130 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



orchard six or seven years which has been treated in that way 

 and they have been bearing two or three years. Although 

 there is not so much advantage in early bearing as some of 

 us have thought. It is more important to grow good strong 

 trees than to have young immature trees bear fruit. A 

 strong, vigorous 8-year-old tree with a good bearing surface 

 is to be desired ; then you can have good large crops of fruit. 

 There may be more advantages for growing early fruit in 

 the west, where they calculate for only 15 years of life of 

 trees, but here and in the middle west we can count on longer 

 life : so we can afford to wait a few years longer and get 

 healthy, vigorous trees. Cutting off the young tree too 

 severely will check fruitfulness. Pruning is a necessary 

 evil ; it is necessary, but don't do any more of it than is nec- 

 essary to accomplish your purpose. 



In regard to markets. 



When I planted my orchards I decided there were 

 enough people in Toledo who were willing to pay a good 

 price for a good apple — the people who were tired of the Ben 

 Davis apple and the Keiffer pear — so I planted something 

 better, a great many of your varieties; you know we are 

 nearly in the same latitude as you, almost directly west ; so we 

 planted Baldwins, Greenings, Grime's Golden, the Jonathan 

 — I was perhaps the first grower in Ohio who planted the 

 Jonathan to any extent. I was rash enough to attempt it and 

 the results have amply justified my faith in it. It must have 

 high culture ; it is inclined to grow a little small and for that 

 reason needs high culture and thinning. We thin our trees 

 and also the fruit. Some say it is too large an undertaking 

 and that it is quite impossible to thin the apples. It is as 

 easy to thin as it is to pick them. If you find there are more 

 apples than you can thin, then there will surely be more apples 

 than you can pick. I have been practicing thinning of fruit 

 for 8 or 10 years and it pays. You must do it to get the 

 handsomest and best product. In my own case, living as 

 near as I do to Toledo and being able to ship our fruit by 

 trolley, we are able to supply our customers in the city 



