360 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



good lop. By ihis melhoc], in a few years you can 

 gel rid ol (he old liead, subsiiiuimg lor il a new 

 one, lieallliy and vigorous. The advantages ol 

 this nieihod over all oihercs in resiuring trees badly 

 injured by the canker worm, are these ; ii gives 

 us an opportuniiy by gralting, 10 obtain (he new 

 and better varieties o) Iruit ; and in some old or- 

 chards this is very desirable. The reasons vvhy 

 we preler It ovt r iVlr Forsyili's method ol' head- 

 ing down are these ; the old limbs are bearing 

 some liuil while your grafts are growing in your 

 suckers, and you do noi risk the hie ol' tlie tree by 

 depriving it at once of all its limbs, lor there is 

 t-ome danger of losing large trees in this way. 



There are many things connected with the ha- 

 bits ol" the canker worm and the means of its de- 

 struction, which it might be uselul to publish. It 

 has undoubtedly produced more injury to our apple 

 trees than any thing else. 



The ne:xt most destructive insect to our trees, or 

 rather Iruit, we have to trouble us, is the curculio. 

 They have increased very much with me in a lew 

 years, destroying or injuring, I should think, near- 

 ly hair my Iruit. 



The canker is a disease well understood in Eng- 

 land, but very little here. It is common with us, 

 and when iis effects are seen, il is ascribed by 

 many people, ignorantly, to injury caused by severe 

 winters, and nothing more tlioughl of it. Much 

 might be said on the subject ol' pruning. Very 

 many people who prune trees, know but little 

 about It. Much has been said and written on 

 the proper time 10 prune, but alter some considera- 

 ble experience 1 think more of the manner ol' per- 

 forming it than 1 do of the season in which it is 

 done. All seasons have their advantages and 

 disadvantages, and much might be said on both 

 sides ; 1 have pruned at all seasons of the year 

 successfully and now do it when 1 have leisure 

 and my saw is sharp. The attention of many 

 j.eople has been directed within a lew years to 

 the cultivation of fruit trees, and more have been 

 set this year than I ever knew before. 



A great deal more 1 have to write, had I space. 

 Your friend, S. P. Fowlek. 



N. B. — 1 wish to be understood in my remarks 

 upon pruning, that I prune any time between the 

 fall of the leaf in autumn and the middle of May 

 Ibllowing. 1 never pruned at any other season ol 

 the year, except to remove suckers in July or Au- 

 gust, which ] think advantageous. And now as 

 i am upon a Iresh sheet, I will say more. 



As I before remarked, many people are setting 

 trees and selecting the kinds Irom the knowledge 

 they obtain from books, regardless of their adap- 

 tation to particular soils and situations, which is a 

 great mistake. Thus, lor instance, the Newton 

 pippins, Pennock's red winter, and many others 

 raised south of New York are indifferent fruit with 

 us, however excellent they may be at the south. 

 And some of our conmion varieties ol Iruit, lor 

 instance the Pickman pippin, a most valuable 

 apple with me, I am informed by Mr. Jno. M. Ives, 

 is a poor tree in his soil. And the old blue pear- 

 main, greatly extolled by some persons, in my 

 soil the fruit is poor and the tree a ehy bearer. 



S. P. F. 



FIRST EXHIBITION AND FAIR OF THK AG- 

 RICULTURAL AND HOTICULTURAL SOCIE- 

 TY OF HEKRICO. 



The results of this first attempt, considering 

 the always unfavorable circumstances of every 

 new beginning, were highly gratifying to all who 

 lelt interested therein ; and to us they not only 

 furnished a subject for gratification, but of sur- 

 prise. The show of fine animals was much 

 better, and more full, that we had expected, and 

 that of implements of husbandry, machines, and 

 agricultural and horticultural products, was still 

 more abundant. Above all, the great concourse 

 of visiters must have been quite unexpected, and 

 we trust, gave an additional impulse to the zeal 

 of the society, as well as a very considerable 

 addition to its funds, by the payments lor admis- 

 sion tickets. We believe that the expectations of 

 every person present were far exceeded by the 

 reality, in all the respects referred to above. So 

 far, this young society has rendered excellent 

 service; and its members have but to persevere, 

 and to pursue a proper working course, to render 

 very great benefit to the agriculture of Virginia. 

 We should rejoice to see the good example fol- 

 lowed by the establishment of societies in every 

 county in Virginia. 



If there was any thing to object to in the ex- 

 hibition, it was a fault caused by tlie great inter- 

 est showri by the public, and the consequent want 

 of room and sufficient accommodation for the un- 

 expected crowd of visiters. There were in fact 

 so many viewers, that many of the things exhibit- 

 ed were not seen, nor heard of at the time, by 

 half the persons on the ground. This defect 

 can hereafter be easily guarded against. 



We copy below the official reports of the pre- 

 miums awarded, and other proceedings. — Ed. 

 Far. Reg. 



Prom tlie Richmond Compiler. 



The toasts given at the dinner after the cattle 

 show and fair of the Henrico Agricultural Society 

 have been placed in our hands, and will be found 

 below. The Rev. Jesse H. Turner, president of 

 the society, presided, assisted by the vice presi- 

 dents, Messrs. Thos. S. Dickin and Richard G. 

 Haden. The best feeling prevailed, and the 

 toasts were washed down with domestic wine. 



Toasts by the Agricultural and Horticultural So- 

 ciety, at their Dinner on the 26th May. 



1. Agricultural Exhibitions: Courts of justice, 

 truly open to the high and the low, the rich and 

 the poor, where " the fruits ol skill and labor rise 

 to give testimony, and where the very earth is 

 eloquent, and speaks nothing but the truth." 



2. The f-armer : He who handles the plough 

 may always be trusted to wield the sword. 



