88 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. SwEETSER. We have onh- raised them for our own use. 



Mr. Keith. Do you regard the Duchess as a hard\- tree? " 



Mr. Sweetser. Yes, and it is a great bearer. 



Mr. Sawyer. Is there not more profit in forcing these trees for 

 all there is in them, than there is- in spinning it out over thirt}- j-ears? 



Mr. Sweetser. I think so. 



Mr. Plaisted. Is there anj' such thing as driving trees so as to 

 injure them ? 



Mr. Sawyer. I don't think there is. I think there is such a 

 thing as retarding them. 



Mr. Plaisted. Does driving them shorten their lives? 



Mr. Sawyer. I think not. 



Mr. Plaisted. Then wh}' not say that more trees die bj- starv- 

 ation than by forcing? 



Mr. Sawyer. I think you would be about right. 



The President. Is there not danger of forcing and getting the 

 growtli too late in the season ? 



Ml-. Plaisted. I nevef saw any trouble of that kind, but there 

 may be. 



Mr. Keith. I suppose that the Baldwin tree is not regarded as 

 being as hardy as the Astrachan or Duchess? 



Mr. Plaisted. I don't know about that ; I have no Astrachan 

 trees. 



Mr. Keith. You have Baldwins? 



Mr. Plaisted. Y^es, and a good many of them are grafted in 

 the limbs. 



The President. Would you not prefer trees grafted in the limbs 

 to those grafted in the nursery and at the crown ? 



Mr. Plaisted. I do not observe any difference ; still, it depends 

 on how the tree is grained. I do not know but the wood of the 

 Baldwin tree is straighter grained and more liable to split than some 

 other varieties would be. 



Mr. Keith. Judging from what I have seen of the Baldwin tree, 

 and what I have been told about the Duchess, I should feel like 

 driving the Duchess twice as hard as I would the Baldwin. 



Mr. Sawyer. I have but one tree of lUt.' Duchess; some of the 

 limbs have split off, from the weight of the appk;s, and it split as 

 badly as ever I saw the Baldwin. 



