332 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



strong, to exercise in the sweet, free, open air, rather than be 

 confined within the walls of the house. I determined to try my 

 skill in planting. So, after having the ground plowed and fer- 

 tilized, I planted 1,5 GO hills of corn, covering nearly one-fourth 

 of an acre of land, which, with but little help, I hoed myself, 

 three times. My corn grew very w^ell, but was somewdiat eaten 

 by the worms, and badly blown down by a severe wnnd, after it 



■got so heavy that it could not get up again, which damaged it 

 considerably. When it was fit to harvest, I invited some of my 

 friends to an afternoon's husking, such as I have heard tell of in 

 the country, though I never attended one before, having been 

 brought up in a city. The afternoon came, as beautiful as ever 

 an autumn afternoon need be, and about twenty-five neighbors 

 spent the time as pleasantly as the day. We husked twenty- 

 eight bushels of ears of good sound corn, not measuring that 

 which was not perfectly good. I not only found the exercise 



: healthful, but a real enjoyment, and hope that many others 



.may be benefited as I have been, and add as much to the crops 

 of the country the next season. Ladies, try and see how much 

 better you can do, and how much better you will be. 



The regular subject of the day, " The Neglected Fruits of our 

 Country," was called up. 



Dr. Trimble spoke in favor of cultivating the apricot. The 

 apricot was one of the first fruits to blossom. The branch I hold 



.in my hand is nearly in blossom, but I doubt if the tree from 

 which I took the branch will bear one apricot; a little insect, 

 called the curculio, will destroy the whole. If you want to raise 

 this fruit, you must keep hogs, who wall eat the fruit that has 

 fallen. In gardens, the fruit should be gathered daily and 

 destroyed. I find no better way than jarring the insect oft' upon 

 a sheet and killing it. 



Rev. Mr. Weaver said that for a long time the curculio had been 

 60 troublesome in the vicinity of Burlington, Vt., that no plums 

 could be grown. A year ago last fall, there was a great change, 

 and all the trees w^ere full. Wlio can tell why ? 



Dr. Trimble. — I attribute it to a great drouth the previous 

 year, having experienced the same result one year on the Hudson. 

 At such a time, the larvas perish in the dry soil, by the heat and 

 want of moisture. I have proved this by experiment, by putting 

 the eggs in a pot of earth in a room where it kept dry. 



