River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-01-17
Manuring Orchards,

know no part of orchard manage
ment among farmers that is so injuri-
Gus to the orchards as the manner of
applying manure to the trees. In trav-
cling through the country one often
sees an orchard with large heaps of
manure close around the body OF the
trees instead of being spread evenly
over the whole ground. The injurious
effect of this practice has often been ex-
planned in agricultural papers, but still
the plan is so common, especially where
bearing orchards first begin to show the
effects of age, that fears may well be
entertained of the ruin of many fine
orchards. Unfortunately, the life of
the farmer and that of the orchard of
his first 'planting is so nearly coexten-
sive that he seldom commits the error
of destroying more than one orchard
in a lifetime, and, of course, grows no
wiser by what he calls O curious mis-.
fortune to his orchard, and seeks t.
lay the blame on something that had
nothing to do with the failure. Plac-
ing the manure around the trees has
been aptly compared to placing feed
in the manger and then hitching the
horse with tail to tin other words.
placing the food where there is no
mouth to eat it.
Now the roots, or feeders, that collect
the trees food from the ground are not
at the trunk, but are out in a circle as
far as the ends of the limbs. Those
small roots or feeders may be compared
to an army of small worms moving out
ward from the trunk and penetrating
every inch of soil from the lowest roots
of the surface, and extracting every
particle of tree food from the ground
as they go. As long as these feeders
can extend outward few inches into
rich soil every year, the tree fourishes,
but when the supply of tree food be-
comes exhausted in any direction the
feeders upon that side of the tree be-
comes famished, and the roots DEEPEN
dent upon them Immediately begin to
decay.
We often see n tree thrifty on one
side and the trunk and limbs dead on
the other. The reason is plain that
the feeders on the decayed side have
met with some obstacle TO their further
progress in that direction, or that the
tree food has been exhausted within
their reach. In either case the result
would be the sale, the roots and feed
ers would beneglected and left to de-
cay, while the whole energy of the tree
would be thrown into the other side,
where food was yet abundant And
the danger in applying manure to al
orchard lies in overlooking this pecu-
liar principle in the economy of vege-
table life. Ii the manure is placed ont
side the circle of feeders they soon
reach it, and all is well, but if it is
placed inside and near the trunk,
q fatal revolution in the economy of
the roots begins. Instead of drawing
support from the feeders and roots out
side of the manure, are neglected and
LETT to decay, while the whole energy
of the tree is exerted to throw out q
new set OF feeders around the trunk to
live on the manure. And while the
outside roots that held the tree so firm
ly in the ground are rotting, the ma
nure gives TO the tree, through the new
set of feeders, a vigorous growth and
fruitage for two. and perhaps for three
years, and the farmer is satisfied that
manuring around the trunk of his trees
has been a success. But disappoint-
ment is sure 20 follow, for the large
roots have rotted off near the trunk
and the trees are blown down one after
another, taking with them only the
small tuft OF live roots around the
trunk that supported the tree from the
manure till the roots could hold it no
longer. -AmericaH Farm Journal.