28 FIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTURE. 
CHAPTER VII. 
MANURES FOR THE ORCHARD. 
It appears to be a general notion that fruit trees do 
not require manure in the same proportion as other crops. 
The reason for this notion is apparent. Entirely neg- 
lected trees usually bear a moderate crop of fruit, at 
least once in two or three years, and not having culti- 
vated and liberally manured trees to contrast with them, 
the grower does not see great need of manuring. To 
satisfy curiosity, let a person cultivate and manure 
a portion of a neglected orchard, and then note the 
comparative thriftiness and fruitfulness of the cultivated 
and neglected portions. Lack of vigor in trees is one 
reason for their being attacked by insects. 
The first step in the enriching of an orchard is good 
cultivation, as recommended in the preceding chapter. 
For good cultivation there is no adequate substitute. 
Barnyard manure is the best of all manures for the or- 
chard in the general rin of cases. It cannot always be 
had in sufficient quantity, however, to supply the orchard 
or even a portion of it, as the fruit trees are commonly 
an entirely secondary consideration to grain and vegeta- 
ble crops. If crops are grown in the orchard, the trees 
will obtain a part of the manure which is applied to 
thecrop. It isa good plan to reserve a certain portion of 
the manure each year for the orchard and to apply it to 
different parts of the orchard in succession. It should 
be plowed or harrowed in in the spring. The old mis- 
take of applying the manure close about the trunk of the 
