Practical Orcharding On Rough Lands. 1 77 



may be cut and piled around the trees. If this 

 is done, care should be taken not to place it too 

 close to the tree on account of the danger of 

 injury by mice which are apt to harbor in it. 

 Then the feeding roots of the tree are out from 

 the body, so for this reason as well as the 

 one before mentioned, the mulch, whatever 

 it may be, straw, fodder, clover or coarse 

 manure, should be placed or spread well out 

 under the drip of the limbs. The mulch that 

 is to be grown in the orchard may be red 

 clover, cow peas or even the wild growth of 

 weeds and brush. If it is mown twice during 

 the season and placed around the tree, each 

 time the circle being enlarged, the roots will 

 extend their feeding area more rapidly. The 

 material will also decay quicker than if allowed 

 to obtain its full growth, and form its woody 

 fibre. This same material may be cut two or 

 even more times during the season and left 

 where it falls, thus making a continuous mulch 

 over the entire surface. This method is more 

 practical on good land. As on the thinner soils 

 where the crop will be lighter, the shading ef- 

 fects of the mulch near the tree, as well as 

 the decayed vegetation, is more necessary, and 

 is generally placed about the trees as described. 

 A Growing Mulch. — Common red clover 



