80 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



I die I want you to make me .a promise and that is that you will 

 ride with my mother to my grave." "Well, wife, I will make the 

 promise but it takes all the pleasure from the ride." Now that 

 is just the case with me this afternoon, it has taken all the pleas- 

 ure from this meeting, being called upon at this time. 



]\Ir. Phinney says to us that he is a travelling man. He buys 

 his fertilizers and says "Boys, go and do so and so." Now I say 

 to you "I am a farmer." What has been done to my trees, I have 

 had to take my coat off, roll up my sleeves and take the shovel, 

 and say "Come, boys, let's fertilize those trees." I suppose that 

 I am put upon this question of barn dressing to represent the 

 poor man, the man that does not have the means that Mr. Dawes 

 and ]\Ir. Phinney have to purchase commercial fertilizers. But 

 I assure you, gentlemen, I am a thorough believer in barn dress- 

 ing for my trees. Now I have taken my trees from the seeds. I 

 haven't twenty-five trees on my farm of nearly 500 trees but 

 what I have growm from the seed. Why, those trees are almost 

 like one of the family. I have trimmed them, pruned them, 

 cared for them until today they are capable of raising eight or 

 nine barrels of fruit to a tree; and that has been due to barn 

 dressing. You may talk about your commercial fertilizers — I 

 have used them and believe in them in a measure — but I do 

 believe the farmers of this State cannot rely wholly upon com- 

 mercial fertilizers for their fruit trees. My trees, as I said 

 before, I raised from the seed. I gave them the first initiation, 

 the first degree upon barn dressing. I dug a good trench and 

 threw my seed upon that dressing, had barn^dressing. The next 

 year they came up. Why how I watched those seeds as they 

 came through the ground. I want to say right here there is not 

 a vouno- man in this house todav but what should start Eis own 

 trees. You can't realize the pleasure and the satisfaction it is to 

 you to watch those trees. It makes you love the old farm, you 

 hate to go away and leave the children you are bringing up. 

 You can't imagine the pleasure and satisfaction it is to have 

 something to watch and care for, — and something that will keep 

 the boys home upon the farm, — I don't care if they are girls too. 

 As those trees grew, I grafted some of them in the nursery, some 

 I splice grafted, some I budded, others I set out as seedlings. 

 And I will say right here I prefer the seedling tree. I find I get 

 fruit just as quickly as those grafted in the nursery close to the 



