CULTIVATION OF FRUIT. 195 



in a fortnight afterwards, it was frozen as solid as if inclosed in 

 Norwegian ice. It did not decompose at all. What is the next 

 process ? It is thrown up and washed out in the spring of the 

 year, before the atmospheric influences upon it are such as to 

 decompose it, and before it is properly worked into the soil, it is 

 about all washed away. I would plough my lands in the fall, 

 if they were heavy, not if they were light ; I would have my 

 composted manure ready in the spring for my carrots, my green 

 manure and salt for my mangolds, and for the growing of 

 turnips, a little barn-yard manure and plenty of phosphates. 

 Adjourned to 2 o'clock. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The members of the Board were called to order at 2 o'clock, 

 and the subject of Fruit Culture was announced for discussion. 



FRUIT CULTURE. 



Mr. Clement, of Dracut. Mr. Chairman, — I do not feel 

 competent to do justice to this subject by any knowledge of my 

 own, although I must confess that I am considerably interested 

 in fruit culture. Perhaps I may as well begin by repeating a 

 question that is often put to me : " Is there any encouragement 

 to plant an orchard ? " And I will proceed to state why I think 

 there is encouragement to plant orchards. In the first place, I 

 would like to say that I am not at all discouraged because we 

 have one, two or even three successive failures. I remember 

 some forty-five years back, and I recollect that when I was a 

 little boy my father used to raise apples — not many of them 

 grafted fruit, to be sure — but mainly the old-fashioned cider 

 apples, as they were called. Some years he would make twenty 

 or thirty barrels of cider ; other years none at all. As far as I 

 can recollect, we have always experienced these failures in the 

 apple crop from time to time. They will happen to us occasion- 

 ally ; it is reasonable to expect them. That is one reason why 

 I would not be discouraged — whv I would not entertain the 

 idea that apples are always going to fail because they have to a 

 considerable extent failed for three years in succession. 



Allow me to say, before I go any further, that I am free to 

 admit that my own apple crop has never been so profitable to me 

 as during the last three years, because I have had some apples 



