1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



71 



on manure with a liberal hand, and you shall have 

 a luxuriant garden, where you have now an unpro- 

 ductive and barren patch. K. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Transactions of the Worcester JVorth, for the 

 year 1855. — A well printed pamphlet of 84 pages. 

 Before noticing its contents, we call the attention 

 of the officers of the Society, to what we consider 

 as an important omission in the account of the 

 transactions for the year ; — and that is the entire 

 absence of any account, whatever, of their Fair or 

 Exhibition. Indeed, from this "History of their 

 Transactions," we do not learn that they had any 

 annual exhibition, or that the farmers, M'ith their 

 products, assembled at any time during the year, 

 for any purpose ! Did the members of the 

 society dine together, and if so, where, and who 

 were their in%'ited guests ? 



Now, in all these associations, it is not so much 

 for the public to learn that twenty members took 

 premiums for orchards and for plowing, and as 

 many more for poultry and butter and choice fruit, 

 as it is to learn, through what particular skill they 

 gained them, and what effect the operations of the 

 Society have had upon their practices in husband- 

 ry, and upon their industrial condition. The whole 

 spirit of the thing should be summed up in the 

 few first pages of what purports to be a history of 

 the transactions for the year. 



There are several excellent reports in this 

 pamphlet, on Stock, Fruits and Flowers, Grains, 

 Root Crops, Orchards, Manures, &c. 



The following extracts are taken from the report 

 entitled, "Fruits and Flowers" — though the flow- 

 ers, after diligent search, cannot be found. We 

 are glad, however, that the idea of flowers was on 

 the mind of the committee, even if they have re- 

 ported nothing of them. We have often expressed 

 our own opinion of the notion that too much fruit 

 is now under cultivation, and now introduce this 

 committee, with their excellent report, to confii;fn 

 us. 



"It has been estimated, by one well qualified to 

 judge, that the sales of trees throughout our Union, 

 amounts in value to upwards of a million of dollars 

 annually ; and the amount increases with every 

 season. Nurseries have been drained of every 

 thing worth cultivation, and very much of that 

 which was worthless. So great, indeed, has been 

 and still is, the mania for tree planting, that well 

 informed persons have expressed fears that the 

 whole matter of raising fruit, with the -view of pro- 

 fit, would be 'run into the ground.' That fruit 

 would become so common, that the markets would 

 be glutted, and that as a speculation in the hands 

 of the producer, it would prove an entire failure, 



"Let us consider, for a moment, how the case 

 stands at the present time. Are we really in dan- 

 ger of becoming surfeited with an over-abundance 

 of good fruit ? Has our experience during the 

 past few years been such as to justify this conclusion ? 



We think not. So far from the market being over- 

 supplied, there are very many people who have 

 never even tasted of some of our finest »cuieties of 

 fruit. They are not as yet produced in sufficient 

 quantities to get into the market at all. This is 

 true of even our staple fruit, the apple. 



"But it may be said that among the millions of 

 trees that have been set within the last rive or ten 

 years, but a small number have, as yet, -^r'^'i'icfd 

 fruit in any quantity, and that until the majority of 

 them began to bear crops, the efi'ect upon the mar- 

 ket will, of course, be hardly felt. We are not, 

 however, of that class who indulge fears of liis na- 

 ture. We are unable to believe that the better 

 qualities of fruits will ever be purchased, unless, as 

 an occasional exception, at prices which will fail to 

 handsomely remunerate the intelligent producer for 

 his outlay and trouble ; and we are strengthened 

 in this conviction, while taking a survey, and learn- 

 ing the history of a large portion of the trees 

 which have been set within ten years past. 

 ****** 



"We might estimate, in merely an approximate 

 way, the value of the annual growth of a tree, 

 something as follows : — 



First cost 35 ots. 



First year's growth valued at lo 



Second year's 20 



Third year's 30 



Fourth year's 45 



Fifth year's 60 



Sixth year's 80 



Seventh year's Ijio 



Eighth year's 1,50 



Ninth year's 2,00 



Tenth year's 2.60 



$10,00 

 "By this estimate, the value of a tree in ten 

 years from sitting would amount to $10,00, which 

 for an apple or pear, cannot be considered as too 

 high. Because at this age such trees well cared 

 for, are generally in a condition to produce a crop, 

 the average annual value of which is sufficient to 

 pay the interest on a much larger sum, in fact often 

 to ten times this amount. What more profitable 

 operation then can the farmer pursue than to bring 

 a portion of his lands into orchard. Even if he is 

 a man that looks at the present entirely, the annual 

 increase in value of his farm, in consequence of 

 the accumulation of fruit trees, will always com- 

 mand a price more than enough to cover the whole 

 expense. 



"To every man, then, we say, plant fruit trees, 

 but what is of more importance, cultivate and cai-e 

 for them with the same zeal that you bestow on 

 any other crop, and you will be sure of a return 

 that will fill you heart with satisfaction and your 

 purse with something useful." 



OK GRAIN CROPS. 



"The Committee take great pleasure in noticing 

 the increasing interest felt by many of the flirmers 

 of this society in the cultivation of grain, more 

 particularly wheat and corn. It is often said that 

 wheat is an uncertain crop, but for a few years past 

 the cotfee-whcat, so called, with good cultivatioH, 

 has never failed of giving a good crop. There may 

 be other kinds as good, and when we can raise it 

 for one dollar per bushel, or less, we think it ought 

 to be more generally cultivated. It cannot be said 

 of Indian corn as of wheat, that it is an uncertain 

 crop, for with good cultivation we are sure, nine- 



