/ F 
‘ 1 
54 ; ANNUAL REPORT. . nt 
: 
ing the rigors of our cold and dry climate, thet would ha 
been, this and the next season, millions of tender. and ha 
certainty that there are varieties, and more will be Cond; 
that will stand and bear fruit even in our cold and dry climate ; 
and that the rigors of last winter only blew off the chaff, so 
to speak, and saves us the wheat, and it also settles in my mind 
another problem which I have long contended for, viz.: to 
have perfectly hardy trees we must in every case graft or bud 
upon perfectly hardy stocks only, and in this 1 think lies more 
of the secret of success than many will admit. That the cause 
of the wide-spread ruin of the past winter was not due to the 
extreme cold many are willing to admit, but attribute it to some 
peculiarity of soil, climate or air, of which all disagree, or at 
least are not able to agree upon any one theory that can be 
satisfactorily explained, some claiming that the injury was 
done in spring or mid-winter, or in warm spells by the roots 
being too warm, or by the sap running by day and freezing . 
by night, thus searing the cells and killing the trees. Others 
contend that the ground froze too deeply around the roots and 
stopped all circulation of sap in the roots, and thus killed the 
trees. My own views are that the hard freeze of November 
came so suddenly that the sap had not all returned to the 
roots, and the trees were not in as ripe a state as they should 
be for severe weather. But in support of this I will say that 
my Minor plums, which ripened up their wood very early in 
the fall of 1872, stood the last severe winter much better than 
the two preceding winters of 1871-2. 
ENTOMOLOGY. 
I shall not attempt to dictate any course of action or rules 
of business, but must be permitted to call your attention to 
several things which I deem worthy of consideration by your 
honorable body, and among the first of these is the importance of 
this society and the State Agricultural Society urging upon the 
State Legislature the appointment and providing for the pay- 
ment of a State Entomologist. All would be astonished at 
the loss sustained to our young and growing State from insects 
alone. I have no doubt that our loss from this source alone 
is more than three times the amount of our State taxes. That 
