Ii4 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



THURSDAY EVENING. 

 Hon. C. J. Monroe in the chair. 



THE REJUVENATION OF OLD APPLE ORCHARDS. 



PROF. L. R. TAFT^ M. A. C. 



The word "rejuvenation," as it appears in the title of my paper, was 

 not of my selection, and if any of you expect me to tell how to make 

 young again, the old and neglected apple orchards of Michigan, I wish 

 at once to disabuse your minds of this idea. What I hope to do is to 

 offer a few suggestions upon how the apple orchards of 25, 30 and even 

 40 years of age can be brought into the best condition. 



A few years ago, a favorite discussion for platform discussion was, 

 "What shall we do with our daughters?'' and if you will allow me to 

 paraphrase it, I will take as my text tonight, "What shall we do with 

 our orchards?" 



Twenty and thirty years ago, the orchards of southern Michigan were 

 famed for the regular and abundant crops they produced, as well as for 

 the size, high color and good quality of their fruit. At that time, most 

 of the trees were from fifteen to twentj^-five years of age and, as they 

 were planted on new land, the soil was still well supplied with humus 

 and plant food. The insects had not become very troublesome, canker- 

 worms were unknown, and the curculio was seldom seen, while the 

 codling moth was not greatly feared. As the trees grew older, their 

 fruitfulness decreased. Three years out of four the crop has hardly 

 been worth gathering and, in the years of plenty, most of it is small in 

 size, rough, cracked and misshapen, from the attack of apple scab and 

 curculio, and is generally inhabited by one or more apple worms. The 

 leaves have become small in size and yellow in color, with ragged edges, 

 and most of them drop from the trees weeks and even months before 

 the normal time. The tree tops have become filled with dead branches, 

 and when these are cut off the trees become mere skeletons. In many 

 cases the trunks have become hollow and the weakened branches break 

 down in windstorms. 



Most of these old orchards have been in sod for many years and have 

 either been used as pastures or meadows. They have had no care except 

 the cutting of the grass and the removal of the dead branches. The trees 

 have suffered from drouth, the humus and plant food have become 

 exhausted from the soil, and canker-worms and apple scab have played 

 havoc with the foliage. One trouble, that is not understood by the 

 average grower, is the apple canker or anthracnose. This is a fungous 

 disease, similar to the black-rot of the fruit, which destroys large patches 

 of bark on the trunk and branches, thus, in a measure, girdling them and 

 permitting the wood to dry out. The twigs on the branches thus affected 

 make but a short growth and, if the injured area is a large one, the 



