No 7 DEPARTMENT OP' AGRICULTURE. 313 



FAILURE OF APPLES. 



We have heard from different sections of the State, of the failure 

 of apples owing to drouth. I can frankly say I fear rain more than 

 drouth. If, by proper cultivation and subsoiling, we conserve the 

 moisture that is in the soil, our orchards and crops will seldom 

 suffer for want of rain. A cistern five feet in depth may be doubled 

 in capacity by increasing its depth to ten feet, and by the same prin- 

 ciple we can double the capacity of our soils for conserving moisture. 

 The rains that fall during the spring and summer months are not 

 sufficient. Those that come in the fall and from melting snows in 

 winter are the ones that carry fruits and other crops to perfection. 

 If trees are planted one or two inches deeper than they stood in 

 the nursery row, in properly prepared ground, and then thoroughly 

 cultivated, the feeding roots will remain at the proper depths, and 

 no injury result from after culture. In cultivating orchards we 

 often make the mistake of cultivating too deep. If the soil is kept 

 covered with a dry earth mulch, we cut off the capillary tubes and 

 prevent evaporation. The soil should never, in the summer season 

 especially, be allowed to become hard or baked, and should have shal- 

 low culture after every shower. I have observed, time and again, 

 after scraping away one or two inches of dry, loose surface soil, that 

 underneath there would be enough moisture to mature the fruit. 



NATURE STUDY. 



Another line of thought is the introduction of "nature studies," 

 and the principles of agriculture and horticulture in our public 

 schools. It is my firm conviction that this is the tendency of the 

 modern education. The State of New Jersey has issued a number 

 of bulletins on the subject, and our own Agricultural College has 

 begun the same line of work. I can commend it most heartily, be- 

 cause I know from experience that great interest can be awakened 

 in the minds of the young in this direction. When a teacher, I 

 taught my scholars how to bud and graft; and when Principal of 

 the State Normal School at Shippensburg, I instructed the students 

 to plant and prune, and I found that the girls were quite as expert 

 as the boys. ; 



STUDY OF INSECTS. 



Another line of study that opens up a wide and interesting field 

 for the young is the insect world. It is remarkable how readily 

 pupils learns to recognize the various classes and species, whether 

 useful or destructive, and the amount of damage they do. W^en we 

 realize that |100,000,000 are lost annually in the United States, and 

 from seven to thirteen millions annually in our own State, we can 

 21 



