60 STATE POMOLOGICA.L SOCIETY. 



M}' rule has been to prune the top in proportion to the amount of 

 roots cut off at the time of digging, thus preserving the natural bal- 

 ance of the tree. Should the roots be dry, cut the top out rather 

 more. In pruning at this time I prefer to cut out all unnecessary 

 branches ; then, if the tree needs any more pruning, I cut back those 

 that have grown the most. This will probably be all the pruning 

 necessary. 



I prefer this mode of pruning to that of cutting the top back, as 

 is practiced by many at time of planting, as it makes less wounds to 

 heal over. Now, don't think that this is all the pruning that your trees 

 will need ; you must prune every 3'ear, so that when 3-our trees come 

 into bearing you will have no trouble in passing through the tops of 

 your trees to gather the fruit. 



How many have not had their clothes as well as their patience most 

 sorely tried, in crawling through the tops of their trees after the fruit ; 

 and when they got it, it was of a poorer quality both in flavor and 

 color — for certainly an apple grown in the shade is not to be com- 

 pared for a moment with one grown in the sun. AVhile the well- 

 ripened apple fills all the demands of the market, the poor, unrip- 

 ened, shade-grown fruit is neither fit for the market nor for home 

 use. Brothers, let your light shine — let in a little more sunlight. 



I worked for a Lewiston firm some four weeks this winter, pack- 

 ing apples for the foreign market, and I have about come to the conclu- 

 sion that I could tell what kind of a farmer a man was by his fruit. 

 If his apples were large, smooth and handsome, free from worms 

 and bruises, I put him down as a good farmer. If, on the other 

 hand, his apples were small, pale in color, poor in quality and all 

 covered with dents and bruises, I marked him down as a poor farmer. 

 While in the first case the apples were mostly No. I's, in the second 

 case about half would be No. 2's In the first case there was a 

 profit, in the second a loss. The first man would tell 3-ou that or- 

 charding paid, the second, or No. 2 man, would tell you there is no 

 money in the business. But I am sorry to say that we have too 

 many like the second man in every town and neighborhood in the 

 State. We find them everywhere. No, not everywhere— they are 

 never found at the Pomological meetings, for they can't get time 

 to go ; ''it don't pay." 



TOO MANY VARIETIES. 



One more suggestion, and then I am done. That is in regard to 

 the multiplicity of varieties. It is certainly one of the greatest evils 



