218 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Prof. Robertson : We cannot find men who will be careful 

 enough of the trees. 



The President : That is the way they do it out there ; they 

 spread the harrow and let it run under the branches. It is simply 

 a broad harrow, and they hitch the team to the center. 



Mr. C. W. Merritt : There is no question but what the harrow 

 or any cultivator will do better than any mulching you can put on. 

 At the same time if you are going to mulch put in a lot of poultry 

 to do the scratching and so get rid of the msects. 



Mr. C. E. Older : I have had the best success in cultivating 

 with a one-horse cultivator, the Planet, Jr., cultivating close up to 

 the trees and mulching in the fall ; then in the spring I cultivate 

 thoroughly, keeping the ground rich to keep the trees growing well, 

 and in the plum orchard, especially with the De Soto, that method 

 gives me the best results. We had twenty bushels of De Soto on a 

 setting of tliirty trees two years ago. That fall I manured with a 

 good, rich manure and then cultivated early last spring. 



Mr. Dewain Cook : Mr. Penning in his remarks stated that he 

 was quite positive that the manure killed his plum trees. I do not 

 like to have that statement go out to the public, because my opinion 

 is that Mr. Penning had plum trees grafted on stock that was too 



tender. I bought my plum trees from nurserymen, 



grafted on tender stock, and they were less hardy than a peach. 

 They all root-killed the first winter, and it is my opinion they were 

 killed from that cause. The tap root indicated that they were killed 

 from cold. 



Mr. Martin Penning : Those trees that were killed were the 

 Miner, and I wanted to take very good care of them, so I mulched 

 them with that heavy manure. I believe the manure was too sharp, 

 and in support of that opinion I will state a case that came under 

 my observation. A neighber of mine had a cow yard in the same 

 place for fifteen or twenty years. He kept from thirty-five to forty 

 head of cattle. Some years ago he decided to break up that yard 

 and plant it to an orchard. I told him the ground was too strong, 

 that he would kill his trees, but he planted the trees, and they all 

 died the second year, all that were in that cow yard. I think the 

 manure was a little too sharp. 



Prof. N. E. Hansen : I think the point Mr. Older made should 

 be emphasized. I live where we have the same conditions as obtain 

 in Mr. Older's locality. If you mulch with manure and keep on 

 mulching it will bring the roots near the surface, and sometimes 

 they will root-kill. If you mulch in the fall, you can cultivate the 

 next spring and summer and thus prevent the roots from coming 

 too close to the surface. The point that Mr. Cook made about 

 tender stock should be emphasized, and it explains a good many 

 dead orchards. In regard to covering raspberries and other small 

 fruits, the sooner we get out of that idea of covering raspberries the 

 better. The average farmer will not do it ; if he has to cover his 

 fruit he will not grow any. I find where we covered carefully they 

 did not do well the next year. We must take our native wild fruits 

 and fit them and breed them up to a good standard, and it will take 



