52 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



PHASES OF PEACH CULTURE, 



DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONS. 



How early icouM you plow? 



Mr. Hale: I would plow differently from some, I would begin working 

 early in the spring, and in that I am conflicting with Mr. Morrill. 



Mr. Eork: It is surprising how quickly a little stirring of the soil will 

 start anything. I think there is danger in stirring it too soon. There is 

 one advantage in waiting — you can do it all at once; and if there are any 

 weeds to come up, 30U destroy them in the plowing, and turn them under 

 a little. If 3'ou wait too late, then you do not finish until after the drouth 

 sets in and you have lost part of your moisture. I consider all of these 

 things. 



Mr. Hale: If you wait until after the 19th of May, to get rid of the 

 frosts, I belieye it is too late to save the moisture. After the ground is 

 thoroughly settled, I would commence cultivation early; I have practiced 

 it and found it beneficial. 



Is there any difference between Lewis and Early Michigan; if so, ivhat is it? 



A Voice : Yes. 



Mr. Morrill: In regard to that topic just gone by. Mr. Hale is located 

 where I should think he would escape the frost if there is such a thing 

 in the country. His orchard lies upon a high ridge, a most perfect place 

 for early cultivation ; and don't you think, Mr. Hale, that your deductions 

 might not fit other cases? Don't you escape when other people catch it? 



A. Yes, but not last winter. 



Mr. Adams : I am really afraid that we will get the idea of cultivating 

 too early in this country. I was given an illustration in my own orchard. 

 Mine is located as Mr. Hale's is. Four years ago, it happened that I 

 had a row of trees on the side of my orchard that I plowed in the fall. 

 The variety is Snow's Orange, a very hardy kind. I had, as I say, plowed 

 these early and they were in bloom, three or four days before the rest, 

 and from that row of trees I did not pick a bushel of peaches, though a 

 half row of Snow's Orange, adjacent, bore quite a crop of fruit. They 

 had not been plowed early. I believe in waiting until all danger of frost 

 is over, and then push it. 



Mr. Hale: I dislike to dispute with neighbor Adams. Last year, in 

 my old orchard, which is on a little lower ground, though high enough, 

 I did not work until after the frost, because I could not get to it. My 

 other orchards I had worked. My old orchard was, part of it, entirely 

 killed, and the other was not. 



Mr. Barry : I think it was a year ago last May that our county society 

 held a meeting at Mears, and they discussed this matter. We had, all of 

 us here, believed in waiting until all danger of frost was over, and we 

 had been practicing that; but after we got through with that meeting, 

 about fifteen growers who spoke on that subject, every man of us agreed 

 that we would begin to work our orchards earlier. 



