FIRST STEPS IN FRUITGROWING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 459, 18 March 1909, Page 2

FIRST STEPS IN FRUITGROWING.

CROPS BETWEEN THE ROWS. WHAT MAY !JU TOLHKATKD ? , VIII. M,ny wo grow crops between I lie rows of trees in an orchard? 'l'his is a question that is often asked, anil the answer is pflen wrongly interpreted. There is no reason at all why crops may not bo grown between the rows of trees in a young orchard planted on expensive land. It depends entirely on what crops are selected, and how they avo grown. Where one has paid .EIIJO per acre, far the land on which the orchard is placed, one will need to work that land to its utmost capacity. Such land is almost certainly neat' a town, and a market for supplies of garden crops is, therefore, at one's command. The sale of these may pay the rent or interest on the land and capital, and give a sufficient balance to pay the orchardist for his labour while lie is waiting for the trees to mature. What crops may be tolerated? Summer Crops or Winter? Let this question be always answered with full regard to the welfare, of the trees. If winter crops alpiie were sufficient, one would say "grow crops in the winter, and not in the summer." Crops, of course, lako sustenance out of the soil. Chiefly this is water. In the summer the young trees usually need all the moisture that the land can furnish, and it is for this reason that we barrow tho ground at such pains all the season through. Cr.ops not only obstruct the harrowing, but they take out large supplies of tho available moisture. Tho Objection to Grass. Summer crops of grass for grazing or for lifiy or fpi 1 silage are .anipng tlio worst crops that could be selected. Tliey extract moisture in a tremendous volume, and entirely prevent cultivation. Kyon maize would be better, hecauso often that crop is grown in rows and cultivated, and the trees derive benefit from that. But maize is too tall, and shades the trees. Among the crops that are least injurious to fruit trees in summer may be cited these, gfown in rows and cultivated:— Peas. Tumatoes. Dwarfbeans. Passion fruit. Broadbeans. Harrows, etc. \ Any vegetables. Melons. Gooseberries. Nursery trees. Currants. ' $°, v ? r ' Strawberries. • » etches. Raspberries. Luccrno. Tillage That Tells. The question is not so much 1 may lw grown? as "how may wo grow it?" l/von green oats,, to bej cut and fed to dairy cows, might bo grown in narrow strips down the middle of the rows,'.so that cultivation on each sido of them might be provided for the trees. The orchardist must bear always in mind that the more he crops lii's land the more persistently must lie keep the harrows at work to conserve moisture. The clover, _ vetches, lucerne, etc., must be in narrow strips only. The crops must never shade (lie stems of the trees. Tlio most difficult place to make fruiting wood on orchard trees is low down on the main branches, and shade increases this difficulty. But in any case summer crops must always involve greater activity and anxiety thau (..ops grown in tho wiuter. , A Robbing Crop.

In rare instances, such, for example, as a young English plum orchard where tho growth of branch is too luxuriant, the growth of a robbing crop, such as grass or clover, that is constantly mown short, is beneficial even close up to the trees. It has a sobering effect. Usually, however, all the young growth the trees make is welcome. Loss of Fertility' is Immaterial. Tho oxtractio.i of fertilising materialnitrogen, phosphqrus, potash, limo,cto: —need scarcely he considered as a determining factor. The nitrogen extracted can all bo replaced (fro|n tho'"rirmbsphetM TiVany'HnieS'tiver' ili tlj'e rpotg of tho pea and clover and vetch and lucerne plants. ■-,The phosphorus can be replacpd cheaply in guano or.bonedust or other form of fertiliser, and tho potash extracted will usually not be missed from most New Zealand soilS It . can,i if'desired, bo cheaply replaced. 'Die fact that i needs to-bo impressed- upon the minds o£ farmers more than is usually done by tho various specialists is this, that it is usually not lack of soil foods that limits the thriftiness of plants, hut lack or discontinuity of moisture supply. Trees grow freely oh the poorest soils if tho moisture supply is steady. It is this consideration that must weigh most heavily with the orchardist who wants to growother crops among his fruit trees. ' Winter Cropping Docs Good. But when autumn comes, and the rainy season is expected, and the leaves are falling, (ho position is quite different. Heavy cropping' may be ventured upon.' There is usually too much winter moisture in New Zealand soils, and crops grown for fodder or silage or for sala as vegetables may be encouraged without uneasiness. Theso crops, tako up the surplus moisture, and leave tho soil in a drier, better, and warmer state when springtime and tlie ploughing season come round. •Crops, especially doep-rootors, like clover, or lucerne, or peas, or vetches, perform very thorough cultivation by their rooting. And the leguminous plants fill tho subsoil with precious nitrogen. Cows and Chickcns Forbidden. But no orchardist whosp aim is to build up 'an orchard of good quality should ever think of admitting an animal in to graze. It is not 'so much in the breaking of branches that animals do their mischief, but more extensively in i tho rubbing oft. oi' tho buds on tho branches. They quito spoil the orchardists efforts to train yliis' trees to ideal shape and to fruit. Should fowls be admitted? ; The best advice on this point is "No." Fowls cprtainly catch insects and grubs, and eat weeds ami seeds, apd manure tho soil in a very beneficial manlier. But when a hen climbs a branch and rubs olf tile fruit buds and spurs by her feet, she does damage that none of her pood works can ever counter-balance. She spoils the treo, and picks the owner's pocket, for shp reduces the crop. The only conditions under which fowls should be admitted to a valuable orchard aro that they bo herded, ,liko sheep, by some one who can be absolutely trusted not to ccasp watching them for a moment. But it is doubtful if they aro worth tho wages of a "shcp r herd."

Young chickens may be pivoii full range in their ioarly stages. Ducks are safe from freeclimbing, but they are believed to carry the aphis post from tree to tree on their bills, particularly tho aphis that atlacks peach and plum trees. Poultry-Pens in tho Orchard. To convert tho spaces between tho rows of trees into properly netted poultry-runs is a more workable proposition. On expensive soil tho combination of two intensive crops like fruit and eggs suggests itself as worthy of consideration. By properly netting either (be trees or the runs the danger of injury to tlio trees would bo prevented, and the trees would get. the benefit of the manuring and grubcatching. 'i'lio question of summer cultiva: tion would involve a little trouble, but the summer tillage must not be abandoned. By removing tho end fences (he cultivator could be run right down the row, ami the soil properly (opened. The New, Idea in. Poultry-Farming. Under such a system the poultry could not have green runs through the sunimer. But green runs are not now regarded as indispensable for poultry. The new idea on (ho suuject is that tlie green of a run soon becomes so soiled that the fowls refuse to eat it, and 'they really depend on fresh green food fed to t'fteni. They are quite as happy end healthy and active on a harrowed run, as 011 a rui; covered by grass. .And they lay just as often. Plenty of green food 'could be obtained from tlio crops mentioned above, and no doubt (lie fowls and the fruit trees could, under this scheme, dwell together in perfect.'amity. Tho fruit trees would give the fowls a great amount of fun im tho windfall days. Profits From Special Crops. The earnings of crops of vegetables, small fruits, and eggs are often estimated at handsome amounts. An acre of orchard filled with poultry pens ought to yield a clear profit (over food cost) of not less than .£IOO per. annum. ■Similar earnings are attributed' to (lie small fruits mentioned, and also to vegetables. In nil of these crops, however, special skill and experience are nccossnry, and a beginner could certainly not. safely count on suddenly jumping into earnings of such big dimensions. Hut as adjuncts to employ what might otherwise lie idle time they present themselves for reasonable consideration. (To bo continued,)