Apple Orchards. 351 



l>egiii to bear with the one row of trees, protected on the north by the wall 

 und fed from the south by the stream. These trees bear a crop practically 

 every year and of the finest fruit. They are never cultivated and never 

 fertilized. So far as appears they enjoy no special advantage except 

 such as is derived from the running water into which some of the roots of 

 each tree must grow. It is true that the stream runs close to the farm 

 barn, and may obtain some of the juices of the yard, but it certainly does 

 not get enough to color the water. From what appears, there seems to be 

 an almost complete change of climate produced on that narrow strip of 

 land by the fence and the stream, or more likely, the stream almost alone. 



I have not read any expert advocacy of this sort of culture of apple 

 trees. We have been given to suppose that rich, deep, but comparatively 

 dry soil was the best for fruit trees of all sorts. In the case before us I 

 am convinced that the presence of the stream, being, as it is, slightly 

 below the level of the little ridge on which the trees stand, insures good 

 drainage as well as constant irrigation, and that the roots of the trees are 

 some how trained to act in a double capacity, some of them reaching out 

 for the water and others for what must be had from the dry soil. 



If this supposition is correct, and the chance success can be repeated, 

 we ought to see in all parts of the country our small streams lined with 

 double rows of fruit trees. I am not at all sure that, in level districts, 

 especially with clay soil to hold the water, the experiment could be ex- 

 pected to succeed, for the conditions noted are very different from any- 

 thing of that sort. The soil is essentially gravelly, with no clay, and the 

 descent is sufficient to produce a swift current. It is also quite likely 

 that the water runs fast enough to insure a bed containing more or less 

 stone, as such is the rule in that section. This stone is to the south of the 

 row of trees, and ought to warm and quicken the soil considerably. 



John Chambeklain. 



Erie county, IST. Y. 



NATIOA^AL APPLE GROWERS' MEETING. 



"Methods of Field Work" wa^^ introduced by L. K. Sutton. Under 

 thi^; liead a variety of subjects were discussed, special attention being 

 given to proper lines to pick and pack. Mr. Beckwith thought that most 



