II 



President Maynard then introduced Mr. W. A. Munson 

 of the Drew-Munson Co., which won the prize for the great- 

 est yield from any acre of apple trees in one solid block. 



TREATMENT OF THE PRIZE APPLE ACRE 



W. A. MUNSON, Littleton 



In giving you the treatment and care of the orchard 

 that produced 227 bbls. of apples on an acre, I will start 

 with the pruning and follow the work as it proceeded to the 

 picking and packing of the fruit. 



The pruning was done by myself with the assistance of 

 one man. The main idea was to open up the centres of the 

 trees, thin out the wood where the branches were thick, and 

 take out all the cankered and diseased wood. In most 

 cases fully one third of the tree had to come out in order to 

 get the desired top opening and what I thought to be a 

 sufficient thinning of the lower branches. In this work it is - 

 my aim not to have one branch interfere with another and 

 to leave the tree when finished, open, so that the sun will 

 strike all parts at some time during the day. In some cases 

 a sucker was left to grow up in order to make new wood 

 and fill in the tops Avhich were headed back to keep the 

 trees from growing too high, as my idea is to keep them down 

 where a twenty foot ladder will be all that is necessary to 

 do the picking. All spraying work can be done from the 

 ground, or from the wagon carrying the pump. 



After the pruning, the trees were sprayed thoroughly 

 with lime and sulfur. In doing this I generally waste con- 

 siderable material, but it pays to do it as thoroughly as it 

 can possibly be done. This spraying controlled the canker 

 and there is no evidence of any new infestation. 



About the first of April, the soil was plowed as close 

 to the trees as it could be done, and then harrowed to a 

 very fine mechanical condition. At the time the harrowing 

 was done the fertilizer was applied in the following form- 

 ula. 1000 lbs. of basic slag phosphate mixed with 225 lbs. 

 of high grade sulphate of potash ; with this, 2 lbs. of nitrate 

 of soda was cast under each tree. A month later another 

 application of soda was given to the tree most heavily laden, 

 making altogether 180 lbs. of this chemical used in all. 



At the time the blossoms had finished falling, the or- 

 chard was sprayed with Bordeaux mixture and arsenate of 



