WINTER MEETING, 1877. 15 



energy of our trees in the bootless task of wood growing, only to he cut out and 

 discarded — would it not be far better to go through our orcliards annually, 

 and with an eye to the symmetry of our trees, cut out the surplus wood when 

 a mere twig, rather than wait till it becomes a branch three inches in diameter, 

 the removal of which must impair the vitality of the tree? The pinching of 

 a bud will sto}) the growth of the incipient limb. A common knife will remove 

 a sprig in a second, that in five years will require the saw, and the paint pot. 

 The good book enjoins, ''If thy right hand ollend thee, cut it off," We 

 would, however, suggest to teach our hands good manners and save all occasion 

 for dismemberment. Begin at the beginning with our fruit trees and save the 

 need, as well as the misfortune of too much orchard surgery. The life of the 

 tree is the sap, and thousands of trees perish annually, or receive great injury 

 from the excessiTC bleeding which even the coat of wax often fails to staunch. 



Again, the success of the orchardist depends much upon care of the trees 

 after grafting, — assuming that this work has been well done, all is not ac- 

 complished when the cion is set. If the tree is vigorous and the entire top 

 has been grafted, the half of the energies of the tree will be wasted in growing 

 nseless sprouts instead of pushing forward the graft, unless the tree be carefully 

 attended to. I have fonnd it necessary to go through my grafts twice a year 

 to rub off a part of the excessive growth upon the body of the tree, so that they 

 would not detract from the growth of the graft itself. In this connection we 

 may make the same suggestions concerning the removal of sprouts that grow 

 from below the point where the tree is trimmed, which if neglected wastes the 

 strength of the tree in growing useless wood. 



Before leaving the subject of judicious trimming of trees, I would suggest 

 that care be taken to prevent the prominent upright branches of trees from 

 growing so close together that the outer bark of each branch at the point of 

 intersection comes in contact. Decay in this case is inevitable. The rain pass- 

 ing down the branches saturates the outer bark, — which confined between the 

 branches cannot dry out again, and the loss of a tree is only a matter of time. 



I pass by the subject of mulching as contributing to the means of the pro- 

 duct of our orchards. I apprehend that the question of irrigation will in the 

 future occupy a more prominent place. The destruction of fruit trees, includ- 

 ing the apple, in the winter of 1874-5, was general throughout our State. Large 

 thrifty trees were frozen out bodily. In my observation the Baldwin and Spy 

 suffered the most. In seeking the probable cause we find the autumn of 1874 

 very dry, and winter set in with the soil as dry as the proverbial ash-bed. So 

 great was the drouth that the snow melting in the spring of 1875, was scarcely 

 sufficient to moisten the earth to the depth of one foot. Below that depth there 

 was so little moisture that the earth upon digging, ran like quicksand. The 

 earth, thus dry and porous, admitted the cold air to the lowest roots. Michi- 

 gan lost in that winter one hundred thousand apple trees alone. Most of these 

 I think might have been saved had they been thoroughly irrigated before the 

 ground had frozen. I lost one thousand dollars' wortli, which, I think, an out- 

 lay of two hundred dollars, in a wind-mill, tank, hose, and watering cart, might 

 have saved. The earth thus saturated with water would have afforded protec- 

 tion to the roots and have saved them from destruction. 



The benefit of irrigation is not confined to protection of trees in winter. The 

 foliage in dry midsummer indicates clearly the want of sufficient moisture. 

 What many are inclined to attribute to the east wind in way of blasting the in- 

 iucipieut fruit, I am led to attribute to cold dry winds in connection with 



