TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 183 



President Rogers : "What is the best treatment for a 

 fairly producing Baldwin orchard, forty years old, that has 

 been in sod and pasture for the past thirty years?" Can 

 you answer that question, Mr. Drew? 



Mr. Dkew : Mr. President. I think perhaps I could 

 answer that question, but it would take half an hour to do 

 it. That. is a big- subject, and to answer it thorougfliiy would 

 take a little time. In a general way, I should say that the 

 first thing to do would probably be to prune the trees and get 

 them in shape, break up the soil by using a plow, unless the 

 roots were near the surface. That would break up the sod. The 

 sod has got to be broken up anyway. Then I would culti- 

 vate that orchard, and if I had the scale in it I would eradi- 

 cate the scale and do the best I could to give it the benefit 

 of all modern methods. To go into details here would take 

 too much time. I would be glad to answer it if I could. 



Mr. Kelsey : There are two points that will bear em- 

 phasis right here. With most an}- tree the roots are near the 

 surface unless that surface has been continually stirred with 

 tools. The natural tendency is for the tree roots to come up 

 and compete for the plant food. If you plow deeply first, or 

 put on a sharp tooth harrow, you are very apt to cut off a 

 good many of those little roots lying very close to the sur- 

 face, and you will undoubtedly shock the tree very much and 

 put it back, if not kill it. Secondly, if you want to renew the 

 top of the trees, do not begin to prune until after the middle 

 of June. If you prune between the first of March and the 

 first of May, the top wall renew itself with the least possible 

 shock to the tree, but if you prune, if you cut off that growth 

 after that time, you give the tree a shock from which it will 

 not recover so as to do as well as in the other case. 



President Rogers : Here is a question : "What is 

 the best cover crop for a peach orchard?" 



Mr. Henry : To answer that, Mr. President, I think I 

 should want to know the age of the orchard. 



President Rogers : Well, beginning with the yearling 

 and go up to four years old. 



