J3!)4 l!<»Ai;i) OK AdKICULTUltt?. 



many trees with the wronj? kind of top. I l)elieve the slrongtli of tliu 

 tree lies iu that part of the tree which is just below the ground, or the 

 main center or base of the tree, where most of the main roots start from. 

 What is the most important part of a uianV I should judge that the head 

 should be. I believe in cutting back as close to this central base as 

 you can and causing the tree to start out a new growth. You take a boy 

 that has certain bad habits. Should Ave let him go and develop these 

 bad habits more and more. No, that would lie the worst thing anyone 

 could do. You must see to it that you take these habits out of him. 

 You must cut these habits out as close to the head and soul of the boy 

 as you can, and start him out again. 1 cut the tree back in order to get 

 the head to suit mv. Tiiere has been a great deal of discussion over this 

 matter as to just what is what. How close should the tree be cut? 

 Some say within three or four feet of the ground. Wliy? The first wind 

 that comes your tree will sway back and forth like a j)endulum with every 

 breeze, and you will lose your fruit in tlie swinx. and when the fruit 

 falls from one of these sky scrapers it has so far to fall that it is bruised 

 so that it isn't fit for the market at all. When your trees are lower the 

 fruit is not all spoiled when it drops. The low trees are much nicer to 

 get at when you are trying to spray your orchard. I don't know whether 

 this spraying problem is troubliug you as much here as it is in our i)lace 

 or not. We are face to face with a tough proposition. The San .lose 

 scale is working in our orchards iu a most shameful way. Some orchards 

 have been abandoned because the owners would not spray. I have a 

 place in town where 1 live sometimes two months in the year, and I 

 planted a plum tree that was entirely free from this infection. Now, in 

 order to tight scale properly you want to get down close and get the 

 scale while- it is young. We tind tliat the surest way to fight this is to 

 begin with a brush and paint with lime of sulphur wash all the way from 

 this time until spring. 1 find that the lime of sulphur wash is the most 

 effective thing for tliis. If your trees are away up out of reach it makes 

 it hard for you to go over them in this way, unless you had a brush with 

 a very long handle, and 1 hardly believe that it would be .satisfactory to 

 tight it in that way. We do not want the apples to fall from the top of 

 these tall trees- to the ground, because only ten or fifteen per cent, of the 

 fruit will be suitable for selling. We have good heavy sod underneath 

 the trees, and when the apples fall ninety per cent, of the fruit will be 

 first-class. Of course I Avill admit that the low trees have disadvantages. 

 If you are going to have your hogs and sheep in the orchard you would 

 want the limbs to be up higher or they will get more than their share. 

 1 have hogs in my orchard and the hogs will stand on their hind legs 

 and take the branches in their mouths and shake the appleff down on the 

 ground. Sometimes hogs and humans are very much alike. I think by 

 this method you will have a better shaped tree. If you will cut the roots 

 off and plant a tree as I have described, you will note a peculiar thing. 



