FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



45 



Pil^pin. the Jonathan, the Mammotli IJlack Twig, and some 

 other varieties as well. Almost our entire output are of the 

 late keeping;^ winter vareties. We grow very few summer 

 varieties, or earlier varieties. Some early varieties are planted 

 merely for the sake of having some for use at home, but 

 apples like the Baldwin and the Northern Spy. and the King, 

 and the Roxbury, and the Greening, do not do well with us. 

 The fact is we can not do much with them in Virginia, because 

 they ripen too early, and do not keep long enough in our cli- 

 mate. The Baldwin, which is one of your favorite apples up 

 here, with us grows to be very fine and large, but we have 

 to get rid of it by Thanksgiving time. That is a little too 

 early to make it thoroughly successful with us from a com- 

 mercial point of view. The York Imperial with us is one 

 of our greatest commercial apples. That has a defect, how- 

 ever, but we think our scientific men will be able to discover 

 some remedy for that before the sale for the York Imperial 

 is hurt very much in the markets. 



]\Iyself and two other gentlemen, who are interested with 

 me, have planted nearly seven hundred acres of apples, most 

 of which are coming into bearing, and our operations do not 

 excite nearly so much comment now as did my father's oper- 

 ations at the time he planted forty acres in 1875. Most of 

 our growers insist upon hardy, strong, well grown, two 

 year trees. Very few^ of us are willing to plant switches. The 

 trees are planted in fields, that are intended for corn, 

 the sam.e spring. We try to get the trees out in March, and 

 have the ground ready for corn the same year. The corn 

 rows are spaced so that one hill is missing where each apple 

 tree is planted. The apple trees need no cultivation the first 

 year, other than what is given to them incidentally by culti- 

 vating the corn. The second year wheat follows the com, 

 leaving a space of three feet on each side for cultivation dur- 

 ing the second summer. We think the best implement is the 

 spring tooth harrow, running that up and down by the tree 

 rows on each side. After two crops of wheat are taken from 

 the young orchard, it is usually seeded down with timothy or 

 clover, and the whole thing allowed to remain for two years. 

 Usually, routine farming on the land is very little interfered 



