RETORTS FROM LOCAL SOCIETIES. 95 



I asked a successful grower of Plums and Apricots by what method lie fought 

 the curculio and saved his crop from this destructive little demon among fruits. 

 He replied that he "never fought the festive little cuss except by sowing plas- 

 ter in his trees in the early morning and after showers." His teeming orchards 

 confirmed all he could claim for his system, and he was widely known as the 

 most successful producer of those, in this climate, rare and delicious fruits, in 

 his section of the country, — Central New York, — with a climate almost exactly 

 like ours. He would have plaster if he had to pay ten times the going price 

 for it. 



As might he expected, the effect of plaster and its host mode of application 

 vary with the different fruits. Upon Strawberries it should be very light ; upon 

 Raspberries and other berries, Currants, Grapes, Cherries, and other stone 

 fruits, Quinces, and other seed fruits, a heavy application is advisable, and 

 should be repeated occasionally through the setting and formation of the fruits. 



To those who desire to increase the verdure, vigor, and freshness of the lawn 

 and pastures, plaster is invaluable. The only possible drawback is the stimula- 

 tion of an over-production, which, if always removed from the land and never 

 paid back to the soil, might at last impoverish it. I was yesterday discussing this 

 plaster question with a Granger, who said he had never used a pound of plaster 

 on his farm, but he had heard that if plaster was continuouslly used on the land 

 it would stimulate the growth of crops so much as to " run out the land" after 

 a while. I could but reply that of course the heavier the crop is that you take 

 from the land without feeding anything back to the soil, the more exhaustive 

 it is to its strength and fertility. 



It is perhaps futile to argue the case with men who do not wish to increase 

 the growth and products of their lands, nor the fertility of their soils; but to 

 those who delight to enrich their poorer soils and greatly promote their produc- 

 tiveness by the readiest and least expensive method, the means are furnished at 

 our very doors. A very clear conception of tiie facility and explanation of the 

 easy and quick fertilizing of even poor soils by the use of plaster on clover, 

 which is plowed under to enrich those lands, is found in the fact that seven- 

 eighths of vegetable growth in weight and composition, is composed of and 

 derived from water and the various gasses of the air, and one-eighth from sub- 

 stances of the soil, — facts demonstrated in agricultural chemistry. 



PROPER CARE FOR SHADE TREES. 



Mr. George W. Dickinson read a brief paper on the "Proper Care of Shade 

 Trees," from which we extract as follows : 



While riding through this beautiful city (second in the State in point of 

 population, and first in enterprise and manufactures), what do I behold? 

 Standing in front of handsome dwellings, dry poles, once a maple tree, now a 

 hop pole (a stranger would think you were all in the hop business). My heart 

 sickens within me to sec the carelessness and ignorance on the part of the setter. 

 What does all this mean, from four to fourteen dry poles standing on a space of 

 fifty feet wide from two to three years, or long enough for some of them to rot 

 off and fall down? These poles will number, no doubt, thousands in this 

 boasted city. The remedy should be to procure trees from responsible men and 

 not take them until the buds begin to expand a little (from the 20th of April 

 to the 1st of May, this year), then they will not bleed at the wounds necessa- 

 rily made in taking them up. 



The White Maple is best adapted to the sandy soil around this city. If the 



