APPLES. 267 



Mr. Patten. I do not believe that I have very much to offer 

 at this time. Your discussion of the apple question interests 

 me very much, of course, as I have lor g been engaged in this 

 branch of horticulture, as Mr. Wedge has stated. There is one 

 criticism I would like to make on Mr. Wedge's suggestion 

 about setting out trees eight feet apart. I think twelve feet 

 for a Wealthy even bhould be near enough, and I will give you 

 my reasons. If your trees are planted anything like eight 

 feet apart, and there should come on two or three dry seasons 

 in succession or the summer should be succeeded by an exceed- 

 ingly dry fall and an early cold winter, the trees planted so closely 

 together would soon exhaust the moisture from the earth, and 

 then they would suffer and perish, unless extra effort was made 

 to supply them with the needed moisture. They would have 

 to be watered or very heavily mulched, and, in any event, 

 trees planted as thickly as that would suffer. I would consider 

 that twelve feet would be a reasonable distance, and then if a 

 dry season or a dry fall should come they would have to be 

 watered and heavily mulched in order to carry -them through 

 the winter successfully. 



From my own experience I would recommend that the 

 Duchess of Oldenburg be not planted nearer together than six- 

 teen or eighteen feet in the row. They live so long and bear 

 so abundantly and require so much nourishment and sunlight, 

 that they do not succeed as they would if they had a little more 

 room. These are observations I have made dui'ing my efforts 

 in this line, and I think they are important. I heartily concur 

 in the distance named by Mr. Wedge between the rows. It 

 gives thorough drainage, and to varieties subject to blight it 

 would be of incalculable benefit; it also gives an opportunity 

 to scatter the manure through the orchard. 



In reference tothe different varieties that suffered during the 

 past year I would name the Longfield and Charlamoff, both 

 of which suffered a great deal; and quite a number of Russians 

 suffered to some extent. They scabbed some, and the Charlamoff 

 bore very little, the Longfield bearing more but scabbing con- 

 siderably. Now, here is a good opportunity to say a good word 

 for our own native productions. As is well known to my friends, 

 Mr. Wedge and Mr. Harris, I have a great number of seedlings 

 on my grounds of varieties that are especially valuable for their 

 hardiness in this western country. Very many of these seed- 

 lings have proved themselves of value this year, and without 

 desiring to boom the Greening apple, for that has gone beyond 



