FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 63 



flaring at the lower edge to allow insects to crawl up between the screen 

 and tree, where they could be easily destroyed. Some use cotton bat- 

 ting, others wool, and in a few cases tar. Lighted torches at night were 

 also quite freely used. 



5. What proportion of their orchards were cultivated? 



Answer, three-quarters. The larger portion of the other quarter 

 were mulched, using a liberal amount of straw, and in some cases cov- 

 ering the ground four or five inches deep. A few do not cultivate, but 

 use liberally of barnyard manure, potash and phosphates. He said the 

 tendency was decidedly toward good cultivation as the best practice, 

 besides furnishing less hiding places for the insects. 



6. It is reported that many are cutting out a portion of their trees. 

 About how far apart do they leave them? 



Answer — They cut out in some cases full rows, in others diagonally 

 through the orchard, so as to leave the trees from 40 to 45 feet apart. 

 He stated that some trees had grown since thinning out so that their 

 limbs touched each other." 



I also arranged with a Mr. Bassett, of South Haven, who has pur- 

 chased apples in Western New York for a number of years, for similar 

 information. He very generously furnished me a large amount relative 

 to the care of the orchard and its fruit, also a number of examples of 

 the income of orchards from which he purchased the apples for several 

 years. His statements substantially confirm those of Mr. Boardman. 



From both these men and several others I am informed that farms 

 ranging from 20 to several hundred acres, with orchards from 5 to 50 

 acres, have increased in the past few years $15 to |20 per acre; that 

 the apple crop has furnished the principal money income. 



While I am aware of many large, crops and good profits from neg- 

 lected orchards, it is certainly poor policy, and I believe each year will 

 show more and mqre its unprofitableness. There are very few meet- 

 ings held where some one does not claim to have an orchard or know of 

 one, in grass which is doing as well as those upon which much time and 

 money are expended. Those familiar with the monthly crop reports 

 of the Secretary of State will recall similar claims. These reports and 

 many items in the horticultural press hav^frequently claimed that the 

 orchards in grass had survived the severe cold of a year ago better than 

 those cultivated. While this may be true in some cases, it is mislead- 

 ing; that is, it gives the impression that, after all, it is not worth while 

 to incur the expense of cultivating, trimming and spraying, and so 

 these are neglected, to the loss of the owner and damage to the neigh- 

 bors, whose labors are increased by the insects and diseases bred by the 

 careless and indifferent grower. 



The loss by freezing is usually due to leaving the ground bare, par- 

 ticularly on the knolls or high places where the snow and soil blow 

 away, also due to the late growth stimulated by rains and unseason- 

 able weather. Most of this can be obviated by stopping the cultivation 

 early and sowing some cover crop. In light sandy or poor places the 

 seed may not grow, so that a mulch of straw or coarse manure will be 

 required. 



There is a great variety of cover crops, among them crimson clover, 

 rye and oats. Upon the average of our soils oats have been most sat- 

 isfactory. They grow up quickly, holding the leaves and snow; dying 

 "down, they cover the earth with a mat which is easily cut to pieces in 



