Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-03-09
Management Of Orchards.
BY JUDGE FRENCH.

No man living, ! think, can show a good
orchard Of grated fruit which was kept in
grass the first ten years Of its life. Ii is a
point settled beyond controversy, that or
chards to be healthy and productive, must
be cultivated II ost Of the time. There is
such think as over cultivation. The mis-
take oftenest is made, think Of late years,
Is forcing young trees too much thereby
giving them too luxurious growth, and in
creasing their liability to injury by the
frosts. Land rich enough for crop of In
dian corn, Is IN good condition for the
heathiul growth Of apple tress. Even af
ter trees are grown to large size, manur-
ing 50 as to maintain a vigorous growth of
ten renders the tree unfrultful
The theory Is, that when dame nature,
along in Summer and early Autumn, is lay
lDg her plants for next years operations.
she forms buds without at first deciding
whether they shall be for leaves or fruit. and
that we, her servants, may help to deter
mine their character by urging or checking
the circulation Of the sap; a vigorous cir.
culatlon and full supply developing thebuds
into leaves and wood and diminished cir
culatlon developing fruit buds. A tree
which the plow has injured, or which has
been bent down by the winds, often is in full
bloom, while its thrifticr neighbors are ex-
pandlng their dimensions with no ATTEMPT
at truitlcssness. On the same principle.
if your beautiful orchard, at eight or ten
years OF age, grows rapidly but does not
bear by laying 1t TO grass year or two. a
check will be given to its growth and bios
som and fruit will appear in due season.
1t Is not uncommon to hear a man com
plain that certain tree is apparently dying
aud regrets it because it was always bore
full, not knowing that the partial loss of
vitality had turned all. its twgs to fruit
spurs.
know Of no substitutes for plowing or
chards, unless it be mulching. There i. a
practical difficulty that all experience in
raising apple orchards; undoubtedly. low
branched trees are most healthy, most pro
ductive, most convenient in all respects, ex
cept in cultivation. But low branchin.
trees will not admit horses to pass unde
them; and oxen, though not 50 high head
ed a. horses, have great many more horns
, which is very inconvenient in your orch
ards.
: After low headed trees have borne tv,
or three full crops, their branches Otter
touch the ground, giving great convcnienc,
in picking the fruit, but utterly preventing
the passage Of plow team, | know or
chards Of this character which have long
been kept very productive by mulching the
whole ground with hay or straw. They
were near the sea, and the mulch was the
coarse grass of the fate. Where any
mulch can be cheaply obtained, l think
trees may be planted about twenty-five feet
apart, allowed to form low heads, and SO
cover the ground. and the orchard kept free
from grass and weeds by thus covering the
surface. The crops derived from cultiva-
ton under the trees seldom pay the cost,
and in many localities mulching would be
cheaper than cultivation, and answer all the
purpose. We should then have our trees
in their beautiful natural proportions in
stead of ungainly long-leeged monsters.
marred and Scared. and exposed to the al
formations of heat and cold, and retarded
years in their productiveness. Probably it
might not be wise to continue the mulch
upon the ground through the whole season.
although | am not aware that injury is caus-
ed by so doing. The tendency of thus
covering the ground no doubt would be to
bring the roots toward the surface, but per
haps this would produce no injury. Wherc
mice or moleS abound, either the mulch ol
grass growing in the orchard would afforC
them winter quarters, and thus endange
the trecS.-t Ountry Gentleman.