MULCHING THE PEACH TREE. 131 



each way, and there was not a tree in the whole eight hundred, 

 as the man told me — and I went through the orchard in every 

 direction and think he was correct — that did not have some 

 peaches on it, and most of them had a great many. As he went 

 along he would pull tlisem off and throw them on the ground, 

 without paying much attention where he took them from. Said 

 I, " What makes this success ? I do not understand it. Here 

 you are thirty miles north of where I live, and you frequently 

 get good crops of peaches. How is it ? " Said he, " That is 

 the question almost everybody asks me when they come into this 

 orchard. I can see only one thing ; " and he pointed to the 

 mulching which I saw round those trees. They were about 

 eight feet high, and so level that you could look across the tops 

 of the trees. They were almost as level as a floor, he takes such 

 pains to head them in. The branches were eighteen inches 

 long, but the peaches were up next to the stem of the tree. He 

 cuts out the middle shoot, and lets the two side shoots go ahead. 

 He keeps the whole tree headed in, and the top twigs come 

 down within eight inches of the ground. I have not heard from 

 him since, as to how the crop came out, but it looked then as if 

 it would be very good. 



This discussion has taken a very wide range, and we have had 

 a great many pleasant theories and statements that are inter- 

 esting and worthy of remembrance by all of us who mean to 

 engage in the cultivation of fruit. But it seems to me what 

 we want is some facts to show how we can obtain fruit under 

 present circumstances. Is it possible for us to obtain fruit, 

 even though circumstances are against us as much as they are 

 here. I believe it is. Nature is very prolific indeed. The 

 first effort of the vegetable kingdom seems to be to propagate 

 itself. So it is with the animal kingdom. A single plant will 

 produce enough to seed a whole acre. So you see what efforts 

 nature makes to be sure the plant ^hall not go out of existence. 

 The moment we prune a tree, we make an artificial thing ; it 

 is no longer a natural thing. Then it comes under the care of 

 man, and he must deal with it in a manner entirely different 

 from the way in which he would deal with a tree in its natural 

 condition. What shall we do when we have an apple tree ? 

 The apple tree grows profusely ; it fills up its head, if we leave 

 it a few years. Then we head it in. So with the grape. It 



