42 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Question. What kind of wood is used for making the barrels? 



Mr. Whittier. Most an}^ kind of wood will do. 



Question. Is poplar used ? 



Mr. Whittier. Yes. 



Question. Is basswood used, and is there danger of its moulding? 



Mr. Whittier. Basswood is unfit for barrels because it shrinks 

 too much. Some buyers will take an}' kind of barrels. I bought one 

 thousand barrels last year and would have been willing to have paid 

 more than I did for them. 



Mr. Atiterton, What is the usual price for them? 



Mr. Whittier. Twenty-five cents for old, and thirt3^-one cents for 

 new ones, is what I pay. 



Mr. Briggs. In our town we make about two thousand barrels 

 and they are of beech and birch and have six hoops made of ash 

 that are one inch and a quarter wide. We pay thirty-two cents a barrel 

 for them and buyers say that the}- will pay ten cents more on the 

 barrel where they are put up in new ones than they will when the 

 barrels are old. Unless old barrels are cleaned by steam it is im- 

 possible to get them into condition fit to pack apples into them. 

 Therefore, 1 should say use good, new barrels. It is with this as with 

 everything else, the best packages bring the highest prices. 



Mr. Atherton. I would like to enquire in relation to the influence 

 which sheep have upon an orchard and also their influence upon the 

 codlin moth. Most orchards are troubled with this insect pest and 

 as my orchard is no exception I had the idea of putting in sheep if 

 I could free it from their depredations. Are your apples more free 

 from the influence of the moth on that account? 



Mr. Whittier. My orchard is in three or four enclosures, all ad- 

 joining. The apples in the western portion, which is pastured to sheep, 

 are not one-quarter as wormy as those in the other three parts. After 

 the trees get to growing, if you have a large flock of sheep, there is 

 but little need of much other dressing. A large flock is necessary, 

 however, to furnish the needed amount. A ten-acre orchard won't 

 do well unless a liberal supply of fertilizer is applied. 



Mr. Briggs. Wouldn't it work to give these sheep an allowance 

 of provender? 



Mr. Whittier. Yes, I would pasture them in the orchard and 

 give them also an allowance of provender and thus benefit both the 

 orchard and the sheep and increase their value. 



Mr. Briggs. I feed my sheep some provender, as they cannot ob- 

 tain enough food to sustain them by foraging, and find that it helps 



