The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1883-11-09
Manuring Orchards.

The Ne,o England Farmer strong
ly urges the manuring of orchards be-
fore winter sets in. The following ar.
ticle from that paper is worthy of
special attention
"This has been barren year for the
most of the orchards in the country,
but the trees have made fruit buds for
next years bearing, which will bring
abundant crops next year should the
season prove favorable. Now an
over-abundaut crop is often of little
more value than a moderate crop in a
year of less general abundance. Farm
ers who treated their orchards pro-
perly have apples to use and to sell this
year when they bring good prices, but
they began the treatment at least a
year in advance, A great many apple
trees that stand in grass are looking
anything but Aourishing with close,
matted top and dead ormossy branches.
If the land under such tress could be
ploughed and the tops judiciously
thinned out, and plearty of manure
spread over the ground, the trees would
take new start, and possibly bear a
fair crop next year. If all this should
be done, most persons would give near
ly all the credit to the ploughing, be.
cause it is usually noticeable that trees
which are ploughed around look much
healthier and produce far better crops
of fruit than trees standing in grass.
1t must be remembered, however, that
ploughed ground usually receives all
the manure, while the grass land gives
up its annual crop without the appli-
cation of any manure whatever. Now,
if we would apply mannre as literally
to the trees that stand in the grass as
to those under which we try to grow
cultivated crops, we should find that we
could get equally fine fruit and in great
abundance.
"The time to prepare for crop of
apples next year, that will be worth
picking and carrying to market, is now,
before the ground freezes. Spread a
heavy dressing of good stable manure
under such trees as are worth saving,
and dig up the poor ones and cut them
into firewood for burning these cold
winter evenings, which are soon COM
ing. After spreading, draw heavy
bush or drag over the ground to crush
the Jumps AMI spread the manure more
over the entire area, and to press it
close down to the surface where the
rains and melting SHOWS will carry it
down into the soil where the roots will
find it. Apple roots in grass run quite
near the surface and will be reached by
manure quicker than if all the roots are
destroyed by ploughing to the depth of
six or eight inches.
"We are not at this time arguing
against ploughing apple orchards, but
to ask those of our readers who are not
prepared to plough under their trees,
to give the top dressing trial, even if
it be only upon few trees. In our
own experience we have been surprised
to notice how quickly tree will re-
spond to manure spread upon the sur
face, even when that surface is in grass.
The trimming out of the Over-dense
tops is work that may be commenced
at any time, and continue through the
winter, as leisure Is found. In thinning
out it will better to take out many small
limbs by several cuts than to remove
large ones by cutting once only. Large
wounds do not heal as readily, and
taking out large limbs leaves the tree
less well balanced. The aim should be
to diminish the number of fruit buds by
thinning out the small twigs and thus
thinning the fruit after it is formed 1t
would have been better to have begun
this work year earlier, but something
can be done even now to ensure a crop
that will be salable next year, whether
the general crop is large or small.