TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. 69 



with the idea, eventually, of taking out three of every four, leaving them 

 with one tree of each variety and two rods apart. 



With our cherry trees we had a very conclusive answer to one of our 

 questions noted above. In ordering trees we were careful to specify two- 

 year-old trees, and in most cases such were received. In one case, however, 

 we received trees three if not four years old, and in another they were only 

 one year old and small at that. The large trees were an inch and a half in 

 diameter, with short stumps of roots and long bare trunks. They were 

 l^lanted carefully and received the same attention as the three-year-old 

 trees, and yet we lost fifty per cent, of the large trees and not one of the 

 others. The one-year trees were mere "sprouts" and we set them out in 

 nursery rows where they received the same attention as the large trees. 

 Every one lived and made a good growth. These results coincide with our 

 previous experience, and until we have other light on the subject we shall 

 advise the planting of trees not over two years old. 



With peaches they should never be more than two years from the bud, 

 and even for the ordinary planter well-grown pear, plum, and cherry trees 

 of certain varieties of one year, will bear fruit as soon as older trees, and 

 will be much more satisfactory. For the practical fruitgrower, who knows 

 how to form the head of his trees, the best results will be obtained from 

 one-year-old trees of nearly all kinds, to be placed for a year, if thought 

 best, in nursery rows. 



In caring for young orchards we find it best to plant the land between 

 the trees with such crops as require frequent cultivation up to the first of 

 August, and that can be harvested without disturbing the soil. The crop 

 which seems almost an ideal one to us is winter squashes. With trees one 

 rod apart, we place a row of squash hills between the rows of trees, and a 

 single hill in line with the tree row. Field beans also make a good 

 orchard crop, and in young orchards we have grown early sweet corn, 

 taking care to have no hill within four feet of the tree. In a low, imper- 

 fectly drained spot, we have planted a number of Russian ajaples to give 

 their hardiness a thorough test. We have also, in more favorable loca- 

 tions, some of the more promising Russian apples, pears, plums, and 

 cherries of the importations of Prof. Budd of the Iowa Agricultural 

 College. 



The question of fruits for the northern portion of the state is an 

 important one and it may be noted here that in an attempt to solve the 

 problem we have placed with three reliable parties in the Upper Peninsula, 

 a collection of varieties that succeed in the cold northwest. We have also, 

 at Grayling, Crawford county, on the station land, an orchard of 300 trees 

 set the past spring. The soil is light and porous, the winters are long and 

 cold, and the summers hot and dry. The varieties selected are such as 

 thrive under precisely similar conditions in western Siberia. Smaller 

 collections have been entrusted to farmers in the neighboring counties, 

 one of whom reports that his trees made a good growth during 1888 and 

 passed the winter without loss, while his neighbor who had purchased 

 " ironclad " varieties from the tree agents lost every one from winter- 

 killing. This teaches, at least, that knowledge of varieties is necessary 

 before success with orchard fruits can be obtained in that section. This 

 knowledge we are endeavoring to supply. 



The department, as practice work for the students, grows in the nursery 

 several thousand fruit trees. Most of them are of such new sorts as we 

 are able to secure scions of, and we have made a practice of distributing 



