FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 13 



size of my finger that branched off and he continued on digging for 

 six feet, when pulling them too hard, he broke them off and they were 

 still practically the same size. I do not know how much farther they 

 went down into the ground. I have thought it would be a great feat if 

 we could in some way graft the roots of our apple trees onto alfalfa 

 roots and these would go down to the moisture, no matter how far 

 it was below the surface, and then there would be no danger whatever 

 from drouth. (Laughter.) 



A Member — Michigan is a great state. Now this gentleman (Mr. 

 Overton) is from Bangor. I am from Traverse City. His method may 

 be all right for his section of the state, but it would prove an absolute 

 failure in Grand Traverse county. 



Mr. Wilde — It is our sub-soil that will tell whether it is right or 

 wrong. On our sub-soil I don't think we could get size in a dry season 

 on account of the fact that the ground is of a rolling and stiff clay. 

 With stiff clay there is nothing to hold the moisture up and for that 

 reason we have to conserve what moisture we have. I have seeded 

 it down once or twice and, with me, the results were not what I would 

 like, but I believe that these men are right— on some soils you have 

 enough moisture while on others you do not. We have always practiced 

 clean culture for apples, and sometimes for peaches, then we sow cover 

 crops, oats and vetch — sowed about the first of* August and then plow 

 the vetch under, which we do with a gang-plow, soon enough so that 

 it -can be done without difficulty. If left too long, the ground will 

 be hard to plow. We sow only about ten pounds of vetch to the acre. 

 It has been twenty-five years since I planted the orchard, but we have 

 had good results. We get size, but not always the color but, as the 

 orchard becomes older, we are getting more color. I don't know as I 

 am doing the best thing, but I believe that our treatment must depend 

 upon our subsoil, for we cannot treat all sub-soils alike and get the 

 same results. 



Mr. Hall — "This proposition is one that every person must work out 

 for himself. There- is a vast difference in Michigan soils. When you 

 plant out trees it is not like taking a cow to pasture — if the pasture is 

 not right she can move, but it is not so with your orchard. So it is 

 up to the individual grower, under his own conditions, to study out the 

 method that will produce the best results, and it often happens that 

 each tree in an orchard may need different management. We have 

 found this to be the case in our own experience. We have had trees grow- 

 ing fruit that are too corky — the fruit too soft. We suspicion that this is 

 because they are getting too much nitrogen, so we must add phosphoric 

 acid and potash, and the best method to apply this is wood-ashes. How- 

 ever, of late years wood-ashes is not very much in evidence and not 

 very available. Where this is the case, we must use commercial fer- 

 tilizers. With us, we do not make a point of putting out and spread- 

 ing so much to the acre over the whole orchard, but we study each 

 tree, and if it is growing fruit lacking in color, large and spongy, it is 

 an evidence that it needs phosphoric acid and potash, and so we feed 

 each individual tree to meet its requirements. We are working along 

 on this line, with a view of securing a uniform growth of fruit under 

 the variety and condition of soils, and it seems to us as the years go 



