153 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



DISCUSSION. 



J. 0. Evans — Mr. Nelson is mistaken in regard to the orifjin of the 

 Gano apple. Old man Jacks of Platte county formerly lived in How- 

 ard county. In his old orchard in Howard county, you will find large 

 old trees of the same apple, older than any in Platte county. 



Mr. Gilkeson — We have the same apple in Johnson county. 



C. C. Bell — Perhaps old man Jacks was an Indian. 



J. C. Bender— It is the leaves that make the roots, and not the 

 roots that make the leaves of a tree. It all cornea from the atmos- 

 phere, and nothing from the land. Orchards and lands plowed most 

 will soonest become exhausted. Tramping will ruin any land. In 

 Belgium and all over Europe, they never have cattle upon the land. 

 Their tramping kills the laud. 



Mr. Dodd — I think we ought to have a law charging a man $100 

 license for advocating the growing of grass in orchards before a horti- 

 cultural Society. 



Mr. Morrill — I have got something worth the trip from Michigan. 

 We are told that the fertility is all in the air, and that the trees draw 

 nothing from the soil. We have just as good orchards in Michigan 

 as any state, but they cost us a great deal of money to keep them fer- 

 tilized. If we can keep them up on air, it is the best thing I have 

 learned to take home with me. 



Dr. Green — I think we are doing but little of the cultivation. 

 Earth-worms are doing the most of it. Just think of it! five tons of 

 earth-worms to the acre! You can grow them in blue-grass. 



L. A. Goodman — You can't grow anything in the green-house in 

 soil full of earth-worms. Just as soon as we find earth-worms we kill 

 them. 



J. C. Bender — Only 5 per cent of vegetation comes from the 

 ground; the rest comes from the air. The fact that there are no 

 pores in the roots of plants ought to prove that they grow from the 

 air. 



Mr. Morrill — Do plants get their phosphoric acid from the air? 



Mr. Bender — Manure and fertilizers are applied to soils to improve 

 their mechanical condition. 



Mr. Murray — It may be very nice to listen to these fine theories, 

 but it is a condition that confronts us, and not a theory. Twenty-five 

 years ago we had too many summer and fall apples. Now we are at 

 the other extreme. I find that summer apples pay well. I start with 

 Early Harvest, continue with Red Astrachan, Maiden's Blush, Rambo, 

 Ben Davis, Jonathan and Winesap. The last three are enough for 



