louts 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
A STUDY OF A MULCHED ORCHARD. 
A Visit to the Ditchings Farm. 
Part VII. 
People seem to think I must be an 
expert on the system of mulching or¬ 
chards. Questions of all sorts are pour¬ 
ing in. I am not a “high authority,” but 
am trying to learn what is best, all things 
considered, for my own orchard. The 
following comments on questions rep¬ 
resent opinions merely, and I invite ac¬ 
tual experience from those who have 
had it. 
I notice Mr. McCown’s orchard, page 
983, is mulched with broom sedge, etc. 
Within a half-mile of an orchard owned 
by me is a cal (ail swamp, which evidently 
produces many tons of growth every sea¬ 
son, which goes lo waste. During the dry 
part of the season it could he cut and 
drawn. Of what value would it be? If 
any, wouldl it be better cut green or ripe? 
I imagine there would' be less weight when 
it is ripe. a. 
ilulberton, N. Y. 
So far as plant food goes such growth 
contains more nitrogen and potash than 
manure, but it is slow to decay. It 
would make a good orchard mulch. We 
have used a growth somewhat like it 
taken from a low place. It was tough 
and did not rot easily, but shaded the 
ground and kept it moist and cool. I 
think the time is soon coming when all 
such growth will be hauled out for 
mulching. Such stuff cuts best while 
still g"Co.. We would cock it like hay, 
and haul out when dry. 
I have about 150 Winesap trees 50 
years old. Most of them are a good size; 
have made plenty of wood: but have never 
borne anything like a full crop any year; 
150 barrels is the most I have ever gath¬ 
ered any one year. The trees are large 
enough to bear on an average five to seven 
barrels each. The land is a hillside, north¬ 
west exposure most of it, and was poor 
when the trees were planted. Since then 
it has been manured time and again, until 
it looks to be in good condition. I have 
mulched them with straw and leaves for the 
last, two years, put a good load to four 
Irees. Th'ey have a fine bloom each year, 
but set but few apples. They have been 
sprayed fairly well each year for a long 
time. I have kept about 15 hogs in the 
orchard each year, mow it once and some 
years twice, and leave all of the grass and 
weeds on the laud. Some years ago we had 
brown leaf-spot that injured the foliage 
badly, but the last few years the foliage 
has been fairly good. I want to sow 
some acid phosphate and' potash on the 
land around the trees. When ought it to 
he sown, and how many pounds to each 
tree? I shall mulch them again during 
the Winter with wheat straw. What shall 
I do to get these trees to bear a full crop? 
Burnleys, Va. w. a. m. 
When my trees act like that we con¬ 
clude that we have given them too much 
nitrogen and not enough phosphoric acid 
and potash. The manure and the heavy 
mulching and the hogs will all force the 
trees to make wood rather than fruit 
buds. I should give each tree at least 
six pounds of acid phosphate and two 
pounds muriate of potash. Scatter this 
around the tree—well out where the 
branches extend. You can put the chem¬ 
icals on at any time. We should do it 
about March 1, if the snow had gone 
and there is no surface wash on the 
field. The way you are pruning will 
have something to do with fruiting of 
those trees. As a rule the more you 
prune the more wood they will make. 
After reading the articles on “Study of 
a Mulched Orchard” I would like to ask ! 
if the same principle would be good for i 
peach trees. I am about to start a small 
peach orchard which I wish to make pay. 
A sod orchard would, of course, greatly 
lessen the expense, as I have to hire all 
work done, but 1 should not wish to econ¬ 
omize in that way unless it was pretty 
certain to he a success. M. G. d. 
From my own experience I have be¬ 
come convinced that this sod mulching 
method is better adapted to apples than 
to peaches. I have peach trees in sod 
which are quite satisfactory, while oth¬ 
ers on different soil do not grow so well. 
I think there is something about the 
nature of a peach tree which responds 
to thorpugh culture. While ,we grow 
fine and high-colored peaches in sod, and 
find them a sure crop, we-can get larger 
fruit and more of it by cultivating. 
How do you think this mulch system 
would work for orange culture in l’orto 
IUco and other warm climates? j. l. m. 
That is all out of my latitude. I do 
not know, but my guess is that in a 
warm moist climate mulching would be 
a mistake. In a warm climate decay 
would be more rapid than with us, and I 
should suppose that this large amount of 
organic matter would force too much 
growth on the trees. From what I have 
seen in Florida I should think clean cul¬ 
ture with mineral fertilizer like nitrate 
of soda and sulphate of ammonia would 
pay better. With such fertilizer you may 
know just what you are feeding the 
tree. 
I have been reading in The R. N.-Y. of 
late, and am interested in fruit growing. 
There is not much fruit grown in this sec¬ 
tion, but 11 years ago I bought a farm 
with a small orchard in a bad condition. 
I had it pruned, and every year 1 sow it 
to peas, and when the peas get ripe I let 
the hogs do the harvesting. We are now 
getting some good returns; this year we 
picked 400 bushels of fine fruit from 30 
trees, and no worms to bother, without 
spraying. A. D. 
Ilersey, Mich. 
I expect to hear more from the hog 
and sheep men about pastured orchards. 
This method is popular with some farm¬ 
ers. We have tried hogs for several 
years. They must be well fed with some 
grain, or they will tear the soil too much. 
H. W. C. 
Late Blooming Raspberries. 
O. Ji., Massachusetts .—Since the heavy 
rains here my raspberry bushes have blos¬ 
somed. Will it injure them for another 
year? 
Ans. —Heavy rains following drought 
will often cause raspberry bushes to 
blossom and produce fruit upon the tips 
of late started new canes. I do not 
think that a few such blossoms will 
materially injure the crop for another 
year. If, however, the drought has 
been especially severe and of long dura¬ 
tion, followed by conditions especially 
favorable to plant growth there might 
be a blossoming similar to that normally 
produced in the Spring which would 
much lessen the crop of fruit produced 
next season. v. b. 
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