THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



51 



tree better, and you don't have to store it so soon. There is a 

 great advantage so far as keeping qualities are concerned. 



I would Hke to say, I advise everyone to practice this system. 

 But I cannot do that. I cannot advise anyone to practice any 

 particular system unless I know the circumstances and con- 

 ditions by which they are surroiuided. Each one must study 

 it out for himself, and decide whether this plan is adapted to 

 his conditions or not. I believe, in most cases, it will fill the 

 bill. In many cases it will fail. There are some out in Ohio 

 who think the grass-mulch method means turning trees out to 

 grass and letting them shift for themselves. They think it is 

 the same thing as a slip-shod method. It is not that at all. It 

 means to get the trees in the very best possible condition, so 

 that they will thrive and'bear fruit. 



Some of our fruit growers seem to think it will answer just 

 as well to pasture an orchard because the droppings will enrich 

 the soil. They forget, however, that they are taking that 

 cover off which protects the fruit late in the season, when the 

 fruit needs as much moisture as it can possibly get. Hence, 

 mulching is an entirely different thing from pasturing an 

 orchard. It is a different thing from allowing grass and weeds 

 and briers to grow up. In the grass-mulch method, we are 

 making mulch of the grass. We are using grass for the benefit 

 of the trees. 



Now I think I have explained this method sufficiently. I 

 did not intend to do any more than explain what had been done 

 out in Ohio. I don't care to go into the cause, and a technical 

 treatment of the method here. But I would like to see the 

 subject extended. We are doing all we can at our Experiment 

 Station in Ohio to get the fruit growers of our State to try it. 

 We are doing this because we believe in it. We believe it will 

 help the poor land in the southeastern part of our State and 

 make it more profitable for the cultivation of fruit. 



If I have not made the matter at all plain so far as I have 

 gone, I will be very glad to answer any questions you may ask, 

 and explain more fully. 



A Member : Do you cut the grass growing between the trees, 

 or let it fall down naturallv? 



