60 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



driver opened the bags and kept the pails filled. We fertilized our 

 entire orchard in one and one-half days in this manner. 



Our pruning system is decidedly at variance with the method used 

 in the orchards of the fruit belt. When we set our trees, they were 

 headed very low and have never been touched since they were two years 

 old. In fact they were headed so low that most of the peaches are 

 picked without the use of step-ladders. We will not deviate from this 

 practice as long as the trees show a good growth and produce fruit spurs. 

 Our apple trees receive but very little pruning as we do not believe that 

 heavy pruning is conducive to early bearing. We picked a fair crop 

 of apples last year and from all appearances they will be on good pro- 

 duction before the peach trees are gone. 



For our spraj'ing, we use the standard sprays for apples, dormant 

 spray, followed by various arsenic sprays. Our peaches receive only 

 the dormant spray for curl leaf with the exception of two varieties, 

 the J. H. Hale and Admiral Dewey, which are sprayed just as the blos- 

 soms drop with a solution of two lbs. dry Arsenic Lead and one gal. Lime 

 Sulphur to 50 gal. water. The Admiral Dewey peach receives a sulphur 

 dust application just before picking. This is used to prevent rot. 



Being near Detroit, we have varieties of apples ripening in succession 

 during the entire season. The apples begin with the Yellow Trans- 

 parent, followed by the Wealth}^, Snow, Jonathan, Wagner, Rhode 

 Island Greening, Northern Spy and Steels Red, also a few Pound Sweets 

 and Delicious. Of peaches, we have Admiral Dewey, Yellow St. John, 

 Fitzgerald, New Prolific, Elberta, Reeves Favorite, Engels Mammoth, 

 J. H. Hale, Kilken's Smock and Banner with only one white varietj^ of 

 the Champion. 



Our fruit is advertised as the Mt. View Brand. We run ads in at 

 least 25 papers in the surrounding towns. We have a small folder 

 advertising our fruit and containing a good roads map on the inside 

 showing the trunk line roads leading to our orchards from Detroit, Mt. 

 Clemens, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, Pontiac, and Flint. We aim to give 

 high quality and good measure thus creating a demand for our fruit. 



In regard to harvesting our crop, we are well located as there is no 

 difficulty in obtaining pickers, being within one-half mile of Romeo, 

 with a population of about 2,500. We employ women as well as men,- 

 finding that some of our best pickers are women. Our fruit is allowed 

 to thoroughly ripen on the trees, as it is sold directly to the consumer as 

 soon as it is picked for the most part. We picked 2,000 bushels a day 

 during the height of the season this year, sending the surplus fruit to 

 Detroit by motor trucks. In allowing the fruit to ripen on the tree, 

 we get some wind-falls but there is always a demand for them at a fair 

 price. However, we figure in so doing, we get more bushels and a better 

 price than in picking them when green. There are hundreds of machines 

 here daily buying from a bushel to a truck load, many of them being 

 repeat orders from the year before. We also received many calls from 

 outside of the state for our fancy varieties. These latter demands come 

 from parties who had visited the State Fair at Detroit where we had an 

 exhibit which won several prizes. We make ample provision for pack- 

 ages, buying them in car-load lots and prefer carrying some baskets 

 over, than risking any shortage during the harvesting season. 



