WINTER MEETING. 243 



cultivator and the seventh row with a common double shovel. Care 

 at all times is taken not to piovv too deep near the trees; and yet, the 

 roots should not be allowed to run too near the surface, as in dry 

 weather the trees would be damaged. The plow does most of the 

 culture, but the hoe is also brought into service. I hoe my trees as 

 carefully as the gardener hoes his cabbage. Not a spear of grass is 

 allowed to grow near the trees. In this way lam able to guard against 

 mice, and easily to see any borers that enter the trunks of the trees. 

 We are troubled but little with the flat-head borer, unless the trees 

 become stunted, and then I promptly cut them down. I have destroyed 

 well-nigh two thousand trees, including what have died from other 

 causes. It is poor economy to cultivaie stunted trees. I found this 

 to be true when I seta few hundred three-year-old trees about the size 

 of common trees a year younger. I have destroyed, perhaps, one-third 

 of them, and it would have been economy to have destroyed about 

 another third. 



I have learned that very rich new ground is not best for young 

 trees. The light, loose soil filled with roots and sticks does not furnish 

 a suitable place for starting new roots. Furthermore, the corn grows 

 very rank and tends to check the growth of the trees. Dry weather 

 comes and the tree is stunted. The bark becomes hard and dry and 

 flat-heads attacks the trees. There remains nothing to do but to dig 

 them out and replace them with other trees. 



I have found low laps, not forks, to be the ideal. The bodies are 

 thus protected from the sun, and are much more thrifty than trees with 

 high laps. Besides, the labor of harvesting is materially lessened by 

 having as much fruit as possible within reach of the ground. I may as 

 well add here that I prune but little. I get trees, as far as I can, with 

 plenty of lap and a center stem. I prune but little when I set. I 

 have found that it is useless to prune heavily, as the trees with large 

 laps live just as well as those with smaller laps, if the roots are good. 

 Again, it injures a tree to cover its body with wounds made by cutting 

 the branches off. Especially would I refrain from the somewhat com- 

 mon practice of cutting oiBF the ends of the limbs. After the tree is 

 set, I trim just enough to avoid forks, one-sided trees, and cross limbs 

 which are liable to rub. In this way nature forms a nice top without 

 water sprouts. A young man searched my orchard for half au hour to 

 find a single water-sprout and found none. He said it kept his father 

 busy about all sum jaer to keep the water-sprouts oJ0F about a thousand 

 young trees. His father believes that pruning makes a tree grow. He 

 would object, however, if some one should advise him to cut off some of 

 his fingers and toes in order that his health might be improved. These 



