The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1890-10-16
Agriculture.
Ysu,i,.,.s srp,s Orchards.

Apple trees vill bear irnii Of Zoe quail
ity aud 10 considerable quantity With very
little fertilization, and, because they wlll,
the practice of neslec,ins 10 icf,ilize them
has become quite common. OF. more cor
rectly. has slvsys been so. Nearl. ell
apple orchards are 10 grass. which Is
mostly cut Tor hay aud removed from the
land. Some pasture sheep IN The orchard,
That is better than cutting The grass TOT
bay, Sheep enrich the.soil, and eat The
wormy irui, that falls 10 the ground. thus
helping 10 keep the Goblin moth 10 check.
Some owners iertilise their orchards by
top dressiog with barn manure, wood
ashes. or superphospba,e. IL Is doubtful
however about the trees getting very
large share OF such dressing. The grsss
forms = thick. tough sward, through
which the fertilizer peuetrstes with diff
Guilty and il very likely 10 be absorbed ry
tho grass roots before 1t gets down TO the
apple tree roots II very heavily dressed
repeatedly, perhaps the trees will receive
considerable benefit after a while. bu.
ordinary dressings probably reach very
little below the grass roots. 90 that prac
iically the trees are not much benefited by
them. II is surprising how much fruit
some orchards will produce under the
treatment to which they are subjected,
Yet no doubt under better treatment there
would be erea. improvement In The
lnaliiy Of fruit produced, as well As tho
quantity. The quality OF fruit from a
well.ied tree is as much better than the
fruit from q half starved tree as the beef
from well fed steer is superior 10 that Of
q poor. half starved one.
There is some difference OF opinions as
to the bert method OF iertili2ing an OF
chard. whether by top.dressing or by
mipglpg with the soil. II the surface Is
cultivated there would be little difference
10 the effect produced, either by cutiyat
ing the dressing 10 or applying TO the
surface. II applied to the surface. the
rains would dissolve the soluble portion
and distribute it TO The soil. and the next
time tia. .ae surface was plowed or cult.
waited the whole would be mixed with the
soil. Tue best treatment for Young trees
is to keep them cultivated until seven or
eight years at least. Then the land may
be seeded to grass, il desired and pastured
TO sheep Or the surface may be mulch
ed with hay or straw, and fertilizers ap
piled by top dressing. Upon a mulched
surface the fertilizers would readily fnd
their way into the soil and reach the roots
Of the trees. The roots Of the trees would
lie near the surface. and there would be
no grass roots to gather up the fertilizers
before they reached the apple tree roots.
Even when grass is allowed to grow in or.
chards, 1t is much better to NOV it and
allow it to decay on the surface. serving as
Q mulch, than 10 remove it. A mulcbed
surface is very favorable to the attainment
Of the best results in apple production
II trees are too close together in the orch
ard, so that they are crowded, the Difficult.
ty car be remedied in part by mulching
aud fertilizng freely, supplying abundant
plant food to secure good crops Of fruit
Without it many orchards are worth more
for firewood than for fruit