SECRETARY'S REPORT. 65 



3. At what distance apart do you plant peach trees ? What is the 

 best season of the year for planting an orchard ? 



4. Which do you consider the best form, half standards or pyramids, 

 for the peach tree ? What is your system of pruning? 



5. Are your peach trees attacked by the borer or other insects, by the 

 yellows or other diseases ? if so, what preventives or remedies have 

 you for those injuries ? 



6. Do you attribute the non-bearing of the peach to extreme cold, or 

 to sudden alternation of the temperature ? 



7. Can other crops be cultivated to advantage in a peach orchard ? if 

 so, what ? 



8. What is the average longevity of a healthy peach orchard ? 



9. What are the net profits of the best peach orchards in your vicinity, 

 per acre ? 



10. What has been the increase or decrease in the amount of peaches 

 produced in your vicinity since 1850? 



CHEERIES, PLUMS AND QUINCES. 



1. Please designate the varieties which succeed best with you, the 

 character of the soils, system of management and value of the crop per 

 acre ? 



STRAWBERRIES. 



1. Designate the best varieties in regard to quality, productiveness — 

 whether staminate, pistillate or hermaphrodite — with properties for 

 keeping and facility for transportation. 



2. What is the best method of preparing the soil for a strawberry 

 plantation ? 



3. What soil and aspect do you consider best for the strawberry ? 



4. At what distance do you plant hermaphrodite plants apart ? 



5. At what distance do you plant staminate and pistillate plants apart, 

 and what proportion of the former to the latter ? 



6. What season do you regard as the best for planting ? 



7. What manures or fertilizers do you recommend ? when and how 

 applied ? 



8. Have you produced any new varieties by cross impregnation of 

 varieties ? if so, describe method and success. 



9. Have you practised irrigation or long continued watering of straw- 

 berry beds ? if so, with what advantage ? 



10. Do you protect your strawberry beds in the winter with any 

 covering ? if so, with what material and with what advantage ? 



11. Is the forking up between the plants in spring or autumn, as 

 practised by some, attended with beneficial or injurious effects ? 



9* 



