ORCHARD PRACTICE IN WASHINGTON. 367 



many reasons that I will not try to enumerate them. A.s to subse- 

 quent pruning-, after the tree has been brought to its proper shape, 

 little needs to be said. Removing suckers, dead and crossing 

 limbs, and those that interfere with cultivation, is about all that is 

 necessary. 



When a man has a clear idea of the shape of tree he wants to build, 

 he can greatly accelerate the shaping process b}'' summer prianing. 

 That is, by removing undesirable branches soon after they appear 

 he can direct the sap they would have consumed to the branches he 

 wishes to keep. It takes but a few minutes work per year to make a 

 fruit tree "a thing of beautj^ and a joy forever" instead of the un- 

 sightly object a neglected or iinproperly pruned tree is sure to 

 become. There is a vast difference in the utility and beauty of a 

 properly pruned tree that will stand up under an immense load of 

 fruit, and a neglected tree, with its long straggling branches, that 

 bend to the ground or break off with the first heavy crop. As to 

 cultivation the policy of all the commercial orchardists here (not 

 always carried out, I am sorry to say) is to give deep and thorough 

 cultivation. 



We use a different fruit package here for most fruits than in the 

 East. But this advice will hold good anywhere: Use neat, clean 

 packages of the kind your trade demands, and do good, honest 

 packing. As to spraying I have little to say. The various scabs 

 and fungous diseases that affect fruit in the East are little known 

 here. For the codlin moths of the apple we sprayed three times this 

 season with Paris green at the rate of one pound to 150 gallons 

 of water. It gave good results except in parts of the orchard where 

 the spray was washed off by rain soon after being applied. 



There is one important feature of the orchard practice of this sec- 

 tion that I have not mentioned, that is irrigation; and it is the most 

 important point, as the soil, though extremely fertile, is capable of 

 producing nothing but sage brush without irrigation. However, I 

 will not take time to say much about it as there are so few irrigators 

 in Minnesota. But I will be glad to correspond with anybody who is 

 specially interested in irrigation or, in fact, any part of orchard 

 work. Through my acquaintance with men here who have been 

 orchardists and irrigators all their lives, I can find an answer to 

 any reasonble question relating to these subjects and would be 

 perfectly willing to do so for the benefit of any member of this 

 society. 



An Apple Mission.— A novel and beneficent philanthropy, in 

 which farmers are turning in to help the city's poor, is the new apple 

 mission of Boston. Hundreds of bushels of apples are given by 

 farmers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and shipped free of 

 charge by the railroads, the distribution being made by the Associ- 

 ated Charities. The work is called the " farmers' fruit offerings." 



