INDIANA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 353 



distance apart parallel with the side of the hill; perhaps twenty or 

 twenty-four feet apart. He does not grow the trees closely. He is 

 original. I can not tell you the number of trees in bearing, but it is 

 surprising to see how he has ihe land covered with trees eleven years old 

 that will bring in so much money. 



Mr. Stevens: Do you thinli it would be advisable to grow pear 

 orchards as you would an apple orchard in this way? 



Professor Beach: When you come to the question of cultivating the 

 pear, not taking into consideration the effect it may have on blight, I 

 believe as we get a better grade of corn by cultivating, so we get a better 

 grade of fruit by cultivating. I do not mean by cultivating that we are 

 not to do it the right way. We can do injury bj^ going into the orchard 

 and breaking roots too much, but the kind of cultivating I had in mind 

 then, was keeping the surface broken for two or three inches so as to 

 prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil. Mulching is not as cheap. 

 I believe the cheapest way of mulching would be the dust mulch. 



Mr. Little: In regard to early bearing of trees, it is uot^ generally 

 understood that trees like Northern Spy, that cluster up in growing, will 

 come much earlier into bearing when not pruned as when pruned out. 

 If you thin out the head of the tree you simply force the growth on the 

 extremity of the tree. 



Mr. Shoemaker: What about the methods of cultivating orchard? 

 The general method here is with two-horse plow, which is dangerous to 

 the roots and bodies of trees, and I would like to hear how you start 

 cultivation in the spring. It is easy to cultivate two inches deep with 

 a spring-tooth harrow, but how do you start it to get it in shape to use 

 spring-tooth harrow? 



Professor Beach: If the sod is not too heavy you can turn it under 

 more rapidly with a gang plow. The gang plow is an orchard plow 

 made with small plows set one following another. The question of use 

 of tools is one which varies according to soil. If you have a mellow. 

 loam soil, use tools for clay soil. Our soil has a tendency to clay, and 

 we plow with a gang plow and follow with a harrow or cut-away, our 

 object being, after we turn under the growth left over, to keep the sur- 

 face mellow. 



Mr. Hobbs: What is the best Avinter protection? 



Professor Beach: With peaches there is a tendency towards some- 

 thing that will die in winter, like oats or buckwheat. I use buckwheat 

 a gi"eat deal. I have mixed buckwheat and Canada peas, and I always 

 find mellow soil after buckwheat. Crimson clover makes an excellent 

 fall growth. Some seasons the growth is too small. The advantage you 



23 — Agriculture. • 



