STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 'J'J 



crop of apples. That year tlie trees bloomed well but we had a 

 ■cold, drenching rain when the}' were in full bloom and I didn't 

 harvest a peck of apples. With that exception, as I say, I have 

 had a good fair crop each year and the}- have been all good 

 qualit}-. kept well and sold well in the market. The younger 

 trees I have just harvested — about loo Ben Davis that were set 

 out 8 years ago, — lOO barrels of very nice Ben Davis apples. 

 And my Spies — I picked 99 barrels of Spies from 11 trees this 

 3'ear. The Spies were not large but they were of good quality. 

 I want to say that these trees, the orchard of bearing trees and 

 the small trees, have all been cultivated all this time, it has been 

 under tillage — not always plowed every year, but harrowed if 

 not plowed. The grass has been kept down or plowed under, 

 and while I believe that a moderate application of fertilizer will 

 pay, in fact I know it has paid me wonderfully well, I want to 

 say that I believe as much or more in tillage as I do in the fertil- 

 ization. I believe on a great many of our farms that if you 

 would till the land and do nothing else that you would meet with 

 very good success. Of course we know that on most farms the 

 supply of stable manure is limited, — while it may be as good or 

 even better than the commercial fertilizer for the trees, the 

 amount of it is limited, and if we are going into growing apples 

 extensivelv, if a man is going to have fifteen or twenty acres of 

 orchard, or thirty or forty, he would hardly have the stable 

 manure to spare, and there is no limit to the amount of fertilizer 

 he can obtain, if he can use it with a profit. If he can't use it 

 with a profit, of course he don't want to use it at all, as Brother 

 Dawes says. I believe that many of these old farms could be set 

 out to fruit orchards and cultivated and fertilized with commer- 

 cial fertilizer, and I want to say right here that you don't want 

 to buy your fertilizer at haphazard. You want the right kind, 

 you want the right formula. The fertilizer that I use contains 

 3 to 4% of ammonia; 7 to 9% soluble and available phosphoric 

 acid; 13 to 15% total phosphoric acid, equal to 28 to 32% bone 

 phosphate; 10 to 12% potash (K2O), equal to 18 to 22% 

 muriate of potash. 



Q. I would ask the gentleman if he does any spraying? 



A. Yes, sir. I do, I have sprayed ever since I have owned an 

 orchard. I spray just as the buds are about ready to open up. 



Q. What time do you do your second spraying ? 



