84 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



similar to this, which I think have paid well, as the stones al- 

 ways sell when any one has them ready, and bring enough to 

 pay all the expense of getting them out, as on low grounds 

 they lie near the surface. 



I have tried plaster on my pastures, but without receiving 

 any perceptible benefit. 



Middletox, November 3, 1854. 



ORCHARDS. 



MIDDLESEX. 



From the Report of the Committee on Farms. 



In the apple orchards of Messrs. Brown and Buckminster, of 

 Framingham, Horace II. Bigelow, of Marlboro', Wm. B. Har- 

 risj; of North Woburn, Luther Adams, of West Townsend, 

 George M. Barrett, of Concord, H. C. Merriam, of Tewksbury, 

 Hiram Woodis, of South Reading, and Mr. Nightingale, of Gro- 

 ton, we had pleasing evidence of excellent success in the plant- 

 ing and training of fruit trees. Having in a former report 

 spoken of the deleterious eifect of strong alkaline washes upon 

 apple trees, we are inclined to believe that a better practice is 

 now prevailing in the use of washes, which, while they cleanse 

 the trees, do not act upon them chemically. An unnatural color 

 of the bark of a tree is, to our eyes, as offensive as a cosmetic 

 upon the face of beauty. In the orchard of Mr. Woodis, of 

 South Reading, we think may be seen the beau ideal of an ap- 

 ple orchard. If any thing can be objected to it, it is only that 

 it is a little " too fine." The uniformity of shape, exactness of 

 position, and correspondence in height afford an almost pain- 

 ful instance of monotony. We will only add that this orchard 

 was a kind of pet of tin- individual who set it out — Mr. Moses 

 Swcctscr, of South Reading, a gentleman of great taste and 

 skill in this department, and whose orchards, planted many 

 years ago, will long remain as beautiful monuments to his 

 memory. 



