196 STATE HOETICULTUEA.L SOCIETY. 



Now having your trees set of the right varieties for profit, you 

 must give them the very best cultivation possible, for if your trees are 

 stunted the first year they will never do as well afterward. If the 

 ground has been well plowed the cultivation need not be deep, but the 

 surface must be kept clean and fine. Plow or hoe, if possible, after 

 every rain. The land can be planted in corn or potatoesor some other 

 cultivated crop till the trees are old enough to sow to clover, say four 

 or five years, then plow once in two years. You must now be on the 

 lookout for insect pests, especially the round-head borer. The surest 

 way to save your trees from borers is to take the surface dirt away 

 about an inch deep around the root of the trees and examine them 

 carefully and cut out all you can find, then rub on a thin coat of soft- 

 soap and put the dirt back to its place. The best time to do this is in 

 July or August. If it is done every year you need not fear the borer. 

 Most other kinds of insects can be kept in check by spraying with the 

 different preparations now in use. 



Apple trees should never be pruned very heavy at any one time; 

 I do most of my pruning in the spring after the sap starts ; they seem 

 to heal better then. I cut out all cross branches and thin out every 

 part so as to let in the light to give the fruit the proper color. 



Now I want to say a few words about how to grow apples at a 

 loss. If you will buy a piece of land close to a big town or city, pay 

 about $150 an acre for it, then send way off for some fine large trees 

 of some new-fangled process of grafting or budding, such as whole 

 roots as on oak trees, of some fine variety, such as Yellow Bell flower, 

 at 60 or 75 cents apiece, then set them out 40 feet apart each way in 

 holes four feet square and two or three feet deep, putting the top soil 

 in the bottom of the hole and the clay on top and then wait till they 

 bear. B. R. Boucher, Cairo, Mo. 



DISCUSSION. 



A. Nelson — Why not plant enough Maiden Blush to load a car 

 and get from $2 to 12.50 per barrel for them ? The Maiden Blnsh will 

 make more money than the Ben Davis. Not enough attention is paid 

 to the Maiden Blush, Grimes and other early apples. We do not plant 

 enough of them to load a car. 



Mr. Reed of Wisconsin — I would like to emphasize the raising of 

 such apples as the Maiden Blush, Grimes and Jonathan. I think your 

 Ben Davis apples in Missouri will compare with our filled cheese. 

 They will ruin the reputation of your State for fruit. We have a law 

 in Wisconsin preventing the making of filled cheese. You ought to 



