96 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



trees so close tog^ether is not a good one. The tree wants to g'et out 

 into the lig^ht just as much as anj' other living- plant. In a few years 

 the lower branches are worthless, thej^ will die off, and your fruit is 

 up where the step ladder will not reach it, and you will need a fire 

 ladder to g-et it. An orchard of this close planting- near Minnesota 

 City, set twelve feet apart each way, does not^bear any fruit; once in 

 a while j'-ou can see a few apples in the tops. 



Prof. Hansen: Mr. Harris' idea is my idea. I plant mj"^ trees 

 twent5'-two feet apart in rows north and south, as near as I can run 

 them, and sixteen feet apart in the rows, except the Transcendent, 

 which I plant eight feet apart and the rows twenty-two feet apart, 

 and I find that is too near for most trees; that is, the rows are too 

 near together, but the trees in the rows protect each other better 

 than any other way. If I was to set out another orchard, I would 

 set the trees thirty feet apart. 



Mr. Dartt: Do your trees crowd the way they are now? 



Prof. Hansen: My idea is, they do. The Transcendents are twentj'- 

 two feet apart and eight feet in the row. 



Mr. Dartt: Any other variety besides the Transcendent that 

 crowds? 



Prof. Hansen: There are some that are rather close. The Duchess 

 are rather close where they are twenty-two feet apart in the row. 



Mr. Dartt: Do they crowd that way? 



Prof. Hansen: If they are planted close together, eight feet apart 

 in the row, I think they are protected frona the sunshine; the rows I 

 would put tliirtj^ feet apart. 



Mr. Dartt: Mr. Chairman, I suppose I have had more actual 

 experience than all the gentlemen that have spoken on orcharding 

 I expect I have had, perhaps, twice or three times as much. In Minne- 

 sota where we do not expect our trees to attain a great age, and where 

 we cannot wait for them to attain a great age, I think sixteen feet 

 apart is just about right for the average trees. Of course, at sixteen 

 feet I cannot let them branch froin the ground — I do not approve 

 of that kind of a tree anyway. I want a good top to the tree and a 

 good body, then let the branches run a little; but, otherwise, I want 

 room between the rows to pass through with a team; this I must 

 have. 



Now, I do not approve of scattering an orchard over the whole 

 farm. I do not approve of putting the rows far enough apart so we 

 can raise a crop, as a rule, between the rows; I do not think that is a 

 good plan. I think it is better to have an orchard by itself; you can 

 take better care of it than if you mix it with farming. The orchard, 

 in my opinion, needs special care, and it will be more likely to get it 

 if you concentrate your efforts on the orchard alone, than it will if 

 3'ou are trying to raise farm crops between. And then, the protec- 

 tion that one tree gives another is better secured if trees are planted 

 reasonably close together than it is if they are so widely scattered. 

 I do not know but this is all I ought to say. I believe in reasonably 

 close planting. 



Mr. Somerville: I would agree with my friend Dartt that if I were 

 to set out another orchard I would plant it close together. Three 

 years ago I set out a young orchard of 800 trees; I set them, out six 



