1 66 State Horticultural Society. 



longing to the Ozark Orchard Co. The varieties were Ben Davis, W. 

 W. Greening, Winesap and Jonathan, and in every instance the trees 

 have not only borne more apples, but the apples have hung on the trees 

 much better. I consider this girdling as important as any step in culti- 

 vating or pruning, especially where the trees grow too rapidly. 



Captain Lincoln, Bentonville, Ark. — I have one hundred acres all 

 in orchard and I endorse nearly everything said in the two papers. 1 

 believe in pruning, cultivation and buying good trees and planting right. 

 I also believe in doctoring trees and advise putting on manure as you see 

 it is needed. As soon as the ground thaws go over the orchard with 

 ashes, put the wrappers on and look after the trunks and wounds. It 

 is a question what to do with the ends of the limbs which are too thick 

 and hold too many blooms, so that they cannot hold all of the fruit 

 formed. I say cut out the bushy limbs and open up the tree. L believe 

 in clovering the orchard. I have had it three years and mow it while it 

 is fresh. 



W. A. Gardner. — I would like to ask Capt. Lincoln what about 

 heading the trees? 



Capt. Lincoln. — Mr. H. P. Gould of Washington, D. C, asked for a 

 model Ben Davis tree to photograph and chose one, the limbs of which 

 came out as high as my neck. My idea of an ideal tree is for the head 

 to be about four or five feet from the ground after twelve years ; for 

 when only eighteen inches high the limbs lie on the ground and have to 

 be cut off. The limbs must come out horizontally from the trunk. 



W. H. Barnes, Kas. — We are between two fires if the head is five or 

 six feet high then the limbs and apples are too high. President Well- 

 house says we can't afford to pick apples over twelve feet high. 



Capt. Lincoln. — My oldest trees are twelve years and no limb rises 

 over twelve feet from the ground, because they are grown horizontally. 



F. H. Speakman. — What time should we trim the tops. Some trees 

 have thick heads, but we don't know when to trim for best results, that 

 is, to thin and not lose too much wood growth. 



H. B. Francis, Kas. — The advice of eastern growers has made 

 failures here. You should get your trees from the nearest rehable nursery, 

 plow and fertilize and subsoil. Grow the orchard on level ground or 

 else the rain will run off. It is just the easiest thing in the whole apple 

 business to have the trees make branches so as to get the fruit from the 

 ground. Never cut the center out and you will never have a high tree. 

 Grow only one tree on a stem and not three or four. Shorten the outside 

 limbs the second year from planting. Concentrate growth to the center. 

 Later the branches droop low enough so that you can gather most of the 



