S'.nniiicr Mccliiii::. 69 



A. T. Nelson. — Yes, we do not plow where we plant the trees. I 

 did not lose ten per cent, of four thousand trees during the drought year. 

 We set them out in May and the ground was not cultivated at all. 



Mr. Engle. — Which is better; the whole root or the piece root? 



C. H. Dutcher. — About the only difference is that the whole root 

 will cost you twenty to twenty-five cents and the piece root will cost 

 you six, ten or twelve cents. 



T. H. Todd. — In regard to setting out the trees without plowing 

 between. Last year when I was setting out an orchard, we had some 

 clover land in the valley and after planting the trees in this land, we 

 plowed it and planted it in corn. We had some of the same kind of land 

 in wheat and ran our lines in the wheat and planted trees, then mulched 

 them well. The trees in the corn were worked when the corn was, while 

 the trees in the wheat were not cultivated at all. In the fall the mulched 

 trees in the wheat had made a growth of some eighteen inches more 

 than the trees in the cultivated land. The wheat land was put in clover 

 and the clover made a fine growth. We mowed it and let the clover lay 

 on the ground, mulching the trees with it, and they made a wonderful 

 growth. You can hardly imagine the difiference. 



D. A. Robnett.— What did you mulch with? 



T. H. Todd. — I mulched them about three feet each way with rotted 

 straw manure. I did not put any work on the trees during the season. 



L. A. Goodman. — Mulching is one of the best ways to grow a young 

 orchard. 



T. G. Henly. — In our last planting, after having our ground well 

 prepared, we took a two-horse Deering plow and plowed two furrows 

 to mark the rows. We then took our low wheeled wagon and had a 

 small" boy in the wagon with a barrel of slush water and kept in this 

 barrel twenty-five or thirty trees, and as we were ready for them the 

 boy handed them out. We pruned them before planting them, while 

 they were still wet; the dirt adhered to the roots and we got them in 

 in fine shape. In planting we had one man go ahead with a spade and 

 open the furrow where the tree was to be and another man following to 

 put the dirt on the trees as they were planted. 



Mr. Morrill. — What we do in Georgia to raise fruit might possibly 

 be done here. I will mention a few ways. In growing peaches in 

 Georgia, after the tliird year we grow cowpeas to furnish nitrogen for 

 the wood growth. After two or three years we have to quit growing the 

 cowpeas and let the ground rest lor two or three years. Then we 

 use, for the protection of the fruit and giving the fruit the proper coloring 

 in proper time for shipping, potash and phosphoric acid, either derived 

 from the phosphoric rock or use the ground bone. We use from two 



