Summer Meeting. 89 



The poultry in the orchard are also co-workers with the fruit 

 grower in minimizing the work of fertilization. Their droppings 

 and the manure from the poultry houses are very rich, and the fer- 

 tilizing benefits to our orchards cannot be overestimated; and its 

 utilization rendered so easily, applied by having the poultry ranging 

 all over the grounds occupied by the trees, makes poultry in the or- 

 chard still of greater importance than is even thought or realized 

 by those that never try it. 



Now, on the other hand, the orchard is no more benefited by 

 the poultry being in it than are the poultry for having the pleasure 

 to be there. It is an ideal place for them, where they can drink 

 in the comforts of a nice, shady pasture and scratch to their 

 hearts' content. This means health and vigor to the fowls — ^well- 

 filled egg basket and all in all a profitable fruit and poultry business. 



We wish to give you a few facts to prove the truth of the 

 foregoing statements, gathered from an article published in the 

 American Poultry Advocate, written by Mr. A. F. Hunter, associate 

 editor. He tells us of a visit to a Mr. Tillinghast's farm, near 

 Vernon, Conn.: 



Mr. Tillinghast has a large orchard. Part of it consists of 

 apple trees and plums seven years old. In this young orchard he 

 has a poultry ranch, in which he keeps some 3,000 Brown Leghorn 

 hens ranging. He says the growth those trees attained in seven 

 years is a revelation, and the quality of the fruit produced is a 

 marvel. The trees are from 6 to eight inches through above the 

 ground, and have borne good crops of fruit for the past two or 3 

 years. The crop in 1905 averaged a barrel a piece for the trees, 

 and the quality of the fruit was found the richest, juiciest and most 

 toothsome ever tasted. 



Here is the argument for having poultry in the orchard well 

 illustrated. The splendid growth of those trees and the abundant 

 crops, to which should be linked the rich quality of the fruit, tell 

 the story of what poultry droppings, distributed over the surface, 

 will do for apple trees, and the fact that fowls keep such noxious 

 insects as the apple borer away gives additional strength to the 

 argument. 



And we believe the extra-good quality of the flesh of those 

 apples is due to the richness of the food the apple trees get from 

 the poultry droppings. Why not? An apple tree cannot grow 

 abundant crops of fruit without having food supplied of which to 

 make fruit. If the food is rich, will not the quality of the fruit be 

 finer, richer ? We believe it will, and believe those fine apples from 



