Ill 



and make it carry it; or get some other crop than potatoes. If 

 potatoes cannot be grown profitably, consider strawberries. 



Mr. Snyder. Do you ever have trouble with flea beetles on 

 the apples ? 



Mr. F. Xo, we never have. 



Mr. Snyder. We have had trouble from the flea beetles leav- 

 ing the potatoes and attacking the foliage of the apples. 

 Member. Is pear blight contagious? 



Mr. F. Yes. It can be transmitted from the pear to the 

 apple. For instance, if a knife or saw or pruning shears are used 

 to cut oft an infected limb and are then used on the following tree 

 the healthy tree may be inoculated. The tools should be disinfected 

 in corrosive sublimate after each cut, or the cut should be disin- 

 fected after it is made, whenever there is much fire blight preva- 

 lent. 



One other difiiculty in potato-growing among apples is that 

 for potato production, the land should be plowed deeply. Ten inches 

 of deep soil is none too much for good potatoes. By giving such 

 a plowing, especially if we approach closely to the trees we may 

 do considerable damage. 



Member. Is it better to grow apples and potatoes with or- 

 ganic matter than commercial goods ? 



Mr. F. In my case I needed organic matter. The texture 

 of the soil was not good enough and fertilizers would not improve 

 it. The land had been rented for a number of years and had been 

 skinned ; it needed humus. This took time to grow or else one 

 would need to put on large quantities of manure. Then land tend- 

 ed to bake, but as soon as it became enriched with organic matter 

 the tendency to bake disappeared. We needed organic matter both 

 for apples and potatoes. 



Mr. Rinehart. Do you want plenty of organic matter for 

 peaches ? 



Mr. F. We have not had any trouble in getting too much. I 

 hesitate to answer the question for you in that way, because my 

 conditions are not yours, and I cannot form an opinion of what I 

 should tell you. 



Member. How much wood do your trees grow in one year? 



Mr. F. Apples will make 3 to 4 feet of wood. Greening is 

 one of our best growers. One of our good trees is about 8 feet 

 in diameter at three years old. Other varieties, such as Hubbard- 

 ston, ]\IcIntosh and Wagner are small srrowers and would not make 

 anything like this growth. There is one other question and that 

 is in regard to the supply of seed. Whenever you put more labor 

 on a crop or you put more time in spraying or apply more fertilizer 

 it must be paid for, but it costs no more to plant a potato which 

 is capable of giving 200 bushels per acre than it does to plant one 

 whose maximum is 100 bushels. We know there are individual 

 potatoes whose maximum yield is, say one pound, and there are 

 others which can give us five pounds, and yet occupy no more land. 

 It would seem to me that if one is going into potato-growing it is 

 necessary to grow some of the best individuals. I do not say best 

 varieties, because in my experience, there is just as much difl^erence 



