A. Canadian on Fruit-growing.

Otago Witness, Issue 2302, 14 April 1898, Page 8

A. Canadian on Fruit-growing.

There is perhaps no part of tbe farm that is to much neglected or so generally i'l-tteated as the orchard. It is the eo-?itnon practice to let -the orchard take care of iNelf, while if ib received - the same care and abter.tion as obher branches of the farming indaetry it would return more profit acre for acre than any other part of the farm.

The soil is often l^bbod of the necessary plant food, and the young trees stunted, by trying to grow cereel crops and orchard trees on the name ground and at the same time. A young orchard should never be sown wibh grain or grass, excepb ib be wibh clover for the purpose of ploughing down for fertilising purposes. Any kind of a Jioe crop may be grown wibh benefit, and in this ■say the land will return a good profit while the vcung trees are growing, providing fertility is kept up. As the trees grow larger cultivation ittould be shallow and should be at a regular depth. It is a mistake to plough or cultivate 3eep at one time and shallow ab another. As the r'-ots of the trees fpread oufc the small fibres will be found just below the line of cultivation. These are the feeders cf the tree, and if cuhit/ation is shallow for a time and then followed by a deep ploughing a great number of these little feeders are destroyed. As to the question, Should an orchard ever be seeded down to grass ? I would say that better results will be attained if the soil is always kept in cultivation, and no hay or graßS should be taken from the land. If, when an orchard has attained bearing age, it is seeded to grass for a Few years, no serious results t»a.y be noticed, and the trees may bear fairly well, provided the soil is fertile. Bub ib would give better results if -iltrays cultivated. And a bearing orchard if seeded down to grass should be pastured with cheep or hogs, the latter preferred, »s thpy root over bhe soil and pick up wormy apples, and ,-thus greatly aid in keeping the tjodlin moth in check.

■ When an orchard ha 3 been in grsss fora few years a decrease in the vigour of the trees will be noticed ; the foliage will become of >a pale colour, and the fruit will begin to fail in quality and quantity. Thab is where crops of grain and bay have been taken cff. Three or four years •would be long enough t-j allow an o:cl;ard to

remain in sod. It should then be ploughed and cultivated as fchr.Uow as possible, as the small fibres will be found in g-rea*; abundance near the surface. Triey are reeking for find and moisture, aud should not be ir.lcrl't'ced with more thau ia necessary.

The fertility of an orchard msvy tia kfpb tip very well witiiout the ortiUi^iy siat-3a or b?.rnyard manure by ploughing ia clover to sup;>ly the nitrogen, which is bhe principal dement in our stable manure, and apiilvias* hardwo.id ashes — about 40 bushels per acre— to supply th--potash and phosphoric scid.' Wirre the ordinary manure is nob available iah c-iurse should be followed, and will be >'c>-.*n-i v answer the purpose all right. ...

So much man ur« is ccquiied fcr oilier purposes

I {■boub the farm thab the orchard se!a*im gets l v any. uule^ it happens to be plaafed to roots or V soid'e'kijld of hoe crop. ; Now if a -heavy crop of clover is ploughed m ; ahd a drctsing ot 40 fcusheis of good askes per ; acre appJ'fd oucn in twi years, that would hi j better ths-. ; jiioi 1 " orcLarda receive a* io fertiiiry. ! Awd if no grain or hay crops were taken off. an \ orchaid o<' bearing age wruld : :fposid f Airly

5 well to this coui-sa of treat mant. The clover | furnished an iuajpertaut «lemeat tv- ib* soil be- [ bidts ibe nitrcgen, and that, is Luraus, or, in ! oihei- words, vegetable mould, withoub which no \ coil can be in proper mechanical condition for ( the carrying on of Nature's operabious in manu- | f&cturing r.iw material into available pla.r.t ) food. If Ashes cannob bo gob in sufficient ijuanl tity, then gome ether substibute should be u?ed, } such as muriate, of potash aud ground cone, or \ some' comixseieial fertiliser made up chiefly of ! potash and phosphoric acid, *