372 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Tlie land we took was not in the best of condition. Most of 

 it needed underdi-ainage in order to give good crops and permit of 

 proper cultivation. The land is a little too heavy for potatoes and 

 the results we secured from trying to grow corn between the trees 

 were not encouraging. It seemed to shade them too much; so that 

 we are growing tlie trees without any croj)s on the land betAveen 

 them, ^^■e plow the land or disk it as soon as possible in the spring 

 and keep it cultivated until July or the first of August, at which 

 time we sow a cover crop. During the past year on 200 acres of 

 orchard we sowed a mixture of 1 pound Cow Horn Turnips, 4 

 pounds Dwarf Essex I\ape, 5 pounds Crimson Clover and 5 pounds 

 of T\ed Clover per acre, and in addition, we allowed all the rag 

 weeds, pig weeds and other weeds that would grow to come up. 

 Some of them have made a wonderful growth the past year, grow- 

 ing tall enough to hide a horse. We manure the apple trees each 

 year, with a light dressing of farm manure. The first two years 

 we gave them a small application of probably 1 to 2 pounds per 

 tree of a mixed fertilizer about .3.8.8. This past year we have used 

 Basic Slag on some of the apples at the rate of 800 pounds per 

 acre on bearing trees, and have had very marked results. Certain 

 trees were left as checks, and on them the foliage was not nearly 

 so large, nor was the growth made this season so long. In the 

 past we have had more results from Acid Phosphate when applied to 

 the peaches than from any other fertilizer, but during the past 

 year we did not get any results with either Floats at the rate of 

 1,200 pounds per acre, with 500 pounds of Iron Sulphate or from 

 Basic Slag at the rate of fiOO pounds per acre, or Acid Phosphate 

 at the rate of GOO pounds pei- acre. The trees did not show any 

 improvement over those which had nothing. We shall continue 

 this experiment for certainly two or three more years, since these 

 trees are located on one of our best soil types. 



PRUNING OF PEACH TREES 



When we plant the peach trees we cut them off to a stub about 

 12 to 15 inches long. On this we allow 3 limbs to grow, removing 

 any others. Since that time these trees have not been pruned. 

 They were 3 years planted last May and last year they bore a suf- 

 ficient number of peaches so that the sales were |50 i)er acre on 

 one block of nine acres. Our trees do not make the growth that 

 yours do in this vicinity; they have not the size that yours would 

 have, but they are much larger trees than those grovN-n in orchards 

 where heading back is practiced each year; and by allowing them 

 to bear early they will get the necessary spread of limb and open 

 center which we aim for. The trees are full of fruit buds and it 

 hardly seems necessary to do any pruning this year, except in 

 the case of a variety like Late Crawford, which makes a great deal 

 of wood. We shall be able to pick everything from the ground next 

 year as we did this. As they begin to grow higher we shall head 

 them back. 



On Herbert Wadsworth's Estate at Avon, trees handled about 

 the same way yielded as high as 10 and 11 baskets, that is one- 

 third bushel baskets per tree; in other words, a yield of 3 to nearly 



