REPORT OF MR. THOMAS A. 8HARPE 399 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The different varieties of chestnuts have grown well, but the tree blooms so late 

 in the season that the nuts do not always come to maturity. The tree, however, makes 

 a fine spreading shade tree, with a wealth of handsome foliage. 



The butternut grows into a thrifty spreading tree, but, up to the present, our trees, 

 although they have a spread of from 25 to 30 feet, have not produced more than 

 a cluster or two of nuts each. Perhaps, with greater age, they may become more pro- 

 ductive. 



The shell-bark hickory makes a fine growth, and two of our trees have produced 

 nuts. 



The Pecan trees make a fair annual growth, but have not yet borne fruit. 



Filberts. — The plantation of Filberts has made a splendid growth, and each 

 variety produces a few clusters of nuts each year, but the only really productive sort 

 in a collection of over forty named varieties is Pearson's Early Red. The bushes of 

 this variety do not grow as large as many of the others, but they fruit freely every 

 year. The nuts range from five to ten in a cluster; this nut is small, but very fine in 

 flavour. It is almost impossible to get ripened nuts, owing to the blue jays which 

 come in flocks and carry off the fruit. 



MOUNTAIN ORCHARDS. 



These orchards bore a heavy crop of apples and a fair crop of pears, plums and 

 peaches on the highest bench, and a fair crop on No. 2, but the bears were so plentiful 

 that none of the fruit got ripe. The crop of wild berries was a light one and the bears 

 were driven in to the orchards on both sides of the river, and much of the fruit on 

 the level, as well as that in the mountain orchards', was taken. There were nineteen 

 bears killed in this vicinity during the autumn. 



When the trees were small they got the fruit by bending the limbs down, and 

 did not do the trees much harm, but, now that the trees are older and have grown large, 

 the bears climb up the branches, their weight splits or breaks many branches down, 

 and the trees are being gradually destroyed. 



FOWLS. 



We have had, during the past year, five pens of pure-bred fowls. Rhode Island 

 Red, White Wyandotte, Barred Plymouth Rock, Buff Orpington and Black Minorcas. 



We have an excellent strain of Rhode Island Red fowls; they have laid well; 

 their eggs are large, they hatched well, and the chickens were strong; not one 

 of them died from sickness, although some were taken by hawks. The chickens 

 mature early, are quiet and easily handled. WTien mature, they are about the size of 

 the "^Hiite Wyandottes. All accounts received from those who bought Rhode Island 

 Red eggs here for hatching were good hatches and strong chickens. 



All of the other breeds mentioned we have had for several years, and they have 

 varied but little as to results, comparing one year with another. 



The Black Minorcas are good layers of large eggs, their chickens are perhaps 

 rather delicate the first six weeks of their lives, but after that, are usually strong and 

 healthy, but they do not make a good table bird. 



Barred Plymouth Rocks are good layers, as well as large, plump table birds. They 

 are larger than the Rhode Island Reds and White Wyandottes, but do not mature as 

 early as these two breeds. 



The Buff Orpingtons are fine large fowls and good layers; they are quiet in 

 disposition, good table birds, and mature at about the same age as Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks. 



The White Wyandottes are also good layers, quiet and easily handled, the chickens 

 arc strong and easily raised and mature early. 



