FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. 11 



A Member : It was used by a neiglibor of mine with good results. It 

 doesn't cost any more; he claimed it was easier to use. 



Mr. WilkenT We used dry lead to some extent last year at the sta- 

 tion, and we found it used up much better than the paste; it costs a 

 little more than the paste. As far as effectiveness is concerned, they 

 were about equal. It will not freeze. 



Mr, Farnsworth : We had a little experience in the apple orchard. 

 It mixed much more readily and was more handy. 



Mr. Eustace: It will work all right, but there is a great deal of 

 sentiment working up against it because it is very poisonous. If you 

 get too much in your hands it might kill you. Some have been made 

 seriously sick and some have died from the use of it, and the sentiment 

 is working against the manufacturers making it. They are about equal 

 in results. 



Q. To what extent shall we set Mcintosh Red, Delicious, Stayman, 

 Lowland Raspberry, the J. H. Hale peach and other advertised brands? 



A Member: (Mr. Cook) The Mcintosh Red apple is very desirous to 

 grow. The trees are good growers and the apples take very well on the 

 market. Our trees have been set about ten years and in bearing about 

 five years, and the trade takes them like the Snows. With the right 

 kind of storage and market it appears to me to be a very desirous apple. 

 I have five or six trees of the Delicious that I have been waiting to 

 come into bearing. As grafts they are magnificent growers. 



Mr. Bassett: The only trouble with the Staymen is the claim that 

 the season is too short. In Delaware and New Jersey it is one of the 

 most beautiful of apples. 



Q. Is large size desirable to strive for in Michigan apples? Will it 

 pay to raise the ordinary size Michigan Jonathans? 



Mr. Cook : I would like to say a word for the Jonathan. It needs 

 high feeding, but give it proper feeding and it is a very good variety; 

 something that Michigan can grow to a high degree of perfection. It 

 is more nearly a yearly bearer than any of the varieties that grow. 



A Member: How about the spot that comes on them. I can grow 

 them, but after they have matured about a month they spot. 



Mr. Cook: I have always found it was well to get the Jonathan on 

 the market early in December and January, as they often go down very 

 rapidly. 



Q. Should w^e plow a heavy orchard sod in fall or spring? 



Mr. Ladd : I don't know any objections to plowing late in the fall ; 

 don't find any difl'erence. If I have a heavy sod on the orchard and 

 want to plow it up, I see no harm in it. 



Mr. Bassett : Some of the best results in our district. Some of our 

 neighbors started to fall plow their orchard, but didn't finish until the 

 next spring. The part that was fall plowed showed an absolute gain 

 over the other in fruit. In this particular case they demonstrated that 

 fall plowing produced a good deal better crop than the spring plowing. 



A Member : Were these apples in sod when they plowed ? 



Mr. Bassett. That orchard was in fine condition, and had very good 

 feeding; it had the very best of care. They used cover crops. It is not 

 an old sod; it is a well cared for orchard. 



