SIXTEEXril AXXL'AL MliHTlXC. 'W 



iiialtcr i)f con\'enience. .\s a rule our rotation is tobacco and 

 corn and then seed the orchard down. 



After the hrst \ear we head the trees Ixick a httle, shape 

 them up and have a symmetrical and well balanced top, which 

 plan we mean to follow throug'hout the entire time. When the 

 trees are 4 years old we put tin around the trunks to keep the 

 mice away from them. 



We lun-e heard toda\- about sod culture, — mulch system — 

 but for our [)articular location and in connection with dairying 

 and other lines of crop production which we are doing, we 

 follow the rotation method, cultivating and fertilizing very 

 heavil}', and seeding down; then taking another section of the 

 orchard and doing the same with it. In that way we get a 

 good growth on our trees; we get good collar on our fruit and 

 also provide something whereby to carry the stock and pro- 

 \-ide an income from other sources. 



A ^Member: Do you take the crop of hay ot¥? 



Mr. Miller: Yes, sir, whenever the land is seeded down 

 we cut the hay and take it away, but we put on a top dressing 

 of manure, whether it is in cultivation or not. I would say 

 that stal)le manure and wood" ashes are our standbys ; also 

 tobacco stalks, estimated to be worth $5 an acre for fertilizer; 

 there is notliing" so strong in potash as tobacco. 



-\ ]^Iemher: How much ash.es do you put on? 



Mr. 3kIiLLER: Forty bushels to the acre; something like 

 three pecks or a bushel to a tree. 



My idea is to prune so the lower ])ranc]ies shall just about 

 touch the ground; not to have a mass of fruit on the inside of 

 the tree so the air and sunshine cannot reach it, but ha\'e the 

 fruit on the outside of the trees. One-third to one-half of the 

 fruit on these 20 years old orchard trees can be picked standing 

 on the ground. 



A ]\Iember: \\'liat do }-ou know about (juince growing? 



Mr. Miller: I believe tlie jxissibilit}' of a (juince orchard 

 is good. I shall in time plant sucli an orcliard. The market 

 conditions are good. 



Mr. Robertson: Do you know what land is adapted to 

 the quince? 



]\Ir. Miller: I ha\e a i)iece of land that is just adapted 



