TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION. 
17 
‘fields suffering from the lack of thorough culture. Did you ever see an 
■orchard or vineyard that had been over- worked or tilled too much? I can 
think of but very few. 
The question of the preparation of the soil for planting, it seems to me, is 
the first thing to be considered. I am speaking now more, particularly of the 
general commercial planter, who plants on quite an extensive scale. It is 
the private gardener who digs his soil deep, trenches it, and works it over 
and over, who can show us all the most magnificent specimens of fruit. In 
this respect the large commercial planter does not compete with the amateur, 
for the latter, who works his ground himself and works it over and over, is 
certain to show the finest results. So that, in our commercial planting, the 
first thing to be considered is the culture of the soil before planting. That, 
culture begins w T ith drainage. Not every bit of land needs draining, but a 
great deal more than we have commonly supposed needs thorough prepara- 
tion, by drainage, at the start; then deep, thorough ploughing, sub-soiling 
and a stirring of that soil by the implements of culture that are most suitable 
to the particular spot. Then follows the further preparation by the planting 
of green crops of some sort, to break up and loosen the soil and give to it a 
life that comes only from the ploughing under of certain green crops or their 
culture upon the soil as a preparatory step to orchard planting. With nearly 
all of our fruits, the best of culture must be given before the plants or trees 
are put into the ground. The men who get the best results out of the soil 
are those who give the most thorough preparation for the tree or plant 
before it enters the ground. It seems to me to be hardly possible to overdo 
this. 
The implements of culture have been wonderfully improved in the last few 
years, but no rule or law can be laid down as to what particular implements 
we should use. I would suggest that it is important to own and use all of the 
best that are made. Among these there are the modern steel plow, the sub- 
toiler, the gang plow, the cut-away' harrows, the smoothing harrows and the 
Acme. I don’t want to advertise any of these things but I would say that 
Philadelphia has made one thing about which our friend (Mr. Meehan) did 
not speak but which is one of the best things of its kind on earth, and that is 
the Plant Jr. Cultivator. The “Morgan hoe” and some one of the so called 
“Weeders” have their place. The grower of fine fruit should own and use 
all of these things. 
Now, I am thankful that the Creator of all good things and of good fruits 
has also created weeds, grass and other tormenting things to grow upon the 
soil, because if it were not for a blessing in disguise like weeds, two-thirds of 
all the fruit growers of the country would fail to cultivate their soil enough. 
They do not cultivate it one-half enough now; and if it were not for the bless- 
ing of weeds the soil would not be stirred nearly as much as it is. So that 
the man whose piece of land is the worst infested with weeds, grass and 
everything he does not want, is the man who will be most likely to give his 
land the best cultivation, because if he does not do that he must go under. It 
:is that which gives the stimulus to us all. Therefore don’t be afraid of 
weeds, but encourage their growth and then devise ways to quickly kill them. 
The advantage of cult we have been more forcibly impressed upon my< 
mind this season, than ever before. A large section of the Atlantic coast 
^country has been suffering from drought ever since the opening of Spring- 
work. Not since 1870 has there been such an extreme drought all through 
the eastern section of the country as has prevailed this year, taking the 
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