The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-01-03
CULTIvATING oRCHARDS-EX-
PERTMENTS.

tury, William Coke, Of Burlington,
New Jersey, performed a series of ex
periments in Cultivating and manuring
orchards, not exceeded, if equaled, by
anything which has been pone by any
one since. Mr. Coke began planting
orchards in the year 1894, and con
tinued the exten sion Of them for sew
eral successive years. He had little
experience when he began with his
frs orchard, which was planted in
clover, and the clover remained for
several years AS might be expected.
the trees grew slowly, and remained
in a feeble, stunted condition eight,
nine and ten years The trees were
SCI IN deep ana narrow holes; and those
which died were replaced by others in
broader and shallower holes; these
grew much faster. Afterwards circles
were dug around the trees six feet in
diameter; then the spaces between the
rows were plowed. The whole orchard
Of $40 trees on ten acres had a greatly
improved appearance. Besides this
orchard, one of 293 trees was set out in
1902, on seventeen acres; another of
zoo trees in 1907; another Of 81 in
in 1906, and another the same year of
252. In 1906, an orchard Of $40 trees
was set in autumn; and in 1902 another
orchard Of 483 trees, and in 1903, AIS
trees. At the same time smaller
orchards were planted. In nearly
every one the trees were set so feet
apart, giving ample room for growth; {;
and among these uany orchards full
space was allowed for the liberal ex
periments performed. Among these
experiments were several Of orchards
CI0 h nl,
were afterwards subjected to cultiva-
tinn, and great Improvement
followed. Under date Of 1916. Mr.
Ccxe says, this orchard is now in
high order, and is improving yearly" -"
under q regular course Of cultivated
crops. But to show that an orchard
cannot proftahly follow an orchard he
states that in q few acres which we're
on the site of a former orchard there
was decided inferiOrity.
One of the orcharis was manured in
setting with stable manure, but re
manned in clover, and a severe dr0uth
following killed many of the trees, and
the mice harboring in the clover, de-
sGroyed many more. Flowing and cul
tivation following restored the orchard
to uncommon vigor," and by this
date Q816) it was becoming very pro
ductive,
Some Of the first orchards set in
clover had wide holes two splts deep,
the lower spit of earth being thrown
off at a distance, and it's place supplied
with a compost made of manure and
river mud, with portion of lime The
trees grew but little during the con-
tinued drOutn that year. Next year
the ground was cultivated in corn, and
the surviving trees restored to vigOr,
becoming a fine orchard. Mr.. Coke
had been told by his neighbors that
corn was bad for orchards, but his ex-
perience in this case and in several
others proved it to be one of the most
favorable crops. When another orchard
was continued in cultivation it grew
freely without the loss of tree from
1902 to 1916, and became a regular and
beautiful orchard. Another orchard
was planted in large holes partly filled
with a compost made of river mu !,
ashes and come lime, around the trees,
wagon load to ten trees The ground
was cultivated for three years in corn.
The trees grew with vigOr which Mr..
Coke says he never saw eQualled; in
two years only one IN 800 had died, and
that was eaten by, mice. The trees
continued in vigorous condition for
seven or eight years without bearing
much for time, after which crops set
in. This success was asCribed to the
compost and to the cultivatiOn-the
latter no doubt was the chief benefit
The trees we're larger than usual, and
had been before transplanted, With
out this previous transplanting the
large size of the trees would have OBJ
viOusly been detriment.
In 1905, $50 trees were planted on corn
stubble in autumn, on ground pre-
viously highly manured with ashes,
with barn manure in the holes, and
with ground sowed with oats. All
sOwed crops are we'll known to be bad
for young trees, and oats especially,
which was proved by this experiment.
shown by forty of the trees perishing
the first season. AS soon as the crop
Of oats was off the ground was plowed
and cultivated, which at once stopped
the perishing of the trees. Vacancies
were filled with new trees, but the
vigOr of the orchard was retarded or
prevented by sowing wheat and then
clover. They were in no wise to be
compared with those in the cultivated
or hOed orchards. The comparative
inferiOrity Of stable manure as then
applied, was very visible in some of
the experiments; but the Importance
of its fine pulverization and thorough
intermixture with the soil, or it's diffu
sion in a liquid state, appears not to
have been at all understood at that
time.
Mr. Coke speaks strongly in favor of
the efficacy of river mud, with ashes,
lime, etc. The mud had not been
anaIyzed at that time, and we do not
know what valuable ingredients it may
have contained, but it's absorbing
powers were doubtless among them.
He found the mud much superior to
barn manure as applied at that time.
In one experiment., later than the
others, he drew the mud on very