78 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



At this point the Chairman introduced to the audience 

 Hon. Artemas Hale, a gentleman ninety-nine years old, 

 and the oldest ex-member of Congress living. He was very 

 cordially greeted, and said, " Gentlemen, I cannot make a 

 speech. I am very happy to see you all. I have been very 

 much interested in the cause in which you are engaged for 

 many j'ears, but my time has gone by for labor." 



Dr. BoWEN. I would like to ask Professor Maynard as 

 to the most recent scientific opinions in regard to keeping 

 apples, — the degree of moisture that is essential. I am 

 prompted to this by having eaten, last year, English Beauty 

 and Russet apples that were two years old, that had been 

 kept in a very moist cellar, — a cellar that contained water 

 the greater part of the year, but which has the reputation of 

 being the best keeping cellar in our town. 



Professor Maynaed. If the temperature is kept low, I 

 do not see any reason why they should not keep in a moist 

 cellar as well as in a dry one ; and of course, if kept there, 

 they would be less liable to decay. 



The Chairman. If there is any gentleman here who can 

 keep apples the year round, or has the knowledge that it is- 

 possible, we would like to hear from him how to do it. Is. 

 there any one here who will tell us the best way to raise 

 peaches? I will call on Capt. Moore of Concord. 



Capt. Moore. I have been raising peaches for a few 

 years ; and of course I have experienced the same trouble 

 that every peach-grower finds, and that is, a disease called 

 " the yellows." I know that there are some horticulturists 

 who say that there is no such disease ; but certainly there is 

 something that we call " the yellows," that kills the trees. 

 So far, no one has cured that disease, that I have discovered. 

 I known Dr. Goessmann has said that he could cure it, but 

 I think he would hardly say that he had cured the disease 

 until further trials. That is the only difficulty in raising 

 peaches. I have succeeded in raising peaches, and had a 

 fine crop this year on most of the trees. I had some few 

 trees that had the yellows : those trees are now pulled up. 

 I think that you can grow peaches a great deal better if 

 you keep all animal manure away from tliem, if you will 

 give tlicm plenty of ground bone and plenty of potash salts, 

 il" you cannot get ashes. If I had plenty of wood-ashes, I 



