264 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and short lived. Cold air settles into the hollows, making them colder than 

 the hills. Choose land which is high. It may slope in either direction. There 

 is not much clioice, unless the slope is very steep. Avoid porous soils of all 

 kinds. Do not think of setting trees in a held of clover and timothy, or in a 

 field of wheat; and fruit trees will be injured by such treatment very much as 

 would a hill of corn. For a good, strong orchard, which will do the owner 

 credit, it is very important to select good, strong soil; a soil which is clay bot- 

 tom is the best. If you would lay the foundation of a noble orchard, thor- 

 oughly pulverize the soil before setting out the trees. If you want to throw 

 away your money and get cheated, buy your trees of some pleasant-spoken agent 

 who is a stranger to you. He may offer trees cheap and even then make 

 money. These agents are all over the State, and are doing an untold amount 

 of injury. Who of us does not remember that sleek, smooth-tongued chap from 

 Ohio, with his new peach called the Hopkins seedling, and his purple-leaf beech 

 tree? His new peach was in a glass can that made it look as large as a good- 

 sized pumpkin. I think that some of the best farmers remember whom I speak 

 of. I think some of them remember him to their sorrow. It is generally bet- 

 ter to buy the trees from some good nursery near home. Send directly to the 

 nursery, or, better still, go yourself. In buying trees you may not get what 

 you ask for. There are many risks to run, even with the best of dealers. This 

 much of my experience I state to show that it will not always do to depend up- 

 on what a nurseryman tells you, for he almost always has "just the variety 

 you want." In planting peach trees, set them out in the spring. The variety 

 to set depends on what a man wants, whether his own needs are to be supplied 

 or whether he is going to raise for the market. The location in this vicinity 

 must be on the most elevated land. If you select such a locality, with the soil 

 strong, you will raise the very best of peaches. A good, sandy soil does very 

 well, but a clay soil is a little better. On the latter your fruit is finer and the 

 trees last longer. As to distance, I would say twenty-four feet apart. You 

 will get more baskets to carry to market and the peaches will be larger and 

 finer colored than if your trees are closer. If a man raises peaches for mar- 

 ket he wants about five varieties. It is of the very greatest importance for the 

 success of the trees that the roots be not exposed to winds or sun, or dry air. 

 Set them about as deep as they grew in the nursery. Place fine, fresh soil 

 about the roots and pack it in closely. After you set your peach trees, plant 

 the ground to corn the first year; in fact plant to corn until the trees starve 

 out everything else. Corn will take the strength of ground less than any other 

 cereal. If you leave the stalks on the ground they will keep the snow from 

 blowing off. Now, after all these pains, and the trees have got a good start, 

 turn in the cattle or sheep, or rent the farm. The young trees make excellent 

 browsing for cattle. In three years you will condemn fruit raising and think it 

 is poor business. If you know but little about raising fruit, by all means learn 

 before venturing upon a large orchard, or you will surely lose money by the 

 operation. If you have money to fool away, seed down a young orchard to 

 clover or to timothy, or sow a crop of wheat or oats, or any other sowed crop. If 

 you want the trees to thrive, cultivate well till they are five or seven years old. 

 Always stop cultivating the trees in August, weeds or no weeds. This allows 

 the tree to mature for winter. 



Mr. Dennis Sutherland said it was now time to begin preparations for setting 

 an orchard next year. The order for trees should now be given to the nursery- 

 man. Get the ground ready in October. He cared for no protection on the 

 west, but wanted all the wind through his orchard he could get. If the trees 



