Winter Meeting. 195 



which cannot be ignored. It also, if properly done, conserves moist- 

 ure. I am well aware that this argument will not appeal to some 

 of you ; several seasons in recent years your greatest trouble seem- 

 ingly has been too much moisture. But one year with another you 

 wish for rain many times when it does not come. The whole 

 question of cultivation is associated with the matter of food sup- 

 ply, and it is needless for me to spend any time discussing that 

 feature farther when you have available a source of information 

 immeasureably more complete than anything would be which I 

 could now say. I refer to the paper on "Feeding the Orchard," by 

 Dean Waters of the Agricultural College of your State Univer- 

 sity and Director of your Agricultural Experiment Station, pub- 

 lished in the annual report of this Society for last year, 1905. 

 There may be some of the members who do not appreciate the 

 merits of that paper, so I want to commend it to you without reser- 

 vation for most careful reading and study. It is one of the most 

 practical and comprehensive presentations of the subject that I 

 know anything about. The matter is so presented that it is ap- 

 plicable to every orchard in this State, and if the information and 

 suggestions which it contains were intelligently applied, there 

 would be a complete revolution in orchard management in many 

 instances, adding literally tens of thousands of dollars every year 

 lo the fruit growing interests of this State. 



A caution may not be out of place: An orchard that has not 

 been cultivated for a long time may be severely injured if culti- 

 vation is undertaken recklessly. Deep plowing may break so many 

 roots that the trees will suffer therefrom, and there will be new ad- 

 herents to the doctrine that "cultivation doesn't do." In fact, the 

 whole question of cultivation and feeding rests on fundamental 

 principles, and whether they are needed or not in any particular 

 orchard, depends upon the condition of the trees, and every or- 

 chard is in a degree a law unto itself. 



When it comes to pruning, many of you will not agree with 

 me, though I want to tell you what I believe is true. The advo- 

 cates of "no pruning" are gradually diminishing at least in some 

 quarters, though, perhaps, increasing in others. That many of the 

 orchards in the Central Mississippi Valley are not pruned is evi- 

 dent, or if they are, it is but very little. It is argued that prun- 

 ing is not necessary in order to open the tops of the trees for let- 

 ting in sunlight and coloring the fruit; that because of the inten- 

 sity of the sunshine it "doesn't do ;" that scalding of the trunk and 

 limbs results therefrom. I admit, in a measure, the truth of these 



