REPORTS OF AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 265 



are to be set on sod ground, turn it over in October, nicely, dragging length- 

 wise of the furrows so as not to turn up clods, and sow two barrels of salt to 

 the acre. He would use the refuse salt from cured hides, which can be bought 

 at South Haven for fifty cents per barrel. In the spring stir the land with 

 some sort of cultivator, preparing it as for corn. Then set the trees a little 

 deeper than they stood in the nursery row, having "healed them in" in the 

 fall. Before setting they should be entirely stripped of branches, and left a 

 straight stalk not more than three feet long. While they are growing, prevent 

 the formation of crotches. Before setting, the roots should be free and 

 straightened out. It is more convenient to have each variety set in a block by 

 itself. He has a drive-way around his orchard, and also each way across 

 through the center, to enable him to easily reach a wagon with the fruit. 

 This drive-way is twenty-four feet wide and his trees are set twenty feet apart. 

 The distance apart depends somewhat upon the kind of soil. Twenty feet is 

 not too far on soil capable of growing good strong trees. He would not use 

 manure about the roots when setting. The ground should be good enough to 

 grow a tree as fast as it should be grown. As for a mulch, he would depend 

 on cultivation to supply needed moisture. If the soil is frequently stirred 

 about the trees the moisture will be sufficient, just as it is to corn. 



Mr. Lay asked if the cultivation of potatoes among the trees was injurious 

 to them? 



Mr. Sutherland thought no man would a second time plant potatoes in a 

 peach orchard. He had known one to be nearly ruined by that. Potatoes use 

 many of the same constituents of the soil that peach trees do — the alkalies. 

 Mrs. Holton asked what was the best manure for peach orchards. 

 Mr. Sutherland recommended rye plowed in, salt, lime, and ashes, but 

 nothing was equal to barnyard manure. 



Mr. Sailor agreed to this, and said corn is the best crop to raise in a young 

 orchard, though he had raised potatoes without injury to the trees, having 

 thoroughly manured the soil. 



Mr. John Duinont once raised potatoes the first year, on strong soil, without 

 hurt to the trees; and he thought the potatoes would do no harm in such soil. 

 He had lost trees among wheat and oats, even though he had cut the grain 

 away from about them and used mulches. 



Mr. Geo. T. Lay spoke of the comparative merits of treuchiug trees in the 

 fall and leaving them in the nursery row, claiming that he would rather have 

 trees that were left in the rows all winter, thinking them surer to grow when 

 set in the spring. He had planted at the same time trees from each of these 

 treatments, and had better success with those left in the row. If the trees, he 

 said, will not stand their first winter in the nursery row, they will not endure 

 the first winter after transplanting. In New York the trees are not trenched 

 nor housed, but are left in the rows. 



Mr. Dumont said he believed that ninety-nine per cent of trees left in the 

 nursery row this winter would now be dead. The New York trees make a 

 slower growth than ours, the autumn closes quickly, there is no lingering of 

 warm weather to keep up a late growth, and the deep snows afford protection. 

 Mr. LaFleur contended that the plan of trenching, or healing in, was the 

 best, because it compelled a stoppage of growth, while trees left in the row 

 would be kept slowly growing by the warm weather. The first year's growth 

 in the row, from the bud, is so tender that it is very liable to injury from cold, 

 as the circulation of the sap, in the mild days of our winters, is kept up to a 

 certain extent. 



