CHAPTER IX.

CULTURE, ETC.

THOROUGH CULTURE SHOULD FOLLOW THOROUGH PREPARATION. HOED CROPS RECOMMENDED. NO WHITE STRAW CROPS, NOR GRASSES ALLOWED. HOW LONG SHALL WE CULTIVATE THE ORCHARD? LIMITS. THE SPADE AND FORK, AND MULCHING SUBSTITUTED. HORSE CULTIVATORS NECESSARY IN LARGE ORCHARDS. THESE SHOULD NOT BE DEEP TILLERS, BUT SHALLOW, TO AVOID DISTURBING THE ROOTS. SEEDING WITH CLOVER. MULCHING IMPRACTICABLE ON A LARGE SCALE. CLOVER MULCH. THE MELLOW EARTH AS A MULCH. PASTURING AN ORCHARD. OBJECTIONS. DAMAGE DONE BY HORSES AND MULES. BY CATTLE, BY GOATS. SHEEP. THEIR ADVANTAGES. SWINE AND POULTRY MAY BE ADMITTED. HOW THEY MAY BE USEFUL. DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS. POULTRY AND CURCULIO.

In a previous chapter, reference has been made to the necessity of thorough cultivation of the soil among young trees; but the importance of the proper attention to orchard culture is so great, that it deserves separate consideration. The thorough preparation of the soil before committing the roots of our trees to its embraces, which was fully impressed upon the orchardist, might have induced some to think that this was to be sufficient for them; but it ought rather to be inferred that any crop for which these preliminary labors were recommended, should receive continuous attentions of a similar character. It is with the desire that these views should obtain, and to indicate and specify, some of the most suitable modes of procedure, that the following remarks are presented in this place.

If the ground, which has been appropriated to the orchard, be also occupied as farming land, as is usually done for a few years after planting, while the trees are small, it should be exclusively devoted to hoed crops; by which is meant those that require constant cultivation and stirring of the soil. Indian corn is a favorite on account of the thorough culture which is bestowed upon it, but there are some objectors to its use; by such it is considered too rank a grower; it is thought to absorb too much of the moisture of the soil, and too greatly to over-shadow the young trees if they be so small as has been recommended under the head of _Selection and Planting_. To this objection, however, it is urged by others that the partial shade during the latter part of summer is a benefit rather than an injury. If the stalks be left standing upon the ground during the winter, they modify the force of the winds, and may even be of benefit, by the protection they furnish to the stems of the young trees; and when they fall to the ground, with their abundant foliage, these materials constitute a winter mulching of considerable value. Even if the fodder has been cut up, as is usually done by prudent farmers, the shocks scattered through the fields must exercise a considerable protecting influence.

Melons, cucumbers, cabbages, potatoes, turnips, and other root crops, which require frequent cultivation, are preferred by some orchardists, because of their being lower, and thus they will shade only the surface of the ground, without affecting the trees themselves. Let it ever be remembered, particularly in respect to soils that are of poor or of moderate fertility, that all these crops will remove their full share of plant-food from the land that we have already appropriated to another object, and that the main crop which we desire to draw its sustenance from the earth for a long series of years may thus be robbed of its proper nourishment. Under such circumstances we must meet the emergency by applications of fertilizing materials. I am aware that it may be urged by the theorists of agriculture, that these crops call upon the soil for different elements, and that, according to the customary views of the objects attained by a rotation, they may even be of advantage to those which are to follow. Others will make the practical observation that the fertilizing materials of common use in modern agriculture, may so readily be applied to compensate for these abstractions from the soil, that this is a matter of little moment, and not worthy of serious consideration. But it should be observed that, while men will often be induced to apply fertilizers to the temporary crop, counting upon an immediate return for their outlay, they seldom feel willing to make any return to the soil in compensation for what they have already removed from it, and rather wait until the necessity for such enrichment becomes painfully apparent in the diminished productiveness of their fields.

Hoed crops, such as those above mentioned, should alone be allowed to occupy the space between the young trees, and on no account should any white straw crops, or grasses be introduced, at least for several years, nor until the orchard shall have become well established. In many species of fruits, it is undoubtedly better to keep up the surface cultivation continuously, at least wherever the characters of the site and soil will permit it; but there are many situations where the abruptness of the declivities appropriated to fruit-growing, and often admirably adapted to such purpose, absolutely forbid continued cultivation. In such places it will be necessary soon to withdraw the plow, and to depend upon loosening the soil about the trees with the spade or fork, and upon the mellowing and meliorating effects of mulching. The expense of all the operations that are performed by human labor renders them inapplicable, except in small orchards and gardens; and in all large plantations we must depend upon the common earth-workers that are drawn by horses. Among these, a preference should be given to such as stir and pulverize the soil near the surface only; shallow culture of the upper layers of earth effects the objects in view better than that which is deeper. The intruding weeds are subdued and a mellow condition of the earth is the result, while the roots are not torn and bruised, but are encouraged to turn their feeding fibres into the stratum of mellow soil above them. When the trees have become well established, or when the nature of the soil and the broken character of the surface of the orchard require it, we may seed down the ground with clover, which is preferred to any of the grasses: the broad foliage will shade the ground, and may remain on the surface as a mulch, or be moderately pastured by suitable stock.

Mulching the young orchard has some advantages over cultivation, but except in the proximity of the salt-marshes of the East, or near the great straw piles on the vast grain fields of the Western prairies, it is almost impossible to procure mulching materials for extensive orchards; so that, unless we consider the clover and other legumes as a living mulch, or grow such crops upon the land itself, to be used in this way, we shall be thrown back upon culture of the surface, which, in the mellow soil thus produced, furnishes a most admirable mulching, that fills all the indications, at least in the season when it is most needed. This is a matter of the greatest importance, especially during the first year after planting, when our trees so imperatively demand the protection of a mulch; and it is found that when the usual applications of straw or similar material cannot be obtained, or are unsuitable for the situation, especial attention to the condition of the upper layer of earth about the trees is of the greatest importance; this should be kept thoroughly loosened and finely disintegrated for the admission of air and moisture.

Mulching, even of an old and apparently exhausted orchard, has been found to exercise a most happy effect upon its health and productiveness. Such a one growing upon a tenacious clay, which had ceased to yield any crops for years, was restored to abundant fruitfulness by covering the ground with a couple of inches of spent bark from an adjoining tannery, and similar effects have been produced by the application of straw, and of the bagasse from sorghum, where those materials could be procured; but these were necessarily limited to a small number of trees, and they can never be adopted in the treatment of large orchards. Fortunately, for us, however, in some kinds the trees themselves provide us shade for the ground, when they are properly trained and closely planted, which will prevent the intrusion of weeds and grasses, and the falling leaves and spray will also yield a mulching of no mean value. Indeed, the trimmings from the orchard, as well as the decaying foliage that annually falls to the ground, belong to the soil, and might be left upon it with great advantage to keep up its fertility by their decay, and even to increase it, as they do in the natural forest, were it not for the slovenly appearance they produce.

Dr. Ward, of New Jersey, has practiced mulching rather extensively, and with excellent results. He uses salt hay from the marshes; after plowing the ground in the spring, he applies the mulching in a heavy layer, which keeps down the weeds, preserves the moisture of the soil, and exerts a very happy influence upon the trees.

From what has preceded, the reader may infer that the orchard is not to be used for a pasture field, and yet this is a very common appropriation of the inclosure that contains our fruit trees--at least after they have attained sufficient size to be considered out of the way of serious injury. Let it not be supposed that the indiscriminate pasturing of an orchard is advocated; on the contrary, it is wholly deprecated, except as will be indicated below. All stock will trample and harden the soil. Low-headed trees will be sadly injured by live stock of all kinds. Horses and mules will often ruin the trees by destroying the bark, and trimming off the twigs, as high as they can reach. Horned cattle will browse the spray, and where within reach they will also break and twist branches of considerable size. Though much smaller, goats are entirely inadmissable, since they not only trim off all the foliage within their reach, but they will also greedily devour the bark from the trees, and thus commit sad havoc among them. Sheep, on the contrary, may often be introduced into an orchard with advantage, as they will eat off a great many weeds, and thus clear the land of such intruders; but they will also spoil low-headed young trees by eating all the leaves within their reach, and they should never be allowed access to the orchard in winter, at least not while there are any trees remaining with smooth bark, as they will often attack such and strip off all that they can get at: sheep are often very desirable in cider orchards when used to crop off the herbage closely, just before the ripening and fall of the fruit.

The only domestic animals which should ever be allowed free range in the orchard, are swine, and the different sorts of poultry. All of these will prove really useful in the destruction of vast numbers of the insects that are particularly injurious to our cultivated fruits, and which are often enormously multiplied in our old orchards. Swine, it is true, will sometimes learn to climb small trees that have very low branches, which they break off in their attempts to help themselves to the fruit--this has been observed particularly in peach and cherry orchards. These animals are of use too as earth-workers, when they have not been mutilated, for with their peculiarly formed snouts they will turn over a large extent of the surface, while in pursuit of the larvæ and pupæ of many of the destructive insects, that in such stages of their existence occupy the soil beneath our fruit trees; in this manner, swine are valuable adjuvants to the practical entomologist. The hog is a most useful scavenger, and also a great economist in the orchard, for, being omnivorous, after feeding upon the luxuriant herbage of the red clover, he takes his dessert from the fallen fruit, which, being defective, would otherwise be wasted: but we must remember that most of these wind-falls are occupied by the larvæ of insects which are thus put out of the way of doing further harm, while contributing variety to the porcine diet. The additions of manure to the soil, which are distributed over the orchard by these animals, are also found to be of service. Trees, which are frequented by swine, are generally healthy, and the bitter-rot is reported to have disappeared from orchards that were badly affected with that malady before the swine were admitted.

The advantages resulting from keeping both swine and poultry, but particularly the latter, confined among plum trees, is a matter of general notoriety; nor need we inquire whether this depends upon the far-reaching instinct of the insect, which warns her against depositing her eggs where the progeny must surely be destroyed, or upon the actual destruction of the larvæ by these animals, to such an extent as to diminish the number of depredators the following season. We must not, however, depend upon these and other valuable aids, to the exclusion of personal efforts, if we desire to secure good crops of the delicious fruits that usually fall a prey to their attacks.

In conclusion, the orchardist cannot be too strongly impressed with the importance of cultivating his young trees in the most thorough manner; nor can he exercise too much care in avoiding injury to the stems and roots, in practising this constant culture of the soil. In collections of dwarf fruit trees, he will have less difficulty on this score, because he will be restricted to hand-labor; but the spade and fork will be found much more expensive in their use than the plow and cultivator.

PLOWING UP OLD ORCHARDS.--A question frequently arises as to the best course to be pursued with an old neglected orchard, which has become covered with a dense sod of grass, and this often of an inferior character, and full of disagreeable weeds. Orchards that have been widely planted, and which have gaps from the decay of trees, especially when these have been trimmed up with high stems and long naked branches, do not cast sufficient shade upon the ground to prevent the growth of grass and weeds. These intruders occupy the surface soil to the disadvantage of the roots of the fruit trees, and we may wonderfully improve the health of such orchard by plowing the ground, and at the same time severely pruning the branches and cleansing the bark of these old trees. These good results may be continued by shallow culture of the soil, with suitable applications of manure where needed. By giving a dose of lime, or of marl, and ashes, we shall infuse a new life and growth and productiveness that will astonish and delight us, and reward us for our labors and outlay.

It may be urged as an objection to breaking up the sod, that the most careful plowman will unavoidably damage some of the roots that approach the surface, but this is an injury that must be submitted to; and after all it is not such a serious affair, and is overbalanced by the advantages of renewing the productiveness of the exhausted orchard.