APPLES 
Brush Land 
Much of the orchard planting is being 
done on rough brush land. Some growers 
have planted the trees after simply cut- 
ting and burning the brush, leaving the 
plowing and harrowing till later in the 
season. There is a strong objection to this 
method for the subjugating process is 
rendered more difficult by the presence 
of the trees, and even with the utmost 
care some trees are sure to be injured. 
A more satisfactory method is to fit the 
land the first season and set out the trees 
the following spring. There would be no 
loss of time by this method if the trees 
are purchased the first season and planted 
in nursery rows for a year. On account 
of the trees being limited to a small 
area in this way they may receive the 
very best treatment and may be properly 
trained. Any one who is contemplating 
the clearing of rough land is advised to 
eonsult some of those who have had ex- 
perience in such work. Briefly, the oper- 
ation consists in cutting and burning the 
brush, removing stumps and stones and 
plowing and harrowing. In some cases 
where the growth is small the brush may 
be cut with a mowing machine or with 
brush scythes, and gathered up with a 
horse rake. A modern stump-puller may 
be used to advantage, but the work is 
more frequently done with dynamite. 
When they do not interfere with the lo- 
cating of the trees, the larger stumps 
are sometimes left to decay, but in order 
to facilitate cultivation it is usually best 
to remove them at the time of clearing. 
The plowing will be a rough job at best, 
but two or three times over with the 
cut-a-way harrow will compensate for all 
irregularities. The work should be com- 
menced as early in the season as pos- 
sible so as to have the ground ready for 
a cover crop by the first of August. 
Where there are many large weeds and 
other herbage buckwheat is probably the 
best kind of a cover crop for the first 
season. If the ground is in good condi- 
tion of tilth it may be advisable to use 
clover, which is more valuable from the 
standpoint of fertility, but lacks the 
characteristic “smothering” action of 
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buckwheat. Clover has the advantage al- 
so in that covers the ground and prevents 
washing during the winter and spring. 
In the following spring the cover crop 
should be either ploughed under or 
worked into the soil with a cut-a-way 
harrow. The work should be started 
early enough to permit at least two har- 
rowings before planting. Old pasture 
land, and even land that has been under 
cultivation, should have the same treat- 
ment with regard to tillage and cover 
cropping. Much of the run down land 
of the state is sadly in need of humus, 
or decaying vegetable matter, and the 
turning under of a cover crop will go a 
long way toward restoring fertility and 
making the land productive. Any land, 
and more particularly pasture land, 
should be very deeply ploughed or sub- 
soiled before being used for orcharding. 
Subsoiling is almost out of the question 
on stony land, but the necessity for it on 
such Jand is not so great. 
Cc. D. JaRvVIs, 
Storrs, Conn. 
Preparing the Land 
Plowing 
The principal requirement in prepar- 
ing land for planting an orchard is deep 
tillage, and the more thoroughly this 
work is done the more certain is success. 
The preparation had best be done late in 
the fall, so that the land will be ready 
for early spring planting or for fall 
planting, if preferred. Many successful 
orchardists, especially in the western 
states, plow the ground in “lands” so as 
to make an open land furrow where each 
row of trees is to be set, and then, after 
the trees are planted, back furrow the 
ground so as to make lands with tree 
rows in the center. 
This method affords a deeper tilth 
under the trees, and at the same time 
surface drainage into the open land fur- 
rows midway between the rows, which 
will receive and, if properly graded, carry 
off any surplus water which may accum- 
ulate from heavy rainfalls. 
G. B. BRACKETT, 
Washington, D. C. 
