THE ANNUAL MEETING. 175 



DISTANCES APAKT FOR PLANTING FRUIT TREES AND PLANTS. 



Mr. Emmons Biiell, of Kulamazoo, led the discussion by remarking as 

 follows : 



The distance apart whicli fruit trees and plants ought to be placed should be 

 that which will produce the most perfect development of tree and plant, for 

 the purpose of securing to us the greatest amount of superior fruit; and for 

 tliese purposes my experience and observation would induce me to place them 

 about as follows, with, perhaps, a little variation one way or tlie other, as they 

 might be vigorous, spreading growers or of a more contracted habit of growth: 

 Apples 30 feet apart, peaches 1;.*0, pears 20, plums 20, blackberries Gx4, rasp- 

 berries 5x4, strawberries three feet by fifteen inches, and grapes 8x8 feet. 

 These measurements might be varied according to soil and modes of culture. 



Mr. Eatcliff, of Kichmond, Ind., a representative from the Indiana Horti- 

 cultural Society, told of apple orchards planted 34 and 20 feet apart, but nei- 

 ther, because of improper culture, was successful. 



S. M. Pearsall, of Grand Rapids, planted 22 feet apart, but they failed — grew 

 too high. He tried another, 32 feet a})art, and succeeded. He would recom- 

 mend 20 feet apart for peach trees. He trimmed his apples so he could stand 

 and place his shoulder against the first crotches. 



Levi Loomis, of Ganges, said that on the lake shore each man had his own 

 ideas about this matter. He had planted part of his orchard (apples) and set 

 two rods apart. They had done well, but were now too close, as some of them 

 extended 20 feet from their trunks. He recommended 40 feet as the right dis- 

 tance for most soils. Sixteen feet was sufficient for peaches, wdien they are 

 properly pruned and shaped. 



Mr. Buell said different varieties, because of their varied habits of growth, 

 permitted the use of various distances. 



J. 0. Gould, of Paw Paw, thought thirty feet a sufficient distance. 



Mr. Lyon said forty feet was not too much for such varieties as Baldwin and 

 Greening, while it would be folly to waste so much space as this for the Lady 

 apple and the Pearmains. Something depended upon pruning, too. 



Mr. Hanford spoke of planting apple trees forty feet apart with peaches be- 

 tween, the latter being removed as the apples grew large. This had been suc- 

 cessful. 



J. D. Baldwin, Ann Arbor, said he planted apples and peaches thirty feet 

 apart, one orchard along side the other. With his method of cultivating 

 peaches upon his heavy clay soil, he saw no other way of doing the work prop- 

 erly. He cultivated with a single horse a good many times over during the 

 season, — the number of times depending on the amount of dry weather. 



Mr. Hanford remarked that roots had more to do with distance apart than 

 the tops. Trees that throw their roots well away from the trunks need more 

 space. 



The subject next placed before the convention was : 



SCALE OF POINTS IN JUDGING FRUITS AND ORCHARDS. 



Secretary Garfield introduced the subject by referring to an incident of his 

 school days, when the teacher adopted a scale of points, giving a certain num- 

 ber to lessons, another number to punctuality, another to deportment, the 

 whole summing up 100 points. The pupil who stood the highest was to have a 



