NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



187 



months of June and July they are transformed in- 

 to moths. These moths are white and without 

 spots; their fore thighs are tawny yellow, their 

 feet blackish. Their wings expand about one and 

 a quarter inch. The only time we can attempt to 

 exterminate these destructive insects with any 

 prospect of success, is when they are young and 

 first beginning to form their webs on the trees. 

 So soon, then, as the webs appear on the extremi- 

 ties of the branches, they should be cut or stripped 

 off and be crushed under foot. The cabbage but- 

 terfly, the black squash bug, and many other in- 

 sects, deposit their eggs upon the under side of the 

 leaf, similar to the parent of the caterpillar above 

 described. — Granite Farmer. 



EIGHTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING, 



At the State House, March 9, 1852. 

 Subject for Discussion — The Cultivation and Pre- 

 servation of Fruit. 



The meeting last Tuesday evening was not so 

 fully attended as some of the previous ones, on ac- 

 count of the unfavorable state of the weather. 

 Hon. Mr. Wilder was prevented from being present 

 to preside by indisposition, and Hon. R. B. Hub- 

 bard, of Sunderland, was called to the chair. He 

 said that as he did not know until this evening that 

 he was to preside, he had made no special prepara- 

 tion to speak upon the subject. The subject, he 

 said, was one in which he felt, in common with all 

 who are interested in agriculture, a deep interest. 

 So closely allied to agriculture is the culture of 

 fruit, that the condition of the latter may general- 

 ly be regarded as a good index of the condition of 

 the former. Wherever we find fruit culture well 

 attended, we expect to find agriculture also receiv- 

 ing a good share of attention. There are many 

 reasons why fruit culture should receive the atten- 

 tion not only of the Agriculturist and Horticultur- 

 ist, but of the whole community. The first of these 

 reasons is, that an abundance of good fruit is pro- 

 motive of health. To be convinced of this we need 

 but remember that Providence has provided an 

 abundance of fruit for every month and season of 

 the year ; all medical men testify that ripe fruit in 

 its season, in proper quantities, is conducive to 

 health ; another reason why fruit should be culti- 

 vated extensively is its effects upon morals. Some 

 might smile at this idea, but he believed the con- 

 nection was most intimate. Why was it, he asked, 

 that there is such a lax opinion in regard to the 

 purloining of fruit, when all the other products of 

 the farm are guarded with so much care. In the 

 eyes of the law the person who steals fruit is 

 guilty of stealing, but public opinion regards it 

 more lightly. Why is there this distinction 1 The 

 only reason he could give, was that good fruit is 

 so scarce , and this scarcity is urged as an excuse 

 for these depredations. Make these fruits — these 

 g >od fruits — as plenty as corn, and it would be 

 held as sacred in the public estimation. 

 Mr. Hubbard said he regarded our climate as 



well adapted to the cultivation .of fruit as that of 

 any State in the Union. He doubted whether any 

 climate was better than that of Massachusetts for 

 fruit culture. Other climates will produce fruits 

 which ours will not ; but we can produce as large 

 and valuable a variety as any other part of the 

 globe. He mentioned the apple as one of the most 

 valuable of our fruits. The pear grows as well 

 here as any where else. There may be difficulty 

 in starting the trees, but when underway, they do 

 well. Peaches are more difficult to raise, still 

 these difficulties are not insurmountable ; they can 

 be produced in every county in the State. They 

 need only proper care and protection. Cherries, 

 quinces and grapes, and many other delicious 

 fruits, can be raised in every garden in the State. 

 This subject is interesting, he said, not to the farm- 

 er only, but to all classes who have a plot of 

 ground big enough to give root to a fruit tree. 

 Hence the importance of having the subject more 

 fully understood, and hence also the need of agri- 

 cultural education ; for to cultivate fruit success- 

 fully, more knowledge is needed than to pursue 

 the ordinary duties of the farm. Few of our farm- 

 ers are well informed upon this subject ; and they 

 will never be informed upon it, until some different 

 measures are taken to instruct them. Every boy 

 should be instructed in the o'perations of the culti- 

 vation of fruit, as much as in the rules of arith- 

 metic and geography. 



Mr. Buckminster said we have not enough fruit. 

 Prices are much higher than they were twenty 

 years ago ; twenty-five years ago good apples could 

 be bought for 75 cents a barrel, since then the 

 price has been rising, and this, he said shows that 

 we do not raise enough. He thought our latitude 

 the best of any for the cultivation of the best of 

 fruit. The currant, strawberry and cranberry, he 

 said, could be well cultivated here, but go either 

 north or south three degrees, and these fruits are 

 not so good. We get richer peaches here, than 

 they do south. There is no difficulty in raising 

 them on the high grounds in the vicinity of Boston. 

 He thought Lord Coke made a mistake, when he 

 said that taking an apple from a tree was not 

 theft, because it was a part of the real estate, and 

 real estate cannot be stolen. One error of farmers, 

 he said, was setting trees too deep ; another was, 

 in setting them in grass ground — which should 

 never be done. The tree should not stand on a 

 hollow place, where the water will stand about it ; 

 trees on side hills do best. The ground should be 

 well cultivated, and kept well cultivated, while the 

 trees are young. Fruit can be obtained from the 

 Baldwin in four years from the bud, by proper cul- 

 ture. 



Mr. Pomeroy, from Southampton, spoke of his 

 experience in raising fruit. He believed that we 

 can raise some of the choicest fruit in our State. 

 In order to get good fruit we must have good trees. 



