A YOUNG TOP-WORKED ORCHARD. 19 



of mercury to disinfect my tools, and a can of white lead and raw 

 oil to paint over large wounds. I prune now for wood growth 

 and open centers. 



I always hold the spray rod myself. I have a Hays power 

 sprayer, capable of 300 pounds pressure, run with a Cushman 

 engine, especially rigged so it can be belted to the pump jack of 

 the well without removing the engine from the rig when filling 

 the tank. As the trees are not yet in bearing, one spraying in a 

 season is enough. It is applied just at caterpillar time in the 

 spring. I use a combined solution of arsenate of lead, lime- 

 sulphur, and nicotine (black leaf 40). This year it took 150 

 gallons of solution and one day's time to spray the 770 trees. 



I have been at some disadvantage because I do not live on 

 the place. Except for a cement storage cellar in which I lock my 

 tools, there are no buildings on the land. The development of 

 orchards for non-resident owners is not unusual in the Pacific 

 Coast apple districts, but it is rather uncommon in Minnesota. 

 As I can spend only one day a week in my orchard, I have expe- 

 rienced some difficulty in getting my cultivating property done. 

 At first I rented the ground on crop shares. Now I permit the 

 use of the ground free on condition that my trees be hand culti- 

 vated. Of course, I plan to live on the place, at least during the 

 summer season, when the trees come into bearing. 



One of the conclusions to which I have come is that top- 

 worked trees will be slower in attaining a given size. I have 

 found no other expression of opinion on this point, though it is 

 claimed that top-worked trees come into bearing earlier. It 

 seems to me inevitable that cutting off the limbs for the insertion 

 of scions, thereby reducing the foliage area, delays the growth 

 of the tree. This delay is prolonged wherever scions fail to set, 

 and as the setting is often a matter of propitious weather, there 

 is always a proportion of risk when top-working is done on a 

 large scale. But until the ideal seedling has been found, it must 

 be our main reliance for ensuring hardiness in root systems, and 

 quality and size of fruit. 



Before investing in Minnesota, I visited the big orchard 

 projects of the far west, and I bought here, because, in spite of 

 climatic difficulties, I considered it a better field from a commer- 

 cial point of view, as well as a more desirable place in which to 

 live. My orchard is still in the experimental stage, and while my 

 experience is not yet conclusive, I am more than ever convinced 

 that the outlook for commercial orcharding in Minnesota was 

 never better than it is today. 



