APPLES AND ORCHARDS. 41 



goes around in our orchards and the way that man catches rab- 

 bits is really a wonder. He snares them, and we pay him 10 

 cents a piece for the ears, and then he has the rabbit left. I 

 don't knbw whether he does anything- with the skins or not but 

 he certainly has a good many rabbits to eat. If you believe in 

 eating meat at all a rabbit is good eating. The way we do to 

 get rid of mice is to put a can at every tree in the orchard with 

 a little poisoned grain in it. Lay the can down on its side, and 

 the. mice will get it. If you haven't any mice in your orchard 

 there is no danger. 



Mr. Anderson : How do you poison the grain ? 

 Mr. Underwood : Soak it in strychnine. 

 Mr. Harrison : One of the best remedies to get rid of mice 

 and rabbits from the trees is to get some of the cheapest soap 

 you can find and rub it up and down on the tree. The rabbit is 

 a kind of a dainty fellow, and he don't like soap. 



Prof. Hansen: I would like to ask Mr. Smith if he would 

 recommend any apple earlier than the Duchess for commercial 

 planting? 



Mr. Smith : The Yellow Transparent and the Tetof sky are 

 very generally used in this section of the country. They are 

 early apples, but they are poor shippers. Whether to plant them 

 in a commercial orchard is a question. I can't say I would. There 

 are other fruits which take the place of the early apple. You 

 have the early crab and have small fruits, and by the time 

 they, and some of Hansen's new fruits, are through you are 

 ready for the apple. 



Mr. Horton : You spoke about planting trees of a late win- 

 ter variety. What would you recommend? 



Mr. Smith : If I should recommend any I might recommend 

 several, but I think that is for the party to decide in the locality 

 where he lives. 



Mr. Underwood: Malinda. 



Mr. Smith : No Malinda for me. So there is a difference of 

 opinion. 



Mr. Underwood : I don't know why we should not grow the 

 Malinda. It is better apple than the Ben Davis, a perfect keeper, 

 and it is a prolific bearer. I want to tell you that eleven miles 

 from Philadelphia is a large commercial orchard, several hun- 

 dred acres and a great many thousand trees, and what apple do 

 you suppose they grow the most of? It is the Ben Davis, and I 

 would rather have the Malinda any time than the Ben Davis. 

 The Malinda is a good apple. One of our members who isn't 

 here now says that he depends upon his children to tell whether 

 apples are good to eat. They go down and get all the Malinda 

 apples they can get, and he says if it is good enough for the chil- 

 dren it is good enough for him. 



Mr. Vollenweider : In regard to the Malinda and Ben Davis. 

 The Ben Davis is a red apple and the Malinda a yellow apple, and 

 the people all take to a red apple in preference. 



