260 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



thin the apples there will not be much sorting to do and if carefully 

 handled very few bruised ones. 1 think it was i\Ir. Tyson who spoke of 

 the value of color. The apple that should be red and is not red is of 

 no value to me. We are 15 miles from Toledo so that we supply the 

 leading grocers there on orders. They phone in their orders twice a 

 week for 20 to 40 baskets and they are fieshed packed and covered 

 with netting; and especially in that case we tiud that an apple with- 

 out color not only has no tlavor but has no appearance, in many in- 

 stances I leave the apples hang on the trees, not jjicking them too 

 early. Possibl}" in some instances they keep better in common storage 

 if picked early but nut in cold stoiage. An apple should be allowed 

 to hang on until it ripens and colors up, and if sprayed thoroughly 

 you will not have so many rotten, and if free from worms you will 

 not have many to drop. 



In regard to the discussion on tillers that was brought out — this is 

 a kind of scattering talk — we have found the liome Beauty one 

 of our best tillers. The Wagener is good but with us the Eome Beauty 

 is a better apple and sells better, while the quality is not equal to 

 Wagoner; and I have been using this method of using Rome Beauty 

 and Jonathan. 1 had 25 to 30 dwarf apples 1 set out 18 years ago 

 and they did not bear any more than the standard trees. We have 

 now only 12 or 15 left, and judging from my experience 1 would not 

 use the dwarf apple. 1 have no use for the peach as a filler, for the 

 simple reason it would be dilticult to si)ray the one without interfering 

 with the other. I know some do it. My plan is this: I plant my per- 

 manent trees 40 feet apart each way and right in the center of the 

 square I put another of the permanent varieties. That means just as 

 many more of the permanent trees. Then I put in between the fillers 

 until 1 have my trees 20 feet apart each way. That requires a little 

 care in the selection of varieties and in management and pruning. It 

 would not be wise to plant Baldwins or any of those slow growing 

 varieties 20 feet apart because before they bore you would have to 

 chop down part of them. I can take any young orchard and by the 

 wrong kind of pruning and Avrong time of pruning I can keep that or- 

 chard from bearing fruit for five years longer than its normal period. 

 Cutting olf too many of these lateral branches and pruning too vigor- 

 ously will check bearing and promote wood growth. I would not go 

 to the other extreme of not doing any pruning at all. If I do prune I 

 take pains in shaping my young apple tree. We don't do much prun- 

 ing for a few years. You are not going to get such an excessive growth 

 as to require a great deal of pruning after you have got them bearing. 

 The peach is a tree that requires continuous pruning and a good deal 

 of it; but in the case of the api)le, pear, plum and cherry we try to do 

 just as little as possible. They say sour cherries don't need any prun- 

 ing. You know sour cherries Avill throw out a multitude of fine 

 branches that cross in the centre of the tree. These intercrossing 

 limbs must be kept cut out. 



I believe that most of us will find it advisable to grow as nearly as 

 posible a succession of fruits covering the entire season, fruits of good 

 quality. We have a wonderful advantage over our Western competi- 

 tors in having the markets at our doors, and while they grow fruit 

 that will not bear transportation we can let the fruit ripen on the 

 tree, handle it with care, grade it carefully and meet them every time. 

 If you have No. 2, mark them No. 2. Grade them carefully and put 



