AVINTER MEETING AT CARTHAGE. 13.^ 



THE LESSONS OF THE YEAR. 



Notwithstanding the discouragements in certain lines of our work, 

 we have had very fine prices for all the fruit we have grown. Straw- 

 berries, raspberries and blackberries brought prices far beyond our 

 expectations, and we all take heart in this work. Strawberries aver- 

 aged $2.10 per case, raspberries 12.40, and blackberries $1.00. Grapes 

 were a very fine crop, and brought good prices, too. Cherries were 

 nearly a failure, as also plums and peaches. What we had were in great 

 demand, and everything was sold, worms and all. Apples of all kinds, 

 early and late, were sought after at prices beyond our conscience to 

 ask, so that every bit of fruit that could possibly be scraped together 

 was put on the market, and the worms disposed of. The failure, then, 

 of the crop of fruit is not an unmixed evil by any means, and the only 

 danger has been in the neglect of our orchards and vines. We will 

 see another year our fruits nearly clear of all kinds of insects, and for 

 a series of years again have perfect fruit. A little extra care should 

 be given the trees and vines, better cultivation, a little pruning, closer 

 pruning of our berries and vines, a cutting back of our Wild Goose 

 plum, and all our peach trees, if they were not severely cut back last 

 year. In fact, the greatest lesson to me is the one we have been 

 preaching the last ten years, "that we want a variety of fruits in bear- 

 ing, and above all, young vines and young trees continually coming 

 on." In fact, "young orchards for fruit (war), and old orchards for 

 experience (counsel)." The partial failure, therefore, of our fruit crop 

 has not been an unmixed evil by any means, and we can press forward 

 to the successful completion of our work, sure of a crown of fruit in 

 the end. 



THE SOCIETY REPORTS. 



Our report has been gladly received, and year by year we have 

 greater call for it. All of our experiment stations get something out 

 of it, and many of our colleges now use them in their work. It is with 

 a sense of satisfaction that I receive calls from our colleges for copies 

 to use in their work, and we can point with a great deal of pride to the 

 ten reports for the last ten years, and say that none better have come 

 from any state society ; indeed, we have received many letters of com- 

 mendation from one end of the world to the other. Copies have been 

 sent to New Zealand, Australia, France, Italy, Germany, England, South 

 America, Mexico, Canada, New Brunswick and every State of the Union. 



We still have but one complaint to make, and that is the time it 

 takes to get our report from the press, and the too limited number of 



