THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 141 



of the leaves was serious. I have thus far found the best success witli oats. Next summer 

 I thiiJc I shall try mixing rape with the oats. 



Perhaps the suggestion that thinning the apples where the fruit has set too thickly 

 can be profitably done will be received with some questioning. After quite a little ex- 

 perience I am convinced that it can be, however. I have found in different instances 

 that from one-half to three-fourths of the apples may be taken off from some trees and yet 

 the quantity of fruit be apparently as large as though none had been removed. Last 

 season a large tree of yellow transparent apples set the fruit so thickly that the fruit was 

 very small. Less than two barrels of fruit was culled out from among the other apples 

 and the rest were left on the tree, they were so small. In fact those that were gathered 

 were hardly large enough to be merchantable. In probably a half day a man would have 

 taken off from three-fourths to seven eighths of the small apples at an expense of 75 cents, 

 and if this had been done at the proper time the result would have been five or six barrels 

 of good apples worth $2.00 per barrel, or $1.70 without the barrel. Seventy-five cents 

 expended in thinning would have increased the returns from that tree over $5.00. One 

 who has practiced making two pickings of the early varieties of apples must have noticed 

 what a remarkable growth the later ones have made after half of the crop has been re- 

 moved at the first picking. 



In counting the cost of thinning fi-uit men are prone to forget that the picking has to 

 be done in any event if the fruit is harvested, and no more motions are required to pick 

 apples and drop them on the ground than to place them in baskets. Wages are not so 

 high at thinning time as they are at the season of gathering and it is quite probable that 

 it will be found by careful experiment that the entire expense of thinning and gathering 

 combined will be little if any more than that of gathering alone where thinning had been 

 neglected m cases where it was needed. The difficulty is that help is frequently lacking 

 when needed- at thinning time. 



In conclusion, if you have a good thrifty apple orchard it is worth taking care of. It 

 is the most promising piece of ground on your fann. 



The discussion was led by Mr. James Halstead, of Wayne county. The success Mr. 

 Halstead has had in the production of apples made his talk particularly interesting to the 

 audience. He contended that all the diseases put together did not destroy as many 

 trees as excessive pruning. His method of shaping the tops is to pennit the limbs to 

 droop as they will and then as the lower limbs die for want of air and sunshine cut them 

 out. Only dead brush and such watersprouts as do not fill up an otherwise open space, 

 are removed. He argues that it is unnecessary to prime so that one can drive underneath 

 trees. Where the limbs come so close to the ground the soil is shaded sufficiently to re- 

 quire no cultivation. This also brings the tops near the pruner, sprayer, and picker. 

 Bordeaux mixture is compounded by using two pounds of lime to every pound fii copper 

 sulphate, and 100 gallons of water is mixed with each seven pounds of the copper sulphate. 

 Mr. Halstead believes that excessive lime is beneficial. This opinion was concurred in 

 by many others. He always trys to spray with the wind. His orchards have not been 

 plowed in twenty years. Mulching is practiced. In new plantings com is grown the first 

 year, the second season the ground is seeded to clover and the soil about the trees is stirred 

 four or five times with the hoe. As to varieties, it was suggested that the best way to 

 get satisfactory results is to learn well the conditions to be met and select kinds to suit. 



RENOVATING NEGLECTED APPLE ORCHARDS. 



The first point made by L. R. Hunter, of Oakland county, who has had much experience 

 in the production of apples, was that the owner should first decide whether it is worth 

 while to try and renovate the old trees or not. Often the varieties are so poor in quality 

 that the fruit would be worth but little if grown. Or the trees may be so far gone that 

 care given would be wasted by not reviving in them enough life to grow fruit. The renova- 

 ting should begin with pruning. This is quite essential as was illustrated by the speaker. 

 An old orchard was sprayed four times one season before any pruning was done which 

 gave no beneficial results. Two years later the spraying followed a moderate priming 

 and $800 worth of apples were harvested. A space wide enough for the sprayer to pass 

 should be cut clear between the rows of trees each way of the orchard. Restore the humus 

 to the soil. This can be done with barnyard manure, mulch and cover crops if they will 

 grow. Mr. Hunter believes in plowing the ground beneath the trees as it aids in destroy- 

 ing fungous diseases. Cultivating the soil is beneficial even if it cannot be done thoroughly 

 on account of the roots. He argues with many others that the San Jose scale is a blessing 

 to the fruit industry, for it will rid the trade of the product grown by careless men. The 

 -ordinary man is not likely to meet the conditions required to successfully combat the scale 

 which will tend to limit the fruit business to those making a specialty of it. 



E. P. Simmons, of Wayne county, opened the discussion. Mr. Simmons believes in 



