FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 69 



tops. The men who did the planting were wondering why their trees 

 did not do well. The trees should be headed moderately low and 

 trained with reference to convenience in spraying, for spraying must 

 be regarded as a regular orchard practice if one expects to succeed in 

 apple growing in the future. 



The orchard should be kept cultivated, for it is difficult to keep 

 moisture enough in the soil to supply the demands of trees in sod carry- 

 ing a load of fruit, and besides, the grass robs the trees of plant food 

 needful for the growth of wood and production of fruit. Apple trees 

 are strong feeders and require plenty of plant food, something w^hich 

 few of our old orchards have been supplied with beyond what was in 

 the soil when the orchard was set, and a large part of that has too 

 frequently been removed by other crops. In 1895 Prof. Roberts, agricul- 

 turist of Cornell University, began an investigation to determine the 

 cause of apple failures in many orchards of New York State. It was 

 suspected that soil exhaustion was the cause of the difficulty, since the 

 unprofitable orchards had received little or no fertilizer. By careful 

 research, and by the aid of the chemist, the supposition was found to 

 be a correct one. Prof. Roberts furnishes as a result of his work, fig- 

 ures which show that an acre of apple orchard will in twenty years 

 of bearing life, if fruitful, remove from the soil plant food to the value 

 of about 87 dollars more than will an acre of wheat during the same 

 length of time, assuming an average yield of 15 bushels of wheat per 

 acre. 



Harvesting demands greater care, both as to time of picking and 

 method of handling the fruit. Some growers are at present using simply 

 constructed burlap-covered tables in their orchards to sort and pack 

 from just as the fruit is removed from the tree, rather than putting the 

 apples in large piles on the ground to be exposed for some time to sun 

 and rain. This method is usually found much more satisfactory than 

 the old one, and is to be commended. Pack honestly and carefully is 

 still the admonition of commission men when approached on the sub- 

 ject of packing, showing there is still some room for improvement along 

 this line. Commission men are capable of giving some good advice on 

 subjects pertaining to the marketing of fruit. 



As to varieties, the Spj', Baldwin and Greening are still among the 

 leading commercial sorts planted in Michigan, and there seems to be 

 little indication of any radical change at present, although Ben Davis 

 has won considerable popularity in some parts of the State, and is being 

 more or less largely planted. It would seem, however, that in markets 

 supplied with Michigan apples there would be a sufficient demand for a 

 better class of fruit to warrant more attention to quality in selecting 

 varieties to plant. In recent years ajjple growers have been looking 

 for a variety to take the place of the Baldwin, which has been too 

 largely planted and which is quite subject to the attack of the scab 

 fungus and is apt to be damaged by brownish, leathery spots appearing 

 underneath the skin. Among varieties which have been tested for some 

 time, Sutton's Beauty seems best fitted to take the place, at least in 

 part, of the old Baldwin. It is superior to Baldwin in quality, equal to 

 it in appearance, and less subject to the attack of apple scab. 



Under proper conditions smooth, sound apples of best quality can 

 be grown in nearly all parts of Michigan, and for such fruit there will 



