The Centre Reporter

Buckwheat for Orchards

For some reason buckwheat, which is not much of a crop in itself, is found to be just the thing for growing in orchards. The dense shade afforded by the plant keeps the ground light and friable, and this tendency is further increased by plowing under the green buckwheat at least once a year. If the orchard is old it is as well not to try to grow the grain, but keep a succession of growths through the year to be turned under when in blossom. Buckwheat is usually cheap, and needs only half a bushel per acre for seed. If allowed to ripen a crop occasionally, what is accidentally scattered will furnish sufficient seeding. This is the cheapest mode of keeping large orchards in good condition, as the grand requisite is to keep the soil, especially the surface soil, loose. Clover injures the growth of young trees, and it takes two years to get a crop ready to plow under. A new advantage of buckwheat is that when rightly managed it becomes an aid in fighting the codling moth. If the trees are kept smooth and no chance for a lodgment of the worm on the trunk, many will hide in the stalks of buckwheat. Plowing the ground just before winter sets in destroys the enemy, as it winters in the pupa state, and cannot live in contact with moist earth. Where all the loose stuff, weeds, and rubbish are plowed under, just before freezing, thousands of the codling moth are destroyed, thus greatly lessening the evil the following season. This has been practically tested by apple growers of the Grand Traverse (Michigan) region, who find buckwheat the best crop to keep their orchards in good condition. Plowing orchards late in fall, or during winter when the weather is warm enough, is advisable wherever it can be done.