Sq.Hex.Sq.Hex.12 × 1230234424 × 24758012 × 15242...24 × 3060..15 × 1519322430 × 30485615 × 18161...30 × 3640..15 × 20145...33 × 33404615 × 3096...30 × 4830..18 × 1813415630 × 6024..18 × 20121...36 × 36333920 × 2010812440 × 40273120 × 3072...40 × 5021..
It will be noted that the hexagonal plan allows the setting of from four to forty trees more per acre than the square plan, even when the trees are set the same distance apart. This is the great advantage of this plan over the square. Filling an orchard one way,i.e., between the permanent row, in one direction only, practically doubles the trees which can be set on an acre; filling both ways quadruples the number.
Preparation of Soil.—The previous condition and treatment of a soil for an orchard are important. If the soil has been in a good rotation of field crops, including some cultivated crops, it should be in prime condition for the trees. Old pastures and meadows should be plowed up, cropped, and cultivated for a year or two before setting to obtain the best and quickest results. If one is in a hurry, however, this may be done after setting the trees. Good results are sometimes obtained by setting trees right among the stumps on recently cleared timberland. Where no stiff sod has formed the trees start quickly in the rich soil.
The best immediate treatment of land preparatory to setting the trees should be such as to place the soil in good tilth. Deep plowing, thorough cultivation, and the application of liberal amounts of manure—twelve to fifteen loads per acre—are the most effective means of doing this. The best crop immediately to precede trees is clover. Sometimes an application of one thousand five hundred to two thousand pounds of lime will help to insure a stand of clover and at the same time improve the physical condition of the soil. Fall plowing is a good practice on the medium loams and moreopen soils, but on the heavy clays spring plowing is to be preferred, as when plowed in the fall these soils puddle and become hard to handle. Care should always be taken to keep the orchard well furrowed out as standing water is decidedly inimical to satisfactory tree-growth. Tile draining is frequently advisable.
Intercropping.—The question of intercropping a young orchard is one to be carefully considered. As it is often practiced it is very injurious to the orchard, but it is possible to manage crops so as to be of very little harm to the trees. While the practice may be inadvisable in many commercial orchards, yet on a general farm we should by all means think that it was the right thing to do. Certain facts must be remembered, however, which have a bearing on the subject.
Trees are a crop, as much as corn or grass. If we grow a crop between the tree rows we must remember that we are double cropping the land and that it must be fed and cared for accordingly. There is absolutely no use in setting an apple orchard, expecting it to take care of itself, "just growing," like Topsy, as numerous dilapidated and broken down orchards bear ample testimony. If orchards are to becropped this must be judiciously done with the trees primarily in mind.
The best crops to grow in a young apple orchard are those requiring cultivation, or which permit the cultivation of the land early in the season. Field beans, potatoes, and garden truck of all kinds, as small vegetables, melons, etc., are among the very best crops to grow in the young orchard. Corn will do if it does not shade the trees too much. Small grain and grass should not be used, especially where they come up close to the trees. These crops form too stiff a sod and use up too much moisture. A mulch of straw, cut grass, or coarse manure will help to correct this condition somewhat when these crops must be used. After cultivation until midsummer buckwheat makes a satisfactory orchard crop in some cases.
A regular rotation may be used in the young orchard to advantage when a space is left next the trees to receive cultivation. This space should be at least two feet on each side of the tree the first year and should be widened each year as the tree grows older and larger, to four, six, and eight feet. This method has been used by the author very successfully for a number ofyears. Some good rotations to use in a growing orchard are: (1) Wheat or rye one year, clover one year, beans or potatoes one year; (2) oats one year, clover one year, potatoes one year; (3) beans one year, rye plowed under in spring, followed by any cultivated crop one or two years. The essentials of a good rotation for an orchard are: A humus and fertility supplying crop, preferably clover, in the north, and cow peas in the south, and at least two crops in four requiring cultivation up to the middle of the summer.
Most of the points regarding the management of young trees have already been mentioned, but a few others should have attention directed to them. Fall planted trees should not be cut back until spring. In the spring all newly planted trees should have their tops cut back rather severely to correspond with the injury to the roots in transplanting, thus preserving the balance between root and top. This will usually be about half to two-thirds the previous season's growth. From three to five well distributed branches should be left with which to form the top. During the first few years of their lives the young apple trees will need little or no pruning, exceptto shape them and remove crossing or interfering branches.
Constant cultivation at frequent intervals until midsummer should be the rule with young growing trees, with which this is even more important than with older trees. It is a good plan to plow the orchard in fall where possible, always turning the furrows toward the trees, leaving the dead furrows as drainage ditches between the rows. At Beechwood Farm we have always banked the trees with earth in the fall, using a shovel. This not only firms the soil about the tree, holding it straight and strong through the winter, but it affords good protection against rodents, especially mice. Where rabbits are prevalent it is well to place a fine mesh wire netting around the trees in addition to this.
Pruning is not an entirely artificial operation as one might at first thought suppose. It is one of nature's most common processes. Nature accomplishes this result through the principle of competition, by starting many more trees on a given area than can possibly survive. In the same way there is a surplus of buds and branches on each individual tree. It is only by the crowding out and the perishing of many buds, branches, and trees that others are enabled to reach maturity and fulfill their purpose. This being too slow and too expensive a process for him, man accomplishes in a day with the knife and saw what nature is years in doing by crowding, shading, and competition. Proper pruning is really an improvement on nature's method.
Neither is it true, as some claim, that pruning is a devitalizing process. On the contrary it is often stimulating and may actually increasethe vigor of a weak or declining tree. All practical experience teaches us that pruning is a reasonable, necessary, and advantageous process. True, it is often overdone, and improperly done. As in many other things, certain fundamental principles underlie and should govern practice. When these are known and observed, pruning becomes a more simple matter.
Heavy pruning during the dormant or winter season stimulates the growth and tends to increase the production of wood. In the same way pruning during the summer or growing season stimulates the growth and tends to induce fruitfulness, if the tree remains healthy. But this fruitfulness is apt to be at the expense of the vigor of the tree. On the other hand, the pruning of the roots of a tree tends to check the growth of wood, the same as poor feeding. As above noted heading back a tree when dormant tends to stimulate it to a more vigorous growth.
The habit of growth of a variety has much to do with its pruning. Some varieties of apples are upright, others are spreading growers. Climate and locality greatly affect these habits of growth. So also the habit of a young treeoften differs from the habit of the same tree in old age. The tendency is for a tree to continue its growth from its uppermost or terminal buds. Although the heading in of new growth checks this upward tendency and throws the energy of the tree into the development of lateral and dormant buds, nevertheless the pruned tree soon resumes its natural upward growing habit.
Plant food is taken up by the minute tree rootlets in solution and carried to the leaves where it is elaborated and then returned for use to the growing tissues of the tree. Whenever there is any obstruction above a bud the tendency is to throw the energy of the branch into a lateral bud, but if the obstruction is below the bud the branch merely thickens and growth is checked. When too heavy pruning is practiced the balance between the roots and top is disturbed. This usually results in what are commonly known as "suckers." These are caused by an abnormal condition and while they may be the result of disease or injury to the tree, they are often of great value in restoring or readjusting the proper balance between the roots and top.
Pruning a tree is a way of thinning the fruitand a good one. It may sometimes be used to influence the bearing year of trees like the Baldwin, which have an alternate bearing habit, but this is a more theoretical than practical method. Fruit bearing is determined more by the habitual performance of the tree than by any method of pruning, and this is especially true of old trees. It is easier to influence young trees. Conditions which tend to produce heavy wood growth are unfavorable for the formation and development of fruit buds. A quiescent state is a better condition for this.
Reasons for Pruning.—With these fundamental principles in mind we may safely outline a method of pruning an apple tree. As the desired end is different so will the method of pruning a young tree differ from that of an old one. There are five important things for which to prune a young tree, namely:
1. To preserve a proper balance between the top and root at the time of setting out. This usually means cutting off the broken and the very long roots to a reasonable length and cutting back from one-half to two-thirds of the growth of the previous season.
2. To make the top open in order to admit the sunlight freely. In the humid climate of theNortheastern States, it is usually advisable to prune a tree so as to have a rather open top. This is necessary in order properly to color and mature the fruit.
3. To regulate the number of limbs composing the top. Probably three branches well distributed on the trunk would make most nearly the ideal head, but as these cannot always be obtained the best practice is to leave from three to five branches from which to form the top.
4. To fix the branches at the proper height from the ground. This is more or less a matter of opinion, some growers preferring a low and others a high head. The character of the tree growth, the method of culture, and the purpose of the tree whether temporary or permanent greatly influence the height of the head. An upright growing variety should be headed lower than a spreading one. Trees kept in sod or under extensive methods can well be headed lower than those under more intensive culture where it is desirable to carry on cultural operations close around them. Permanent trees should be headed higher than temporary trees. Apple trees should seldom be headed lower than a foot from the ground, nor more than four feet above it. For upright growingvarieties intended as permanents, the writer prefers three to three and one-half feet and for more spreading varieties four feet; while for temporary trees eighteen inches should be a good height.
5. To do away with weak crotches and to remove crossing or interfering branches. A crotch formed by two branches of equal size, especially when the split is deep, is a weak crotch and should be avoided. Strong crotches are formed by forcing the development of lateral buds and making almost a right angle branch from the parent one. All branches which rub each other, which tend to occupy the same space with another, or which generally seem out of place, are better removed as soon as any of these tendencies are found to exist.
Ideals in Pruning.—The general method of pruning the old trees and the ideal in mind for it will also influence the pruning of the young tree, especially the shaping of it. Once determined upon, the ideal should be consistently followed out in the pruning of the tree as it becomes older. As the tree comes to bearing age it will be necessary to prune somewhatdifferently and for other purposes. These we can conveniently consider under six heads:
1. Every tree should be pruned with a definite ideal as to size, shape, and degree of openness in mind. To have such an ideal is very important. It is only by industriously and consistently carrying it out that the ideal tree in these respects can be ever obtained. Haphazard cutting and sawing without a definite purpose in mind are really worse than no pruning at all.
2. It almost goes without saying that to remove all dead, diseased, or injured wood is a prime purpose of pruning. Dead and injured branches open the way for rot and decay of contiguous branches, and disease spreads through the tree. The removal of all such branches is as essential to the health of the tree as it is to its good appearance. In removing them the cut should be made well behind the diseased or injured part to insure the checking of rot and disease.
3. All mature apple trees should be so pruned as to keep them in the most easily manageable shape and to facilitate in every possible way the operations of tillage, spraying,and harvesting. It is most important to have the tree low enough down so that spraying and picking can be easily done. It is difficult to spray properly a tree which is more than twenty-five feet in height. Even this height necessitates a tower on the spray rig and the use of an extension pole. An apple tree should be so pruned that all the fruit can be readily picked from ladders not longer than eighteen to twenty-two feet.
Of course, if the tree has been allowed to get higher than this under previous management, sometimes we have to make the best of a bad situation. If the trees are too high head them back by cutting off the leaders, but it is not always wise to lower all trees to twenty-two feet. Heading back of old trees will be more fully discussed in the chapter on "Renovating Old Orchards." Ladders longer than twenty-two feet are heavy and clumsy to handle.
If cultivation is to be carried on close up under the tree the lower limbs must be pruned so as to allow this. It is not necessary, however, to drive a team closer than twelve or fifteen feet from a mature tree, contrary to the common belief and practice. Cultivation isleast important in the first few feet of space around a mature tree. By the use of set-over tools, all that is necessary can be well cultivated without crowding the team under or against the branches.
4. As has been pointed out in the discussion of the pruning of young trees, in humid regions where the sunlight is none too abundant through the growing season, the open head is most desirable. Sunlight on the leaves as well as on the fruit is essential to good color of the fruit, and good color is a very important factor in the flavor and attractive appearance of the fruit. An open center with upright growing leaders removed gives the greatest opportunity for sunlight to penetrate through the tree.
5. As we have seen, pruning in the dormant season tends to increase the vigor of the tree. Thus winter pruning serves to secure a normal and vigorous wood growth, which is most essential to a healthy fruit-bearing tree. On the other hand, such pruning may be excessive and produce wood growth at the expense of fruit buds, throwing the tree out of bearing.
6. The sixth and last reason for pruning is to regulate the number and distribution of thewood and the fruit bearing buds. The proper balance between these is greatly affected by pruning and can be best regulated by experience with the particular tree or variety. A perfect balance is hard to get, but with study and skill it can be closely approximated. Pruning, too, may thin the fruit, as removing branches removes fruit buds. This is best done by removing small branches near the ends of larger ones. It is a much cheaper method of thinning than picking off individual fruits, but not as effective.
Time of Pruning.—The particular time of the year for pruning is not vital. As between summer and winter pruning, winter is to be preferred because of the physical effect on the tree. Summer pruning is an unnatural process and should only be practiced as a last resort to check growth or induce fruitfulness, as it may result in injury to the tree. It is essential that a tree mature its foliage, which it frequently does not do after summer pruning. Diseased, dead, or injured wood should be removed when first observed, summer or winter.
Spring is the logical and usually the most convenient time to prune on the general farm. While dormant season pruning may be doneat any time between November 1st and June 1st, the cuts heal more rapidly in the spring when the sap begins to flow. In regions subject to severe and drying winds in the winter, pruning should be deferred at least to late winter. Considered from every standpoint, March and April are quite the best months in which to prune. After the removal of useless branches, the normal amount of food material is delivered to fewer buds under greater sap pressure and the remaining buds are made more strong and vigorous.
In removing small branches with a knife or other cutting tool, the cut should be made upward from below and opposite a bud. On upright growing varieties the last bud left should be an outside one to induce the tree to spread as much as possible, while on spreading trees leaving as the last bud an inside one has a tendency to make the tree grow more upright. Always cut close to the parent branch, never leaving a stub no matter how young or old the tree.
Cuts of lateral branches should be made just at the shoulder of the branch where it joins the parent. A cut behind the shoulder will not heal, neither will one too far ahead of it. Astub left on a trunk or large branch does not heal, but soon begins to rot at the end where the heartwood is exposed. This gradually works back into the main branch and the tree finally becomes "rotten at the heart." All that is needed to complete the destruction is a heavy wind, an ice or a snow storm, or a heavy load of fruit.
All wounds more than two inches in diameter should be painted either with a heavy lead paint, which is preferable, or with some gas tar preparation. These things do not in themselves heal a cut, but they keep out the decaying elements, air and moisture, thus helping to preserve the branch and by protecting it to promote healing in nature's way. A little lamp black will serve to deaden the color of the paint.
Pruning Tools.—The best tool to use in pruning is one which brings you nearest to your work and over which you have the greatest control to make all kinds of cuts. In the writer's experience no tool does this so smoothly and conveniently as a properly shaped saw. A good saw should be quite rigid, rather heavy at the butt, where its depth should be about six inches, tapering down to about two inches at the point. It should have a full, firm grip, benot more than thirty inches long, and should always be kept sharp. Two-edged saws should not be used because of the injury done to the tree when sawing in crotches.
Cutting shears are often very useful, especially the smaller, one-handed type which is almost indispensable in pruning young trees. The larger, two-handled shears are useful in thinning out the ends of branches or in heading back new growth. They should not be too heavy, as they are tiresome to use. The extension handled types are too cumbersome, too slow to work with, and the operator is of necessity too far away from his work for the best results.
Fruit Thinning.—A matter which is quite nearly related to pruning is thinning the fruit, and may properly be treated here. That this is not as common a practice with most fruit-growers as it should be, the great lack of uniformity in our ordinary market apples is ample evidence. Many persons will at once raise the question as to whether or not it is practicable to thin the fruit on large apple trees. The answer is that many growers find it not only practicable, but most profitable to do so. Wherever fruit of a uniform size and coloris desired, thinning is a practical necessity, especially when the crop of fruit is heavy.
The proper time to thin the fruit is just after what is commonly known as the "June drop,"i.e., the falling off of those fruits not well enough pollinated or set to hold on to maturity. In thinning the fruit should be taken off until they are not closer than from four to six inches apart on the same branch, although the distance apart on any branch will depend somewhat on the amount of the crop on other parts of the tree. Never leave clusters of fruit on any branches, as some of them are sure to be small and out of shape. Furthermore two apples lying together afford a fine place for worms to get from one apple to another and they seldom fail to improve the opportunity. Step ladders and ordinary rung ladders are used to get at the fruit for thinning. The cost of the operation is not nearly as large as might appear at first thought and in practically all cases is a paying investment.
In its broad sense cultivation is the treatment of the soil. Thus understood orchard cultivation includes the sod mulch system as well as the stirring of the soil with various implements. In its more common and restricted meaning, however, cultivation is the stirring of the soil about plants to encourage growth and productivity. To have the apple tree in sod was once the commonly accepted method of orchard treatment—a method of neglect and of "letting well enough alone." With the advent of more scientific apple culture the stirring of the soil has come to be the more popular method. But within the last few years an improved modification of the old sod method, known as the sod "mulch" system, has attracted much attention because of the success with which a few men have practiced it. For a correct understanding of these practices andof the relative desirability of these systems we must again turn to underlying principles and purposes.
It may be said on first thought that tillage is a practice contrary to nature. But it accomplishes what nature does in another way. Tillage has been practiced on other crops than trees for so long that we think of it almost as a custom. There are, however, scientific and practical reasons for tillage.
The Effects of Tillageon the soil are three fold, physical, chemical, and increasing of water holding capacity. Tillage affects the soil physically by fining and deepening it, thus increasing the feeding area of roots, and by bringing about the more free admission of air warms and dries the soil, thus reducing extremes of temperature and moisture. Chemical activities are augmented by tillage in setting free plant food, promoting nutrification, hastening the decomposition of organic matter, and the extending of these agencies to greater depth. Tillage conserves moisture by increasing the water holding capacity of the soil and by checking evaporation.
Of all these things which tillage accomplishes in a soil, two should be especially emphasizedfor the apple orchard, namely, soil moisture and soil texture. That moisture is a very important consideration in the apple orchard the effects of our frequent droughts are ample evidence. The amount of rainfall in the Eastern States when it is properly distributed is fully sufficient for the needs of an apple tree. By enlarging the reservoir or water holding capacity of the soil and by preventing the loss of water by evaporation, an excess of rainfall in the spring may be held for later distribution and use.
As a rule, the improvement of a poor soil texture is as effective as the supplying of plant food and much cheaper. The latter is of no consequence unless the plant can use it. Scientists tell us that there is an abundance of plant food in most soils. The problem is to make it available. Plant food must be in solution and in the form of a film moisture surrounding the smallest soil particles in order to be available to the fine plant rootlets which seek it. Good tillage supplies these conditions. Can they be obtained equally well in another way?
It is claimed by the advocates of the sod mulch system of orchard culture that it also supplies these conditions. Humus or decayed vegetable matter holds moisture. Grass orother mulch decaying in the soil increases its humus content and hence its water holding capacity. By forming a mulch over the soil evaporation may be checked to some extent, although probably not as effectively in a practical way, as by cultivation. If there is a good grass sod in the orchard, moisture and plant food made available by that moisture are utilized, and if the grass is allowed to go back into the soil it continues to furnish these elements to the tree. But there is a rapid evaporation of moisture from the surface of the leaves of grass. In fact, grass may well serve to remove an excess of moisture in wet seasons, or from wet lands.
Laying aside theoretical considerations, let us see what practical experience teaches on this subject. We have the accurate data on a large number of western New York orchards showing the results of cultivation and other methods of soil management. These data are overwhelmingly in the favor of cultivation. In Wayne County the average yield of orchards tilled for five years or more was 271 bushels per acre, as compared with 200 bushels per acre for those in sod five years or more but otherwise well cared for,—an increase of thirty-five percent. in favor of good tillage. In Orleans County, under the same conditions, the increase in yield due to cultivation was forty-five per cent. and in Niagara County it was twenty-two per cent. Records were made on hundreds of orchards and the results should be given great weight in determining the system to be practiced, as intelligent consideration of trustworthy records is to be encouraged.
These results were obtained in one region under its conditions and it is quite possible, although not probable, that other conditions might give different results. There are, however, special conditions as will be pointed out later, under which the sod mulch method might be more advisable than tillage. It is cheaper, makes a cleaner cover for the drop fruit, avoids the damage from tillage implements to which tilled trees are liable, and can be practiced on lands too steep to till. It often happens, too, that it fits into the scheme of management on a general farm better than the more intensive and specialized system of cultivation. And it must be remembered that we are dealing with this question from the point of view of the home farm rather than of the commercial orchardist. So that where the sod mulch gives equally goodresults it would be preferred under these conditions.
Late Fall and Early Spring Plowing.—The common tillage practice in the sections where it is most followed is to plow either in late fall or as early as possible in the spring. Whether fall or spring plowing is best depends on two things: the character of the soil and convenience. On heavy clay soils where drainage is poor it is not advisable to plow in the fall as the soil is apt to puddle and then to bake when it dries, making it hard to handle. On gravel loams, medium loams, and all well drained soils which are fairly open in texture either fall or spring plowing is practiced depending on which period affords the most time.
On the general farm where there are several crops for which the land must be prepared in spring, it would seem best to get as much of the plowing as possible done in the fall. But a large crop of apples or a large and late corn husking or potato digging may interfere with this on some farms and make spring plowing more desirable. Always plan this work in connection with the other farm work so as to give the best distribution of labor.
After fall plowing either the spring-toothharrow or the disk harrow is best to use to work up the soil and no time should be lost in getting at this as soon as the land is dry enough in the spring. Sometimes the disk harrow can be used to work up the soil in the orchard in the spring without any plowing at all, especially on loose loams where there are few stones. But on newly plowed land a disk cuts too deep and there is too great danger of injuring the roots. On spring plowed land the spring-tooth harrow usually gives the best results. After the soil is thoroughly fined and worked into a mellow bed and as soon as the period of excessive moisture in spring is passed, a lighter implement like the smoothing harrow or a light shallow digging cultivator should be used to stir the surface of the soil only.
The growing period for an apple tree begins as early as growth starts in the spring and continues up to about midsummer. If cultivation is to stimulate growth as much as possible, it should be done during this period. The first object of cultivation in the early spring is to loosen up, aerate, and dry out the soil, which is usually too wet at that time. As cultivation is continued the soil will become fined and firmed again by the time drier weathercomes on. A fairly deep digging and lump crushing tool is the best implement to use up to this time, and a disk or spring-tooth harrow meets these requirements.
After this period is passed and during drier weather, cultivation is carried on for a different purpose, namely, to conserve moisture by making a thin dust mulch of soil over the surface. This is best accomplished by shallow-going implements of which the spike-tooth harrow, the acme harrow, or a light wheel cultivator are best. As the season and the amount of rainfall vary, so must tillage operations be varied. In an early dry season begin with the lighter implements earlier. In a late wet season keep the digging tools at work later. As soon as the soil is in good physical condition the principal object of tillage is to modify moisture conditions.
As a matter of practice three to four harrowings at intervals of a week to ten days are necessary. Sometimes more, sometimes less are required, according to the character and condition of the soil and the season. The later moisture-conserving tillage should also be carried on every week or ten days, according to weather conditions. It is good practice to stirthe soil after every heavy or moderately heavy rain. Use the smoothing tools after light to medium rains and the heavier tools after packing or beating rains. In practice from five to eight or ten of these cultivations are necessary. The drier the season the more necessary does frequent cultivation become.
A Cover Cropis so closely associated with tillage that it is usually considered a part of the system. It should be sown in midsummer as soon as tillage ceases. This time will vary from July first to August fifteenth, depending on the locality, the rainfall, the crop of fruit on the trees, and on how favorable the conditions for securing a good stand of the cover crop are. The farther south the locality, or the earlier the fruit, the sooner the crop should be sown. Absence of sufficient rainfall necessitates a continuation of the cultivation, both because it is necessary to conserve all the moisture possible and because it is difficult to get a good stand of a cover crop—especially of one having small seeds—at a dry time in midsummer.
In a year when there is a full crop of fruit on the trees cultivation should be continued as late as possible as all the stimulus that can thus be secured will be necessary to help the fruitattain good size and maturity, and at the same time enable the tree properly to mature its fruit and leaf buds for the following year. On the other hand, in a year when there is not a full crop of fruit cultivation should be stopped early so as to avoid forcing a too rank growth of wood and foliage and continuing the growth of the next season's buds so late that they may not mature and therefore may be in danger of winter killing.
The different kinds of cover crops which may be used in the apple orchard will be considered in the next chapter as they are so closely associated with fertilization. Strictly speaking, however, a cover crop is used principally to secure its mulching and physical effects on the soil in the intervals between the seasons of tillage. In addition to its physical and feeding effects the cover crop serves to check the growth of trees in the latter part of the season by taking up the nitrates and a part of the moisture, thus helping to ripen the wood.
Sod Mulch.—The ordinary sod culture which is practiced in so many orchards should not be confused with the sod mulch system. The one is a system of neglect, the other of intention. In the sod mulch system the grasssod is stimulated and encouraged and when the grass dies or is cut, it is left on the ground to decay, forming a soil mulch meanwhile. The removal of grass from the orchard as hay is poor practice and should be discouraged. The grass mulch may well be supplemented by the addition of other grass, straw, leaves, coarse manure, or other similar materials. Sometimes this mulch is put on to the depth of six inches or even a foot around the tree. Thus practiced it is very effective in conserving moisture and in adding the humus which is so necessary to the soil.
Sod and tillage have somewhat different effects on the tree and on the fruit. Let us see what these effects are. It is common knowledge that fruit is more highly colored when grown in sod than when grown under a tillage system. This is probably largely due to the fact that tillage keeps the fruit growing so late that it does not mature so well or so early. Fruit is usually two or three weeks later in tilled than in sod orchards. It has been shown that fruit grown under tillage keeps from two to four weeks longer than that grown in sod. It is claimed also—but this is a disputed point—that tilled fruit has a better quality andflavor. Certain it is that fruit grown in sod is drier and less crisp and juicy.
The effect of tillage on the trees is more marked and better known. Tilled trees have a darker, richer green foliage, indicating a better and more vigorous health. The leaves are also larger and more numerous. They come out three or four days earlier in the spring and stay on the trees two weeks later in the fall than the leaves on trees kept in sod. Tilled trees make nearly twice the growth in a season that those in sod do, in fact there is danger of their making wood growth at the expense of fruit buds. Tillage also gives a deeper, better distributed root system.
Despite the advantages and the disadvantages of each system, there are times, places, and circumstances under which one is more advisable than the other. On lands rich in humus and in plant food and level so as to be easily tillable, cultivation is without doubt the best system. But it should be practiced in connection with cover crops, and the orchard should be given occasional periods of rest in sod—say one year in from three to five.
The sod mulch system of orchard culture is probably better adapted to rather wet goodgrass land and where mulching material is cheap and readily available. It is undoubtedly at its best on lands too steep or rough to till, or otherwise unsuitable to cultivation. Tillage is the more intensive method and where labor is scarce and high sod culture might be more advisable for this reason, other conditions being not too unfavorable.
In order to illustrate a method of management under the tillage system we may suggest the following as a good one for level to gently rolling land:
1912. Early plowing in spring, cultivation to July first to fifteenth. Then sow red clover as a cover crop.1913. Repeat previous year's treatment, varying the time of sowing cover crop according to conditions.1914. Let the clover grow, mowing and leaving on the ground as a mulch, June fifteenth to twentieth, and again in August.1915. Plow early in spring, cultivate to midsummer, and then sow rye or buckwheat as a cover crop July fifteenth to August fifteenth.1916. Repeat 1915 treatment and if trees are not growing too fast, sow clover or hairy vetch as a cover crop.1917. Same as 1912, etc.
1912. Early plowing in spring, cultivation to July first to fifteenth. Then sow red clover as a cover crop.
1913. Repeat previous year's treatment, varying the time of sowing cover crop according to conditions.
1914. Let the clover grow, mowing and leaving on the ground as a mulch, June fifteenth to twentieth, and again in August.
1915. Plow early in spring, cultivate to midsummer, and then sow rye or buckwheat as a cover crop July fifteenth to August fifteenth.
1916. Repeat 1915 treatment and if trees are not growing too fast, sow clover or hairy vetch as a cover crop.
1917. Same as 1912, etc.
Pasturing the Orchard.—The sod mulch system explains itself and does not need illustration. Sod orchards are often managed as pasture for animals, however, and this practice should be discussed. An orchard is considered as pastured when a considerable number of animals are turned into it for a greater or less portion of the year. Results in orchards where pasturage has been thoroughly tried out show that it is never advisable to pasture an orchard with horses or cattle, but that fairly good results may be expected where sheep or hogs are used.
The evidence of yield of fruit and appearance of trees both indicate, that pasturing an orchard with horses or cattle is about the worst possible practice. These animals rub against the trees, break the branches, browse the limbs and leaves, and destroy the fruit as high as they can reach. All experience is against this practice which cannot be too strongly deprecated.
Pasturing an orchard with sheep, although a somewhat doubtful practice, often gives good results. Sheep crop the grass close to the ground and to some extent prevent the extensive evaporation which usually takes place from the leaves of grass. Their well distributed manure is worth considerable. They also browse the branches to some extent and should not be allowed to run in the orchard late in the season as they will destroy considerable fruit.
Pasturing an orchard with swine gives better results than any other pasture treatment of the orchard. Hogs do considerable rooting which prevents the formation of a stiff sod and itself may often amount almost to cultivation in well stocked orchards. A good deal of manure is added to the soil, especially when the hogs are fed outside the orchard. Hogs also destroy many insects by eating the wormy fruit.
Pasturage of orchards has its advantages. It gives a double utilization of the land. It is a cheap method of management. When the animals are fed outside the orchard, as should always be the case, it adds considerable plant food to the soil. When plenty of outside food can be given and when the orchard is notoverstocked—the animals should never be hungry—hogs and sheep may be used to advantage in pasturing orchards. In very rough fields incapable of tillage, this is undoubtedly the very best system of orchard management.
Pasturage has the disadvantage of exposing young trees to injury from the animals, but this may be at least partly avoided by protecting them with stakes or a heavy wire meshed screen. Hogs especially soil the fruit and make the land rough and difficult to drive over. Under the proper conditions pasturage may be practiced to advantage, especially on small areas and on the general farm where it is more advantageous than it would be commercially.