430 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



fruit buds and growth of the fruit, and to keep the trees, not in very lux- 

 uriant growth, but in a good, healthy growth. Consequently, I fully agree 

 with the secretary of the Board of Agriculture of Connecticut that the best 

 mode for the ordinary farmer who has large orchards, and does not wish to 

 keep them under the plow, is to give the trees an annual or biennial top- 

 dressing. A bushel of ashes would not be to much for a tree of ordinary 

 size. You will also find that where you put on an occasional top-dressing, 

 as ashes, the grass is more luxuriant than on the outside. 



High ok Low Land foe Apples. — The Fruit Growers' Journal comments 

 in a very safe way on the question of the adaptability of low lands for apple 

 orchards: 



He must have been a poor observer who has not already learned that there 

 are plenty of men always ready to catch on to a new idea that lies in the line 

 where probable popularity may at some future time be found, and now that 

 it is asserted that low lands furnish the better conditions, these men will 

 give emphatic endorsement to the new theory ; and do it with all the more 

 assurance because they know nothing whatever about it. It is these men 

 who are responsible for a great many of the failures, and the most of the 

 idle theories that obtain currency long enough to prove a serious loss to 

 thousands of men, before their utter worthlessness is discovered. 



The new theory in regard to the native habitant of the apple trees has, 

 however, the almost unqualified endorsement of a good many men of a de- 

 servedly high reputation. In a recent interview with B. F. Johnson, long 

 and favorably known to every leading agriculturist and horticulturist in the 

 country as very reliable authority on these subjects, expressed his unqualified 

 belief that low lands are the proper location of the apple tree. No one will 

 question that he is in every way a competent and trustworthy observer. 



It should be remembered, however, that it has only been within very re- 

 cent years that this question has been raised. Now, how far out have men's 

 observations reached? How large a scope of country do they include? 

 Under how many varying conditions have these observations been taken? 

 How many kinds of soils, both surface and subsoil, have entered into the 

 calculations of these observers? Does this new theory hold equally true in 

 all climates? In short, have observations been sufficiently extensive and 

 accurate to serve as a basis for forming a positive opinion to which there 

 shall be no exceptions? We are very much inclined to the opinion that it 

 will be found true eventually, that low grounds, that are not subject to 

 standing water during the rainy season, are best adapted to the apple tree. 

 While thus inclined, still with the recollection of a thousand exploded theo- 

 ries fresh in mind, we shall wait for further evidence before accepting the 

 new doctrine without qualification. 



The editor of these gleanings does not hesitate to say that in the State of 

 Michigan we have in every apple growing county ample evidence of the utter 

 folly of planting apple orchards on low ground unless there is the best of 

 atmospheric drainage to still lower levels. 



Fkitit Teees Along Fences. — We most heartily endorse the sentiment 

 expressed by a correspondent of Home Farm, so far as it applies to fences 

 which are not next to pasture land, for in such cases the care necessary for 

 protecting the trees would be too great. After suggesting some good argu- 



