PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 231 



OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCE IN THE ORCHARDS THE PAST 



SUMMER. 



BY MR. J. J. GEE OF WHITEHALL 



When asked if I would prepare a paper for this meeting, I replied 

 that I would if I survived the fruit harvest in which I was then 

 fugaged; and, while perhaps it has not been a ''survival of the fittest," 

 it certainh' has been the survival of one who has had to hustle early 

 and late, with "green" help and ripe fruit, and sometimes over-ripe 

 at that. 



You remember Dr. Franklin makes Poor Richard say: "He that by 

 the plow would thrive, himself must either hold or drive." But 1 am 

 inclined to think, if Poor Richard had been in the fruit business last 

 summer, he would have found it quite necessary to both hold and 

 drive, at least part of the time. 



In this paper I desire to give the observations and experiences of 

 a beginner. During the last six years the writer has been buying 

 and planting such varieties of peach, plum, pear, cherry, and apple 

 as seemed most desirable for this climate, having at this time about 

 7,500 trees, largely of bearing age. As nearly half are peach, I will 

 refer to these first. 



The orchard was plowed very early, before blossoming, and, to the 

 writer's surprise, not a tree of any sort, except Elberta, showed any 

 curl-leaf, while otlier orchards near by, under similar conditions in 

 every way, except later cultivation, were quite badly affected. l*art 

 of the orchard was sprayed, both before and after the leaves came 

 out, including the Elbertas, leaving some of this sort unsprayed; but 

 no effect was noticed. The Elbertas' curled quite badly, and during 

 a time when the weather was not disturbed by sudden change of tem- 

 perature, it being warm, growing weather with considerable rain. Some 

 trees of this soi't were curled much more tlian others, and yet condi- 

 tions were all the same. It came on very suddenly, then gradually 

 disappeared. In an orchard just east of the village of Shelby, of about 

 ten acres, the writer noticed twelve rows across the west side that 

 were badly curled; and, as he had observed before that the varieties 

 in this orchard run Ihe other way. inquii'y was made as to the cause. 

 The answer was that the curled trees had received late culture, the 

 others early, and none had been sprayed. 



In regard to tiimming my trees, I cut back heavily, but made the 

 mistake of not cutting out the c(mter enough. The new growth came 

 out so thick and lieavy that the fruit, when shaded too thickly, lacked 

 color; and I am certain that all Ihe fruit would have been larger if 

 m(u-e lar-ge as w(il as small brancln^s liad been I'emoved. 



In regard to thin'MUg. I noti'^ed some soi-ts required more than others, 

 esp<M'ially Snow's Orange, Chili, and Rarnard; also that one boy with 

 a man will thin more fruit in a given time than three boys with the 



