leads them to adjust themselves so that each branch may receive the necessary amount 

 of light and air; an example of this is given in photo 163. If you have a grape-vine 

 that does not do well and it stands near a tree for which you care but little, let the vine 

 take possession of the tree and you will have a great abundance of unblemished grapes, 

 although the bunches may not be quite as large as some grown for exhibition purposes. 

 The grape must have perfect drainage, and the soil should be prepared not less than 

 three feet deep, with bones, lime and ashes worked in the bottom. 



The whole country is smarting under the punishment of our neglect and oversights. 

 There are two things that we must do to gain the ascendency over our insect and fun- 

 gous foes. We have been keeping both eyes on the top of the tree. We must now keep 

 only one (the left one) on the branch and the other on the root. Our scientists are, as a 

 rule, not only men of knowledge but of good sense, and I sincerely hope that our agri- 

 cultural experiment stations will use their utmost powers to educate the people to pro- 

 vide better root conditions for all plant life; in this way the plant will regain power to 

 help itself while we are attending to part second, namely: 



KEEP ON SPRAYING. 



Almost everyone interested in a tree or vine has informed himself on spraying pumps 

 and insecticides. With nursery stock diseased and plants, from which we obtain our 

 seeds, vitiated from poor soil and attacks of insects, it becomes a very grave question as 

 to how many real healthy plants we have to start in with. Therefore, it is the duty of 

 every citizen who has a tree or plant, to act as a volunteer in making war on these insect 

 pests. He should equip himself with a "spraying machine," if it be nothing but a hand 

 one. If a general raid were made on these foes with insecticides, holding them in check, 

 while we pull out and burn up half of the fruit trees and vines now in existence, and 

 commence planting nothing but healthy stock, being careful the soil is prepared right 

 and keep the ground well cultivated and perfectly free from weeds, inside of fifteen 

 years there would be an entirely new era in fruit-growing. This is no dream it is a 

 grand possibility that lies before the American people. The wise man can certainly see 

 this as plain as the noon-day sun, and the wiser and wisest of men will begin to hitch 

 their teams to the old, pest-breeding trees and vines, pull them out and burn them up, 

 prepare new fields for orchards and vineyards, take time to prepare the soil rightly, see 

 that the under draining is perfect, hunt up a nursery that will give a guarantee of per- 

 fectly healthy plants, form the tops in the right place, look after the pruning every sea- 

 son, see that trees are properly guarded, fertilize annually, etc., etc. such a man will go 

 into the market with large, tempting, luscious fruits; and, last but not least, come home 

 with a pocket full of money. 



There is a great lamentation throughout the land over the deterioration of our fruits, 

 but hitherto the people have not discovered the real sources. In the wounding of apple 

 and other fruit trees we have poisoned the sap with the dead tissue that passes into the 

 circulation and created harbors for insects and weakened the constitution of the plant by 

 this grave error. Then, having failed to underdrain and prepare the depth of soil that 

 should be for our trees and vines and, having failed, also, to cultivate and keep clear of 

 weeds, we have allowed these faithful friends of ours to wilt in the hot sun and thereby 

 destroy the leaf on which, in turn, the fungi take root and on which insects in untold 

 billions feed and thrive, we having created the conditions on which they exist. 



