92 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Ans. I would graft anj' tree before matni'it}". I have often been 

 asked whether it would be advisable to graft a tree that was fulh' 

 grown, bearing good crops and not making new wood. I think 

 there is just the line of separation between a tree profitable to graft 

 and one not profitable. If a tree makes no new wood, I would not 

 graft it. It is a safe line of demarkation between the two. 



QuES. What was the age of your orchard at the time it came 

 under your care? 



Ans. I don't know exactl}'. The man who planted it took up 

 that piece of land about 17<So or 1786. The orchard was probably 

 planted in 1790. I came into possession in 1850. It was then, as 

 I suppose, sixt}' years old ; a little too old. The point I make in these 

 matters is : that if an orchard has been neglected in its prime, or 

 reduced by over-production, it is like a man who over-works him- 

 self all through his life, he is not likely to live as long as he other- 

 wise would. He will look older at seventy than he would if not 

 over-worked. I think you cannot violate natural laws without suf- 

 fering the penalty. If a tree has become prematurely' old, it never 

 can go back. Another point : After j'ou begin to renovate a tree, 

 as ni}' friend is now doing with his old orchard, that practice must 

 be continued in order to reap an}^ benefit. When that practice 

 ceases, ray observation is that the orchard will cease to he. 



QuES. I understood you to sa}' that you lost that orchard, or it 

 went down suddenl}-, under your care, after a certain amount of 

 high cultivation which you gave it? 



Ans. I mean to say that the neglect of twent3'-five j'ears wrought 

 as much mischief as fifty 3ears of age would if it had been cared 

 for properly. 



Strout. I understand that Mr. Shaw's theory is, that there is in 

 both animal and vegetable life a certain amount of vital force. That 

 is to saj', a man lives, under ordinary' circumstances, to eighty or 

 ninety years. A tree will live to eight3' or ninety'. That period 

 may be reached sooner by neglect or by over-work. There are so 

 many years of life for a tree, to start under the most favorable 

 circumstances ; be^^ond that you cannot expect to go. So you 

 shorten that period by neglect. Any attempt at revivification must 

 be a failure hy virtue of that law. 



QuES. How long will an orchard live under such care as it ought 

 to have? 



