THE LESSONS OF THE YEAR. 47 



Another orchard visited had been pastured by sheep and the 

 grass was closely eaten, hardly enough left to show the turf, 

 but the fruit was fine and so were the trees. In other cases 

 the hogs have done good work, and the growers find it a very 

 inexpensive way of fertilizing the orchard. The hogs and sheep 

 not only fertilize the land, but they eat up the wormy apples as 

 fast as they fall from the trees, thus destroying a great many 

 pests. It may be said that the hogs do more than the sheep, 

 for they keep their snouts busy tearing up the turf, thus stirring 

 the soil and in doing so find more or less injurious insects which 

 they greedily devour. 



Perhaps there is no better fertilizer than that made about the 

 barnyard. The evidence of this is seen in many of the most 

 productive orchards in the State. It is probably true that the 

 free use of this may encourage the growth of fungous diseases, 

 but it makes the trees grow and gives large fruit. The only 

 question as to its use is that the farm usually needs it somewhere 

 else more if possible, and in a cheaper way the necessary fer- 

 tilizers may be supplied. 



Another method is the use of cover crops, but there is need 

 of something to make the cover-crops grow, so that the whole 

 matter seems to be summed up in this : Make the orchard grow, 

 but do it by whichever method may be most economical. This 

 gives something for the grower to think about evenings as well 

 as something to read up on and investigate. The orchard 

 speaks plainly enough as to its wants if some of the time is 

 spent in asking it questions, and carefully examined, it will not 

 deceive its owner. 



INSECT AND FUNGOUS ENEMIES MUST BE SUBDUED. 



We regret to note that as yet very little thorough work in 

 spraying has been done by fruit growers in Maine. It has been 

 so easy to let the orchard grow as it may, trusting to the 

 Almighty to make it productive, that it is a wonder that there 

 has been so much good fruit. In most orchards examined by 

 the department inspectors many injurious insects were found 

 and traces of fungi were conspicuous. In one orchard, a fine 

 Milding orchard, the trees were looking fine. They had been 

 sprayed twice, but so far as we could examine the fruit we did 



