32 FIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTURE. 
There are some cases in which seeding cannot be dis- 
pensed with, as in old orchards and on stony ground 
which cannot be plowed. One of the advantages of good 
and persistent cultivation, as long as the orchard can be 
plowed, is to prepare soil and trees for the sodded old 
age which overtakes the tree at last and forbids the en- 
croachment of the plow. Orchard grass is a general 
favorite for old orchards, but unless it is sown thickly 
and is fed down close it is apt to make ‘‘stools,” or 
clumps. Nearly all soils will run into June grass, 
which makes a smooth and firm sod. Every two or three 
years apply a heavy top-dressing of any mulch or manure 
which is cheapest. Dressings of wood ashes are excel- 
lent. Straw is also one of the most desirable mulches. 
I have known a straw mulch a foot thick to decay and 
to pass almost out of sight in one year. Fallen leaves 
spread over the ground and held down by sedge or other 
coarse material are also excellent. The sedge and weeds 
which grow in bogs, if mowed early, before the seeds 
are ripe, may be used to advantagé; also brakes, fine 
brush, sawdust, coarse hurse manure—in fact, any ma- 
terial which can be spread over the surface to sufficient 
depth to keep the sod loose and which will decay speedily, 
is to be recommended. This mulch is to be applied only 
through the center of the spaces if sufficient quantity can- 
not be had to cover the whole ground. On many of the 
rocky hillsides in the Eastern States, where the plow 
cannot be used, trees could no doubt be grown at a profit 
with no other cultivation than an annual heavy dressing 
of manure. It should be remembered that old orchards 
can usually be plowed to within ten or fifteen feet of 
