MY DUCHESS ORCHARD. 305 



like that, and I could not find a better place, I would plant them 

 very 'deep. I recommend deep planting of trees on dry soils ; I 

 would plant the trees deep, and then 1 would cultivate. I cannot 

 raise trees without cultivation, and I am getting along fairly well 

 with cultivation. You cannot find anybody in the whole country 

 that is making a business of fruit growing today, whether in Cali- 

 fornia, New York, Illinois or Ohio, wherever they are making a 

 business of it, they are doing it on the most practical lines, and 

 you cannot find anybody but what cultivates his trees and takes 

 good care of them. You might as well take care of a good colt 

 until it is five years old and then put it into harness and allow it 

 to take care of itself. A great deal depends upon the feed and 

 water. When your horse goes to work you take the best care of 

 him, and if it is a fast horse you take all the better care of him 

 and do everything you can to keep him strong and in a healthy 

 condition. And so when you get an apple tree into bearing you do 

 not want to let it take care of itself, but you must see that it is kept 

 in the very best condition to bear the fruit that it is intended to 

 bear. 



Mr. A. K. Bush : I had some very fine trees on my place, and 

 they began to die, and it only took two years to kill them out en- 

 tirely. They stood in my yard where the grass was kept cut every 

 week, and those trees died out entirely. I do not suppose any 

 amount of money would have bought them from me. I had one tree 

 left, but it was younger and had little better conditions, the water 

 would not run away from it quite so readily, and I said it must 

 have some water. I had a man dig a circular basin, perhaps six- 

 teen feet in diameter, and I turned a three-quarter inch hose into 

 the basin and let the water run in. After it had been running sev- 

 eral hours I thought I would look and see how it was getting ok. 

 I saw no indication of any water. There was no water in the 

 basin, but it was running out of the hose all right, and I suppose 

 we put in seventy-five barrels of water before that basin was filled 

 up. I stopped the killing of the tree, and it is a pretty good tree 

 new, but I attribute it all to the water. This fall, two or three 

 weeks ago, I had the man put on the hose and fill the basin full of 

 water. Right close by I have another grove of maple, — it is part 

 elm and part maple, — and I saw the trees commenced to die, both 

 the elm. and the maple. I had always raked up the leaves and the 

 grass under those trees because I wanted the place to look nice. 

 As soon as I saw those elms were beginning to die I said they must 

 have some water to drink. I told the men to leave the leaves on the 

 ground and cut out about half the trees, and my trees commenced 

 to recover. You can see the efifects of that serious drouth there 

 now. I can show you where the trees were injured by this drouth, 

 but now the trees are getting along very well. That is the only 

 thought I want to leave with you. I do not believe there is any- 

 thing our trees or plants need so much as a proper amount of mois- 

 ture, and I do not believe there is one planter in a hundred that 

 takes proper care of his trees. 



Mr. Penning: I would like to ask Mr. Underwood how far 

 apart he planted his new orchard. 



