I20 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



atively easy to irrigate down hill where the ground is cov- 

 ered will a mulch. 



Care of the Tree: It seems to me that the questions of 

 cultivation or mulching will settle themselves. We shall 

 probably find that those who advocate thorough culture on 

 the level lands were right, but that rough land culture 

 demands another method. We have seen so many things 

 grow and develop that it seems absurd to say that any prin- 

 ciple is defintely settled. When I was a boy we gnawed the 

 fruit around the worm-hole in an apple, because there was 

 nothing else to do. We simply accepted that worm-hole as 

 one of the necessities of life. Now we have sprayed until it 

 is next to a disgrace to sell a wormy apple. How many of 

 you men have stopped to think that 25 years ago spraying 

 was practically unheard of. A few people were spraying 

 with Paris-green and water, to kill the codling worm, with 

 crude pumps and nozzles and an indifferent success. Now, 

 spraying is done by powerful machinery, and who will say 

 that the development of the next 20 years will not startle us, 

 who at that time will be sitting down outside to watch the 

 battle of life. The shape of the tree is also changing. The 

 old high headed orchards are all out of date. The other 

 extreme has come, and it is a fair question to ask. why a tree 

 should ever ha^'e any stem at all ? A low headed tree is easier 

 to spray, easier to pick, easier to prune, and less inclined to 

 be swung about by the wind. In some sections, however. I 

 find people who argue against the low headed tree. In Dela- 

 ware, for instance. I found some men who object to it, 

 because the lower limbs hug the ground, and thus prevent 

 circulation of air. so that the lower fruit may rot or refuse 

 to color. This objection is urged in a flat, level country, 

 where the air drainage is poor; it will not follow on a hillside, 

 where I believe most of the future fruit of this country is to 

 be grown. 



Markets: Where are the apples of the future to be sold? 

 That question confronts many a man who is tempted to 

 plant an apple orchard. The same thing was said 20 years 

 ago to my knowledge, and I have no doubt that there are 

 men here who can look back 60 years ago and tell us the 



