STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 4'jr 



soil and manure, and then planting the trees. For the first year 

 or two they may flourish well ; the young, fibrous roots, finding 

 plenty of plant food near at hand, rush downwards and luxuriate 

 in it during the dry season ; sooner or later comes a wet season, 

 and the retentive walls of undisturbed subsoil act like a tub to 

 retain the stagnant water, and the poor tree, sentenced to a life of 

 wet feet, as surely falls into decline as a young maiden would in 

 similar circumstances. 



Training Fruit Trees. My experience is in favor of training 

 fruit trees low. A stem four feet in height will be found the best 

 and most convenient for most purposes, all things considered. 

 My reasons are, they are less exposed to storms and gales of wind. 

 are under better control, more easily pruned, the fruit more con- 

 veniently gathered. Also their roots are better protected from 

 the efltects of drought, and the bark on the trunks is net as much 

 damaged by the action of the sun at any season of the year. The 

 effects of the sun in March and early spring on young, thrifty 

 trees, in a torpid or dormant state, is more potent than when the 

 sap is in circulation, often causing the bark on the exposed side 

 to blister and peal off, and inducing decay. Large trees often 

 suffer in a similar manner. It will be remembered that the stem 

 and limbs most exposed to the radiant heat of the sun in March, 

 when the tree is torpid, are the first to suffer from disease. The 

 stems of fruit trees in a climate like ours, noted for sudden 

 changes of temperature from one extreme to another, should have 

 some protection from the sun, if possible. Therefore, the protec- 

 tion to the stem by low branches, is of very great importance, 

 and when considered in all its bearings, will be found the most 

 desirable form. In my experience, for profit and fruit, (and since 

 we have so many enemies to contend with) I find it better to cut 

 back and prune down than to prune up unless we wish to grow 

 wood and fruit (if indeed we get much) sky high. 



There is but little utility in plowing under the bi-anches of fruit 

 trees ; better mulch the soil and it will grow mellow, and thus 

 retain the water that otherwise quickly evaporates leaving the 

 tree to suffer in drought. It answers a much better purpose than 

 plowing or digging around them, thus disturbing and breaking 

 the fibrous rootlets, which (in drought) very much retards the 

 growth of your trees. Let Nature teach us in the forests. She 

 never ploios, but mulches with a liberal hand and never tires. If 

 you have no mulching or muck that you can obtain, take the 



