STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 8l 



ground, and I prefer them for many reasons. I lost a lot of my 

 scions by their growing so rapidly they winter-killed. But I 

 must not touch upon that point. I could not help it. It came 

 into my mind. After those trees became large enough to set out, 

 I kept that field plowed. I used to put on an application of 

 dressing, lo to 20 loads to the acre, as the case may be, and I not 

 only grew my trees but my crops, my corn, potatoes, my garden 

 stuff, not only grew my trees but I grew that wdiich I produced 

 upon the farm. \Mien those trees got so large that they shaded 

 the ground so much I couldn't raise my crops, and at the present 

 time — and I have had to keep thinning them out — I put on not a 

 very heavy application of barn dressing and plowed it under and 

 I kept that piece plowed and harrowed the next year until some 

 time in July, and then I sowed clover or put on something for a 

 cover crop — which will be explained to you later — and the next 

 year I plow under whatever comes up after July, and I don't put 

 on any dressing the next year. And some years I will let it run 

 in clover one or two years, but you need not be afraid to use the 

 plow and the harrow in your orchards. Sometimes I think that 

 the plow and the harrow do more than the dressing. Why, the 

 result is wonderful, what barn dressing will do for our fruit 

 trees. Why, go with me right across from where I live only a 

 few miles to Air. Ricker's orchard. W'hat have they done ? This 

 year they sold 2,600 barrels of apples. Can you realize a man 

 raising 2,600 barrels of apples ? He has not used any chemicals 

 of any amount. It has all been done by w^ork, by barn dressing, 

 by the plow, by the harrow. You may talk about your chemi- 

 cals, but when you get ahead of barn dressing you have got some 

 work to do. We get there just the same with barn dressing as 

 they do with fertilizers. And that is not saying anything against 

 fertilizers. I am experimenting now with them. I am getting a 

 little avaricious perhaps. 1 don't like to spare it for my fruit 

 trees and this year I bought some commercial fertilizer to put 

 around my trees. The trees blossomed but the frost killed the 

 blossoms and of course I cannot give you the results from that 

 fertilizer, but the trees have grown rapidly, and perhaps some 

 time in the future I can speak more upon the application of 

 fertilizers. 



I want to touch upon another point. When you have dressed 

 and fertilized your trees, you shouldn't stop right there. I have 



