CULTIVATION— TOOLS 36 
About the middle of the summer a cover crop should be sown in 
order to retain the fertility of the orchard. Where a good dressing of 
manure can be put on every year it is not necessary to sow a cover crop; 
but very few are so fortunate as to get all the manure they require at a 
reasonable price, so cover crops are necessary to keep the soil supplied 
with humus. If the season is very dry and there is a big crop on the 
trees the cover crops can be omitted for one year in order to hold the 
fertility until the very end of the growing season for the benefit of the 
fruit on the trees. However where this is done repeatedly the soil will 
lose its fertility and the trees will suffer from lack of nourishment. Some 
orchardists often sow clover or vetch in midsummer and allow the 
orchard to remain in sod the following year. This can often be done 
to advantage once every four or five years. 
The best cover crops are cow peas soy beans, crimson clover, and 
vetch for the central and southern sections; soy beans, vetch, and red 
clover for the northern sections, and quick-growing crops, such as rye 
and buckwheat, that can be plowed under in the fall or spring. 
In a young orchard that is just getting started, it is often advisable 
to plant crops between the rows and the cultivation will serve for both. 
Whatever system is used, it is absolutely necessary that the young trees 
be well cultivated and kept in a thrifty, growing condition. If you get 
the trees started right the first season and keep them growing well, the 
rest is easy. If you neglect them for a season and aUow them to become 
stunted, you will have to do extra work to overcome this handicap. 
Stop cultivating the young orchard about midsummer. Don't force it 
to grow late in the faU; because, if the trees are making a new growth 
when winter comes on, they are very apt to be injured by severe cold. 
In the West no irrigation water should be applied the latter part of 
the summer. Many orchards have been killed by late summer irrigation, 
which forced out a new growth just as the cold weather came on. How- 
ever, it is often advisable to irrigate in the early fall after all growth 
has stopped, in order to keep the ground from drying out during the 
winter. 
The ordinary turning plow is satisfactory for plowing in the orchard. • 
In order to get close to the tree, it is necessary to use a smaU one-horse 
turning plow. The usual disc harrow can be used. However, most manu- 
facturers make harrows with extension heads, so you can work in close 
under the tree and at the same time keep the team far enough away to 
avoid injuring the branches. 
The Clark Cutaway Harrow Company, Higganum, Connecticut, 
make a double-action disc harrow with a double row of discs which is 
especially good for working the orchard. 
The spring-tooth harrow is good on stony land, but is not satis- 
factory on wet land. The smoothing harrow or spring-tooth harrow is 
especially good for the weekly cultivations after the ground has been 
put in good tilth. The teeth should be arranged so they can be set at 
any desired angle. They are also made with extension heads, so they can 
work in under the tree without skinning the branches. 
The ordinary corn cultivator can often be used where the orchard is 
not large enough to justify buying special tools. In the cotton and 
tobacco sections of the country, the regular tools used in growing these 
crops can be adapted to the orchard use. 
Thinning 
Thinning more than pays for itself. It makes for regular crops. 
When you have a full set of fruit, take off half to three-fourths or more. 
You will get just as many bushels, and there will be very few wormy or 
imperfect ones, because they can be removed at the time of thinning. It 
