1887.] TRANSACTIONS. 13 



"unearned increment" at the expense of your fellows, whose 

 hardly-earned property it became by the sweat of the brow ! 

 But, — mayhap you search for the philosopher's stone ! and fain 

 would find it in a pedigree. Does not that wild chase require 

 toil ? Milk, or butter, are ready to hand, but no ! pedigree is what 

 cows were intended for, — and is the si/ie (jna iion. And there- 

 fore, large sums are lavished, much thought perverted, many 

 valuable animals discarded, or wantonly sacrificed to a reckless 

 fancy if a flaw can be found in the pedigree, — though tlie udder 

 may be full to overflowing ! 



But to what better use than the renewal of our Apple-Orchards 

 can our waste hill-sides be subjected ? For what more profitable 

 purpose can the manure from those Ideal Herds be applied than 

 the nutriment of those young fruit-bearing trees ? No ! have 

 your cattle on a thousand hills, if you prefer. But, upon occa- 

 sional slopes, here and there, sow seeds from the Baldwin, Green- 

 ing, or Spy — not forgetting the almost obsolete Porter, foster 

 the growth of the young sprouts, hasten the test of their quality 

 by both bud and graft, and having proved all things hold fast to 

 that which is good. When obtained, — don't go to your ham- 

 mock ! On the contrary, — keep close watch for canker worm or 

 caterpillar, which exterminate at once ! Prune seasonably and 

 you will be certain to do it reasonably ! Enrich in Autumn with 

 a covering whose lumps the frosts of Winter will leaven and 

 thereafter, if you will not suffer your tree to bear a dozen barrels, 

 in lieu of six, you may gather where you have strewn, for the 

 remainder of your life. 



Take again the Peach ! of which delicious fruit such superb 

 specimens of local growth were exhibited upon our tables, this 

 very year. How many palates were feasted ; how many purses 

 re-inforced, from the produce of the occasional tree that was 

 suflfered to remain because it would be too much trouble to uproot 

 it ! And yet, time and again have you been reminded of the 

 notorious fact that the Peach was once as much at home in this 

 vicinity as the Cherry, and approved itself to the full as capable 

 of withstanding climatic extremes. Between A. D. 1842, the 

 date of incorporation of our Society, and A. D. 1860, the number 

 of exhibitors of Peaches varied from Thirty (30) to*Sixty (60) ; 

 3 



