FOURTEEXTH Ai\Xi\-lL MEETING. 47 



trees, destrcncd in that orcluird by mice. I'erhaps some of 

 you will ask wli}' we pursue that method at all in \'irj;inia 

 if we do not think it is the best method. My reply would be 

 that I was not asked to come here to tell you rvliy we did 

 things in Mrginia, but to tell you how we did them. 

 (Laughter.) 



Pruning with us is practiced very little. In fact, very 

 little pruning is needed if you get first-class trees from the 

 nursery, well grown, and well developed, strong, vigorous 

 stock. We practice pruning just as little as we can, thinking 

 as a rule that more harm is done in that direction than good. 

 Our people, the growers in our country, think that the best 

 lands are none too good for the orchard, and the best lands 

 in my section command prices ranging all the way from sixty 

 to seventy-five dollars an acre. I do not mean by that that 

 our fruit lands can be held at such prices, taking them right 

 through, but what I mean is that if you want to buy a farm, 

 well located, well improved, and with good buildings, you 

 will have to pay, on an average, of at least fifty dollars an 

 acre. There are man}- miles of so-called fruit lands in Vir- 

 ginia which, of course, would not be worth that, but for good 

 land you have got to pay a good, fair price. Of course, the 

 nearness of the land to the railroad station makes a good deal 

 of difference with its value. When you come to talk about 

 land that is five miles or more back from the railroad, of 

 course that is a different proposition. The difficulty in get- 

 ting fruit to market promptly is one that is quite serious, and 

 of course, where a farm is situated some distance from a rail- 

 road station, making it necessary to haul the fruit a long dis- 

 tance, that militates against the value of such a farm. 



No fertilizers have ever been used in any orchard with us. 

 Just what the result w^ould be after a liberal fertilization, I 

 am not able to tell you. So little has been done in that line 

 in our country that I have practically no information. I do 

 not know of a single bearing orchard in my country that has 

 ever been heavily fertilized, with the possible exception of 

 one. There is one orchard in West Mrginia, near where T 

 live, which is said to have been taken care of in that wav, but 

 I have no definite information as to the results that have been 



