ORCHARDS IN NEW ENGLAND. 



Pruning may actually stimulate the 

 growth of trees by throwing the vitality 

 into the remaining branches, exciting a 

 more vigorous growth and in turn causing 

 a reflex action on the growth of the roots. 

 Many trees, if left to themselves, will over 

 bear, and the removal of some of the 

 branches may often be one of the best 

 methods of (thinning the fruit. The time 

 and method of pruning will depend on the 

 purpo'se in view, whetiher for shape, for in- 

 creased growth, or fruit. 



One of the most important elements in 

 the value of pruning is that the owner is 

 thus brought into closest contact with his 

 plants. The true lover of plant life shapes 

 and cares for his plants as thouglitfully and 

 works out his ideals as carefully as he would 

 train and guide a child. 



Within the past few years there has been 

 a marked advance in the interest and atten- 

 tion given to orchard management through- 

 out New England. Many of the most ex- 

 tensive growers are practicing cultivation 

 and the use of cover crops, while the value 

 of spraying as a means of destroying in- 

 sect and fungus enemies is recognized. 



One of the most serious problems which 

 confront the New England orchardist is 

 that of the apple maggot, or trypeta. Or- 

 chardists are united, 'however, in the belief 

 thaA the faithful destruction of windfalls, 

 and all affected fruit, will result in reducing 

 the loss from the pest. For this reason 

 many growers favor the use of hogs in the 

 orchard. An advantage claimed for hogs 

 is that, in addition to destroying the pest re- 

 ferred to and adding to the fertility of the 



There is plenty of room in eastern On- 

 tario for the development of the fruit in- 

 dustry both for immediate consumption in 

 the homes on the farm, and as a means of 

 materially increasing the farm revenue. — 

 CG. H. Hutton. Grenville countv, Ont. 



land, they serve a very important purpose 

 in the way of cultivation. Important object 

 lessons in the renovation of orchards, by the 

 use of hogs, even in the absence of an appli- 

 cation of specific fertilizers, may be seen in 

 many of the orchards in Maine. 



At the Maine Agricultural Experiment 

 Station an important investigation as to the 

 relative merits of cultivation as compared 

 with mulching the trees, and also the rela- 

 tive merits of commercial fertilizers and 

 barn manures, is being conducted. The re- 

 sults of this work thus far indicate a de- 

 cided advantage in favor of treatment by 

 cultivation. 



The leading commercial apple in the or- 

 chard centers of Maine is the Baldv^n ; al- 

 though Tolman, R. T. Greening, Roxbury 

 Russet, Northern Spy and Ben Davis are 

 received with favor by many. There is a 

 general belief that the Baldwin gives the 

 most satisfactory results when top grafted 

 on some stock of known hardiness, while 

 some would use native seedlings. There 

 is probably no doubt that some strong grow- 

 ing variety Hke Tolman, Northern Spy or 

 Stark is to be preferred, because of the lack 

 of uniformity among seedlings. 



There is a strong tendency to increase the 

 planting of orchards in Maine and to more 

 fully enter into a friendly competition with 

 our Canadian friends in supplying the mar- 

 kets of the mother country. We must ad- 

 mit, however, that Canada is very much in 

 the lead in so far as the control of the mar- 

 keting is concerned, and it is to be hoped 

 that New England will profit b\ the ex- 

 perience of Canadian growers. 



A Rack for Hauling Apples. — Do you 



of the readers of The Horticulturist know 

 of a convenient rack for hauling apples 

 packed in barrels ? A subscriber would like 

 to read a description of one with, if ]>ossi- 

 ble. a diagram drawing. 



