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TJie HoHicullnrisl and Journal 



and sixty bushels. The cost of picking was 

 about three hundred dollars. 



Currants occupy about three acres ; these 

 are set in rows five feet apart, and four feet 

 apart in the rows. The pear orchards are 

 sometimes occupied by a row of currants be- 

 tween each two rows of pears. All fruits are 

 cultivated sufficiently to keep the soil free 

 from all weeds and grass. The varieties are 

 the cherry and LaVersailles, and are con- 

 sidered the only very desirable varieties for 

 market purposes. They are grown from cut- 

 tings, which are from four to seven inches 

 long, and are set in rows sixteen inches apart, 

 and four inches apart in the rows : generally 

 set iu the fall, leaving the top of the cutting 

 about level with the surface of the ground. 

 Large quantities of wood in the shape of cut- 

 tings are annually sold ; they are worth three 

 dollars per thousand. The cuttings after 

 being set are covered with salt marsh hay 

 during the winter, and in the spring, if thrown 

 out, as they sometimes are, they are crowded 

 into position. The cuttings should remain 

 undisturbed one year, and are ready for set- 

 ting or for market, and are valued at thirty 

 dollars per thousand. They will usually crop 

 the third year. No effi)rt is made to prevent 

 excessive spreading from the roots, but the 

 same is rather encouraged, as furnishing large 

 quantities of cuttings. Bushes will last for a 

 long time, if kept healthy. Mr. Wakeman 

 is troubled with the borer, but very little by the 

 currant worm. To cure the currant worm he 

 uses hellebore and carbolic soap in solution, at 

 the rate of one pound of soap in five gallons 

 of water, forcing it upon the bushes through a 

 hydropult, called the North American Plant 

 Protector. The sales of currants and wood 

 amounted to one thousand dollars. The quan- 

 tity sold the past season was between six and 

 seven thousand pounds, at the rate of ten 

 cents net. 



A small quantity of raspberries are culti- 

 vated of the varieties of Naomi and Mammoth 

 Black Cap, which are considered the most 

 valuable. The value of sales was one hundred 

 dollars. 



In pears there are about three acres. The 



varieties which are considered the most valu- 

 able, and which succeed best in that locality, are 

 the Bartlett, Swans Orange, Clapp's Favorite, 

 Lawrence and Seckel. There was a demand 

 for Bartletts, and they sold for five dollars 

 per bushel. The crop of pears was not heavy, 

 and the sales amounted to only three hundred 

 dollars. 



The apple crop, like most parts of Connec- 

 ticut, was very light, and sales amounted to 

 only one hundred dollars. 



The amount expended for manures u]ion the 

 farm, which consists of bone meal and ashes, 

 amounts to five hundred dollars. Mr. Wake- 

 man docs not, however, neglect all other crops. 

 He raises from one to three acres of onions, 

 principally of the silver-skin variety, for their 

 greater demand and ready sale, also for the 

 increased price which they bring over other 

 varieties. The total sales from the farm 

 amount to from eight to ten thousand dollars. 

 Mr. Wakeman has made fruit culture pecul- 

 iarly successful, which may be attributed to 

 several reasons. In the first place, he will 

 grow none but the best varieties of the crop 

 that he is raising ; not that it is in every 

 respect better than other varieties, but for 

 some special quality which it possesses, which 

 brings it especially to notice, and creates 

 demand therefor, whereby he finds ready sales 

 at good profits. In this course wisdom is dis- 

 played. A variety may be more prolific, and 

 yet for some reason be less saleable than 

 another variety ; but unless sales are made, 

 the producing power of any crop is of but 

 little account to the farmer. Again, what- 

 ever he undertakes to do, he does well, believ- 

 ing that there is little profit in a loose, slip- 

 shod, hap-hazard mode of cultivation, so that 

 all his fruits are as carefully cultivated and 

 tended, as though all depended upon such 

 care. These conditions, with an apparent 

 taste for the business, and liberal application 

 of fertilizers, render his efforts successful. 



A singular fact is noticed in this vicinity. 

 While iu many of the eastern portions of the 

 State the quince tree has succumbed to dis- 

 ease, here it appears to be vigorous and pro- 

 ductive, so much so that the fruit sells from 



