32 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



an individual tree. In all lines of business, time costs money, but the 

 cost of nursery stock, if the quality is there, should be the least of factors 

 that enter into a long-time investment like an apple orchard. 



And now, for especial benefit of those who propose to extend the 

 apple industry into new regions, the lessons drawn from a prolonged 

 study of the apple orchards of Los Angeles County, concerning the lay- 

 ing of the foundation of a commercial apple orchard, may be recapitu- 

 lated as follows : 



Study well the local conditions before selecting the permanent 

 varieties. 



Insure fruitfulness in large blocks of one variety of apple trees by 

 planting pollinizers among them. 



Look into the origin of the propagating wood used before buying 

 nursery stock. 



There is nothing in all of what has just been said that is new. No 

 one knows that better than I do. In apple orcharding, as in every other 

 phase of horticulture, the state of knowledge is far, far in advance of 

 the state of practice. These truths have been set forth time and time 

 again by such masters of the science as Waite. Wickson, Powell. 

 Fletcher, and others. All the good that I could hope to come from 

 this paper lies in the fact that the report of this convention will be 

 widely circulated, and some future planter of a commercial apple or- 

 chard may perhaps have his memory refreshed upon these points before 

 he plants his orchard rather than after the loss of many years and 

 much money. (Applause.) 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. I don't feel like allowing .Air. Maskew to 

 belittle his own achievements in this line. While he may not have told 

 us anything new in apple growing, everything that he has told us he 

 has lived himself. He is an apple grower and a student of apple cul- 

 ture, and while he may not have told us anything new. he has told us 

 things that he has realized by actual contact with the apple trees them- 

 selves and their environment and everything connected with apple 

 growing. We have heard a gentleman referred to rather indirectly, 

 rather obscurely, in Mr. Maskew 's paper. Now we have that gentleman 

 here to present to you his views in person, and it is now time to intro- 

 duce him. Professor Wickson will please come forward: "Must the 

 Apple Go to the Mountain?" (Applause.) 



PROFESSOR WICKSON. Your Excellency. Mr. Commissioner. 

 Ladies and Gentlemen: I have swallowed a good deal of this December 

 weather and am not quite sure whether I can make myself understood. 

 However, the paper is very brief, and for that reason I will undertake 

 to read it myself. 



MUST THE APPLE GO TO THE MOUNTAIN? 



By E. J. Wickson, of the University of California. 

 Must, or will the apple go to the mountain ? I ask the question with- 

 out expectation or intention of answering it. It is a very old question. 

 Ever since the apple did so ill in the Garden of Eden, down in the rich 

 \ alley, and escaped the penalty of its offense upon the summit of Mt. 

 Ararat, mankind has been discussing the question: "At what elevation 



