state; pomological society. 79 



orcharding, as I almost worship a clear field. Instead I have 

 taken small lots that were producing nothing of value, rough and 

 full of rocks and then if I failed I lost nothing but my labor. 



My method has been to clear the land, set the trees and then 

 raise crops year after year as long as anything would grow 

 under the trees so that I can feel that the orchards have cost me 

 very little, if anything, and the land is now the most valuable 

 per acre of any on the farm. I have learned that for me the 

 Baldwin is the most profitable apple to raise, and that I can get 

 the best results by setting some other kind and top work to Bald- 

 win. I have got good results from using the Red Astrachan, 

 Wealthy, Talman Sweet and Spy. The Baldwin set direct from 

 the nursery makes, in many cases, a poor trunk, the limbs mak- 

 ing a weak union and the tendency is to split down with the first 

 full crop of apples. I have put in many bolts but water will 

 work in and then the end is not far oflf. There are many things 

 that have been made plain through the teachings of this Society 

 that were unsettled when I began to work among the trees. 

 One is the distance apart that trees should be set. I was told 

 by an old orchardist that 20 feet was the proper distance to set 

 Baldwins but I have found, and I think it is universally accepted, 

 that 30 or 35 feet is the proper distance for Baldwins. Ben 

 Davis can go a little nearer. I became a member of this Society 

 in 1887 ^nd from that time my interest in fruit culture has been 

 on the increase. I enjoy setting trees and then shaping them 

 into just what is wanted. In small fruits I began with a few 

 strawberries, then raspberries and blackberries were added, then 

 came five or six varieties of plums. There were a few currant 

 bushes on the farm and those have been extended to four or five 

 varieties so that in poor seasons we have all the fruit that three 

 families require, and in good seasons there is a surplus that sells 

 readily in the neighborhood. There are now on the farm about 

 1,000 trees and the hope is that in the near future they will 

 produce 1,000 barrels of apples. 



Prof. Munson from the Experiment Station, Orono, is trying 

 some experiments in fertilization and in cover crops of which I 

 presume he will make reports from time to time. The more I 

 learn about the cultivation of the apple the more firmly I am 

 convinced that it can be made a paying business on many of our 

 rocky hills of Maine. 



