OPENING UP THE FRUIT FARM. 125 



Mr. Bingham: That is a question that has been discussed 

 a good deal. We don't use it simply because our soil is of such a 

 nature we wouldn't gain anything by it. In a place where there 

 is danger of poor drainage you can open it up down through that 

 layer. I believe Mr. Kellogg asked the question whether there 

 wouldn't be a cistern formed if you dynamite a hole. I think 

 there is some danger if you don't break that soil clear to a. certain 

 extent. If it is clay so the water doesn't penetrate readily, it is 

 more apt to be a water hole. 



A Member : When you plant your trees do you set them per- 

 pendicular or leaning? 



Mr. Bingham : We set them straight up as soon as we can. 

 Those are our instructions, to plant them straight. 



A Member : Do you plant them any deeper than they were 

 in the nursery? 



Mr. Bingham: Usually about the same depth, or perhaps 

 a little deeper. You must use your judgment. If a tree has a 

 shallow roots we don't like to plant it so deep. 



A Member : I would like to make a remark about the trim- 

 ming of the roots at the time of planting of the tree that is dug 

 in the fall. I remember once I planted some apple trees, and a 

 portion of them didn't seem to start to leaf out or grow until 

 late in July. So I pulled them up with the intention of throwing 

 them away. But I found the roots alive, and they were starting 

 at the ends where they were cut. Some of them had partly de- 

 cayed. So we cut them off, and we planted them in water and in 

 a short time they grew. After that I always cut the roots in the 

 spring. 



Mr. Bingham : I believe that the cut ends of the roots should 

 be allowed to callous over before planting. It seems to me a fool- 

 ish move to take off the callous that it has taken all winter to 

 form. The ends of the roots should be calloused. 



Cedar Rust on Apples. — Cedar rust on apples continues to attract 

 considerable attention and has been severe in certain localities. One of the 

 striking things, however, in orchard pathology has been the fact that in 

 many of the large commercial orchard districts of the eastern Appalachian 

 Mountains, where cedar rust threatened the destruction of the value of the 

 orchards, complete or partial eradication of the cedar trees in the vicinity 

 of the apple orchards, usually within a radius of one mile, has completely 

 solved the problem in the most practical, simple and permanent way and at 

 a very slight expense. While the destruction of the red cedars is to be 

 regretted, this tree in the vicinity of apple orchards has come to be a 

 veritable pest tree, and where the cedar-rust fungus has been specially 

 abundant the necessity for its destruction has been amply demonstrated by 

 the repeated experiences of the past few years. — U. S. Dept. Agri. 



