46 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



which I believe he then claimed was a perfect protection 

 ao-ainst the borer. Whether that is a secret compound or 

 not I do not know, but Mr. Van Deusen has had a little 

 experience there which ought to be brought out, if it is 

 possible to get it out of him. 



The Chairman. Will Mr. Van Deusen favor us with his 

 experience. If he has any valuable secrets he is not under 

 any obligation to divulge them, but if there is anything 

 which he can afford to tell us we shall be glad to hear from 

 him. 



Mr. Van Deusen of Shaker Station, Conn. I will say 

 that it is no secret, because we have sold it, and anything 

 that has been sold is no secret. The orchard which my 

 friend speaks of I remember very well. I have left it for 

 four years and I do not think it has been kept in perfect 

 order since ; but for eight years, when it was under my 

 immediate charge, I think it was a success. I will not say 

 that the application which was made to the trees was so 

 entirely successful that the orchard was absolutely free from 

 the borer, but it was almost so. It would be an impossible 

 thing to find a person in any profession or trade Avho was 

 without fault and without failure. But the remedy is very 

 simple and effective when properly applied. The orchard 

 referred to has borne good crops the past flA^e years, and 

 probably it is as old an orchard and as good an orchard as 

 there is in the country. 



As regards fruit culture, we have heard quite a good deal 

 which is interesting, comprehensive and covering a great 

 deal of ground, and a great deal of truth has been said; 

 but, in my opinion, it wiM become more and more apparent 

 as we go on that every man cannot be a master in more than 

 one department. If a man undertakes to be an architect, a 

 horticulturist, and all those other things combined, it is an 

 impossible thing for him to be |)erfect, I was going to say, 

 in anyone of them. If a man makes up his mind to become 

 a horticulturist and loves his profession well enough to spend 

 years and money to j)erfect himself in it, he will undoubt- 

 edly make a success. There is no question about that ; but 

 if a man does not have that feeling, he had better let it alone. 

 It is a pet scheme with most of our friends to set out a few 



