The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-03-13

The following article is from a pa
per read by H. w. C~ollingwood before
the New York State Fruit Growers
Association:
What do l mean by mulchi1g a
young tree? l plant trees either in
sod or plowed ground, as is most con-
yenient, usually in sod. l dig a small
hole and closely prune both roots and
top of the tree, then I pack the r
hard in the little hole. The sod which
is dug out is put in the hole upside
down, and packed down hard against
the roots of the tree. AS soon as
possible after planting, a pile of
coarse mulch, straw, weeds, grass,
forest weeds or trash is thrown close
around the tree. AS grass or weeds
which grow in that field are cut the
crop is raked and piled around the
tree, thus having a mass of decayins
vegetable matter there all the time.
l planted one orchard in an uacleared
field and cut brush, cedars, briars
and sweet fern bushes, which were
piled around the young trees. Under
hese different conditions the growth
of the YOUNG trees has ranged all the
way from poor to excellent, depend
ing upon the amount of mulching ma
terial we had put around the trees,
other treatment being equal. Where
we nave been able to obtain suffi-
cient mulch material the growth with
us has been quite equal to well Guilt
waited trees.
At the Ohio Station the growth of
the mulched trees was ahead of those
cultivated or planted in cover crops.
These mulched trees also came into
bearing earlier. That appears to be
tr,,n Of MI ornuJn trppC also notice
that the mulched trees, not cultivat-
ed grow into a different shape from
those that are thoroughly titled. They
head closer to the ground and make
a spreading shape, more like a bush
than a tree, which in our country is
desirable on account of the scale and
the high winds which sway the trees.
Last year / felt prepared to say that
while the mulch will give good re-
suits with apples, it is not so useful
for peaches. This year, however. the
results with me have been excellent
fully equal to those of apples. | have
o obtained equally good results
with pears on my soil. A number OF
failures in mulching have been re-
ported, and in most cases | found on
investigation that a mere handful of
grass or weeds had been put around
the tree, not enough under any cir
cumstances, to keep the soil cool and
moist. 1t requires nearly the equiv
alent of a small hay cock to do the
job properly. Whenever we have
been able to keep a thick layer OF
mulch around the young trees the
growth has been fully equal to that
of trees thoroughly cultivated, and in
some cases superior; in fact think
there can be no question about this,
the great trouble being to find the
needed mulch material.
The Root System.
1t has long been said nat when a
tree is mulched the feeding roots all
form at the surface and even work UP
into the mulch itself. From this it
was argued that if for any reason the
mulch is removed, if fire runs
through the orchard, or if the soil is
plowed. the orchard would be ruined,
as these surface-feeding roots will be
destroyed. | have never believed this
| although unable to prove it, but the
Ohio Experiment Station seems tc
have shown the falsity of the argu
ment. At thai station blocks of sol
a foot deep were taken from under
both mulched and cultivated trees
and the roots were washed out anc
| carefully examined to see where they
1 went 10. 1t was lOuuu That IuS h0I
| work of rootlets, which we find close
up under the mulch is not. by any
means, the whole story, but only tnt
upper story. Below the mulch The
roots were as nero and as deer
as they were il the cultivated soil
You will find underneath that mulch
the soil is moist and cool. just ex
actly as it is under a door or wild
plank that lies on the ground. Count
less earth worms and other insect!
are found at work under the mulch
which has killed out all vegetation a:
thoroughly as cultivation does.
There are very few cultivators VIII
work their soil more thoroughly dur
ing the season than the earthworn
works under a pile of grass or weeds
The ground is honeycombed and tht
soil is thoroughly worked over
| brought to the top again by the in
sects. This lets the air into the soil
and by digging dow1 into it o car
| easily e that the root system i:
deeper instead of being at the sur
face.
CroWbar Planting.
l am very confident that the roo