I02 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



So much for the work of the past and the plans for the 

 future. What are the results already obtained ? 



For the actual figures expressing the results of the experi- 

 mental plots, I must ask your indulgence until their publication 

 in the near future in bulletin form, as there has not been suffi- 

 cient time since the harvesting of our large crops to arrange and 

 condense them for presentation at this meeting. vSuffice it for 

 the present to say that the spraying experiments conducted not 

 only at Highmoor, but also the co-operative work at Greene in 

 the orchards of Messrs. Keyser, Coburn and Philbrook, indicate 

 that lime-sulphur as a fungicide has come to stay, unless some- 

 thing still better takes its place ; that its use can be recommended 

 with lead arsenate, and that it is greatly to be preferred to bor- 

 deaux, especially on varieties susceptible to spray injury, even 

 when weather conditions are most favorable. The season 

 just closed has been inimical to the development of fungi and 

 hence favorable to the production of clean fruit. In view of 

 this, striking results in the way of comparative data could not be 

 expected. 



The question of animal pasturage for orchards has been quite 

 definitely settled, so far as conditions at Highmoor are con- 

 cerned. Remembering that these plots received identical treat- 

 ment with that of the rest of the orchards, except in point of 

 cultivation, be it noted that the sheep orchard pastured with 

 five animals yielded this year at the rate of 6 1-2 barrels per 

 acre, the hog plot 16 barrels per acre, and the cultivated plot 

 adjacent at the rate of 127 barrels per acre. 



The trees in the sheep plot were moreover in markedly less 

 thrifty condition, judging by the color of the foliage and the 

 amount of wood growth; and this was also true, although to a 

 lesser degree, in the hog pasture. The hogs, also 5 in number, 

 did not root evenly, nor were grass and weeds kept down except 

 in small scattered patches. In general the results confirmed the 

 experience of years of practice by the best orchardists through- 

 out the country irrespective of region ; it pays to use the plow 

 wherever and whenever possible. 



Still greater is the folly of maintaining the orchard year after 

 year in sod. Bearing in mind that in the sod plot in our ex- 

 periments the trees, received the same amount of fertilizer and 



