74 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



years a crop should be grown in the young orchard, and that crop one that ripens 

 at the same time as the tree. Put in a crop that takes the moisture from the soil 

 most when the tree ripens, for example, corn or late potatoes, though the latter 

 is objectionable because it requires the ground to be stirred up by the digging at 

 too late a time in the fall. Above all things, do not adopt the policy of trj'ing to 

 get all you can from the orchard by way of other crops when at the same time you 

 want the trees to make all the growth they can be forced to make. 



Mr. : Don't plant late potatoes. They stir the soil too late in the season. 



The crop will not pay for the damage to the orchard. 



R. Morrill: Make the bodies of your trees short by so pruning as to have the 

 branches grow low down on the trunk. Melons have proven a good crop to grow 

 in the orchards. It is not hard to properly cultivate an orchard with low tops. 

 Use first a plow properly rigged to plow as close as convenient; second, a gang 

 plow, and third, a harrow with rope attached. You can get within two or three 

 feet of the trunk of the tree with the last tool mentioned. It is true that I cultivate 

 my peach orchards from forty to fifty times during the season. 



Prof. L. R. Taft called attention to the College exhibit in which there were some 

 pictures of cross sections of trees grown under experiment by the Illinois station, 

 and showing by the difference in size of trunks the benefits of tillage. 



Mr. Gradeu:," In this discussion so far the relation of bees to horticulture has 

 been entirely omitted. If the season is bad for bees, the fruit crop suffers because 

 the blossoms are not fertilized. Bees ought therefore to be considered a branch, and 

 a not unimportant branch of horticulture. 



Mr. : Fashions change. Forty years ago an orchard of 1,500 trees was 



set out by a neighbor of T. T. Lyon. These trees were headed low, not more than 

 three feet from ground. Two or three years later the branches had so spread that 

 it was practically impossible to get w^ithin twelve feet of the tree with a plow. 

 The orchard was then trimmed in, cutting off big branches. Then the limbs died 

 and it was impossible to get the tree in good shape again. 



F. W. Dunham: Would you not raise some Ben Davis for market? 



R. Morrill: No! Certainly but very few. 



F. W. Dunham: A lot of trees were purchased from the Monroe nursery, and 

 among them a lot of Ben Davis, and set out several years ago. This year the Ben 

 Davis returned ten dollars per tree and the Kings and Baldwins but five dollars 

 each. 



R. Morrill: Don't draw conclusions from the experience of a single season. Last 

 year there were few Ben Davis apples and prices for them ruled high. The market 

 grows more and more discriminating every year, hence the advice not to gi'ow 

 Ben Davis, which, notwithstanding its fine appearance, is not a good apple. 



Jas. Dunn, St. Clair Co.: A neighbor took an old orchard in bad condition and 

 by grafting and good care has made it one of the best orchards in St. Clair county. 

 He learned how to do it at a Farmers' Institute. He drained the ground well, and 

 practices sowing something in the fall for green manure. Formerly he used to 

 think there was no money in fruit. Now he has changed his methods completely, 

 goes at it in a business way and succeeds. 



Q. Can we set out young Spies and by grafting secure a crop as quickly as by 

 regrafting old orchards? 



Geo. T. Powell: Not quite. In grafting I call your attention to the advisability 

 of securing scions from bearing trees. One trouble with nursery stock is that the 

 nurseryman continually uses his cuttings for scions. Care in selecting scions from 

 trees that not only bear large crops, but crops of typical fruit will repay for the 

 trouble many times over. You get in this way a hereditary tendency toward fruit- 

 fulness. 



Mr. Dunn: I know of orchards set out twenty years ago that bear no fruit yet. 

 Can we get fruit in ten years if we set the trees out now? 



R. Morrill: Yes, and in less time. 



L. J. Post: You can do it by whip grafting. 



A. P. Gray: Is it necessary to look after air drainage in selecting a site for an 

 apple orchard? 



R. Morrill: Not so necessary as for peaches. 



