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BEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ALL ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own. — Johnson. 



VOL. II. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1850. 



NO. 4. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



J. NOURSE, Phoprietok. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



At the agricultural meeting, Feb. 5, Mr. Cal- 

 houn in the chair, this subject was discussed. The 

 subject was opened by !NLijor AVheelcr, of Framing- 

 ham. He remarked that fruit raising was much 

 neglected by many farmers ; some raise only apples, 

 and those of poor quality. Our market is supjilicd 

 in a great measure by fruit from the west and 

 south ; and yet it is sometimes poorly supplied. Our 

 climate is good for fruit. "We can raise peaches here 

 in abundance, by planting on high lands. He knew 

 of locations where they had seldom failed for forty 

 years. They are as easily raised as potatoes ; and, as 

 we are on the northern region of the peach, Ave should 

 raise this fruit to supply Maine, New Hampshire, and 

 Vermont. We shall yet send peaches to London. 

 We are born with an appetite for fruit. Old apple- 

 trees may be renovated. There are trees in Eng- 

 land three hundred years old. Pears are also a valu- 

 able fruit, and we have many excellent kinds. 



Mr. Eavle, of Worcester, fully agreed with the gen- 

 tleman as to the advantages for, and the profit in, fruit 

 raising. Some farmers now get more for their fruit, than 

 they formerly got for all the produce of their farms. 

 The demand increases with the supplj\ As improved 

 fruits are introduced, families use more and more, 

 until the demand increases tenfold. Fruit is healthy. 

 Families that use it freely are less liable to disease. 

 The use of the peach has a tendency to check the 

 ravages of the cholera. He said that the blasting of 

 fruit had been attributed to the want of specific 

 manures ; but this was not the case, for the St. 

 Jlichael pear had, in some cases, blasted for several 

 years, then it was good for a number of seasons, and 

 again it blasted, all on the same trees, under regular 

 treatment. Two trees of this variety, standing near 

 each other, exhibited different results ; the fruit of 

 cue blasted, that of the other was fair. This fruit is 

 a valuable kind when perfect, and it is always good 

 on the quince, and it grows well in this way. He 

 set pears on the quince so as to cover the quince 

 stock with the soil, in order to protect them from the 

 borer. The qumce will always throw out roots up to 

 the surface of the soil, and thus obviate any disad- 



vantage from deep planting. The St. Michael bears 

 moderately, and flourishes well ; but the Louise Bon 

 de Jersey bears to excess, and brings on premature 

 old age. The pear is as profitable a fruit as the 

 peach, and it flourishes well. We need only eight or 

 ten kinds for common culture. 



Hon. Mr. Daggett said that there was one fact that 

 was very encouraging to the fruit-growers of this 

 state — that our peaches and apples are superior in 

 qualit}-, but not in appearance, to those raised in New 

 York and New Jersey. But the peach here is short- 

 lived, and insects destroy the apples. The peach is 

 forced too rapidly ; hence its failure. He thought the 

 blight in the pear was caused by drought. 



Major Wheeler said that peach-trees bore them- 

 selves to death, and they should be headed in to 

 reduce the crop. 



Mr. Daggett remarked that he had lost all his 

 cherries, for a few years past, by rose bugs and birds, 

 and the curculio destroyed his plums. 



Dr. Gardner, of Seekonk, said that he was deeply 

 interested in this subject. His grapes and peaches 

 had been destroyed by rose bugs. The best remedy 

 was that recommended bj- Dr. Harris, which was to 

 jar them off into hot water. According to his obser- 

 vation and inquiries, the peach was injurious in the 

 cholera. 



Rev. Morrill Allen, of Pembroke, being called on, 

 said that he had not much acquaintance with the 

 subject. When he commenced farming, he was under 

 the necessity to cultivate for annual crops, as he 

 could not wait for the products of fruit trees. He 

 thought farmers should study to have enduring trees, 

 and to this end they should plant the seeds where 

 they would have the trees stand. He found that 

 forest trees flourished best in the soil where the seeds 

 were sown. Animals do better in the locations 

 where they are born. Peach-trees would be more 

 durable, if they were not transplanted. As fruit 

 trees are not immcdiatclj' profitable, he thought it 

 was not best for farmers to go largely into their cul- 

 tivation. 



Mr. Nathan Stetson, from Braintrco, thought that 

 the washing of apple-trees with lye, or a solution of 

 potash, as recommended in the I'loughman, would 



