34 MAINE AGRICUIvTURAI, KXPIvRIME^NT STATION. I912. 



Under such conditions valuable and interesting data was 

 obtained. At the same time it was clearly recognized that the 

 prime requisite for the accumulation of data on orchard man- 

 agement and for the proper attack of scientific orchard prob- 

 lems, upon the solution of which depend the fundamental 

 practices of pomology, was the use of land for orchards for a 

 continuous, indefinite period. Such work could only be suc- 

 cessfully prosecuted by this Station in the ]\Ia.ine apple region 

 in orchards under State ownership. 



The legislative appropriation and subsequent purchase of 

 Highmoor Farm, JMonmouth, in 1909 met the necessary condi- 

 tions in regard to ownership. The condition of the trees, how- 

 ever, at the time the Station assumed control in the summer 

 of that year was such that only a small part of the orchards 

 was suitable for any real work of investigation. It was there- 

 fore imperative that the orchards as a whole be brought into 

 vigorous condition before they could be regarded as proper 

 media for experimental work. The need for restoration as a 

 prerequisite for experimentation is obvious from a considera- 

 tion of the orchard conditions in the fall of 1909. 



Condition of Highmoor Orchards, 1909. 



The orchards at Highmoor Farm, consisting originally of 

 5000 trees, were set out about 25 years previous to the above 

 date. No records are available giving data upon the exact 

 year of planting, the number of each variety set, the replacing 

 of the original trees or the subsequent treatment of the or- 

 chards. The trees received indifferent, if any, treatment at 

 times, according to the ideas of the several owners who pre- 

 ceded the Station. Some plots were evidently fertilized oc- 

 casionally with barnyard manure, but there is no evidence that 

 any system of intelligent orchard management had been fol- 

 lowed and no attempt had been made to handle the trees by 

 up to date horticultural practices up to the time the Station 

 came into possession. On the contrary, persistent neglect seems 

 to have been the case for many years. 



The number of trees in the orchards proper in the fall of 

 1909 was a little over 3100, set 25 by 25 feet apart. With the 

 exception of a small block of about two score trees near the 

 farm buildings, which will not be considered, and a scattering 



