296 ANNUAL EEPOET 



^o thought was given to the exhaustion of the soil, and it was 

 treated as a spendthrift spends his money. It was continually- 

 drawn upon and no thought taken for the future. The pastures 

 and arable lands of New England were continually furnishing 

 potash, nitrogen and phosphoric acid, which were carried to 

 the cities in the form of beef, pork, hay, milk, fruit, etc., and 

 then thrown into the sea. Fruit trees grew and produced 

 abundantly. There were few noxious insects. They did not 

 have pear and apple blight, peach yellows or grape rot. They 

 planted pear, apple and peach trees, and they grew without any 

 special care. 



This exhaustion of soils and the development of insects and 

 diseases, produced a state of things which made it most neces- 

 sary to educate our farmers, as they could scarcely make a liv- 

 ing on the farms which had been worn out by this continually 

 exhaustive treatment, and they were obliged to adopt some more 

 rational farm system. 



Another point which disturbed the calculations of horticul- 

 turists was the introduction of swift and cheap freight lines to 

 Florida and the whole eastern coast. These routes brought in 

 early vegetables before our gardeners could think of producing 

 them, or planting them, perhaps. They brought in strawberries 

 before ours were in blossom. This influx of early vegetables 

 and fruits seriously injured our home markets; for, after the 

 consumers had a taste of these fruits and vegetables, they did 

 not feel so ready to pay the high prices which they formerly 

 paid for those home-grown, and instead of our fruits and vege- 

 tables being first in the market, they were second. Then, too, 

 there were the changes brought about by the develop ment of 

 noxious insects and weeds, and the need of more and higher 

 grade fertilizers. All these difficulties and others made it 

 necessary for our horticulturists and farmers to till the land 

 closer and by more economical methods; to look more sharply 

 after the insects; to more carefully husband their fertilizers, 

 and to originate new and improved varieties of fruits and vege- 

 tables. Then it was that superior intelligence began to count, 

 and horticulturists felt the need of a more liberal knowledge of 

 the natural sciences to aid them in their lines of competition. 



The education disseminated by the college has come into de- 

 mand. The graduates and former students of the college have 

 become active spirits in farmers' meetings. They write for the 

 papers; represent their districts in the legislature, and to- 



