48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Mr. Taylok. But in the spring where would you take the 

 top off? 



Professor Seaes. Way down in here somewhere (indi- 

 cating). 



Mr. Taylor. Doesn't the nitrogenous quality of Winter 

 Vetch somewhat overbalance the cost of it ? 



Professor Sears. Yes, it would. That is a point I 

 thought of but haven't emphasized. Yes. 



Question. What do you do with the fruit you thin out ? 



Professor Sears. We haven't done anything. Even the 

 second thinning is so early that it has no value ; the fruit at 

 the second thinning is still so small and immature that I 

 don't think it will bother you. I think you will find the 

 greatest difficulty is to get your men to thin it enough. The 

 tree looks fearful when you get through; the gi'ound is cov- 

 ered with fruit, and it doesn't seem that there is any left 

 on the tree, but when you come around to picking time I 

 think you will wish you had thinned more. I think that is 

 the experience of every one who has thinned, that he couldn't 

 get his men to thin enough; but if you can get the boys to 

 realize that they are your trees and realize what the purpose 

 is, and you can get them to carry out instructions until 

 there is only one fruit left on the spur, you will be surprised 

 at the result. 



Mr. Taylor. I was very much interested, when I went 

 over your orchard, in seeing the development of fruit spurs 

 on what we call the water sprouts in the center of the tree. 



Professor Sears. In the old trees ? 



Mr. Taylor. Yes. It was something new to me. 



Professor Sears. The chairman calls attention to the fact 

 that we have been able to develop fruit spurs on a lot of the 

 water sprouts. That has been rather good, I think. Com- 

 monly we wouldn't have satisfactory development of fruit 

 spurs, and so we took the water sprouts, and undertook to 

 develop paying wood, or fruit spurs, on those, and we have 

 been reasonably successful, I think. 



Mr. Taylor. How long do you run those fruit spurs? 

 Do you leave the stubs more than two years ? 



Professor Sears. The idea is simply this: if you have 



