12 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



By so doing- I have been enabled to get 30 per cent, more work 

 from my help than I formerly did. 



Question. — What do you do to stop borers? 



Answer. — Dig them out, beginning in October, early in the 

 month. "We go over the trees in October, then again in the' 

 spring. 



Question. — How about the yellows. What do you do for 

 those ? 



Answer. — Dig them out , and burn them "root and branch;" 

 and it is best to begin before the disease appears. Don't wait. 



Question.^ How do you prune your peach trees? 



Answer. — We cut out the central, strong-growing branches. 

 Our object is to stimulate fruit production. The weaker limbs 

 id ways bear fruit; the strong-growing ones the wood. 



Question. — How close do you thin the fruit? 



Answer. — We leave the peaches six inches apart; no less. 



Question. — What is the best cover crop for an apple orchard, 

 and when should it be sown? 



Prof. Craig. — W r e must keep up the supply of humus in the 

 orchard. A good catch of clover or other grasses cannot be 

 .-(■cured without it, nor will fruit be perfected without it. All 

 plants, as a rule, add to the fertility of the soil. The clovers 

 are good because they are nitrogen catchers. Crimson clover, 

 sown from the first to the middle of August, where it will thrive, 

 makes a good cover crop, especially for peach orchards, because 

 it grows late in the fall. Cow peas are also well adapted for 

 such a crop. The red clovers grow on favorable soils in most 

 localities. 



The large hairy vetch is another nitrogenous plant and is quite 

 closely allied to the clovers. All in all, I regard it better for 

 such purpose than the clovers, because it covers the ground well 

 during the season of apple-picking. It docs not have to be rolled 

 down, but falls down of itself; thus making a thick, soft carpet 

 under the trees. If cow peas are sown, mix four or five pounds 

 of Mammoth clover seed with them, per acre. 



Question. — How much vetch seed should be sown per acre? 



Prof. Craig. — A bushel and a half, drilled in. Harrow the 

 ground finely, sow the seed, then roll the ground. The vetch is 

 an annual, therefore it must be sown yearly. It is impossible 

 to cut it except with a bean harvester or some machine of like 

 character, because it lays so closely to the ground, but it is a 

 good plant to plow under. I should not sow oats for a cover crop; 



