46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



in such a way as to prevent crowding as long as possible. Both 

 of these points we intend to look out for. We have used what 

 is called the '' filler system; " that is, our permanent trees are 

 set 33 feet apart, but are interplanted both ways so as to 

 bring the trees down to IOI/2 feet apart. For these fillers 

 we are using such early bearing varieties as Wealthy, Mcin- 

 tosh and Duchess of Oldenburg, and for our permanent trees 

 such sorts as Baldwin, Hubbardston, Greening and Graven- 

 stein. We intend to practise repressive pruning, to head 

 the trees in every year, so that they shall not begin to crowd 

 for as long a period as possible. It ought to be possible to 

 delay this crowdina; until thev are fifteen years old, at the 

 very least. But when they do begin to crowd, we are going 

 to cut out the fillers and leave the entire land fur the perma- 

 nent trees. And right here is where the difiiculty usually 

 conies in, — most men will not cut out their fillers in time ; 

 I hoj)e and believe that we will. It ought not to be any 

 more difiicult than ])runing. When we prune, Ave cut away 

 part of the tree for the good of the rest of the tree, and 

 when we remove fillers we cut out some of the trees entirely 

 for the good of those that remain. We may have to tell 

 the foreman to cut out the fillers, and then go away ourselves 

 and stay away till the job is done ; but one way or another 

 I expect to see those fillers come out before they have dam- 

 aged the permanent trees. 



The whole question of fillers narrows down to this: if a 

 man can use fillers and bring them into bearing early enough 

 so that they will be more profitable than growing an annual 

 crop between the trees, and if he will then cut out the fillers, 

 as suggested, it is a profitable scheme; but if he fails in 

 either of these particulars, then the plan is a failure. Some 

 people object to the filler scheme because, they say, the tree 

 has to be cut out just in its prime. But this has absolutely 

 nothing to do with the question farther than being responsi- 

 ble for most of the failures of the scheme. If the trees have 

 been the most profitable thing you could have on the land 

 while there, they have done their whole duty, and have vindi- 

 cated your judgment in setting them out; and the fact that 

 if they were somewhere else they might continue to be 



