SlXrUENTII ANNUAL MEETINC. m 



lacking- in fertility will g-ive us (jiiality, give us higiil)' coloi'ed 

 fruit : w c w ill lia\c a slower gTowing tree and can control its 

 grow til. W'c need a moderate amount of nitrogen in the land ; 

 we need si)me hea\ y applications of potash, and if you wcnild 

 ha\e it in the ideal form, use hard wood ashes. Vou need a 

 health}' growth hut not excessixe foliage. In short, if you 

 can control tree growth you can do much to regulate the color 

 of \i)ur fruit. We also want the open headed trees, which we 

 get hy proper ])rnning, so the sunlight and the air may get in 

 and through and all over the trees; the broad open headed trees 

 that the sunlight may benefit. Then there is the early culti- 

 \ation, the first two or three mouths in the summer and a 

 cessation of it in July, 'idiat tends to give color, wdiile later 

 cultivation stimulates a too hea\'y foliage growth that retards 

 the development of color. 



Many say they get their highest color from ti"ees grown 

 in sod land where the hay is grown and cut and carted away, 

 but it reduces the ([uantity so much the gain on color value 

 wouldn't ofi'set the loss of quantity in the fruit, but that is one 

 of the ways you may get it. if you can't get it w'ithout em- 

 ploying such means. lUit as there ai"e other things besides 

 'color \alue to lie thought of, the haying of orchards is not to 

 be recommended. Spi"aying with Bordeaux mixture gives a 

 clear skin, and if you have too much foliage you may even 

 make the mixture stronger and- as a result lose some of the 

 foliage. I am not recommending this procedure, however. 



In regard to the trees that defoliate themselves, — and with 

 us about 7? per cent, of our ])each trees of one variety did it. — 

 the color was especially line, but the quality was inferior — that 

 color had been brought about by artificial conditions, too stren- 

 uous to be of commercial \aluc. In small fruits color is just 

 as important, the berries of a bright color attract attention and 

 thev will .sell much more readily and the fruit is also much 

 more firm. .\ bright colored strawberry is firmer than a pale 

 berrv of the same ^•ariety. Vou can get the bright color by 

 excessive potash feeding; and then, too, you nuist thin your 

 l)lants. Most strawberrv ])lants in matted beds are ten times 

 too thicklv grown, and it is impossible to get a good bright 

 color under those conditions. They .should be grown in hills 

 or thin rows, plants 8 or 10 inches apart in matted rows. 



