FRUITS. 121 



well-sheltered position, and requires winter protection. I 

 have in my garden now one hundred and twenty vines, and 

 this season I have fruited one hundred and ten of them. All 

 vines do much better if they are laid down and covered 

 with earth, for our cold winter is destructive to tender 

 varieties. 



My garden has eight apple, four plum, twenty-three pear 

 and forty-nine peach trees, with one quince and thirty currant 

 bushes, and plenty of room left for flowers, shrubs, etc., on 

 half an acre, including what m}' house and barn occupy. 



You will bear witness that at our recent exhibition we had 

 a very fine show of fruit, grapes and peaches being uncom- 

 monly good, and there were two plates of plums that attracted 

 much attention. Some years ago this fine and delicious fruit 

 grew most abundantly, but of late years it has been almost 

 impossible to ripen it, principally on account of the depreda- 

 tions of the curculio. To rid the tree of this pest requires 

 both patience and perseverance. Perseverance, by rising 

 with the sun and spreading beneath the tree a large piece of 

 white cloth, and then by a sudden jar of the tree the curculio, 

 or little Turk, as he is called by some, will fall, apparently 

 lifeless, upon the cloth, and can be easily killed. Patience, 

 by repeating this operation three or four weeks in succession, 

 commencing as soon as the fruit is set. In this manner I 

 have succeeded in fruiting my trees several years in succes- 

 sion. Another and a more formidable enemy is the black wart. 

 I know of no sure way to stop its spreading, although I am 

 trying several remedies recommended. Could some sure 

 remedy be suggested for this, I know of no reason why plums 

 could not be as plentiful as they were years ago. I have 

 recently added to my collection a few trees of the " Wild 

 Goose Plum," which is said to resist all attacks of the cur- 

 culio ; if so, it will prove a valuable acquisition. Light and 

 well-drained soil is best adapted for the plum. 



Statement of Thomas Capers, JSTeicburyport. 



As regards peaches, we have a very favorable place for a 

 few trees, being sheltered from the north and north-west. 

 We have in all twelve trees, some of which are over twenty 



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