STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 75 



Up to the present time there has not been much trouble with 

 insect pests, except the green aphis, which damages the scions the 

 first seasou to considerable extent. No borers have yet been dis- 

 covered, and the fruit has been remarkably free from worms. Some 

 kinds, as the Fameuse and Mcintosh Red, scab badly, but no others 

 that I have tried, and these, perhaps, might be helped by the Bor- 

 deaux mixture. 



I think that within ten 3^ears Aroostook county will not only raise 

 its own apples, but have a surplus for export, if nothing of a serious 

 nature should befall its orchards, as the southern part of the county 

 already raises more than enough for its home market. 



ORCHARDING IN FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

 By Charles E. Wheeler, Chesterville. 



I have unbounded confidence in the development of my own 

 county of Franklin, which stretches from the well-known and 

 wealthy agricultural region of ihe middle Kennebec to the far away 

 frontier of our domain, 'and whose primeval forests are just now 

 being pierced by the iron rail, and upon its iron track will be borne 

 for decades to come the untold values of these solitudes to supply 

 the great markets of the country. Aye, more, I have a strong and 

 abiding affection for my native town, even though within her limits 

 there may be a few unsightly and sterile openings, yet its exten- 

 sive plains which have grown the lofty pine to be exchanged for 

 many thousands of dollars for the benefit of its owners, together 

 with the excellent ridges of cultivated soil that have yielded its 

 increase to succeeding generations, makes it a pleasant land in which 

 to dwell. And I hail with unfeigned pleasure each and every fel- 

 low worker who has a like confidence in the merits of his respective 

 locality, and will join hands with him in the endeavor to add some- 

 thing to the great whole which will redound to the welfare of our 

 broad and magnificent commonwealth. 



In the early settlement of that portion of our State, the pioneers 

 considered it an important duty, after making a clearing sufficiently 

 large to enclose their rude dwellings, to devote the next area to the 

 growth of an orchard. The idea of improved fruit had not yet 

 entered the mind, and as the tree took on a rapid and even growth 



