TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 



253 



roam where they are a mind to. I live out in Union, away up 

 in the northeastern part of the state, and I believe that the 

 development of apple culture afid the fruit business will do 

 more to increase our grand list than anything else. To-day 

 we have no agricultural interests that we can stake ourselves 

 on, but the character of the soil and everything indicates a 

 natural tree soil. We have it in the pine, and w^e are going 

 to have it in the apple. We find it here. Now it may have 

 to do with the livelihood of the people there, but at present 

 w^e cannot raise apple trees in Union. We planted one thous- 

 and apple trees about a month ago. I was checking them 

 over a week since, and out of one thousand there are two 

 hundred and ninety-eight which are destroyed. That dam- 

 age has been done b}- deer. W^e put the very best knowledge 

 that we had into the planting of that orchard, but what can 

 we do under such conditions ? Can we go out and kill the 

 deer? No, because the law prohibits the killing of deer, and 

 we are going to be right up against this proposition. If tiie 

 fruit industry in our hill towns is going to be developed we 

 have got to get rid of the deer. I believe this resolution is 

 worthy of your consideration. 



It is a fine sight to see the deer out there in Union. It 

 is nice, and makes a pleasant picture for the eye, but, gentle- 

 men, you cannot raise apples out there on account of the 

 deer. 



Mr. Putnam: I would like to speak on that subject. 

 What is the sentiment back of the deer question? Up in 

 Massachusetts it seems to be that there shall be lots of deer, 

 lots of them raised, and then when the law goes off, a lot 

 of young hoodlums are allowed to shoot them, and two thous- 

 and of them this last fall were killed, and nobody knows how 

 many hundred of them wounded, ^hat is the sentiment 

 which says, let us keep the deer. I fail to see how that is of 

 any benefit to the agriculture of the state. I sav that we bet- 

 ter let the deer be exterminated rather than to keep on rais- 

 ing them to be butchered in any such numbers as thev are 

 being killed in Massachusetts. ( xA.pplause ) . 



