No. 4.] FRUIT GROWING. 47 



Mr. Deew. The general market does not call for many 

 Russets. If joii have a retail trade and ship them yourself, 

 and peo];)le know enough to appreciate them, there is no better 

 api^le grown than the Roxbury Russet. 



Mr. Asa Dodge. Why have the sweet apples gone from the 

 market ? 



Mr. Drew. Because there isn't any great demand for 

 them. There is no reason why a discriminating public should 

 not call for some SAveet apples, but I should be cautious myself 

 about planting them too extensively. 



Mr. Reed. Is it better policy to market your fruit as soon 

 as possible or to store it ? 



Mr. Drew. That depends on the class of fruit. The poorer 

 grades must be put on the market up to Christmas time, be- 

 cause people have not adequate storage facilities. The first- 

 class apples, as a rule, bring a higher price after the inferior 

 grades are out of the way, and therefore should be held. 



Mr. Reed. Do you consider the Wealthy and Mcintosh 

 short-lived trees, and use them sometimes as fillers? 



Mr. Drew. I don't think we know how long-lived these 

 trees are, because where would we find a Wealthy or Mcin- 

 tosh tree forty j'ears old in New England ? So far as the 

 choice of a filler goes, the Wealthy will last as long as is 

 required under that system. The ]\[cIntosh is a compara- 

 tively long-lived tree, and has a tendency to bear heavily 

 every year. 



Question. I have about ten trees of Mcintosh in an or- 

 chard where there are forty Baldwins, all eighteen to twenty 

 years old. The Mcintosh bore the most the first four or five 

 years, — more the first year than ever since. The Baldwin 

 trees haven't borne heavily, but I think they have borne more 

 than the Mcintosh. The latter have had the same treatment 

 as the Baldwins, but are not more than two-thirds as large. 

 The soil is a clay loam ; I have raised good potatoes on it. I 

 have used no fertilizer save stable manure. The orchard has 

 not been cultivated for the last four or five years. 



Mr. Drew. Well, I should make them bear some way. I 

 should try putting on some slag and potash, and should with- 

 draw anv source of nitrogen. If that didn't make them bear 



