28 



highway by which the results of our improved care are trans- 

 ported back and forth from the roots to the top, and if this 

 highway is in a demoralized condition we are not going to 

 get the best results. 



2. The Stand of Trees.— This is supposing, of course, that 

 the trees to be treated are in an orchard, and it will be easily 

 seen that if half of the trees are out it is not going to pay to 

 cultivate and fertilize the whole of the land for trees which 

 could be put on half of it. And it is seldom satisfactory 

 to attempt to grow anything else in such vacant spaces in 

 an old orchard, or to plant young trees in the vacancies. If 

 the trees are along fences or odd corners, so that cultivation 

 of the soil will not be attempted, then the question of stand 

 is less important, and may, perhaps, be ignored altogether. 

 But in an orchard there ought to be a three-quarters stand at 

 least to make it worth while to take the matter up, except 

 under the most favorable circumstances. 



3. The Varieties in the Orchard. — "this is of less importance 

 than the two points already mentioned, yet it is a factor 

 that is decidedly worth considering and that has an important 

 bearing on the cost of the renovating process. It is possible, 

 of course, to graft over the trees, but this is both an expensive 

 and a lengthy operation, and I should condemn to the brush 

 heap an orchard which needed to be grafted far more quickly 

 than one which already had the right varieties in it. Of 

 course the question of varieties is very largely personal, and 

 need not be discussed here, but I should mean by "right" 

 such varieties as suited the grower and the markets for which 

 he was producing, preferably standard sorts, like Baldwin, 

 Rhode Island Greening and Roxbury Russet, 



The above, as I have said, are the main factors in deciding 

 for or against the renovation of an old orchard, yet perhaps 

 I have omitted the chief factor after all, and that is the man 

 himself. If he has just come into possession of the orchard, 

 and is making an attempt to clean up all along the line, I 

 should have far more faith in the ultimate good results of 

 the matter than if he were author and finisher of the neglect 

 from which the orchard has suffered, even though he might 



