178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



fruits and cereals, and every vegetable in the kingdom, has, 

 and always had, its own peculiar insect enemy, whose 

 depredations commence with its existence, and if suffered to 

 go on, end only with the complete destruction of the crop. 

 And the erroneous notion is entertained by some people, that 

 this is something new, or of quite recent origin, and confined 

 to particular localities. The canker-worm and caterpillar 

 have a historical notoriety ; and more than thirty -five hundred 

 years ago the people of Palestine were annoyed by these pests, 

 as one of the curses of disobedience. The historian says : 

 " Thou shalt carry much seed into the field and shalt gather 

 but little in, for the locust shall consume it ; thou shalt plant 

 vineyards, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the 

 grapes, for the worms shall eat them ; thou shalt have olive- 

 trees throughout thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thy- 

 self with the oil, for the olive shall cast his fruit." The 

 onion-maggot was undoubtedly a pest to the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, and the rosebug annoyed him who planted the first 

 vineyard. 



Now, I am going to recommend the setting of apple-trees, — 

 restorinof the orchards. I am aware that this advice savors 

 of heresy, but nevertheless I shall urge it; but I do it on 

 one condition only, and that is, that it be well cared for. A 

 man would not think of setting a vineyard and expect to raise 

 a profitable crop of grapes without bestowing upon it all the 

 attention that it required. Those of you, gentlemen, who 

 listened to Dr. Fisher's admirable lecture, at Fitchburg, two 

 years ago, must have discovered that his success depended 

 wdiolly on his knowledge of the wants of the vine, and the 

 promptness with which he supplied those wants. A neglected 

 orchard is one of the most melancholy sights on the farm. 

 It is suggestive of poverty, laziness and bad husbandry; 

 and it is safe to judge of the character of its owner l)y the 

 condition in which you find his orchard. 



Having decided, then, to do the work thoroughly and faith- 

 fully, select a suitable lot, on the highway if possible, — it need 

 not be the best on the farm, or very near the house, nor 

 entirely free from rocks and stones ; but it should be one that 

 is neither wet nor dry, and that has not been exhausted by 

 continual cropping. New land that has been recently cleared 



