372 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



by his house was sowed to oats, and had a number of bird houses in it, in 

 which bluebirds, martins, and wrens had raised from two to three broods of 

 young. In this orchard it was diflBcult to find a wormy apple, even among the 

 Russets, which the moths have a special liking for. Did not pretend to say 

 ■why. He was going to look after these pests thoroughly next year and now, 

 by laying boards down to trap them. His Northern Spy apples were especially 

 fair this year. 



Mr. Pierce said he had seen peaches grown in Vermont by spreading coal 

 dust on the snow or ground, at the base of the tree, and boards on the south 

 gide of the trees, after the ground was frozen, to keep the trees and ground 

 from thawing until late in the spring. 



Mr. H. Chatfield said it was very essential first to remove the water from 

 around the roots, and also to mulch the ground after it was frozen, enough to 

 keep it from thawing during the winter. Most of the peach trees he had lost 

 had been rocked by the wind until crevices were made about the trees for 

 "water to stand in and freeze. He don't think banking up to the trees in the 

 fall will hurt them. 



Hon. Wm. H. Hurlbut agrees with Mr. Chatfield that the most essential 

 thing to be done in preparing an orchard for winter was to drain the water 

 well from the roots. 



He had some trees that were always blowing about, until he got the stumps 

 out so he could make a deep dead furrow betAveen the rows, and until he kept 

 the ground plowed to the trees so as to run the water from them. Now they 

 don't blow over and are thrifty. If the water stands about the roots, the trees 

 sway and make a porridge. Deep plowing in the latter of the season was 

 injurious. He would not plow or cultivate later than July, for the benefit of 

 the trees. The bigger crop of weeds that can be got after that, the better. 

 They check the growth in time to ripen the wood, and hold the snow daring 

 the winter, and go back to the ground to mulch and fertilize it. He thought 

 it was well to throw branches around the trees in the fall, to hold snow. He 

 left branches which he pruned off in July on the ground for this purpose. 

 All this looked slovenly, but he believed it paid. He grubbed his trees twice a 

 year for economy's sake, as it took less time than to be very careful to catch 

 all the grubs at one time. He had just had two men hoe the dirt away from 

 his trees preparatory to looking for the grubs. They had prepared 700 trees 

 in three hours. This ought to have been done before. He would leave them 

 five days, then examine them. Many of the very small ones would have dried 

 with the bark and perished. The rest he would kill, and then draw the dirt 

 back just enough to cover the yellow bark, or that which had the cluster of 

 roots. In the spring he would grub the trees again and bank up to them. 

 He never had mice injure a peach tree. 



Mr. Howard said he had seen them girdled by deer mice. 



Question. — Would you trim trees now? 



Answer. — No. The cuts will not heal over, and the wood will crack. 



Mr. Bailey said he had had much experience, and had killed trees outright 

 by pruning them in September. Never prune a tree in the fall. 



Mr. A. S. Dyckman approved of hilling up to the trees in the fall, and wliea 

 most exposed, of placing something to catch and hold the snow. 



The codling moth will be looked after at the next meeting. 



