80 feet apart in peach or even apple orchards, as did the Texas
man with his nut trees 72 feet apart, occupying every fourth place in an
18-foot spaced fig orchard. I would call attention of Northerners,
however, to the desirability of the mulberry, the most rapid growing and
cheapest of all our fruit trees, doing well in Carolina at a space of 30
feet, which would enable the Northerner, by a little variation of the
interval between his mulberry trees, to plant nut trees anywhere from 60
to 100 feet apart.

_Sod Mulch Nut Orchards._

I know that any suggestions of the production of trees without plowing
is unorthodox, and therefore not likely to be heard straight, and
particularly perilous in the presence of professional horticulturists in
state or national employ. To such I wish to call attention to the fact
that I have emphasized in this matter, first, the tillage methods, and
that I am making no knock against cultivation. We all know that it works
under some conditions, and we all also know that there are some
conditions in which it will not work. If I lived on level, sandy loam,
I'd be a furious tiller of tree crops fifteen times a year. But I was
born upon a rocky hill, and now I live upon another that is higher and
rockier, and I don't believe in tilling it fifteen times a year. Must I
abandon it, or adopt uses to its conditions? Out of these conditions
mulch orcharding has come. Despite the orthodox, I know that the growing
of some kinds of fruit trees without cultivation has passed the
experimental stage. At this moment millions of barrels of apples are
approaching perfection in orchards in Virginia and other eastern states
that have not been plowed for more than one, and sometimes for more than
five seasons. The application of this method to nut trees is still in
the embryonic stage, with theoretic factors favoring it.

I do not know how far the mulch-fertilizer method can go, but I am sure
it may go much farther than most professional horticulturists will
admit. I find that the pecan tree starts off nicely under the mulch
fertilizer conditions of the apple. The walnut tree has certainly done
it for ages with less aid, and I believe it is up to us to find methods
of handling land and trees and moisture which will enable us to avoid
the danger, costs, and difficulties of plowing rough land and still get
good trees. For example, the absence of cultivation does not necessarily
imply the absence of fertilizer.