^ 



RENEWING TOP-KILLED TREES IN NURSERY AND ORCHARD. 339 



Mr. R. A. Wright: Just a word more in regard to setting a 

 tree in the place where an old one has died. Some have got the 

 impression that where a tree was two, four or five years old it would* 

 not be proper to set another tree in its place, yet that would leave 

 a vacancy if the tree were set to one side; it would leave an 

 open space in a row. It seems to me it would be no harm what- 

 ever to replace a tree that has not been out longer than five or six 

 years, but to replace an old tree that has been there for years and 

 years would not be practicable. But to replace a tree that has been 

 out from six to eight years, putting the ground in good condition, 

 there is no objection. 



Mr. G. A. Anderson: I always dig out the soil where the old 

 tree stood and put the new tree in the same hole, using the dirt. 



The President : Do you use any fertilizer ? 



Mr. Anderson : No. 



Mr. O. W. Moore : If a tree has stood in the orchard for some 

 time it is proper to dig it up and get it out of the way if it is dead. 

 Dig the hole deeper than it was before, say a foot. Take the top 

 soil and put it where you wish to set the new tree and then set the 

 tree on that top soil and fill it with top soil, and if it is properly 

 cultivated and taken care of I don't see why it will not grow as 

 well as the first tree. 



Mr. R. A. Schutz : I have had a little experience along the line 

 of growing apple trees for some thirty odd years. , A good many 

 have died for me in that time, and as I hate to leave a place in a row 

 vacant I dig them out and make the hole much larger and deeper 

 than it was before. I do that in the fall of the year, and in the 

 spring I plant another tree, putting in a new subsoil. I use only the 

 virgin soil to fill in, and I meet with good success in that way. 



Methods of Packing Apples. — To facilitate handling fruit for 

 packing, a sorting table should be used, which should be about 

 waist high, four feet wide and long enough to accommodate the 

 desired number of sorters, or what is known as a running table 

 with a chute, with an apron at the mouth of the chute, for let- 

 ting the apples down into the barrel carefully. When baskets 

 are used, they should be half-bushel swing-handle baskets so 

 they can be let down into the barrel and the fruit turned out 

 without bruising 



The barrel should set on a solid plank so it can be shaken 

 well at least three times while being filled. The facing is done 

 by placing by hand concentric rows of apples with the stem end 

 of the apple facing the head of the barrel. These apples in all 

 cases should fairly represent the approximate quality of the en- 

 tire package. After the facing is done the apples may be turned 

 carefully into the barrel from a round bottomed swing-handled 

 basket or let down with the apron at the mouth of the chute. 

 It is not necessary to face the upper head of the barrel, the per- 

 son heading usually adjusting the apples on the head end in or- 

 der to get the package as tight and secure as possible. 



