FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 133 



I don't know of an orchard that bears in Vermont except 

 every other year. I think where we fail is, we don't under- 

 stand how to fertilize the soil. It seems to me that the buds 

 of the Baldwin tree can be so promoted in the fall that they 

 will be ready to bear fruit again the next year. 



A Member: \\'hat do you use for fertilizer? 



Mr. Kinney : We fertilize by ploughing in the cover crop, 

 and I have fertilized with bone meal and potash, and put it 

 on in the spring. I am not an authority on that matter only 

 so far as my own experience goes, but I think our soil 

 is deficient in potash, and that is something our experi- 

 ment stations ought to tell us more about. They ought to 

 come into our communities and test our soil and help us out. 

 I would like to know what I ought to apply on my Spy orchard 

 to get a better color. You all know that these apples are 

 often deficient in color, and I think potash w^ll bring out 

 more color. 



Mr. Ives: Don't you find the color better some seasons 

 than others? 



Mr. Kinney : Certainly. The atmosphere has a great 

 deal to do with the coloring of fruit. Last year we left some 

 Spies on the trees a long time, but they didn't seem to color 

 up a bit. The Spies were very poor color last year, and 

 especially in this orchard that was treated with potash. We 

 notice this, the orchard that has not been cultivated at all, 

 gives us the best colored Spies we have got. The finest col- 

 ored Spies I ever saw was in a neighboring orchard that was 

 not cultivated at all ; but remember this, that orchard had not 

 borne a good crop of apples for a long time, it was practically 

 kept dormant from the fact that it had not been thoroughly 

 cultivated and pushed along, and when the season did come, 

 that orchard was just ready to bear and it did bear, and the 

 season being just right to color them, it colored them up fine. 

 I think it had been gathering up the right kind of fertility 

 while my orchard had been bearing fruit every year and was 

 partially exhausted. Now, if I knew what to put on my soil 

 to keep it up to the highest standard, I could make my apples 

 bear and color well vear after vear. 



