146 NEBKA.SKA STATE ilUliTlC ULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Harrison: 1 think the Professor has emphasized the 

 fact that the farmers want cleaner orchards, but I think the 

 farmers should learn tliat the verv best trees are oftener the 

 homeliest. The strong-est tree and the best tree is the one that 

 holds its leaA^es the longest. We know if the orchard is al- 

 lowed to grow np to grass and ^^'e have a late dry fall the 

 trees will be liable to shed their leaves earlier. If they ha\e 

 late cultivation they will hold their leaves longer. 



Professor Whitten: I would not like to recommend late 

 cultivation of peaches for this far North. You had better 

 talk with Professor Emerson about that. You have to know 

 the trees and he knows your own varieties up here better than 

 I do. From our (experience where we have milder winters 

 our peaches can stand a lower winter temperature when they 

 have grown w(dl up towards winter. They want to have 

 just as late a dormant period as they can. They reach a stage 

 when they are readj^ to waken up and we should then apply 

 the heat, the earlier they shed their leaves in the summer the 

 quicker they will become dormant and the quicker they will 

 start in the spring. That is another reason why we say it is 

 advisable to i»:row theiu late in the season. 



A Member : How would it do to cut off the tops? 



Prof. Whitten : AYe do that on the peaches. 



A Member: What have been your observations of spray- 

 ing to enable apple trees to withstand the drouth? In sec- 

 tions that suffered from drouth like last August, what ad- 

 vantage is there in spraying the orchards? 



Prof. Whitten : Let me take one instance ; just outside 

 our station there is a 200 acre orchard; the owner did not 

 spray his trees and the late frost killed the blossoms. We 

 went into that 200 acre orchard and sprayed one acre, that 

 was given otherwise identically the same treatment as the 

 other 190 acres. That man has one of the best orchards 

 around tliere, but he did not believe in spraying. The 199 

 acres shed their leaves very early and they were burnt and 

 seared; the one acre was rich in foliage and went into the 

 winter in good condition. That one acre had more marketable 



