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orchards had finer fruit than mine. You see, I wanted to be one 

 of those speciahsts, but I soon discovered that the old saying- that 

 the big fish eat the httle was not true. In fact, I believe the time 

 will soon be here that the little fish will eat the big. At least, I do 

 not fear the competition of large orchard companies, but I do fear 

 the competition of the fellow who has only as many acres in culti- 

 vation as he can look after himself. 



To summarize — would say, the right man — the right location — 

 the right soil — with all requirements strictly carried out, from the 

 planting of the tree to the marketing of the fruit, will find peach 

 culture as profitable as the culture of any other fruit. 



R. M. Eldon. Do you have any trouble in getting the right 

 men to do your work? 



Mr. Beyer. That is just my troul:)le, to get that kind of help. 

 The labor problem is the biggest trouble I have in my business. I 

 do not have much trouble to dispose of my fruit. It requires in- 

 telligent help and I cannot always get enough of the right kind. 



C. S. Griest. In picking your fruit, how often do you go over 

 the same trees? 



Mr. Boyer. About twice. That is the time they should be 

 sorted, too. 



Member. Do you use any commercial fertilizer? 



Mr. Boyer. I had a commercial fertilizer made for the peach 

 crop, lo per cent, available Phos.-acid and 8 per cent. Potash, and 

 I could not see any difference. I could see a difference on the 

 clover and other crops afterward. 



Member.. How much to the acre? 



Mr. Boyer. One-half ton. 



Member. Any difference in the color of the fruit? 

 Mr. Boyer. None whatever. 

 Member. Did it seem to increase the quantity? 

 Mr. Boyer. No. 



Member. Did you use barnyard manure? 

 Mr. Boyer. No indeed. 



Member. Do you take off ]:)remature fruit? 



Mr. Boyer. The first symptom is the premature ripening of 

 the fruit, and about the third summer if you do not take the tree out 

 it would die itself. 



Member. How often do you cultivate in a season? 



Mr. Boyer. That depends a little on the rain-fall. If I have 

 my man in the orchard to-day, and we should have a hard rain to- 

 morrow, that same portion would have to be cultivated just as soon 

 as the ground gets into proper condition. It is moisture the peach 

 grower is after more than anything else. About 80 per cent, of the 

 peach is moisture. In fact, taking all crops, moisture is the chief 

 element. We know a layer of loose ground acts just the same as 

 straw manure. We can take a harrow and loosen the ground, and 

 that acts as a mulch. 



Member. Do you use a spring-tooth harrow for cultivation? 



Mr. Boyer. I do. 



Member. Do you head them back each vear ? 



