350 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The most that can be done is to keep the orchard in a healthy condi- 

 tion. Give the trees plenty of plant food, keep the foliage and the wood 

 free from disease and injurious insects, encourage the root system to go 

 deep into the soil by underdraining and cultivation and do not alloAv the 

 trees to overbear. 



Mr. Burris: It sems to me Mr. Flick has pretty well covered the 

 ground as to conditions existing during the past year, and they are not 

 unlike those of my own experience, and a few things I noticed in the past 

 year I have not noticed in previous years in regard to fruit. Early 

 varieties of fruits it seemed to me were much longer ripening than any 

 previous year. Chenango and Maiden Blush apples seemed to extend the 

 period of ripening nearly two weeks, and another thing occurred, rotting- 

 of earlier ripening peaches which does not usually occur during dry 

 weather so much as dm-ing heated, moist weather. No unusual conditions 

 with other fruit excepting Elberta peaches. Other fruit ripened very 

 well except Elbertas, they were much more sour than usual. My orchard 

 is of twenty years' growth, and is cultivated only occasionally. It was 

 cultivated year before last slightly, and sown to rye and clover and in 

 winter pastiu-ed with pigs. Cold damp weather caused di-opping of fruit 

 so there was not an enormous crop of apples by any means. As long as 

 I have had a larger crop than many of my neighbors I thought myself 

 fortunate in that direction. 



Mr. Swaim: Mr. Burris stated that Mr. Flick had covered the ground 

 and he proceeded to cover it over again and lam expected to get oiit of the 

 discusion what is left. There is one point which they did not touch on 

 however. That has been a very severe lesson to a great many the past 

 season. The conditions with us all throughout the State has been very 

 much the same in regard to the drought. That is the drought affecting-' 

 newly set trees. My oliservation has been that where they were not 

 given the very best of care and cultivation or mulched thoroughly, newly 

 set trees have made but very little growth, and a great many have died. 

 That is serious to one starting an orchard because a good start in life 

 is worth as much to the tree as it is to the man. The effect on the 

 growing fruit has been given correctly. The fruit failed to mature as it 

 promised. I think where the orchards were not cared for it was worse 

 than Avliere they were. It affected the fiuit worse. I know it did in my 

 own orchard. 



Professor Troop: When I put this on the program I had in mind a 

 statement that I heard somebody make— 1 think he is in the audience or 

 was this afternoon— that he did not care whether it rained from the time 

 he planted corn until he harvested it, he could raise a good crop of corn 

 all the same. I wondered if he could do that with corn if we could not 

 do it with fruit. Here is one point that comes in here in the thinning of 



