J. W. Robison: Not if the hogs are kept out of it. It is death to an
orchard to let hogs in. To let them rub against the trees closes the
pores, and growth ceases. We notice in the newspapers that fish oil,
axle grease, etc., keep off rabbits. I tried using axle grease two
years. You could see the mark around where the oil had been, and note
where growth had stopped below this mark. By washing this with soap, we
were enabled to get the trees to grow again. Hogs, as I stated before,
will, by rubbing, close the pores. The tramping hardens the soil and
shuts out any percolation of water into it. As well plant a tree in the
middle of the road as where hogs have been. They, of all animals, tramp
the ground the hardest.
Samuel Reynolds: Would pigs injure the soil?
T. A. Stanley: I have had experience in this, yet, while I do not know
anything about the gentleman's land packing, I believe it benefits some
orchards to run hogs in them. I tried it on an orchard that had ceased
bearing. I inclosed the orchard and put hogs in for a year or more. New
growth started on the trees, and they at once began to bear, and bore
for several years after I took the hogs out. I could see no injury
caused by their rubbing the trees. I do not think they will rub the
trees if the orchard is large. I do not see what injury they do. After
the apples grew large enough, if wormy they fell, and the hogs ate the
apples and the worms also.
Edwin Taylor: I have had a little experience in that line. I fenced
around a twenty-acre orchard, expecting to combine horticulture and
agriculture right there. My hogs were lousy, and they did rub the trees,
and whenever they rub they destroy. Anybody who tries it will find they
will absolutely squeal for something to eat when there are bushels of
apples on the ground. I was at large expense to fence, but was so
disappointed with the hog business that I took the fence down.