436 ANNUAL REPORT 



wood-peckers, and the only valuable one among them the Downy 

 wood-pecker (Picus Pubescens), which is a winter resident here, and 

 the most valuable bird we have for destroying all kinds of larvae that 

 work in our trees, and it should be protected and encouraged to fre- 

 quent the orchard by placing bits of fat meat in the forks of a few of 

 the trees in the coldest weather. I have not been troubled very much 

 with this insect while my trees are cultivated and kept growing 

 thrifty, but as soon as the trees become stunted by growing in grass, 

 injury from sun-scald, or hard winters, or any other cause, they soon 

 fall a preylto them. A single borer in a large tree would not do very 

 much injury, while three or four would girdle and kill it, and a single 

 one would destroy a tree an inch in diameter. There are some nurse, 

 ries that are infested more or less, and those purchasing trees should 

 make a careful examination of them at the time of planting. The 

 damage done the first year is slight, but the work of the second year 

 together with the shock of transplanting will result in certain death. 



The following paper was read by Mr. Deacon: 



ORCHARDING IN MINNESOTA. 

 By Edward Deacon, Rochester. 



The attempt to write an essay covering the subject of " Orcharding "^ 

 seems like the effort of Queen Dido to encompass a kingdom with a 

 bullock's hide, and since I find the essay, as she did the hide, too 

 small for the purpose, am not sure but I shall follow her famous ex- 

 ample, and taking but small shreds of thought, tie them together and 

 simply outline or encircle the subject, leaving vast fields unexplored 

 that properly fall within my outline. 



Aware of the many controverted points in "orcharding," I shall 

 endeavor not to lay down fixed rules where none as yet exist, but to 

 ground my suggesJtions on what I believe to be the experience of the 

 majority, as observed during some months of travel in the tree busi- 

 ness in different sections of Southern Minnesota. 



VARIETIES. 



First, as to varieties. Few men find it convenient to buy their 

 trees at the nursery, and thus avail themselves of the nurseryman's 

 advice; but this is not so material, provided cool judgment and com- 

 mon sense are exercised in the choice. 



