ANNUAL MEETING. 35 



Mr. Chapman said that he plowed an orchard which had heen in grass for 

 many years. He ordered his plowman not to plow deep, but before he knew 

 it he had plowed so as to cut off a good many roots. He then manured the 

 land and cross-plowed and sowed to wheat. Notwithstanding the deep plowing 

 the trees have grown very thriftily, and the general effect upon his orchard has 

 been good. 



Mr. Bateham recommended very shallow plowing and then scratching with a 

 cultivator. 



Mr. Lyon said no answer could be given to cover all cases. 



Prof. Beal said that at the college he had been trying an experiment. He 

 had left a part of the orchard in grass and cultivated another part. This 

 experiment had been going forward for the past seven or eight years. Those 

 trees which were cultivated were healthier and the fruit fairer than those left 

 in grass. 



The verdict was that the comparative value of each process depended so 

 largely upon climate, soil, etc., that no definite rule could be given for all orch- 

 ards. Orchards upon a shallow soil where the roots are all at the surface cer- 

 tainly cannot be plowed deeply without serious injury to the roots, while upon 

 a deep soil trees may be cultivated deeply without danger of injuring the trees, 

 but with promise of good results. 



Mr. Bateham inquired if the grape-vine louse or phylloxera was doing injury 

 -upon the roots of vines in the State. 



There was no testimony regarding this insect, but several members spoke of 

 the grape curculio, which finds lodgement in the berry of the grape. 



Wednesday Evening. 



The exercises of the evening were enlivened by music furnised by a quartette 

 of ladies and gentlemen. The first address was by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the 

 Agricultural College, upon the topic 



CANKER WORMS. 



Anisopteryx vernata, Peck. A. pometaria, Harr. Family, Phalaenidce. Sub-Order. 



Lepidoptera. 



The subject of this lecture is is no new one in the literature of our State. 

 It finds a place in the Reports of the State Board of Agriculture for 1865, 1866, 

 and 1874, occurs in several of the reports of this Society, and not infrequently 

 attracts the attention ef the readers of our various State and local papers. In 

 other States it has been even more prolific of discussion. Yet, notwithstanding 

 the importance of the subject, the ease with which investigation may be made, 

 the fact that our best naturalists — men whose only hope of genuine success lies 

 in care and accuracy — have given it attention ; notwithstanding all this, few 

 subjects have been more deeply involved in confusion and mischievous error. 



Just at this time, in view of the spread of this canker-worm evil in our State, 

 and the great practical movement that mistakes be rectified, it seems most op- 

 portune that the subject should be brought fully before you, that all may work 

 understandingly and thus easily vanquish a pest, which otherwise may continue 

 for long years, as has been the case in New England, to vex the pomologist 

 and brins; his best efforts to naught. 



Before I commence this discussion, I beg leave to call your attention to 

 authors who have given wise attention to this subject, and from whom I shall 



