324 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



THE MANISTEE FRUIT REGIOX. 



I have resided at Manistee nearly ten years, and during that time I have 

 watched the development of the fruit interests carefully, and I have the satis- 

 faction of knowing that, "with proper care, fruit culture has proved eminently 

 successful. 



It is true that several large orchards have been planted in this vicinity that 

 have proved perfect failures, and probably hundreds, if not thousands, of dol- 

 lars have been ■wasted in such investments, and -were it not that largo and 

 flourishing orchards on similar soil in the same neighborhood prove abundantly 

 proQtable to their owners under proper cultivation, the failure^ mentioned might 

 seem discouraging. 



Experience proves that it ^vould be better to throw away money than to invest 

 it in trees and waste time in planting, if they arc to be treated with total neg- 

 lect afterward. Manure and cultivation arc as essential to fruit as to vegeta- 

 bles, and weeds and grass will choke out the one as readily as the other, until 

 the trees have attained growth and power to resist their encroachments. Crops 

 can be raised between the trees sufficient to amply compensate for the cultiva- 

 tion of tlie ground, and grass and weeds should be kept away from young trees 

 as carefully as from growing vegetables. 



I am aware that experiments at the Agricultural College are claimed as dem- 

 onstrating that witli old trees, spading around the trunk in meadow land is of 

 but little avail, and this is probably true where the cultivation does not reach far 

 enough to benefit the small fibers at the end of the roots, as but little nutri- 

 ment is gathered by the largo roots of old trees near the trunk. ]?ut I do 

 claim that spading or mulching in meadow land around young trees is not only 

 beneficial, but essential, and that if they extend far enougii with old trees to 

 reach the small libers at the extremity of the roots it would prove very bene- 

 ficial. I have made an experiment by planting fifty trees, including plums, 

 apples, pears, chestnut, walnut and butternut in grass sod on heavy clay soil, 

 spading first, three feet square, and I have spaded about three feet from the 

 tree each way once or twice a year since, and mulched witii a wheelbarrow load 

 of barnyard manure each fall and sjiring. By the side of these trees, in the 

 same lot, I have planted others on plowed ground that Avere purchased at the 

 same time, and as nearly as possible like them, and this ground has been kept 

 thoroughly tilled, and the trees have been mulched the same as the others. 

 They were planted five years ago last spring, and the trees in the grass Avill av- 

 erage larger at the present time than those on tilled ground, although all of 

 them have made a wonderful growth, some of tlie plum trees being now 10| 

 inclies in circumference two feet from the ground; and most of tliem were 

 loaded almost to breaking with fruit this season. It was from these trees that 

 I took the plums which received the first premium at the State Fair. Tliis ex- 

 periment proves that by mulching and cultivation trees may be grown on grass 

 land. The peach and apple trees have also commenced bearing. I attach 

 great importance to fall cultivation and mulching. Fall plowing and spading 

 accom})lish two objects of great importance, not attained by cultivation in the 

 spring : It enables the frost to pulverize the soil, and destroy the insects and 

 larvio tliat otherwise might flourish to eat out tlie life of the tree, and it leaves 

 the ground in much better condition to feed the tree during the following sea- 

 Bon. Fall mulching protects the roots from extreme cold and enables the earth 



