HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 95 



borhood. I am inclined to believe that a large proportion of our 

 trees that die in orchards after they have produced one or two 

 crops, die from starvation. A good many of them would live 

 longer than they do if we would pile on manure. 



President Elliot. I would like to ask Mr. Somerville what the 

 effect on his orchard is. 



Mr. Somerville. On my orchard I haul out as many as forty 

 wagon loads of manure to the acre every year and spread it over 

 the ground. I mulch my trees thoroughly. I think it is an im- 

 possibility for a tree to bear fruit and live any length of time, stak- 

 ing a thrifty growth, unless the ground is properly manured. If 

 it requires all the vitality there is in a tree to ripen and mature its 

 fruit without making any growth, it will not last long. I have 

 observed that from experience. If we can keep the ground rich 

 enough to make a tree have considerable growth, besides maturing 

 its fruit, then there is a prospect of its living a number of years. 



I have trees in my orchard that have now stood there twenty- 

 eight years, and to-day I believe they are just as healthy as they 

 were twenty years ago; at least I sold more than four tons of ap- 

 ples from an orchard of Duchess, seven by nine rods in size, this 

 past season. The trees bear every year; but this result is only 

 accomplished by means of heavy manuring and mulching. I have 

 other trees likewise that I treat in the same manner. I find as 

 they grow older they require more mulching. The vitality in a 

 tree must be kept up. It appears to me that there is a similarity 

 in animal and vegetable life. We must feed a tree because it is 

 very exhausting for it to produce its fruit each and every year. 

 The results from mulching with me have been very satisfactory. 

 It keeps the ground in good condition and does not let the grass 

 grow. 



Mr. Barrett. In the West my experience teaches me that plants 

 must be planted deeply. Where I live we have a subsoil of clay 

 underneath a yellow loam. I was querying whether there was not 

 great danger of over-feeding with manure; that is in the locality 

 near Brown's valley, where the soil is from five to six feet deep 

 and extremely rich. The residents in that part of the valley are 

 trying to raise crabtrees and other fruit plants, crabs especially, 

 but they grow too rapidly and are not healthy. 



Mr. Somerville. I think it can be overdone before the trees get 

 into bearing. 



Mr. Barrett. Mr. President, is it the practice in the West to put 

 old manure down deep in the holes instead of putting it on the sur- 

 face? 



