A YOUNG TOP-WORKED ORCHARD. 17 



been dynamited originally and thus offered no fair basis of com- 

 parison. With the great difference in individual trees, a test 

 between the two methods in order to be conclusive would have to 

 be made on a large scale. 



It is customary to prune trees after planting. When trees' 

 are to be top-worked the following year, this should not be done. 

 All the leaf surface possible should be encouraged the first season, 

 to increase the size of the limbs. If the roots have been cut too 

 much to support this leaf surface, the tree should not be planted 

 at all. 



My orchard was interplanted with cultivated crops, and a 

 hoe used around the trees up to the first of August each year. 



The first two years after planting the trees were hilled up 

 in the fall, until I found this was not a protection from mice. I 

 now use fine galvanized wire netting instead. I had a number 

 of trees badly girdled before using the netting, and some had to 

 be replaced. 



The first two years I painted my trees, trunk and branches 

 with lime-sulphur in the fall. This did not deter mice and rab- 

 bits, but I had no blight on my trees the following season, 

 although thorn apple trees near my orchard blighted badly. 



The last two years I have not painted the trees, and I have 

 had some blight to cut out. The past season has been the worst, 

 although they have had less cultivation this year than at any 

 previous time, owing to failure on the part of the man who under- 

 took to do the work. 



In the spring of 1913, one year after planting, the top- 

 working was started. Some top-working and budding has been 

 done every year since. About one-third of the limbs were top- 

 grafted the first year. W. S. Higbee, of Eden Prairie, did the 

 work, and did it well. The weather was favorable, and only a 

 small fraction of one per cent, of the grafts failed to set. 



Three-fourths of my 770 trees were grafted to Wealthy, the 

 remainder to Jonathan and Delicious, changing every fourth row 

 for cross-pollination purposes. I have since planted Stark Deli- 

 cious trees on their own roots, and they have done well. I have 

 also planted some Wealthy on their own roots for purposes of 

 comparison later. My Wealthy scions came from the bearing 

 orchard of Langford W. Smith. My Jonathan and Delicious 

 scions came from the orchard of Harold Simmons, at Howard 

 Lake, where they were cut from top-worked trees. As an expe- 



