16 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the head about 2J feet from the ground. We find in almost all suc- 

 cessful orchards trees with medium low-heads. I beieive that borers 

 will not attack trees that are headed low. 



President^Now, Mr. Smith, you have given your reasons why you 

 would head two feet from the ground. Give your reasons why you 

 would not head nearer the ground. 



Mr. Smith — It makes a better looking tree. There is no doubt but 

 what it would produce a nicer apple, but the fruit that fell on the 

 ground would be hard to get. Besides, the trees have to have some air. 



President — Don't you think they would lay on the ground ? 



Kirchgraber — Mr. President, my idea is that the limbs have a 

 tendancy to grow upward. If you cut these limbs they are hardier. I 

 have an orchard that has been treated that way and it is pretty old. 



President — Mr. Kirchgraber, have you an orchard of profitable 

 apples? Have you any Ben Davis apples ? 



Mr. K. — Yes, I have some Ben Davis trees that are pretty old. 



Question — How old? 



Answer — 15 or 16 years. 



Question — Have you any 30 years old? 



Answer — No, sir. 



President — I do not think you will find any profitable orchards as 

 old as that. They live so long because they are not profitable, and die 

 because they are profitable. 



Kirchgraber — I know of a Ben Davis orchard that is 24 years old. 



Hazeltine — I would like to have Mr. Kirchgraber tell us all about 

 his large Ben Davis orchard. How high does he start the head. 



Kirchgraber — The heads are started about 2^ or 3 feet from the 

 ground. 



Hazeltine — I have an orchard of 30 acres of Ben Davis apples and 

 I started the heads very low. I find that where trees are headed low 

 the limbs hang too low, and it is almost impossible to get under them 

 to pick up the droped apples. A man has to lie almost flat on the 

 ground. In an older orchard belonging to my father, trees that w re 

 set too close together have died. I trim a great many of these limbs 

 off. They produced fruit that was colorless. I thought I would rather 

 have mine produce good fruit. I had been pruning a little higher when 

 I first headed my trees. I find that where a tree is pruned too high, 

 exposing the body of it, the borers are more apt to seek it out. In the 

 early growth of the tree I recommend low-heads. After they commence 

 to shade themselves or their root, I would trim them higher. 



