270 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



haven't. The absorbing rootlets are not there, but instead, the bulk of them 

 are about as far away from the stem of the tree as the branches extend, there- 

 fore it is there, and not at the bole of the tree the water is needed. Observe 

 an isolated, thrifty tree : it rains and you get underneath its boughs to get 

 away from the shower; you keep dry while beyond a little way the water comes 

 down from off the leafy branches as if off a shingled roof, and that is just 

 where it is needed, where it can do the most good ; for it is there the fibrous 

 roots prevail. And just about as stupid a practice is the annual piling of 

 manure around the trunks of trees; the manure is needed where the water is, 

 and no nearer. But in the case of a general plantation or orchard, where the 

 branches of the several trees meet, the rootlets are all over the ground, but 

 much less so at the boles of the trees than elsewhere. 



APPLE SHIPMENTS FROM EATON RAPIDS. 



Mr. S. K. Fuller, a reliable fruit grower of Eaton county, obtained the full 

 statement of apples shipped from Eaton Eapids by rail during the autumn of 

 1881, which was 14,400 barrels. This is pretty good for the non-bearing year. 



A HARNESS FOR THE ORCHARD. 



During the summer the secretary saw items concerning an adjustable 

 harness for use in orchards that was so arranged as to effectually prevent 

 injury to trees by the ends of whiftietrees. In response to an inquiry, Prof. 

 E. Baur, Corresponding Secretary of the Washtenaw County Pomological 

 Society, sends us the following account of the contrivance, with a small cut of 

 the method of use : 



I had the pleasure of seeing the Merrill A. Frost's harness in practical use 

 at the orchard of Mr. J. J. Parshall, near the city of Ann Arbor, which 

 contains 2, 500 peach and pear trees of different ages, and by the use of this 

 harness not one tree was injured. 



The whiffle trees and evener are carried under the bodies of the horses. A 

 chain fastened to the center of the evener is all that is between the horses and 

 the plow or cultivator to which it is fastened. The usual stepping over traces 

 is done away with, and much time saved. The team, being much nearer to 

 the plow than in the old way, has a much lighter draft. 



The cut explains how it is used. 

 When I first saw the rig I was afraid it 

 would make mischief under the horses, 

 but when I saw it work, my prejudice 

 passed entirely away, as it was far enough 

 from the bodies not to touch a hair. 



This harness can be used witli two or 

 tiiree horses, and by dropping the patent 

 trees and extending the traces with heel 

 chains, the ordinary whiffletrees can be 

 attached. It should be named after the humane Henry Bergh, as it prevents 

 cruelty to beasts as well as trees. 



