SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 183 



trees : apples occupied the first row, set 25 feet apart with a 

 peach between them; peaches last but 12 years and will be out 

 before the apples need the room; next came pears, then cher- 

 ries, and one nectarine and one apricot for trial, then quinces, 

 a (juantit)' of Japanese plums, a few German prunes and green 

 gages. The holes were prepared with wood ashes thoroughly 

 mixed at the bottom, the roots carefully spread out, and dirt 

 put on carefully and tamped that the air might be excluded. 

 Every one of these varieties made strong, vigorous growth 

 this summer. 



In the spring we went through the frost line and put in the 

 l)ulbs, and grass seed a little later. They all came up, although 

 planted in February — and they bloomed just as if they had 

 always been living there. 



Rye was 15 inches high when we begun to turn it under 

 and 39 inches when we finished, and we began to plow as soon 

 as the ground permitted. April 14 appeared and with it a 

 white frost, but the hand drills were started earl}- and four 

 varieties of radish were put in, covering half an acre, and three 

 \arieties of peas. Then came out started plants from Hunt- 

 ington, the tomatoes were placed in a cold frame, cabbage and 

 cauliflower plants were set in the field and lettuce, beets, 

 onions, spinach, endive and celery as well as corn were drilled 

 in. A little later all the trees and shrubs were sprayed as a 

 preventive against the San Jose scale. A portion of the lawn 

 was sprinkled as a test of irrigation and on the 26th of April 

 the grass seed had germinated on this portion only. Potatoes 

 were also planted this month. Rain rushed vegetation along 

 and the rhuljarb jumped out of the ground. On May 16th we 

 shipped the first product of the farm, radishes ; we sold our 

 radishes for ivou\ 4 to 6 cents a bunch, whereas the markets 

 were selling radishes for a penny. And lettuce, we had the 

 finest head lettuce you ever saw, and 19 varieties and we 

 headed it all. The peas we picked when half grown — that is 

 the only way they are fit to eat — -and we could liave sold three 

 times as many as we had raised. 



We needed the birds to kill insect life and make all hands 

 IiaiJi)y and so took an old stump long and slender and hollowed 

 by nature into a basin. We ran a pipe from our water supply 



