No. 4.] FRUIT GROWING. 45 



Massacliiisetts and Connecticut, where the soil is heavier, and 

 trees make a good, vigorous growth, the ultimate distance of 

 40 by 40 feet is not too much. The object of the system is 

 to get the fillers to bearing to help out the expense in the mean- 

 time. You must cut out the fillers. 



Mr. J. L. Smith. You recommend dwarf trees? 



Mr. Drew. The dwarf orchard is a good thing for school 

 gardens, a city back lot or a test orchard, but not for a com- 

 mercial proposition. 



Mr. S:\EiTn. Would you put each variety by itself or inter- 

 sperse them for better pollination ? 



Mr. Dkew. I should not think it advisable to set out a 

 great block of Baldwins without having some other varieties 

 in a block close by to pollenize. I think bees are of great 

 importance in proper pollenization. 



Mr. Erwix. Some fifteen or twenty years ago there was 

 an apple season, and then a season when there weren't any. 

 Was it from the fertilizer used or was it the season ? 



Mr. Drew. I don't know as I could explain why such a 

 season existed. The seasons of plenty and scarcity are com- 

 paratively evenly balanced now, probably because the apple 

 is more generally cultivated all over the United States. One 

 section oftsets another. Again, a person with several orchards 

 will have some fruit himself every year. 



Mr. Erwix. Don't you think it depends a great deal on 

 the man ? If a man takes care of his orchard, and uses the 

 right kind of fertilizer every year, don't you think it has a 

 tendency to give him apples every year ? 



Mr. Drew. Yes ; that in connection with thinning the 

 fruit all summer. There is hardly an up-to-date fruit grower 

 in the west who does not thin his fruit very, very thoroughly 

 several times during the bearing season. I don't suppose there 

 are twenty-five people in New England who make this a reg- 

 ular practice. Thinning balances the tree, so that, with the 

 exception of the Baldwin, you can get trees to bear compara- 

 tively evenly every year, all other conditions being favorable. 



QuESTiox. At what age do you set out your trees ? 



^Ir. Drew. For an apple orchard my preference would be 

 very strong one-year-old trees, except in sections infested with 



