Winter Meeting. 313 



be done as soon as trees are set, if in spring ; but with fall set trees 

 I wait until spring to prune, and sometimes do not prune until sec- 

 ond spring ; the size and age of trees must determine that. Pruning 

 is a hard problem, and I have not found one successful pruner in 

 twenty men I hire, but sometimes doubt if I know much about it 

 myself. I have kept close watch on my men in pruning and caring 

 for the orchards of about 50,000 trees anywhere from 5 to 10 years 

 old. One great trouble I find with new and often older orchards 

 is they cut too many of the small limbs and let the large ones alone. 

 My rule is to watch and cut the largest and strongest growth where 

 it is not needed, and let the small ones alone up to 5 or 6 years old 

 or up to when the permanent limbs get large and well established ;• 

 then cut out the small and cross limbs. This is my way of making 

 low, spreading trees with large bodies, always keeping main leaders 

 if possible. My reason for not cutting all of the little limbs out is 

 they thicken up and make fewer water sprouts and inake the tree 

 spread out, but they must be cut out in due time. I believe that 

 there are more trees ruined by inexperienced pruners than are ever 

 made better, and trees in bearing ought to be gone over twice — late 

 spring and early fall. 



Cultivate early and thoroughly. I have seen men begin their 

 first cultivating of orchards after harvest. Orchard should be 

 first, before you raise a corn crop, and worked when your corn is. 

 Lay it by when you do your corn and let weeds or anything you 

 have in the orchard take it, but be careful that nothing is there to 

 encourage fire to burn the orchard. 



Our experience favors some hard crop, as corn, on land that is 

 strong. I would like to have the time and space to give you my ob- 

 servation of our orchard from 7 to 10 years old that I have watched 

 from planting. Some with no other cultivation than corn, others 

 clover and some corn, rye and cow-peas. Do not work orchards 

 late in the season. I know of one man who payed us $2,900.00 for 

 an orchard and worked it early and late and so much that the win- 

 ter killed about 87 per cent, of it, or $2,523.00 of the purchase price, 

 only leaving $377.00. Those of his trees and orchards not worked 

 late stood the winter all right. 



After growing about 500 or 600 acres of orchard from 5 to 10 

 years, I find one of the greatest blessings and one of the greatest 

 curses we have to contend with is the laboring man. The good, 

 honest laborer and the reckless, careless, indifferent man. So my 

 advice is, do not plant any more orchards than you know you can 

 give close attention to. Cultivate early and thoroughly. Trees are 



