84 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



one of the most costly ino;redieuts that we purchase, worth about seven. 

 teea ceuts a pound, is not needed in an orchard, or but very little of it is 

 needed after the trees come into a bearing condition. Therefore it is fool- 

 ish for us to paj-^ out so much money for nitrogen when we want it for 

 phosphoric acid and potash. We have bought mostly pure ground bone 

 and muriate of potash, using what mulching we can get to kill the grass 

 and keep the soil moist, and also keeping sheep in the orchard to keep 

 the grass down. But we have obtained the best results in that part of 

 the orchard which we have parted off and pastured with hogs. We 

 spread on a fertilizer and turned the hogs in and let them do the plow- 

 ing, as the ground was so rough that we could not plow it with horses. 

 The hogs did it just as nearly perfect as we could ask for, turning over 

 about three inches deep the whole surface. On one little section that 

 we picked last fall, in which the hogs had run for two years, were young 

 trees just coming into bearing, Tallman Sweet and Hubbardstou Non- 

 such trees that had not suffered from the scab the year before ; and those 

 little trees of Tallman Sweet were loaded with four and five barrels of as 

 handsome fruit as you need look for. The Hubbardston Nonsuch trees 

 were so loaded that we had to pick oft' half the fruit in August, and then 

 were obliged to prop the trees. And the apples were magnificent apples, 

 and brought us a handsome price in Boston. 



If you commence this plowing when you ought, as soon as the trees are 

 set, you can plow close up to the trunk. All you have to look out for is 

 to keep from barking your trees. Plow shallow, four or five inches is all 

 that is necessary, and keep plowing. Do not allow those larger roots to 

 form up in the surface soil. In poor soil the roots run close to the top 

 and extend long distances, and in a few years they will catch together. 

 In five years the roots will lock together, in poor soil particularly. Keep 

 your ground rich and the roots will not need to search so far for food. 

 In experiments at the Experiment Station the soil was dug away and the 

 roots watched, and it was found that with a tree that would extend about 

 four feet, the roots would be off" about eight feet, in rich soil. The roots 

 of the same sized tree in poor soil would run about seven times as far as 

 the top extends. 



Ques. At what time do you prune? 



Ans. I do not know but it is a little dangerous for me to say anything 

 about that where there are so many opinions. J.et us look right at the 

 theory of the thing, commence right at the foundation of the growth of 

 the tree. You plant the little seed, and the little rootlet runs down into 

 the soil, and the little sprout comes up above the ground. The whole of 

 the force has been supplied from the apple seed, but now the conditions 

 are different. The rootlet begins to suck from the soil crude material, 

 which is carried up to the top where it is decomposed, and assimilated 

 by the leaf, and the sap supports the growth of the whole tree, root and 

 all. The root does not grow of itself but must have its sap carried up to 

 the top and decomposed and formed into food, for the root as well as the 

 top. We must bear in miud the reciprocal action between the top and 



