154 



THE FARMER^S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



your footsteps, and extend the improved breeds, 

 behind, as they are in more than one respect, tliis 

 tlieir youngest sister. 



Gentlemen of the Society— I address farmers 

 who have a mucli hetter and a longer experience 

 as practical agriculturists than I can boast — I 

 address men the most of whom know more than 

 I ever shall know relative to Agriculture — men 

 who know the capacities of your soil, and all of 

 whom will agree with me that two spears of 

 grass and two blades of corn may be made to 

 grow where only one and sometimes none have 

 grown before. 



The ladies, too, who have been help-meets in 

 your rapid march to wealth, who are the solace 

 to our cares, the sympathizers in all our woes, 

 the softeners of our manners, the regulators of 

 our morals, the joy of our social circles, also 

 come up here to cheer us on in this cause with 

 their bright faces and those prayers to a benefi- 

 cent Creator which will ahvays avail much. 



Prosperous as is the State of Maine in her 

 navigation and ship-building, prosperous in her 

 traffic and commerce, with advantages of sea 

 coast and water communication that no other 

 State possesses, to be the greatest, richest State 

 of the Union, Maine has only to advance her 

 Agriculture to that point where it may easily be 

 elevated ; and the efforts and example of your 

 Society on this occasion may be among those 

 incipient steps which shall lead to the greatest 

 good of that best interest which sustains all other 

 interests. 



Kor the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 A new Destroyer of Apple Orchards. 



Chester, JV. H., Sept. ti, 1841. 

 Dear Sir, — I wish to obtain some intbrmatiou 

 as to several kinds of " creeping things " which 

 are this season taking most unwarrantable liber- 

 ties with the apple trees in this neighborhood. 

 I have narrowly watched the agricultural papers 

 for some weeks, in hopes to be informed, without 

 exposing my own ignorance, on subjects which 

 I hi»d supposed, must be generally understood by 

 others. But 1 have, as yet, learned nothing from 

 the papers, and cannot find that Kenrick's Or- 

 chardist touches upon my subject. But to the 

 point. 



There have been upon my ajjple trees for six 

 or eight weeks past, (1 did not observe them 

 sooner) two species of worms, which appear to 

 be doing serious mischief One species 1 have 

 observed, when about half an inch in length, ap- 

 parently just hatched. They are of as many 

 colors "as Laban's cattle, "ring-streaked and 

 speckled," but principally black and yellow. As 

 soon as hatched, they commence eating the 

 leaves, and take every one, as far as they go, 

 leaving only the stem of the leaf upon the limb. 

 They finally grow to about the length of two 

 inches. When small, or half grown, they gen- 

 erally are found in a chtstei upon one small twig, 

 but when full grown tliey scatter over the tree. 

 What is their natural end I do not know, for I 

 have always brought llirm to an unnatural death, 

 whenever I had opjiortuniiiy. When full grown 

 they arc of very bright hues — smooth, and with- 

 out hair, and a very unhandsome beast, in my 

 opinion. To be sure, beauty is peculiarly a mat- 

 ter of taste, and perhaps to their fellow-worms, 

 or to other men, they may appear very lovely. 

 If unmolested, they strip a tree in a short lime 

 of every leaf, but do not, so far as I can learn, 

 touch the fruit. Indeed, there are, at this time, 

 in my orchard, branches loaded with fine apples, 

 and entirely deprived of leaves by this worm 

 They sometimes, after consuming the foliage of 

 one branch, emigrate in a body to another distant 

 part of the same tree, and there all in a body 

 commence new operations. 



When a branch upon which they are at work 

 is slightly jarred, every worm will stop feeding 

 and put up his head, as if alarmed at being 

 calight in his mischief They do not spin any 

 web, or nest, so far as I can learn. I have been 

 thus particular in my description, because I am 

 confident no such creature has ever been upon 

 my trees before this year, and I have this season 

 observed them in ail parts of this town, and in 

 several of the towns adjoinine. 



whether there is any better remedy than that 

 applied by myself, namely, cutting off the twigs 

 upon which they are, and crushing them with 

 the foot. I do not knoiv that they injure the tree 

 or the fruit, but to say the least they are suspi- 

 cious characters, and besides, they deprive the 

 tree of its beauty, and are themselves, as I before 

 observed, not very pleasant to behold. 



When I began this letter I intended to speak 

 f another kiiVd of worm of a less size, which 

 pins a nest over branches of the apple tree, 

 without consuming the leaves entirely, but leav- 

 ing them dead, as if seared with fire. I also 

 wish to obtain some further knowledge as to ex- 

 terminating the iorer, which has injured my or- 

 chard seriously this season — but I have already 

 written so much that I will dismiss them w itliout 

 finther notice at present. 



Resiiectfullv yours, 



HENRY F. FRENCH. 

 Hon. Isaac Hill. 



(t^ We invite further communications on the 

 bject of depredators upon fruit trees, and the 

 best means of eradicating them. We believe 

 ur friend Foster, of the Canterbury third tiuu- 

 y, from his own observation, can furnish some 

 'leresling facts in relation to the caterpillar and 

 other worms that depredate upon the ap|>le tree. 



Agricultural Fair. 



The Annual Meeting and Fair of the Che- 

 shirk Cou.NTY Agricultural Association, took 

 place pursuant to previous notice on f riday the 

 8th day of October instant Notwithstanding the 

 unfavorable state of the weather ft was well at- 

 tended by the farmers of the County. 



The President, John Conant, Esq., took the 

 Chair and proceeded to business. 



Voted, To choose a Conmiittee of one from 

 each town in the county, to nominate officers for 

 the year ensuing. 



Chose, James Hale, Ezekiel P. Pierce, Joseph 

 Eveleth, George W. Bryant, Calvin Mav, .Viiiasa 

 Emerv, Abel Blake, Jairus Collins, Brihu..! Far- 

 ley, Joseph Whitney, Levi Howe, Aaron B. Kid- 

 der, Jr., Isaiah Gould, S:unuel Locke, Carter 

 Whitoomb, Joshua D. Blake, Moses S. Perkins, 

 Holland Mason, Aniasa Chaffee. 



Voted. To adjourn to one o'clock, P. M. 



Met agreeid>ry to adjournment. 



John Conant, Esq., the President, afler some 

 pertinent remarks on the importance of combin- 

 ing the science of Agriculture with practical Farm 

 ing, otferc-d the Farm on which he resides, in 

 JafTrey, to the Association, on condition that 

 measures are taken to raise the necessary funds 

 for the establishment o( an Agricultural School. 



On motion of B. Cooke, Esq., it was 



Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of the 

 Association be presented to John Conant, Esq., 

 for his very liberal offer, and that a Committee of 

 five be chosen to confer with him in relation t< 

 the subject, ascertain the amount of fimds neces 

 sary to be raised, and the probability of obtaining 

 them, and report at a future meeting. 



Chose, Jonathan K. Smith, Salma Hale, 

 Barton Skinnek,Samuel Woodward and Luke 

 Howe. 



The Committee to nominate officers reported 

 the following, which were accepted, viz: 



JONATHAN K. SMITH, President. 



Barton Skinner,") 



John Conant, | 



Benaiah Cooke, ^Vice Presidents. 



Abel Baker, 



John Felt, J 



Samuel Woodward, Secretary. 

 Azel Wilder, Treasurer. 



Abel Blake, ) 



Calvin Page, > Central Committee. 



Abijah Metcalf. ) 



Corresponding Committee. — Alstead, Dim Hatch ; 

 Chesterheld. Mark Cheney; Dublin, Benjamin 

 Perry ; Gilsum, Amherst Haywood ; Hinsdale, 

 Stephen Jewell; Jaffrey.Benjamin Cutter; Keene, 

 Benaiah Cooke; Marlborough, Jairus Collins; 

 Nelson, Tipton Burnap; Richmond, N. Cook; 

 Marlow, Allen Giffin ; Roxbury, William Parker, 

 Jr.; Stoddard, Luke Joslin ; Sullivan, Dauphin 

 W.Wilson; Swanzey, Carter Whitcomb ; Surry, 

 Eliphnlet Dort ; Troy, Moses S. Perkins : Wal- 

 Westmoreland, Barton 



The Association then attended to an able and 

 interesting address by the Hon. Salma Hale. 



On motion of J. K. Smith, 



Resolved, That the thanks of the Association 

 be tendered to the Hon. Salma Hale, lor his able, 

 instructive and highly interesting address, and 

 that a copy be recpiested for publication. 



On motion of B. Skinner, Esq., 



Resolved, That it would conduce to the inter- 

 est of Agricultural Exhibitions, to connect there- 

 with specimens of nianutjicturing skill and Me- 

 hanical ingenuity. 



Resolved, therefore. That the name of the As- 

 sociation be changed to "Cheshire County As- 

 sociation for THE promotion OF AGRICULTURE, 



AND THE Mechanic Arts," and that future meas- 

 ures be so directed as to correspond with this 

 name. 



The Treasurer reported that the funds in his 

 hands amounted to $75 00 and that some sub- 

 scriptions were outstanding. 



Attended to the Reports of the Awarding Com 

 nuttees. 



The Committee on the Ploughing Match 

 iwarded 

 To Chas. K. Colony, Keene, the 1st pre- 



$4 00 

 3 00 

 a 00 

 1 00 



It seems to me important that we sboul 



certain wben and by what insect the egg from pole, Adams Whippl 



which the worm is hatched, is deposited, whether Skinner; Winchester, Seth Willnrd; Fitzwilliam, 



or not thev permanently injure tb« tree, and Geo. W. Bryant ; Rindge, Stephen Je.wett 



To Chas. Chase, Keene, the second do. 

 To David Buckmiiister, Roxbury, 3d do. 

 To Benj. Kimball, Keene, tburth do. 



The Committee on Working Oxen, awarded to 

 Charles A. Jewell of Jaffrey, the first premium 

 of $4 00, and also to Charles A.Jewell the second 

 premium of $3 00. 



The Committee on Bulls and Steers, awarded 

 To Oliver Holman, Keene, for the best 



Bull, $4 00 



To Silas Brown, Westmoreland, for next 



best, 3 00 



To Chas. K. Colony, Keene, for the best 



three year old Steers, 2 00 



To Warren Shelley, Westmoreland, for the 



next best do. 1 00 



The Committee on Cows and Heifers, awarded 

 To Joseph Rugg, Keene, for the best Cow, 3 00 

 To Calvin Page, " for the ne.xt best do. 2 00 

 To John Thurston, " for the third best do. 1 00 

 To Zenas Metcalf, Gilsum, for the best 



Ileiter, 

 To Calvin Page, Keene, for the next best 



do. 



The Committee on Sheep, awarded 

 To T. M. Edwards, Keene, lor the best 



Buck, 

 To Henrv Mason, Keene, for the next best 



do. ' 



The Committee on Swine awarded 

 To Ira Wetherbee, Chesterfield, for best 



Boar, 

 To Wm. Lebreveau, Fitzwilliam, for next 



best, 

 To Zenas Metcalf, Gilsum, for the third best, J 00 

 To Caleb Wright, Keene, for the best Sow 



and Pig.s, 2 00 



To John Lawrence, Keene, for the second 



best do. 1 00 



The Committee on Fruit and Roots awarded 

 To Samuel Woodward, Gilsum, for the best 



specimens of Fruit, 1 00 



To Elisba S. Fish, Gilsum, for the best spe- 

 cimens of other Fruit, 1 00 

 To David Corey, Jaffrey, for the best half 



acre of Potatoes, 2 00 



The Committee on Agricultural Implements, 

 awarded 

 To Aaron Davis, Keene, for an improved 



Plough, 1 00 



To Isaiah Gould, Stoddard, for a good Ox- 

 yoke, 1 00 



The Committee on Miscellaneous Articles 

 awarded to Mrs. Moses Corey of Dublin, for three 

 Highland Shawls, 1 00. 



A more detailed report for publication is ex- 

 pected from the Chairman of the several Com- 

 mittees hereafter. 



Voted, That the proceedings of this meeting 

 be offered for publication in the papers publish- 

 ed in the County, and in the Farmer's Monthly 

 Visitor. ~ 



Voted, To dissolve the meeting. 



Attest, JON A. K. SMH'H, Sec'y. 



200 

 100 



2 00 

 100 



3 00 

 2 00 



" How fearful a thing it is to live. At every 

 step we take, a stream of influences bursts forth 

 which must flow on tbrouj^h all eternity." 



