664 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



MR. HALE: Yes; I love weeds. There are a great many people 

 in my country so lazy that they would not cultivate their crops if 

 it were not for the weeds. I would rather have weeds than no cover 

 crop at all. 



PROF. SURFACE: What about peaches as a filler for apples? 



MR. HALE: As a theory it is all right, and I have one orchard 

 where for twelve years I have had peach as a filler, and they have 

 paid for themselves and a fine house and barn on the land, so I have 

 a fine apple orchard that will not cost me a cent. When the peaches 

 are out of the way, I shall probably change the method of cultiva- 

 tion somewhat. 



A Member: How far are your trees apart? 



MR. HALE: The apple 36 ft., and 18 ft. for the peach trees. 



PROF. SURFACE: How long do you carry the peach trees? 



MR. HALE: Fifteen or sixteen years — just as long as they bear 

 veil. 



PROF. SURFACE: Do the apple trees suffer? 



MR. HALE: Yes; but the peaches furnish the money to pay for 

 that suffering, 



A Member: Don't you break your plows in going over those 

 stones? 



MR. HALE: Oh, yes; but we have some factories in Connecticut 

 which make sharp knives and plows, and we must patronize them 

 and keep them busy. 



PROF, SURFACE: How long do you keep your peach trees 

 profitable? 



MR. HALE: Just as long as they live, I have never known a tree 

 that was so old as not to be profitable. Some of the best bearers I 

 have ever had are trees eighteen and twenty years old, I don't be- 

 lieve that any tree, peach or apple, should be cut down as long as 

 it lives and bears well, 



PROF. SURFACE: I asked that question because at a public 

 meeting some time ago I made the remark that I expected to keep 

 my peach trees alive and profitable until they were twenty-five years 

 old, and I was accused of being visionary and laughed at. I simply 

 wanted to see whether I was not right. 



A Member: When and how do ycu apply fertilizer? 



MR. HALE: Usually with broadcast machine and plow it in, 



A Member: On this particularly low-headed tree, how do you get 

 the borer? 



MR. HALE: I do it by proxy, the Italians get them. 



PROF, SURFACE: How do you keep those low trees from lying 

 on the ground? 



MR, HALE :' A tree that wants to lie on the ground, we keep 

 shearing and working at it constantly, 



PROF, SURFACE: What kind of a cover crop do you prefer? 



MR. HALE: Crimson clover and Cowhorn turnips, 



A Member: What time do you plant it? 



MR. HALE: The 5th of August, as nearlv as we can, 



PROF, SURFACE: In Georgia or Connecticut? 



MR. HALE: Connecticut: 



A Member: What do you do with the turnips? 



