74 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



soil, and, in these cases where lime is insufficient in the soil, it 

 is a practice in Virginia to lime, specially, using the carbonate 

 lime, sufficiently to make the soil sweet enough for the growth 

 of legumes. We must have leguminous cover crops in the 

 orchard and one is justified in liming sufficiently to get them, 

 even though it may not be needed for the apple trees. 



No. 41. Are bees necessary for largest yield of blossom 

 crops ? 



Answer: I don't keep bees now. I have in years past, and 

 I think they are a very essential thing to have on a fruit farm, 

 for I know that when I had two or three swarms of bees we 

 got more raspberries, and I think better raspberries, and I know 

 well enough I got more apples than I do now. So I should 

 say that bees would be profitable on a fruit farm. 



Mr. Conant: I have heard this question brought up in sev- 

 eral meetings. It seems about evenly divided. Some think it 

 makes a very little difference whether bees are kept on the farm 

 or not. Personally, I am not in a position to give any informa- 

 tion on the subject, though I keep some bees, and I know that 

 on the red raspberries and the fruit trees I get a very good set 

 of fruit. 



Mr. Wyman : I think, Mr. President, that it is profitable to 

 have bees for the honey we get and also for the benefit they 

 are to the berries. I know of a row of raspberries, less than 

 ten rods long, where I counted 150 honey-bees on one side. I 

 think they do some good. 



Dr. Fletcher: I think it is known beyond any doubt that 

 the pollen of the apple is not carried to any extent by the wind. 

 It is only carried by insects. I am thoroughly satisfied in my 

 own orchard, in which I have observed carefully, that it pays 

 me each year to put, as I do, five or six colonies of bees in the 

 middle of the orchard through the blossoming season. I usually 

 lose at least half of these bees by poison in the blossoms. Ninety 

 per cent of the blossoms drop off and I have to give a spraying 

 while there are some belated blossoms on the trees, to which the 

 bees come and get the poison which I have applied. I lose 

 those bees. But I am satisfied I gain ten times over in the 

 increased set of fruit, resulting from their effort. 



No. 18. What are we going to use for fertilizers in our 

 orchards the coming season? 



