71 



there. 



ME. SMITH of Wellesley Hills: It seems to me that 

 the last speaker disproved his own contention. He said he 

 plowed up his own orchard and that year did not get so 

 good a crop. Of course, the roots were near the surface and 

 he cut them all off. The roots formed all over the surface, 

 and the year after he had a better crop than ever. 



THE CHAIRMAN: How was the crop before you 

 plowed, Mr. Parker? 



MR. PARKER: Oh, it was like the crop we had this 

 year. 



THE CHAIRMAN : Is there any other gentleman in the 

 audience who has a view on this subject? 



MR. WHITCOMB : Isn't it a fact that the uncultivated 

 orchard requires more fertilizer than the cultivated orchard? 



THE CHAIRMAN: I am sure \ can't answer that ques- 

 tion, Mr. Whitcomb. I do not know whether there is any- 

 body here than can give you any light on it or not. 



MR. STOCKWELL : I think that is where people make 

 a sad mistake. When their orchards are in grass they don 't 

 fertilize it enough, and there is where the failure comes. If 

 you fertilize an orchard sufficiently in sod, it is much bet- 

 ter, in my estimation, than it is under cultivation, but if you 

 are not going to fertilize it sufficiently, perhaps, you better 

 cultivate, but you have got to feed it enough to get your 

 crop. 



THE CHAIRMAN : Have you any view on that matter 

 of fertilization, Mr. Parker? 



MR. PARKER : We have never used any great amount 

 of fertilization in our orchards. The grass has been cut and 

 allowed to lie under the trees. The soil in those orchards is 

 red schist. It is full of this schist and you can take the stones 

 up and break them in your hands. I think that soil, itself, 

 has quite an amount of fertilization in it. We use a little 

 nitrogen, perhaps, two handfuls to a tree, but we do not 

 every year. 



In our young orchards we use nitrogen every year. But, 



