218 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Northwestern Greening, they are easy to spoil and later on, of 

 course, they rot. If you don't prune them right after a few- 

 years they will spoil. 



Mr. Harrison : Of course, you can spoil any trees if you 

 do not properly prune them. Another thing I found would make 

 •a man successful in orcharding, if he had trouble with the old 

 orchard. This idea was not altogether original with me. I 

 bought a piece of ground with twenty-five trees on it that were 

 thirty-five years old. I started in to prune that orchard, I did not 

 cut it all to pieces, but I pruned it quite well, and I got from the 

 young growth that came on those old trees just as fine fruit as the 

 young trees had. You know it is the generally accepted conclu- 

 sion that the young trees have the finest fruit. I found there 

 was just as good fruit on the old trees thirty-five years old on the 

 new growth as there was on any of my young trees ; in fact, some 

 of the finest fruit I ever saw. 



This was four or five years ago, and I kept pruning a little 

 each year, and I noticed this year — I only sprayed once — I have 

 finer fruit on those twenty-five or twenty-six trees than the 

 fruit of any other trees I have. I find they do that in the west ; 

 every year they cut out some of the old wood and that furnishes 

 new wood, and they say that is the way they keep their fruit. 

 You know what fine fruit we get from the west ; those trees are 

 old, and that is the way they get it. 



A Member : What can you grow on sand hills ? 



Mr. Harrison: If I was living in a sandy country I would 

 have an orchard, I know I would, and I will tell you what I would 

 do. I would dig a hole big enough to put in two good loads of 

 yellow clay and I would mulch the tree, and I am satisfied I would 

 grow apples. I would try that. You know we haul clay a long 

 ways. You can afford to haul clay four or five miles to a sandy 

 country to grow an orchard, and everybody ought to have an 

 orchard. (Applause). 



Bordeaux on Potatoes. — The use of Bordeaux not only prevents blight, 

 but also stimulates potato vines to greater starch production. This is 

 brought about by a prolongation of the life of the vines. Three successive 

 sprayings during one season will prolong the life of the vines for two weeks. 

 This length of time during the most important period of the life of the vines 

 means an appreciable increase in yields. In years when blight has not 

 occurred, sprayed fields have yielded a profitably larger crop than unsprayed 

 fields. 



An even distribution of Bordeaux on the surface of the leaves is highly 

 important. To obtain the best results the spray machine should provide a 

 constant high pressure and the nozzles should give a fine, mist-like spray. 

 Sometimes 50 gallons of Bordeaux per acre is sufficient. If more is neces- 

 sary it should be used when blight is severe. 



