430 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE OfC. Doc. 



PRESIDENT ELDON: Is your stock root-grafted or budded? 



MR. WILSON: They are usually grafted. 



C. J. TYSON: Do you not think it would be an advantage in 

 picking to have rows in pairs ratlier than single rows of a variety? 



MR. WILSON: Yes, when picking directly to sorting table. When 

 picking into barrels as we do it, it is best to have a row of two be- 

 tween of a different kind, as men do not talk so much, and there is 

 more competition to see which row will be finished first. 



J. W. PRICKETT: Do you select varieties for this inter-planting 

 with a view to their time of bloom, so as to provide for cross fer- 

 tilization. 



MR. WILSON: No, not especially but I plant Baldwin Greening 

 and Hubbardston Nonesuch which work good together. 



Question. Is there any advantage in planting trees deep so as 

 to withstand the wind? 



MR. WILSON: We are not troubled at all with trees tipping out 

 by the wind. 



PRESIDENT ELDON: What kind of tools do you use for cultiva- 

 tion? . 



MR. WILSON: Common cultivators, gang plow, cutaway harrow 

 and Baker harness. 



MR. WERTZ: Does not the Baker harness hurt the horses? 



MR. WILSON: No, not when properly adjUiSted. One of our men 

 prefers to use it for ordinary plowing. I always insist that if one 

 of my men bark a tree they must attend to it before they eat a 

 meal; cover it with wax or something, to keep the air out. 



Question. When do you remove the hogs from the orchard? 

 Are they in there when you are picking the apples? 



MR. WILSON: We take them out just as soon as the fruit is ma- 

 tured enough to make good evaporating stock. 



Question. How many hogs do you keep in your orchards? 



MR, WILSON: Not too many. Not over three or four to each 

 acre. 



Question. Do the hogs work all over the orchard? 



MR. WILSON: Thev work over the orchard about as we do with 

 the manure. A tree that has apples on this year will not touch. 

 They work under one which bore fruit last season. 



Question. Do you use any commercial fertilizer on your orchard? 



MR, WILSON: No, we could never see any beneficial results. 



C. S, GRIEST: How close together do you plant your trees? 



MR. WILSON: Forty feet. I have one orchard that was planted 

 in 1869, thirty-three feet apart, and three years ago we cut out half 

 of those trees. 



Question. How old do you expect your trees to get? 

 MR. WILSON: About 100 vears. 

 Question. Do you ever head them back? 



MR. WILSON: Most of these old trees are dead at the heart 

 and it would likely be impossible to head them successfully. 



