TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 159 



advantages in planting these varieties. Mr. Bradley didn't know what 

 else to do, and he put those Oldenburgs out much against his will, but the 

 results have been marvelous. For the two preceding years, '93 and '94, 

 from that orchard (I think it has ten acres), he has told me his sales net- 

 ted him about $3,000 per year, the parties from Cincinnati paying him this 

 amount and themselves packing the apples; but last year he was not 

 successful in getting them to do that — everything was demoralized. 



Prof. Bailey: I am glad to say a good word for that orchard, for it is 

 certainly the most remarkable apple orchard I ever saw. I notice that 

 I am down on the programme to say something about apples, and while at 

 it, I shall wish to bring up that orchard again. I don't know of any 

 fruitgrowing in New York state which has brought more money for the 

 amount invested, and the small risk, as that at this very Bradley orchard. 



Q. What is the soil? 



Mr. Willard: It is a loam. I can not say it is light; it is between a 

 light and a heavy loam. 



Prof. Bailey: It has been made of heavy loam by deep tillage and 

 good fertilization. It is a good, strong loam at the present time. 



Mr. Willard: I said, "Bradley, what do you do?" He answered, "I use 

 bone dust and muriate of potash," and I could see a little barnyard man- 

 ure, but you could kick right in up to your knee. Now, Woodward has a 

 relative in Lockport who has always advocated the idea of keeping sheep, 

 or something else, in his orchards, and not tilling nor cultivating them, 

 and he has carried that thing to a wonderful extreme. It being not very 

 far off, I said to Bradley one day, "Let's ride around and look at some of 

 those other orchards." I wanted to see what the results were of that 

 principle carried out. We looked over a good many of them, and where- 

 ever we found an orchard under reasonable cultivation the fruit looked 

 well, but when we saw those orchards cultivated under Woodward's 

 theory they were disappointing. If the theory had been carried out per- 

 fectly, it might have been all right. Woodward always says, keep sheep 

 in your orchard, and feed your sheep and let them fatten, and the results 

 of their feeding will make it unnecessary to cultivate. That idea might 

 be successful, if fully carried out, but this man takes hold of it and puts 

 sheep in, and they skin the ground, and instead of adding anything to the 

 soil he is simply taking food away from the soil and putting it on the 

 backs and into the stomachs of the sheep — the very food the trees needed. 

 This we found to be the condition of the majority of those orchards 

 where Woodward's theory had been attempted. Mr. Bradley sends mag- 

 nificent specimens to the state fair — a whole barrel of Oldenburgs, and 

 they look as much alike as two peas. This is an illustration of what can 

 be done with an apple which has been regarded as not of much value, be- 

 cause we have come generally to believe that a winter apple is what we 

 want. There is, however, a demand for good fall apples, and they can be 

 sold at good prices. 



Mr. Collar: You say that you cultivate deep? 



A. I should say that his cultivation is not designed to be deep; he 

 plows his land in the spring, and then uses his spring-tooth harrows, so 

 as to keep the soil stirred up, and it results in the land being loose. 



Q. Would it be better to cultivate, to keep the ground mellow on top, 

 say three or four inches deep, instead of plowing? 



