210 Stale llorliciillnral Socicly. 



large attendance and will do much good for the cause of horticulture, 

 as such meetings have done in the past. Many of our orchards arc 

 now beginning to fail and we will be compelled to plant new orchards 

 from this time forward or do without fruit. These new orchards 

 must have careful people to plant and cultivate with much toil and 

 care. Many of our orchards are now failing and it will be sometime 

 before we can depend on the new orchards for our apples ; so we can 

 see the work before us. The rising generation will want apples, and 

 other kinds of fruits. Many people neglect their orchards. This is not 

 business, it is money thrown away. I planted my first orchard in the 

 spring of 1854. That year was a very dry year, but I saved my orchard 

 by irrigation. Be sure to take good care of your orchards if a few 

 other things are neglected. I know your meeting will be a success 

 as formerly. Yours truly, 



WILLIAM iMcCRAY. 



DISCUSSION ON FIGHTING THE DROUTH. 



Secretary Goodman. — I agree with what has been said on thorougli 

 cultivation, and yet I know that there are places where that continual 

 cultivation, that intense cultivation will simply burn out all the sub- 

 stance there is in the soil, and after a few vears of that kind of vvork 

 I am satisfied that it does as much injury to the soil itself as anything 

 else we could do. I don't know that that is true in all cases, but I 

 do know certain localities where that thorough cultivation in the hot 

 sun during the whole of the summer burns out almost every bit of 

 humus there is in the soil. In Southern Missouri there are man}^ locali- 

 ties of that kind, and hence we have to be more careful in our cultiva- 

 tion. In Southern Missouri there are many localities which are ratlier 

 steep, and hence we have to be careful in cultivating those. So we 

 have three or four ways, or different plans of cultivating. One plan 

 is, from the first of November on to spring we run the plovN^s through 

 the whole of the winter; plow up the whole groimd, whether planting 

 it in corn or anything else. We plow that ground and leave it rather 

 rough and turn under all the wec/ls and trash there is; it helps keep 

 the soil from washing too badly in the winter time. But the tree rows 

 themselves we cultivate. Another step we take is where we seed a 

 lot of our orchards down in clover, l)nt at the same time we cultivate 

 a space ten feet wide, five feet to each side of the tree, and ijial we 

 cultivate only six or seven limes during Ihe summer. Another i)lan 

 is: The same ground we turn over duriuL!' the winter time wc nlant 



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