APPLES. 289 



injured in those warm days when the moisture runs down the 

 trunk, especially towards spring. I claim the life of the tree 

 is in the ring, and if it freezes on the ring it will split the 

 bark. If the bark of the tree is split at the ring, it will die. I 

 believe that winding gunnysacking or straw around a tree, or 

 anything of that sort, is too much work, because the paper can 

 be put on so much easier. 



Prof. Williams, South Dakota: I should think there would 

 be this objection to wrapping the tree with straw or anything 

 else — it would be a regular harboring place for insects, es- 

 pecially those that winter over. In a great many instances we 

 would find that we had jumped out of the frying pan into the 

 fire. I would like to ask Mr. Wedge if his trees were injured 

 at all by the late frosts this spring. 



Mr. Wedge: No, there was no injury that I could discover, 

 to the blossoms or foliage. 



Prof. Williams : I asked because in some parts of our state 

 it was found that while the trees showed no indications of in- 

 jury to begin with, as the season went by they had a good deal 

 of blight and one or two other things that threatened in some 

 cases to destroy the orchards entirely, especially the young 

 orchards. Of course, freezing weakens a tree and makes it 

 more liable to blight. The matter of overbearing, that Mr. 

 Wedge mentioned, is one ta be guarded against, because this 

 blight is apt to take advantage of any weakness occasioned by 

 either the climate or anything else. Overbearing weakens a 

 tree, and, therefore, we should guard against it. 



Mr. Brand: There is a very important point brought out 

 here, indirectly, and that is this: Suppose you have six hun- 

 dred apples on a tree, and you go to work and pick off two 

 hundred of them. Now, you will get just as many bushels when 

 that fruit is ripe, as you would if the six hundred were on the 

 tree, and yet you only ripen the four hundred. The ripening 

 of the seed is what takes the vitality out of the tree. 



Prof. Williams: I think that point ought to be emphasized, 

 too; that we ought to have good, strong seed to plant, and take 

 them from the best apples. 



Mr. Harris: If our nurserymen followed that plan, in a very 

 few generations we should find a difference in the longevity of 

 our trees. 



Mr. Wedge: I would like to hear from Mr. Somerville on 

 the question of trees bearing every year. 



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