CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

CERTAl,V ELEMENTS IN NURSERY PRACTICE 177The best nursery lands contain a basis of clay, and these arethe kinds that soonest sufl’er under unwise treatment. Theland is kept under high culture, and it is therefore deeply pulverix4.There is practically no herbagc: to protect it inwinter. When the crop is removed, eveu the roots are takenout uf the soil. The tree-lifter or digger i,j likely to be usedwhen the laud is wet and easily injured. For four or fiveyears, the la11d reG-es practically no herbage that can rot andpass i alto lmrnus. The trees are dug ii1 the fail, often whenthe soil is ill unfit CY>!!i!itlGii, auci this fall digging amounts toa fall plowirlg. The soil, deeply broken a& robbed of its humus,rul:s together and cements itself before the following summer ;ill it then rk+rcs three or four years of “rest” in clover orotlwr herbage crop to bring it back to its rightful condition.This resting period allows nature to replace the fiber in the soil,and to make it onc’e more SO open and warm and kindly thatplants caii find a congenial root-hold.It ~~oulc~ seem, therefore, that some of this mechanical injurytcl nursery lands should be prevented by the growing of covercrvpsbt’twetiu thy rows late> ill the swsm, to be plowed underthe following spring. It is \!xhll kiiO~Vl1 that. the plowing-inof course inamir~* l)thtxeen tllt3 trtics ill fall or spring, for tG0 ortl1Iw JFW!Y, will somc+mes so greatly irnpro~*e the land that asel~oiid go~cl strop of trees ~‘a11 1x2 grown with ease. This isparticArly true for pluiii trtw, as already nuted, but theresults do not seem to be so well marked for pea,rs and someother trtltx it is pr~~l~;tl~le that one reason for the very generalrefusal of pear tretbs to follow pear trees is the fact that theyare liicel,v ttr 1~ grt~~ on llrwv,v c4ay, and this is just the landrnwt iujur4 1,?, ~~urs~r~~ practices. Some lands are naturally50 lwsit’ i111(1 opi~l it1 str~icturt~ tht tmw or three crops of trees(~1 bth grow11 it1 suc(~tAoll but thcbsc la~lds contairl little crudeVlU)J ant1 tht~rt&rc~ do tlot suf-l’er quickly from the passing cutOf thehl.lJllUS.y