The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-12-12
AGRICULTURAL
Continued from last week.
COMMERCIAL APPLE-GROWlNG.
Cultivation.

Cultivation.
Next after the planting should come the
cultivation, Where the soil has been
prepared as it should be, before the trees
are set out, the after cultivation should
be easily and cheapy performed. Level
cultivation only should be used for young
trees The big turning plows should
never be used in young orchards. good
smoothing harrow is a fine implement to
use in the cultivation, but great care
must be taken to keep the harrow off the
trees For the first few years after the
trees are set out some of the many vine
crops may be profltaby raised between
the trees Early potatoes, followed tho
same season by a crop ofs cowpeas are
good crops for young orchards. Tomatoes,
beans, cantaloupes and cucumbers may
also be grown. but no grain of any kind
should ever be planted in young or
chards.
We often see young orchards crowded
with corn planted among the trees. This,
according to the experience of the writer.
is a great mistake.
The vine crops recommended should be
hoed regularly and kept clean. These
crops shade the soil and thereby are of
great benefit to the trees. as shading the
soil always protects the plant foods that
are in the soil. and makes them more
quickly available. There is a system of
mulch cultivation which is now being
practiced in many sections of the coun-
try, and which has proven quite a sue
cess. After the trees come into bearing,
the orchards are sown in clover, which,
when grown, is cut and left to lie on the
ground. This is repeated as fast as the
clover becomes large enough to cut. Cow
peas may also be used for the same pur-
pose and in the same way. This mulch
ing shades the soil, keeps IL moist, and
decomposition furnishes plant food This
mulch system, however, should not inter-
fere with the use of lime and other top
dressings. above recommended. Use the
lime every three years and the other top
dressings recommended each spring.
Where the orchard has been sown to
clover. SOW the top dressing and lime
right on the clover and harrow in. Just
before a rain is the best time to do this.
Bearing orchards may be used as hog
pastures a portion of the time, but here
again one must use good judgment. Pas
ture at the right time and in the right
way, or else the hogs may be of more
damage than benefit. The writer man
ages to work his hogs in the cultivation of
his orchard
Pruning the Trees.
We see orchards all over the country
everywhere we go. where no thought
whatever seems to have been given to
this important subject of pruning. Trees
are left with water sprouts on them from
the ground up. These water sprouts are
simply parasites, teaches, sucking the life
out of the trees. The presence of these
water sprouts on a fruit tree is an indi-
cation that the tree is not in a healthy
condition. Generally there is too much
water in the subsoil want of plant
food, or the tree is in a decaying condi-
ton and Will soon die If these suckers
are left on it. At the very first appear
ance of water sprouts the condition OF
the tree should be looked after, the cause
located and speedily removed In fact,
all fruit trees should be watched closely,
and water sprouts pinched off by the
finger and thumb before they become so
well set that a knife is required for re-
moving them. Besides, the tops of the
trees should be kept pruned out. so that
sunshine, light and air may get through
TO color and perfect the ripening of the
fruit
The time to prune il when your knife
is sharp and when the trees need 1t.
The common practice of pruning with
stock should no longer be followed. Cows,
sheep and rabbits have very poor judg
ment about pruning fruit trees. They
usually prune off too much and at the
wrong time and place. Fruit trees are
dear feed for stock, yet thousands OF
dollars worth of good trees are destroyed
annually by them The orchard should be
fenced so as to keep stock out before
the trees are planted Some varieties of
apple trees need cloger pruning than
others For instance. of the late varieties,
the Jennetin should be closely pruned.
and grown on good soils in order TO get
the size wanted The same holds good
ba cd nd 10 trna nf
other sorts. The better plan is to conf
meron with the trees when they are
young. Prune and shape them as needed
and keep them In good shape.
Blight and Bitter Rot.
When we come to this subject of blight
and bitter rot. We are lost. When man
does not know much about such matters
he had best say so. The writer has been
reading much that has been printed on
this subject. and besides, has been fight
ing blight and bitter rot for years. vet
we know more about the causes of
these things than when we commenced
the fight. Nor do believe that any man
knows what causes these things. or knows
any remedy that will prevent it either
We can only give our opinions.
There are several kinds of blight that
affect the foliage of trees. and neither
of them may have any connection with
the bitter rot so common in the fruit
However, the writer is of the opinion
that the black blight so common on the
foliage of our fruit trees and the black
bitter rot in the fruit are one and the
same and are produced from one and the
same cause. Further, I believe that when
we find remedy that will prevent one
!. will also prevent the other So far no
remedy applied seems to have any effect
upon either. The plan Of cutting off af-
| fected branches to get rid of blight has
proven a fat failure. Ny experience is
that cutting only spreads the disease.
While we are at loss to know the cause