48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc, 



bage, squash aud pai'snips. They are all of tlieiii good 

 crops, I think, and have in general proved satisfactory, and 

 we shall use all of them another season. 



In closing, I wish simply to say that, while I do not be- 

 lieve there are fortunes to be nuide in fruit growing, I do be- 

 lieve that there is money in it ; for if a man will grow good 

 fruit (and experience has abundantly demonstrated that we 

 can do that here in Massachusetts), and if he will pack it 

 honestly (and almost any man can pack good fruit that 

 way), there is no more doubt in my mind about its being a 

 profitable business than there is that John D. Rockefeller 

 has found ihe oil business remunerative. And at the same 

 time that a man is making money, he is also living one of 

 the pleasantest, most wholesome lives to be found among 

 farmers, and that is etpiivalent to saying among rncn. 



Question. Is it a good thing to have a cover crop, which 

 is a nitrogenous crop, on top of the soil ? 



Professor Sears. My contention is, that so long as your 

 crop doesn't decay, you don't lose anything. I think that 

 any crop, irresi)ective of whether it lives over winter or 

 not, should be left on the surface until s])ring. 



Question. Wouldn't a crop of manure be better ? 



Professor Sears. It isn't possible for us to use manure. 

 There isn't any better general fertilizer than good barn ma- 

 nure, when you can have just what you want. 



Question. What do you expect to do with your cover 

 crop, — plow it in ? 



Professor Sears. Plow it in the following spring. 



Question. What do you call the fillers, — every other 

 one ? 



Professor Sears. In our plan we have three fillers to every 

 permanent tree. The fillers are early bearing varieties which 

 are grown only temporarily in the orchard and cut out when 

 they crowd. 



Question. I thought you set them out 16i/> feet apart? 



Professor Sears. Thirty-three feet apart. 



Question. What do you think of the Baldwin trees as 

 fillers ? 



Professor Sears. I believe they are all right. I think 



