FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 63 



the trees are surrounded by ground on two or more sides that 

 is niueh Ujwer than the orchard, thus giving the cold air a 

 chance to settle a\va\ from the trees, while the orchard that 

 seldom has apples will he found where the above conditions 

 are reversed. 



In bu}ing trees the greatest care should be exercised. One 

 has the choice of many standard and reliable nurserymen, 

 whose reputations are established and whose word is to be 

 relied upon, and they can be relied upon to sell only good 

 stock, and to deliver what they sell. On general principles 

 I would avoid the traveling tree agent above all others, unless 

 he represents some reputable firm. Let no man beguile you 

 into buying a large assortment of varieties for a commercial 

 orchard, as you will certainly regret it when the trees come 

 to bear. Select two or three good varieties that do the best 

 under your conditions. Two or three good varieties, that do 

 the best under your conditions, are much more preferable than 

 a large assortment. Buy only first-class trees, and take, 

 nothing els?. Then plant them carefully, and you have just 

 begun. The experts and professionals, almost without excep- 

 tion, say that we must cultivate our trees intensely to get the 

 best results, but Mr. (irant G. Hitchings, of Western New 

 York, tells us to mulch them thoroughly, and Mr. Hitchings 

 has taken more premiums at the New York State Fair, during 

 the past ten years, than all his competitors put together, from 

 apples grown on an orchard that has been in sod since it was 

 planted. Mr. Hitchings' success is certainly to be considered 

 as a great object lesson for those who do not believe in his 

 methods. Personally, from my own observation, I believe in 

 a young orchard it is better, in order to secure the best results, 

 to handle the trees with greatest care, and to cultivate thor- 

 oughly, so as to give them a good start. When those trees 

 reach maturity and begin to bear fruit, then, of course, is the 

 time that the owner's interest in them is most thoroughly 

 aroused, and it is the time when he must use all the means at 

 his command to light the enemies of his fruit in order to 

 secure Ihe legitimate reward for his labor of the past years. 

 I assume, of course, that the trees have been carefully pruned 



