STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 117 



most of the southern third of the county- is well adapted to orchard- 

 ing, while north of that it cannot be made a success. 



NURSERIES. 



The nursery business has been repeatedly tried here and as re- 

 peatedly failed. Out of seven, five have been closed or abandoned. 

 One nursery of sixteen thousand trees set out in the spring of 1887 

 has been able to raise not more than one out of ten to what mio-ht 

 be called a tree, and probably not half of these can be made salable. 

 The last one of thirt3"-two thousand trees set in the southern portion 

 of the countv lost one-third of their trees the first winter. Youno- 

 and tender trees and extreme cold, coupled with other difficulties too 

 numerous to mention, make the losses too heavy for an inexperi- 

 enced person. It costs twice as much to raise a tree here as in New 

 York, it grows slower, looks scrubbj' and has not their glossy appear- 

 ance ; but being raised on a hard, granite soil they are well supplied 

 with roots and a solid, firm wood. Mr. Sharp of Woodstock, N. B., 

 is the only one in this vicinity who has been able to surmount these 

 difficulties, and his success has been attended with considerable loss. 



SMALL FRUITS. 



Please bear with me when I make the seemingly extravagant 

 statement that there is no place on the face of the earth better 

 adapted to small fruit culture than Aroostook County. The soil is 

 good, while the climate could not be better. Here is their home. 

 M}' nursery consists partly of cambrian, slate and alluvial soils, and 

 the fruits seemingly do equally well on each. The snow comes on 

 before it is cold enough to do any harm and keeps the bushes and 

 vines housed all winter ; preventing all freezing, thawing and heav- 

 ing of the soil. When the snow has gone in spring it is warm and 

 the^' will start forth with all their vigor, not having lost an}' of their 

 strength b}' repeated attempts to start before it was safe to do so. 

 Any tree or bush exposed to the cold of our winters and the drying 

 wind and sun of March sustains no inconsiderable loss, hence the 

 benefit of snow. Our most serious obstacle in gooseberry and cur- 

 rant culture is the currant worm, which will strip a currant bush as 

 quick here as anywhere. A limited home market is also a hindrance. 



Gooseberries make a strong, healthy growth. From seven hun- 

 dred and fifty Houghtons set out in the spring of 1885 we gathered 

 ninety pecks this past summer, some bushes yielding as high as two 



