38 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



that gave it that advantage. I think our nurserymen will bear 

 me out in saying that the currant has this advantage over any 

 other small fruit. And when I began planting the apple and 

 pear trees, etc., I began to cut the roots so that they would come 

 as close as possible to a cutting like the currant. My trees 

 are now, I believe, long lived, vigorous and strong. 



Another thing. I have two lads at home, not my own, but 

 I want them to start on my farm and become fruit growers. 

 I want them to be farmers, and it seemed to me if I could 

 bring those two little boys up with a tree and have them take 

 500 trees and 1,000 trees and use their little hoes and grow 

 up to 25 years of age and then look at those trees and say: 

 "I have lived on this farm eighteen years ; the boys on the 

 next farm have lived there eighteen years, and what have they 

 got to show for it. They have raised potatoes, etc., but to-day 

 they haven't anything to show for it. I have my tree. It is 

 the product of my care. Year after year, slowly and gently 

 those trees have grown along and I have grown along with 

 them. They are mine." 



Now I will show you on the screen how we progressed. 



(At this point the hall was darkened and a large number of 

 pictures were thrown on the screen, descriptive of Mr. Colling- 

 wood's methods and trees. Figures i to 5 are but a few of 

 the many varieties shown.) 



I first bought 700 June-budded peach trees which were 

 cut severely back at the nursery. They cam,e late in the 

 season, and were cut back to about 12 or 15 inches of top, 

 and all the side root's cut off so as to leave a stem below 

 ground as smooth as a lead pencil. As trimmed they 

 were put into a bucket of water and carried in this to the 

 hole. The field was first staked ofif 18 feet each way. Then 

 with an ordinary crowbar holes were punched in the sod 

 10 inches or more in depth. From an old woodchuck's hole 

 sand was scooped up, and the method of planting was as fol- 

 lows : The little tree was put down in the center of the hole and 

 some of the sand sifted down around it to hold it upright. 

 Then sand and water were poured around the little tree until 

 the hole was full ; when it was packed firm and solid. The 

 object of this was to exclude air from the bottom of the 

 root, and pack the sand solidly around the sides so that when 



