154 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



station, 427 varieties of apple, 30 of crab apple, 102 of pear, 10 of 

 quince, 21 of apricot, 43 of cherry. 111 of peach, 204 of plum, 234 of grape. 

 40 of currant, 210 of gooseberry', besides others, not including a large 

 number of seedlings the outgrowth of efforts to originate meritorious 

 new varieties by plant breeding: and, as your own and other states are 

 engaged in a similar work, it indicates an interest that in the near future 

 must give results of incalculable value to the professional fruitgrower. 

 We can but believe that failures which have been so widespread in this 

 department of industry have been more the fault of the man than of the 

 plant. The cereals, potatoes, and other fann crops have each been 

 studied as to their character and requirements for the protection of abun- 

 dant crops, and special commercial fertilizers provided for test purposes: 

 but the instances are indeed rare where the poor fruit tree, obliged to 

 obtain the nourishment to maintain its existence within the circle of its 

 roots, is ever given a particle of available and nutritious plant food. 

 This is pretty much the same the country through, the exceptions being 

 those who tell us the business is one of reasonable profit, and who are 

 increasing their plantings. Nature wa§ very lavish in the distribution of 

 those elements required for producing plant food in perfection, but man's 

 extravagant waste has well-nigh left the storehouse in an exhausted con- 

 dition. These are the conditions that we are called to confront today 

 in many of the older settled sections. We must restore to the soil, in 

 the most economical manner possible, those essentials required in the 

 attainment of success in our work. From my own experience I have 

 often been led to say, "If I were to have only one single fertilizer with 

 which to feed my plants, I should pin my faith to good, unleached wood 

 ashes." Forty-five years ago, while yet the land was new, a man then 

 regarded as the most successful farmer in the county in which I was 

 brought up, employed his teams during the winter season in picking up 

 the ashes which were hauled upon and scattered over that one-hunderd- 

 acre farm. He was then called a crank, but his success was a sufiQcient 

 indication of his wisdom. He was just a trifle in advance of his genera- 

 tion. A few weeks ago, incidentally, with a friend, I walked over that 

 old farm, that has now passed into other hands; and, impressed as I was 

 with the thrift of the orchard through which we were passing, as well as 

 adjacent fields then in wheat and grass, I remarked to my friend, "What 

 a farm this has been!" The present owner, Mr. B., was not regarded as 

 very much a farmer. "How is he getting along?" the reply was, "He 

 never fails to have the heaviest crops of everything in this vicinity." 

 Mr. A. has now been dead thirty-five years, but by his superior methods 

 he laid a foundation that so far has seemed to be inexhaustible. 



Ashes were cheap in those days. They were often given away, and 

 when sold rarely brought to exceed five cents per bushel. Today we are 

 compelled to pay from fifteen to twenty cents, and there is some question 

 whether these elements thus obtained can not be had more economically 

 by the purchase of muriate of potash and pure ground-bone meal. It is 

 said that, in your own state, there are thousands of bushels annually left 

 to bleach upon the lands where burned, while thousands of fruit trees are 

 starving for the food they would afford. We believe that one of the most 

 fruitful causes of the rapid increase of diseases and insect life that prey 

 upon our fruit plantations and cause their premature death, is the lack 

 of those elements in the soil that, in a great measure, might be restored 



