134 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



have been grown upon it. On September 5 the clover was 

 from six to ten inches in height, and the value of this crop 

 to the soil was estimated by Professor Clinton to be fifteen 

 dollars per acre. Walking over it, it was like treading 

 upon a carpet, so loose and mellow was the soil. 



I visited this orchard by request of Mr. Hart in 1893, to 

 critically oliserve the effects of stable manure and potash 

 and l)one as applied to different parts of the orchard. This 

 was before crimson clover was grown on the land. I found 

 that the nitrogen in the stable manure had increased the 

 size of the fruit over that fertilized with the bone and 

 potash, but at the expense of color and firmness. The 

 latter was of much higher color, was smooth, hard and 

 glossy, and had a higher market value, particularly wdiere 

 wanted for shipment to foreign markets, as its carrying 

 properties were far better. 



The effect of growing crimson clover upon orchards, as 

 shown by an analysis of the soil on the farm of George T. 

 Powell, where three successive crops had been grown, has 

 been a capacity for holding thirty per cent more moisture 

 than was found in an adjoining orchard where no clover had 

 been grown. This furnishes another proof that water in 

 the form of moisture in the soil can be obtained by the in- 

 corporation into the soil of humus, which can be supplied 

 by green crops, upon which the microbes in the soil work 

 and store up nitrogen, the most costly of all fertilizers. 

 Therefore water and humus are proved to be indispensable 

 to the successful production of crops in agriculture or hor- 

 ticulture. 



This brings us to the consideration of the second part of 

 our subject — the marketing of fruit. 



Marketing of Fruit. 

 It may be truly said of this subject that it is not a theory 

 but a condition that confronts us. Whether it be over- 

 production or under-consumption, the fact remains the same, 

 that our markets every year, under the varying circum- 

 stances of production and climatic conditions, become con- 

 gested, overloaded and demoralized. We must look for this 

 more or less, because of the perishable character of some 



