232 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



same man, especially if they are interested in base ball talk, and that 

 all bojs would rather thin peaches in August or September than in 

 June; that they will do better work if paid twice per day than once 

 per month. The heavier and harder the soil, the smaller were the 

 peaches; and the more moisture the soil contained, even where it had 

 been very difficult to make the trees live on account of the damp 

 nature of the soil, the larger the fruit. The peach wants plenty of 

 moisture, at the ripening stage, and this damp soil had it when most 

 needed, in hot August and September weather. I noticed that the 

 peaches hanging near the ground and those on the tips of the long- 

 est limbs ripened first; that Jaques Rareripe drops badly if not picked 

 at just the right time; that some pickers can never learn when a 

 peach is fit to pick; that Wager, w^hen well grown, is a beauty under 

 tarletan, and an excellent shipper. That all peaches sold better in 

 the Chicago market in fifth-bushel baskets than in bushel baskets, by 

 twenty-five to fifty per cent.; that a tree that was blown down in early 

 spring and when straightened uj) had most of the roots broken off^ 

 bore the largest fruit of its sort in the orchard and made a fair growth. 

 Query: Why not root-prune by "plowing deep while sluggards sleep" 

 and have large peaches to sell and keep? — which is not exactly accord- 

 ing to Poor Richard. 



The writer sowed five acres of oats, in August, as advised by Mr, 

 Morrill, and they were a foot high and very thick when the leaves 

 fell, thus holding a fine leaf-mulch all around the tree where needed. 

 We can not afford to lose the cheapest and best of all tree fertilizers^ 

 the foliage from the tree, as this contains the very elements neces- 

 sary to tree growth; and the oat crop, if thick, will hold it. 



As to plums, Lombard, as usual, came to the front with a fine crop, 

 but showed up much better on the tree and in the basket than in 

 the pocket-book. Shipper's Pride has proved a delusion to the writer, 

 thus far, the only attractive thing about it being its name. In grow- 

 ing prunes, the writer must have the wrong strain, as the trees hold 

 neither foliage nor fruit, although by spraying I hope to correct this 

 fault. Many of the Prince Engleberts cracked on one side, letting 

 the gum ooze out; this was caused by a heavy, cold wind and storm 

 when fruit was about the size of small peas. All the plums turned 

 black where the wind struck them, and I thought the crop almost 

 ruined. Later, most of them regained their normal color, but Engle- 

 bei't suffered most. Abundance dropped badly as soon as ripe. This 

 sort, like Clapp's Favorite pear, has to be watched closely and jjicked 

 at just the right time. Burbank is much the better shipper, but both 

 sorts are rather early for the canning trade, for people do not like to 

 put up fruit when the weather is too hot. 



In regard to growing the cherry, a mistake was made in not pick- 

 ing off the fruit before grown, from the English Morello, the first three 

 years after planting. This neglect resulted in a very small growth of 

 tree. 



In starting a pear orchard, about 500 dwarf Angouleme were set 

 to supply fruit while the standard trees were coming into bearing; 

 but though they are six years old they have never borne five bushels, 



