196 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



fruit. In some places also they find the use of clover occasionally a 

 good thing in an orchard, seeding down, say, a year or so, and after that 

 giving two or three years of cultivation. In some rich soils, particularly- 

 in the states to the south of us — Illinois and Missouri — I have oftentimes 

 seen young orchards making a very strong, thrifty growth that did not 

 bear; and by seeding them to clover a year they were checked in growth, 

 and fruit buds formed and a crop was secured. I believe that for nine 

 tenths of the apple orchards of Michigan the cultivation of a cover crop 

 in the fall and winter would be best. 



Mr. Allen: I think many of the residents of this county who have 

 lived here any great length of time can look back to the first orchards we 

 had and see very plainly what was the matter. When the farmers first lo- 

 cated here and cleared up a little plat of land they were all anxious to 

 get fruit. A great many of the people came from New York, already a 

 fruit country. They set out some trees and were very careful with them. 

 They had only a small amount of land cleared and they cultivated it 

 thoroughly. I can remember when I was little, and father was plowing 

 the orchard, I went along and pulled up the whiflfletrees as we passed the 

 trees. If we touched one he said, ''There! there! you have damaged the 

 tree." You can see that from a thorough cultivation of the orchards we 

 always had plenty of fruit. We used to raise lots of peaches here. We 

 have still a few peach orchards, small ones. They are in grass, not 

 sprayed nor any such thing. But I can remember that upward of twenty- 

 five years ago we had a peach orchard of probably fifteen or twenty trees. 

 I have known of our having sixty bushels of peaches on that orchard, all 

 we wanted to use, and peaches laid around and wasted, and there never 

 was a year passed but we had all we wanted to use. We have set out 

 a small peach orchard twice since then, but the winter seemed to be a 

 little too severe for it. 



Mr. Kellogg: It seems to me that this whole apple orchard business 

 in Gratiot county has dwindled down to the simple fact that insects and 

 diseases have come and nobody has fought them, and they have possession. 



Mr. Morrill : The insects and disease have whipped the farmer. 



Mr. Kellogg: Yes; and now the farmers have the means to whip the 

 insects. 



Secretary Keid: What age of tree should be planted — apple tree? 



Prof. Taft: I think as a rule I should recommend two-year-old trees. 



Secretary Reid: How far apart should they be planted? 



Prof. Taft: I think for the trees that are of large size, forty feet. Some- 

 times, for the small-growing trees, like the Wagener, a smaller distance 

 would answer very well. While a two-year-old apple tree seems to me best 

 for the average grower, sometimes we find a well-grown yearling tree 

 better for that purpose. You will get them a little cheaper and they 

 are easier to transport, so that there will be less charges for the packing 

 and freight. They will be easier to plant, and would as a rule come into 

 bearing just about as soon. So, for many persons who would give them 

 good care and knew how to form the head, I think a good yearling tree 

 would be just as good or a little better; but as a rule 1 would recommend 

 a two-year-old tree and nothing older than that for the apple. 



