REPOETS FROM LOCAL SOCIETIES. 129 



UNIOX FAEMEES' CLUB,. EOMEO, MICHIGAN. 



LIST OF OFFICERS. 



President — George- W. Phillips. 



Vice Presidents — Uriel Day, Thomas Mcllwrick, James Stephen. 



Secretary — John E. Day. 



Treasurer — Joh n Wilson. 



Librarian — N. Gr. Eeed. 



Annual meeting occurs on the first Thursday in January. A plowing match 

 is held each year. 



APPLES AND APPLE TREES IX MACOMB COUNTY. 



J. E. Day, Secretary of the Union Farmers' Club, Komeo, Michigan, writes : 

 One of the most pressing questions of the orchardists of the older settled por- 

 tions of our county is this: "What shall I do with the old orchard?'' Many 

 trees have failed, or are year by year showing sure tokens of decline. Most 

 trees set out fifty years ago were allowed to grow as seedlings until the fruit 

 showed by its quality whether it should always remain a seedling or be top- 

 grafted. In the process of grafting large limbs were removed to receive the 

 scions, and as these advanced in growth other larger ones were sawed out, until 

 the entire top was removed, often in a single season ; in other instances high 

 winds and careless pickers, together with severe winters and undrained soil, have 

 brought about a series of evils, which seem to culminate about these times. 

 Loss of vitality and consequent decay of the timber in some portions of the 

 trunk, numerous dead limbs and a general scraggy appearance, both in the 

 tree and its fruits, are the results of such decay. Large branches sawed out to 

 receive scions or to make room for their growth, never perfectly healed, and 

 the disease thus induced was carried down to the intersection of the branch 

 with the trunk, rotting in the crotch and in the end producing the loss of the 

 limb and the injury of the tree. Perhaps this state of things might have been 

 prevented by a more judicious management in the early years of the orchard ; 

 but the question now is, "will these trees renovate themselves? or will any 

 treatment we can give them in the present or future produce such a devoutly- 

 to-be-desired consummation?*' Undoubtedly many older sections have settled 

 the question by actual test, and are ready to answer promptly and correctly ; 

 with us the problem is to be worked out. In many instances, where the body 

 of the tree is sound and healthy and the fruit of a standard variety, the trial 

 might be made of gradually removing such branches as show signs of failure, 

 and allowing young and vigorous shoots to take their places. This should be 

 done slowly and with great care until an entire new top takes the place of the 

 old one. I know it is held by many that nature will work her own remedy, 

 and as the decayed branches drop out, new ones will take their places, and the 

 orchardist will better be able by-and-by to judge which one to remove. The 

 objections to this are serious. The top is always full of suckers and dying 

 branches intermingled, presenting an unsightly appearance, and rendering the 

 gathering of the fruit entirely a dread and almost an impossibility. But so far 

 as my observation goes, these old trees are mostly decayed in the trunk, and 

 are of second or third rate fruit. Such trees, or such orchards, should be 

 removed as soon as young ones can be raised up to take their places. I would 



17 



