SUMMER MEETING. 23 



Q. Would not there be a little advantage in fertilizing in having 

 the trees planted 20 or 25 feet apart over 30 feet apart "? 



A. You could not fertilize without mixing the fruit. That is the 

 way I do. I mix the rows with Ben Davis and other kinds. I think 

 that is the best way to plant an orchard. My last 1.20 acres I planted 

 in that way. 



I would like to throw out a few suggestions — a few points for the 

 consideration of this Society. The first is regarding the direction in 

 which you are going to plant the trees in your orchards. I think there 

 should be exceptions to the rule of having the rows run north and 

 south, east and west. That would depend on the topography of the 

 ground. I think the direction of the rows should depend on the lay 

 of the land. In this kind of country you will not have furrows going 

 up and down the rows. [ find the difficulty in the washing of the gul- 

 leys; I think I would change the direction of the rows and make the 

 tillage according to the lay of the land. This system of laying off 

 orchards in hexagonal and octagonal shapes will give you the oppor- 

 tunity of cultivating the trees in four different directions, and you can 

 guard against washing. One of the gentlemen here has presented a 

 plan of his orchard to this Society. I will have another plan to phow 

 you. I have planted many orchards, and each time the people would 

 say to me, •' What is the use of your planting an orchard, for you will 

 never live to get the fruit," But I have planted them nevertheless. 

 If I had my way, I would do it again. On the kind of land we have 

 here, I would make the rows according to the lay of the land accord- 

 ing to the gulleys and washing. In this way they get the best exposure 

 and have a better chance of growth, I think, than any other. 



Then in regard to planting trees and getting them to pay : I tried 

 once planting an orchard in apples, pears and cherries. I planted it 

 with the view of utilizing all the ground to the greatest advantage. 

 I planted it, and cultivated it and took a great deal of interest in it, as 

 I have in all the orchards I have planted. My experience is that when 

 you have planted and cultivated an orchard, attended to it with your 

 own hands that you have a tender regard for that orchard and each 

 tree is dear to you — yon feel almost as if it were your child. After 

 you have given your time, labor and energy for the trees, have watched 

 their growth and development, and* have sacrificed for them, to give 

 away one of them or to cut it down is like sacrificing one of your chil- 

 dren. And my experience would lead me to believe that if the trees 

 were planted too close together to permit of them remaining after they 

 have attained their growth, it would be very hard for a man who had 

 planted and tended both to decide which one to sacrifice, and that he 



