FARMERS' INSTITUTES. ^l 



J. N. Stearns: Not if the tree is dormaut. It would be too concentrated for 

 foliage. 



Mr. Macomb: Are the .Wealthj-, Stark, and Walbridge apples good fruit and 

 ■Ihardy trees to graft onV 



J. N. Stearns: The Stark is more so than the Bald^Yin. For stocks I would use 

 the Spy, Tallman Sweet, or Duchess of Oldenberg. 



Q. Why is it that apples grown on young and old apple trees on old soils lack 

 the quality of those grown on new^ soils? 



J. N. Stearns: The quality would not be lacking if the old trees w^ere properly 

 pruned and cared for. The fault may be overbearing or it may be the lack of 

 potash in the old soils that prevents proper maturity of the fruit. 



Q. Is there any difference between soft and hard water for copper solution? 



J. N. Stearns: No difference. 



Q. Will it pay to spray fruit trees late in the fall or early in the spring, with the 

 above solution? 



J. N. Stearns: Any time in fall or winter or spring before sap flows, for fungus 

 diseases, will pay. 



Q. Will weak copper sulphate solution destroy fungus growth equal to Bordeaux 

 mixture? 



J. N. Stearns: I have always used Bordeaux mixture, but will try copper 

 sulphate solution this year, having seen successful experiments with it on the 

 station grounds. 



Q. wily should not apple growers and dealers educate the market to preferring 

 good apples to those of little, merit except color? 



J. N. Stearns: They are doing it at every opportunity. Such varieties alone 

 should be planted now, as people want varieties that have merit, and certainly 

 not the Ben Davis. 



Q. Can the Wagner apple he grown on rich lands in this State and carried to 

 cold storage with a good profit? 



J. N. Stearns: The Wagner does not carry in cold storage and will bear itself 

 to death in a few years unless thinned properly. It is therefore not a bad plan to 

 set apple trees forty feet apart with Wagners between them, since the latter will 

 be dead and out of the way before the other varieties are in full bearing. 



Q. Does tapping maple trees tend to kill them? 



Jas. Dunn: I have seen trees than have been tapped for fifty years that are still 

 seemingly sound. 



N. E. York, Tuscola Co.: Trees tapped for the past thirty years are still thrifty. 



C. E. Mills: I have made maple sugar for the past thirty years. Bore a small 

 hole in the tree not over three-eighths of an inch in diameter. Don't bore deep. 

 ITse a record spile to keep the tree closed tight and prevent the entrance of air. 



CATTLE FEEDING IN MICHIGAN. 



HON. WM. BALL, LIVINGSTON COUNTY. 



Mr. Jason Woodman, who was to have presented this topic, was unable 

 to be present, and Mr. Ball consented to open the subject. 



Successful cattle feeding, like the feeding of other domestic animals, 

 depends largely upon the kind of animals fed. The best results cannot 

 be obtained in feeding inferior animals, even if all the requirements for 

 successful feeding have been complied with. Breeding and feeding, with 

 proper care^ go hand in hand, and in my opinion one is as essential as the 

 other. What I may say will be mainly from the stand-point of the 

 breeder who breeds and feeds his own cattle, which course^, as a rule, is 

 the best for the general farmer or one who is engaged in mixed hus- 

 bandry. 



To begin with, the farmer's cows (if the best results are to be obtained) 

 should be 



