working harrow. This first operation is followed 

 with a smoothing harrow, cultivator, or weeder, and tillage then pro- 

 ceeds at such intervals as conditions dictate, seldom less than once 

 a fortnight, until time to sow 

 the cover-crop in midsummer. A 

 heavy rain should always be fol- 

 lowed by cultivation, to prevent 

 the formation of a soil-crust ! He 

 tills twice who tills quickly. 



The depth to stir is governed 

 by the nature of the soil and the 

 season. Heavy soils need deep 

 stirring; light soils, shallow stir- 

 ring. In wet weather, till deeply; 

 in dry weather, lightly. In some 

 regions plowing and tilling may 

 be made a splendid means of 

 combating insects and fungi, and 

 this regulates the depth to till. 



The time and the season to 

 stop tillage depends on the local- 

 ity, the season, and the fruit. 

 Generally, it may be said that 

 cultivation should cease before 

 fruits begin to attain full size 



25 



Early Richmond Cherries, half size 



