154 THE COXNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



from pruning the tree early in life will thicken the top and 

 make much better chance for selecting the future top for the 

 tree, and at the same time develop the trunk rather than the 

 top. This may be contrary to the teachings of our fore- 

 fathers, but it is the result of careful observation. 



The fertilizer we use is 2^^ per cent. Ammonia, 8 per 

 cent. Phosphoric Acid, and 10 per cent. Potash. This we 

 broadcast over the ground before plowing in the spring at the 

 rate of 2,000 lbs. per acre. We use an abundance of fertil- 

 izer on our apple trees, as we want to grow fruit spurs and 

 wood the same year, and as there is not enough natural plant 

 food in the ground for this, we must substitute artificial 

 plant food. We do not use cover crops, as we have tried 

 them and they did not prove satisfactory to us. 



We plow all of our orchards in the spring and keep up 

 cultivation until the first of July, sometimes as often as once 

 a week. The most of the growth of the .trees is over by this 

 time in our section, then we let the weeds grow as they will 

 from this time on. Mr. Collingwood was mistaken in his 

 article when he said we do not believe in humus, because we 

 depend on the weeds for humus. We have used this meth- 

 od for a number of years and found it very successful. We 

 begin spraying our young apple trees as soon as the fruit 

 makes its appearance ; the first spraying on the larger trees 

 we begin just before the buds open. We use 3 lbs. sulphate 

 copper, 10 lbs. lime, ^ lb. Paris green, to 50 gallons water. 

 The second spraying is made as soon as the blossoms drop. 

 We use arsenate of lead and we then alternate with Bor- 

 deaux mixture to the end of the season, which is about the 

 first of August. On the late varieties, because of trouble 

 with the coddling moth being so prevalent in our section, we 

 are compelled to spray very late. We have one trouble we 

 cannot explain and thus far we have not found any profes- 

 sional men to explain it ; it is a rot that appears in the blos- 

 som end of the apple and very soon destroys the fruit. 



The market question in our section is an easy problem, 

 as we are convenient to both the New York and Philadel- 

 phia markets when we have the goods. The growing and 



