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AFTERNOON SESSION. 



[R. D. Stephens in the chair.] 



STATISTICS. 



C. M. Coglan, Secretary State Board of Equalization: The Board 

 receives very few reports which gives them any idea of the number of 

 trees of different varieties raised in the different counties. Incomplete 

 reports are of no use. From some of the best fruit-growing counties no 

 reports that are of any value are received. The reports of the Board 

 are printed and sent out all over the country and placed in different 

 libraries, where they are read by those who wish to get information con- 

 cerning the industry in this State. The Board considers it a very im- 

 portant matter to collect such information, which can be collected only 

 through the Assessors. I think this convention ought to consider this 

 question, for it is a very important one. 



RESOLUTION. 



Mr. Hutchings, of Yuba, offered the following resolution, which was 

 referred to the Committee on Resolutions : 



Resolved, That this convention extends its heartj^ sympathy to the residents of the 

 valley who have for years been righting against the devastation wrought by the hydraulic 

 monitor, where farms and orchards have been destroyed and covered up, the navigabil- 

 ity of our rivers has been injured, cities and towns put to enormous expense in building 

 levees for their protection, and that we view with alarm the efforts that are being put 

 forth to rehabilitate hydraulic mining to the detriment of farming interests. 



Resolved, That we protest against the State appropriating money for the building of 

 dams in torrential streams for the benefit of private enterprise. 



PRUNING, CULTIVATING, FERTILIZING, AND IRRIGATING. 



Mr. Gray, of Butte: I understand that there are some orchardists in 

 Santa Clara County who have not plowed for some years, but do all 

 their cultivating with cultivators. I would like to know what the 

 result has been after two or three years' trial. 



Mr. Righter: We almost invariably cultivate. We hardly ever do 

 anything else, except when there is a big crop of weeds and we have to 

 turn them under. We are cultivating all the time now. The object in 

 cultivating now is to catch all the moisture. The ground holds the 

 moisture better where it is loose on the surface. 



Mr. Gray: How deep do you cultivate? 



Mr. Righter: That depends on how each fellow thinks. We cul- 

 tivate all sorts of ways. Some say two or three inches; others say 

 six inches. 



A VorcE: What is the best tool for cultivating when you do not plow? 



Mr. Righter: That I cannot tell you. I think they generally use 

 what they call a chisel-toothed cultivator. But there are a great 

 variety of cultivators used. There are many disk harrows used. I 

 believe the general impression is that the disk harrow is the best. In 

 regard to irrigation, I believe it will pay to irrigate. Some seasons 



