The Harrison times., 1915-12-11
II. ORCHARD MANAGEMENT.
}. $. Knox, Extension Horticulturist,
University of Arkansas.

The question of orchard manage,
ment is one of primary Importance to
the fruit growers of the state, and al.
so one in which every orchardist
should be intensely interested. No
matter how ideal the soil, location,
rainfall, climate. etc, one is not likely
to meet with success in orcharding
unless the orchard is properly man
aged. As proof of this statement one
has to go but a very short distance
from his own home The men who
are devoting their time and attention
to their orchards and keeping them in
good growing condition by cultiyating
and combating the various insects
and diseases are the ones who come
out ahead every time There is al
ways a fair market for well grown
fruit, ana the time is past when one
can grow tirst-class fruit without Civ.
ing his orchard proper attention.
TiIiage. One of the first problems
that confrontS the Orchardst is that
of tillage and here is one point, the
Importance Of which needs to be i'm
pressed upon the minds of the fruit
growers of the state. 1t is by no
means uncommon to see young or
chards coming on where absolutely
no care is being given them. Such
treatment is bound to result in the
destruction of the orchard before
many years, or at least to prevent its
ever coming into very profitable
bearing.
Generally speaking, the orchard
should be given at least one thor
ough and fairly deep cultivation in
the late fall Of the year, and if
cover crop OF rye, winter oats or
wheat is sown at this time, it will
help to prevent the washing of the
land and also help to hold some of
the soluble fertilizers in place Dy
taking them up and returning them
again when turned under in the
spring of the year
Cultivation during the growing pc,
riod should be frequent but shallow
This can be done either by a disc
harrow or by several makes of spring
tooth harrow. The object is simply
to keep down weeds and to hold the
soil moisture by keeping a soil mulch
established to break the capillary
tubes which bring the moisture to the
surface.
In order to defray the expense OF
cultivating a young orchard, crops
like beans, peas, sweet potatoes, tur.
nips, etc, may be grown between the
rows. In cultiyating the orchard the
other crops will also be kept clean
Do not try to cultivate too near the
trees and generally by the time the
time to cease the cropping method,
excepting Of course the cover crop
which may be sown every fall.
Soil Fertility. In order to keep an
orchard in good bearing condition it is
necessary that we use some method
of keeping up the fertility of the soil
A heavy crop of fruit every year is
bound to deplete the best of soils
within a few years time, SO if we
expect to gather crop Of fruit every
year we must get some means of add
ing this fertilizer back to the soil
This can be done largely perhaps
by the use of leguminous cover crops
such as coWpeas, soy beans, etc. sta
BILE manure is one Of the best fertil,r
ers that one can use. Do
not spread the manure close
around the body of the tree, but
rather some distance from the tree,
especially on the older trees One
can tell when the orchard is lacking
in fertility by the growth, color OF
foliage and general vigor Of the trees
Pruning. The time to begin prun-
ing is before the young tree is
planted All broken roots should be
removed and in case Of a twoyear.old
tree the branches should be thinned
out to four or five and these cut pack
considerably 1t is generally consid.
cred best to cut to an outside bud
rather than an inside bud as this will
cause the tree to spread more and
thus give an open head, which is so
desirable in case of peach tree. The
branches should be equally distrib
uted around the body OF ..he tree
and should be at least foil or i've
inches apart on the young trfe. Trees
should not be allowed TO bed me tlve
or six years old before pruniA is be-
gun, because II is then nece\ary 10
remove some large branchesN thus
making wounds on the tree THAI are
hard to heal On the other Mand
trees that are kept prunrd from Nht
time they are planted hG ~nly IN,