1869. 



XEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



273 



quince is the best that ripens .wiih him. lie 

 values Ray's Mammoth on account Of its large 

 size, handsome form, beautiful color and good 

 qualit}-. With him the pear quince grows to 

 a good size and ripens after the orange, pro- 

 longifg the season. He does not recommend 

 the planting of pear quinces extenbively. 



Mr. Ohmer says that he planted the trees 

 in his (ir.-t orchard ten feet apart, each way, 

 but the branches have now grown into each 

 other to that it is almost impossible to get 

 through the orchard. He has since practiced 

 and unhesitatingly recommends (ifteen feet as 

 near enough to plant the quinces on good soil. 

 The tree is quite handsome when properly 

 pruned by cutting out all interfering limbs 

 within the tree and cutting back such as grow 

 out of jiroportion. He fpades the ground 

 every spring and scatters a peck of coal ashes 

 around each tree. He finds common salt the 

 best njan»;re on the quince and applies about 

 one quart to the ground under each tree after 

 the soil has been spaded and another quart 

 •when the quinces are about half grown. 

 Last year he sold three hundred bushels of 

 quinces from his orchard of three quarters of 

 an acre, at $2 50 to $3.00 per bushel. This 

 fact is worth a thousand arguments in favor 

 of planting and cultivating the quince. 



JSrOHFOLK COUN"TY, MASS. 



At the annual meeting of tho Agricultural Soci- 

 ety of this county, at Dedham, March 31, Hon. 

 Marshall P. Wilder, who has been president of the 

 association for twenty years, and under whose effi- 

 cient administration the society has been highly 

 prosperous, resigned his otHcc. In his valedictory 

 address, he alludes in fitting terms to many of his 

 associates who have "finished their course." The 

 Norfolk, he informs us, was the fir.-t soLiety in the 

 State "to purchase lands, erect a hall and take fees 

 for admission to the gates. It was the tirst to ad- 

 mit ladies to the rights of membership and to the 

 psrticipation in the festivities of the annual feast. 

 From the Norfolk Society emanated the idea of 

 establishing the Massachusetts Board of Agricul 

 ture, now a department of the government, and 

 now working harmoniously with all the other so- 

 cieties. Here, too, originated the first general ef- 

 forts in behalf of the cause of agricultural educa- 

 tion, which have culminated ia the establishment 

 of that popular and promising institution, the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College ; and here, 

 also, if I might be permitted to make the record, 

 was conceived tlie project of the United States Ag- 

 ricultural Society, which, until the late conflict, 

 was exerting a happy influence on the agricultural 

 and political inti rests of the country." 



Resolutions of thanks for his services, and ex- 

 pressive of the hope that his health may be per- 

 fectly restored, and his life of usefulness pro- 

 longed fjr the benefit of those public institutions, 

 and those private relations with which he is con- 



nected, were adopted by the Society. He was also 

 constituted the first honorary President of the Nor- 

 folk Agricultural Society. 

 The following is the list of officers far 1869 :— 



President— Uo'^ John 8 Eldrpdt'e of C nton. 



Honorary President— Hon. Marshail P. Wilder of 

 Dor lies'' r 



Vice Presidents — lion. Araos A. Lawrecce of Brook- 

 lyn; ilon. (Hi,- Ciry of Foxhor^'; Meeers. S W. Rleh- 

 arrtcon cf Frantl n; K. TU' kt r nf Milion; Henry Grrew 

 of Hy.lp Pirk; E. Sione of Dedham. 



Srcrefarij—H. (). Ilildnth df Dedham. 



Treasurer— V. C. Churcti 1 of Dedbam, and the us- 

 ual liuduce and executive comtnittees. 



Improvement in -Vakieties of Corn. — A 

 writer in the Prairie Farmer calls attention to im- 

 provement in varieties of corn. He says that if as 

 much attention was paid to this subject as is paid 

 to improvement in potatoes and grapes. a hundred 

 millions of bushels might be added to the crop on 

 the area now cultivated within three years. The 

 great want is ealier varieties that will obtain their 

 growth before the mid-summer droughts or early 

 frosts. He is now making experiments in this di- 

 ection, and calls on farmers throughout the country 

 to give their attention to this subject. 



Massachusetts Short-horns. — Mr. R. Good- 

 man, of Lenox, has sold to W. E. Skinner, Ham- 

 burgh, N. J., the bull IVoodsfock, got by 2d Earl 

 of Carlisle, 2804, out of Laura 5tli by Brother Jon- 

 athan 2J, 2570; heifers, IVhiteface, by Rosalie's 

 Oxford, 6138, dam Orange Flower by Red Rover, 

 2109; and Hybla, by Rob Roy, 6128, dam Eva 3d, 

 by Red Duke 4295. 



The Country Gentleman also notices arxcent im- 

 portation of choice Cotswold Sheep at the farm of 

 John D. Wing, Washington, Duchess Co., N. Y. 



AGRICULTURAIi ITEMS. 



— As there were early frosts last fall, it will be 

 well to take a little extra pains to secure corn for 

 seed that was not frost bitten. 



— Sugar beet grown in South Jersey has been 

 found to contain twice as much sugar as roots 

 grown in Massachusetts. 



—Rotten chips, decayed leaves, muck, hardwood 

 ashes, lime, and old, well-rotted barn manure are 

 the best fertilizers for orchards. 



—One of the aims in farming should be to pro- 

 duce, as far as possible, everything you consu.me— 

 to buy nothing you can raise yourself. 



— Iq the construction of the' Illinois Central 

 railroad, from Chicago to Cairo, a distance of 365 

 miles, but one good gravel bank was fjund. 



—Don't keep a calf tied or shut up in some 

 damp, dark corner, with hardly room enough to 

 lie down. He needs the sunshine as much as hens, 

 or the plants in the garden. 



— Mr. Greeley does not seem satisfied that his 

 $100 prize for the best grape was awarded to the 

 Concord. At a public meeting in New York, he 



