102 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



feature of this that is really the most interesting to ns of any, that in 

 one part of the state, in some of the southern counties, where the land is 

 naturally not very good, and very hilly, and not adapted to much else 

 than fruit culture, years ago they had a great many orchards planted, 

 twenty or thirty years ago, but most of these orchards standing now 

 have been abandoned; in fact there are practically no orchards in that 

 region that are not at least twenty years old, because none have been 

 planted within the last tAventv vears until the last two vears. The 

 apples were marketed by flatboat doAvn the Ohio and Mississippi Kivers. 

 With this kind of marketing and the insects that came, the old orchards 

 were abandoned, and within the last few years some of the old orchards 

 have been all cut down, showing that they were thoroughly abandoned. 

 People thought that it was not worth while to prune or fertilize or 

 spray. The matter was considered by the Station, and taken up by a 

 few individuals and found in the last two years that these orchards have 

 been so reclaimed that last year there were 200,000 bushels of apples 

 sold from one particular neighborhood. This work of regeneration is 

 now going on all through that section. I do not believe there is another 

 place in the whole country where there has been so much interest 

 taken in reclaiming of orchards as here. 



As to the matter of spraying, I will not say anything — I believe this 

 is yet to be discussed here, only to say that almost all the orchardists 

 are using the lime and sulphur. There is, however, a difference on this 

 point, some stick to the Bordeaux mixture, but very few, however. 

 Nearl}^ all are taking up the lime and sulphur, because they must use 

 that to get the scale, but also for the reason that they get nmch finer 

 fruit, in appearance. The work of pruning has also been taken up very 

 thoroughly, as it must be, because when an orchard has been neglected 

 for fifteen or twenty years, there is much to be done along that line. 

 Then there is one thing that we have just begun to become interested 

 in, for we have had exactly the same conditions there that you have 

 here in the matter of packing of fruit, but we saw that this must be 

 changed if we were to get the most satisfactory results. We have found 

 that even spraying is not all — we must thin as well as spray, in order 

 to get the most satisfactory fruit for packing. While many have not 

 taken this up, yet, it is exciting more and more interest. 



In the matter of packages, there does not seem to be any settled con- 

 viction in the minds of the people, and many are using the barrel, and 

 will use it for some time to come. 



We are also having remarkable results in the use of fertilizers. I 

 doubt if there can be many sections in the country where such wonder- 

 ful results could be obtained, and it is acknowledged now by all the 

 growers there that the use of the fertilizers is just as essential as the 

 use of the spray. 



A A'oice — Commercial fertilizers? 



Yes, and barnyard manure, but it is not used so very much because of 

 the scarcity. A few years ago when I was here visiting this Society I 

 had something to say about the comparative merit of mulching and 

 cultivation. I do not care to enter into that again, not because I 

 would stir up sedition as I did before, but I do not care to take up the 

 time for it. Growers believe in both methods, but it can hardly be said 

 to be an open question in Ohio. Some are practicing both methods on 



