208 Stale llurliailltiral Socicly. 



orchards we did in time, and we just followed from one orchard to 

 another, and those that we began early with — we could not do it all 

 at once — they are in very good shape, but just as we dropped down, 

 some of them three days made a difference, and that shows you where 

 we have too much we can't get to them all in time. 



Smithville, Clay County, Mo., November 28, 1901. 

 Mr. L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Mo.: 

 Dear Sir : — 



I am in receipt of your notice of the 44th Annual Meeting of the 

 Missouri State Horticultural Society at St. Joseph, Mo., December 

 3rd, 4th and 5tli. I see J. C. Evans is billed to say something of the 

 drouth of '97, freeze of '99, and drouth of '01. I have been an observer 

 of orchards and orchard culture for a number of years, and although 

 still not entirely sure of my general position, I have observed that it 

 is not best to cultivate too highly. I see high cultivation held up as 

 a panacea for drouths. Now while the present effects may be all rights 

 I observed that those orchards that were highly cultivated were 

 the ones that suffered the most by the cold winter in '99. The richer 

 the land, and the more vigorous the growth of the trees, the more 

 injur}' the trees sustained. 



I knew some orchards planted on rich bottom land that made a 

 very rapid growth that were entirely ruined ; others where the land 

 was not so rich, and when highly cultivated the outcome was much the 

 same. 



I have two orchards of 1,000 trees each, the same varieties in each 

 orchard, set at the same time, on much the same kind of soil. The 

 trees were set in the spring of 1888. In the spring of 1893 I under- 

 took to seed to clover, one was seeded in rye in fall of '92 and the 

 clover seed sovv^n in spring 1893, and I got a good stand and the land 

 has not been plowed since. These stood the freeze of '99 with very 

 little damage. The other orchard did not take well and was broken 

 up and seeded three times before getting a stand of clover. This 

 three years cultivation caused the trees to outgrow the trees in the 

 other orchard. And also to be much more injured by the freeze of 

 '99. I observed the same effects in other orchards. I have also an- 

 other orchard set in 1891, part of the land is worn from cultivation, 

 other parts was fresh land. The trees on the richest land, where 

 there was tlic most rapid growth, showed decidedly the most injury 

 from drouth of '97, also from the freeze of '99. 



