REPORTS FROM LOCAL SOCIETIES. 01 



In that way millions of noxious insects are exposed to the effects of frost and 

 destroyed. Late plowing does not affect the late growth of the trees. Then in 

 the spring I would plant corn or potatoes, — I prefer potatoes, — in the orchard. 

 In that way the orchard is well cultivated. After an orchard is ten years old I 

 would sow oats or buckwheat, and then when they are well up I would turn in 

 the hogs and let them " go for" the codling moths. 



Mr. Harvey Smith. — Peas are ecpially as good as buckwheat for the purpose 

 Mr. Dickinson mentions, I would plow early, but not late. 



Mr. W. K. Munson, the nurseryman, read the following paper, which is 

 valuable at this time to all who intend planting orchards or other trees this 

 spring, on the subject of 



PLANTING AND CARE OF FRUIT TREES : 



Mr. President : — It is a well known fact that thousands of fine grown 

 healthy trees are annually lost to the purchaser in their removal from the 

 nursery, and through neglect and bad treatment afterward. 



Although their loss may be sometimes properly charged to the nurseryman 

 and dealer in trees, yet it is often the result of bad management in planting out 

 and after-cultivation. 



In setting an orchard the first things to consider are when and where to pro- 

 cure the trees. Both fall and spring planting have their advantages and strong 

 advocates ; if you plant in the fall you have more time to fit the soil, and set the 

 trees properly; the wounded roots will callous, where they are injured, the 

 ground will settle about the roots, and in the spring the tree will begin to grow 

 as soon as it has a chance. The arguments in favor of spring planting are : if 

 the winter is very severe the tree set in the fall is more likely to be injured than 

 if it had remained in the nursery ; still, if the tree has been properly handled 

 from the beginning, there is very little risk in either season. 



Get your trees from the nearest reliable nursery and set them out as soon as 

 possible after they are lifted from the nursery row. Have your ground thor- 

 oughly prepared and holes dug before getting the trees. The holes should be 

 dug two or three times as broad as the roots of the tree extend, and eighteen 

 inches to two feet deep, and if necessary the ground enriched with well rotted 

 manure, thoroughly mixed with the soil ; fill the hole so that when the tree is 

 set on a mound in the center of the hole it will stand the same depth in the 

 ground that it did in the nursery. Before planting, all broken and bruised 

 roots should be cut off with a sharp knife sloping from the under side. Set the 

 tree on the mound, spread the roots in their natural shape, and sift fine dirt on 

 them, so as to bring soil in contact with every fiber. When you have filled 

 above the roots so there is no danger of bruising, tramp the ground solid, set 

 your tree firm as a post, with loose soil on top, two or three inches above the 

 level of the ground about, so that when the ground settles it will not leave a 

 hole about the trees. In the fall raise a mound a foot high about the tree to 

 keep the wind from swaying it, and to guard against mice ; in the spring level 

 this mound. 



.Every tree, whether planted in the fall or spring, should be mulched in the 

 spring three or four inches deep, and two or three feet each way from the tree, 

 with coarse manure. 



Prune the trees in the spring; pick out the limb you wish for the leader, cut 

 it back to the desired height, then trim off all the side limbs but three or four, 

 leaving them in position to make a well balanced head, and cut them to from 



