8 BULLETIN 29, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
to the tree row without crowding the horse or mule against the tree. 
An extension disk harrow is sometimes used for the same reasons, but 
is drawn by four horses, with one team in the lead. One man sits 
on the machine to operate and guide the outfit, while another man 
rides the wheel horse and drives the team. This manner of driving 
a 4-horse team is the common one in this section, and it is obviously 
the best in the orchard. Some orchardists prefer to plow the land 
before harrowing and use the disk little, if at all. 
The horse implements found by experience to be most serviceable 
on such lands are the 1-horse single-shovel plow, the bar-share plow 
(a term applied by West Virginians to the common chilled plow), 
and the spring-tooth harrow. 
On the stony land the ordinary cultivation with horse implements 
will not always keep down weeds and sprouts, so that the operation 
of sprouting is one that adds to the cost of cultivation. On the rich 
chert lands the weeds and sprouts grow vigorously and rapidly. It — 
is believed that by thoroughly sprouting the land this operation 
may later be dispensed with, as the sprouts interfered with in this 
way will cease attempting to grow. 
Cultivation for the control of moisture is not considered such an 
important operation on the land covered thickly with rock, but on 
the exposed soils it must be continuous during the growing season, 
especially when trees are bearing fruit. Cultivation is often con- 
_ tinued up to the time peaches are picked, since it seems to delay 
ripening, thus furnishing the manager an effective means of control 
when it seems wise to delay ripening a few days. Some growers 
believe that cultivation increases the size of peaches, thus furnishing 
another reason for thorough cultivation. Such facts explain to some 
extent why in this section of West Virginia the cost of cultivation 
increases with the size of the fruit crop. This is partly due, however, 
to the fact that there is a natural tendency to cut down expenses 
when the crop fails. The promise of a good crop also encourages 
expenditure not only to save the crop but to benefit the growth of 
trees for future crops. 
The average orchard is gone over from three to six times a year with 
horse implements, and the newly cleared land is sprouted two or 
three times besides. Few orchardists in this section give absolutely 
clean cultivation, however. Clean cultivation on the red soils costs 
about $10 per acre, while on chert lands it costs about $15 per acre. 
The best orchard managers use a cover crop on the smooth lands. 
This is usually rye, although some have had success with crimson 
clover. The cost of the cover crop is about $2 per acre. 
The cost of cultivation may be said to vary between $5 and $15 
per acre, the variation being due to character of soil, topography, and 
the number of times it seems wise and economical for the owner to 
