out a few in places where they
don't have to be plowed, and see if they don't get good results.
Cultivation is not a fundamental element of agriculture or plant life,
but is the quick way to get results.

In many places in Ohio the state experimental work in horticulture,
especially that carried on by F. H. Ballou, has done some wonderful
things in waking up apple orchards that had not grown a quarter of an
inch in years. Merely giving them food has caused them to wake up and
bear. I have seen them, and know. The books say that while apples may
grow without cultivation, peach trees _must_ be cultivated in order to
bear. I have peach trees that are three years old in a rocky piece of
ground. I can't plow it but I have fed some of the peach trees and a few
I did not, that is not much, and the ones that were fed as they should
be are much the biggest and are bearing well. My point is this, keep the
grass well scraped away to prevent trunk injury, and feed even a peach
tree and it will do well. I think the same is true of the nut tree.

Whether a tree that is set out, liberally fed, and the grass kept away
will do as well without cultivation, is a subject worthy of your
consideration and experiment.

THE PRESIDENT: The chair especially desires to call attention to Dr.
Smith's remarks because he has made a very careful study of this
question and his suggestions are worthy of very great consideration. I
have talked these things over with him a great deal and I commend his
remarks especially to the Association for discussion.

DR. MORRIS: In connection with the matter of cultivation I would also
like to have Mr. Reed discuss that. I want to say, however, that, in
using fertilizers, you will often very easily overdo the matter.
Sometimes in my experience professionally, I give a patient medicine
enough to last a week, with directions that a teaspoonful be taken twice
a day, and the patient may believe if she takes the entire bottle at one
dose she will be well in an hour, and consequently suffer from an
overdose. That same idea is sometimes carried out in the fertilization
of trees by horticulturists. You don't intend to do it but sometimes you
can kill with kindness and be too good in feeding your trees if you
don't understand how much fertilization the tree needs. That is the
idea, you have got to give your trees the ratio that they need. If you
give them too much pie or pudding, your trees will have indigestion and
will