STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. | ^ G jh ^ 71 *-\!v>S 



years it is found necessary to cut them off because theys^^^po low/ 0"/:^ 

 The wounds caused by tiiis do not heal readily and in cf^K^OfU^fC ^ 



many of the trees thus treated slowly decay. Reverse the ordertmd-... -> 



trim off the low side branches and let the tree grow tall as it may 

 It will make a graceful tree and grow to a ripe old age. 



Yes, let us have Arb^r Day, but let us observe it with public ex- 

 ercises by our schools and churches. And why not go further still 

 and observe the day in planting trees about our homes, making the 

 event notable in the family history by some social or literar}- gather- 

 ing that shall give special interest to each tree as it is planted. There 

 is not nearly enough of this sort of thing in the State, and we may 

 profitably observe the day. 



GIVE THE aCHOOLS A PREMIUM FOR FLORAL DISPLAY 



One more recommendation and I am done. It was long a custom of 

 Mr. James Vick, the well-known Rochester seedsman, to offer free all 

 the flower seeds the school children would plant upon the school 

 grounds. The idea was a beautiful one, but I never knew whether 

 many or few seeds were called for. Few of our Maine school grounds^ 

 however, are cared for as they should be. It would be an easy matter 

 to make them beautiful and attractive by devoting to them a little 

 care. We have known a lady teacher to successfully handle a school 

 containing a lot of unruly troublesome boys, by simply- interesting 

 them in making Hower-beds in the school yard, where a few hardy 

 annuals were planted. The flowers were well cared for b}' the bo3's,. 

 who during the school not only took special interest in them, but, as 

 a matter of fact, became studious and cheerfully obedient to all the 

 rules of the school. The flowers in the school yard did it, and this 

 sweet influence is felt throughout the land where the cultivation of 

 flowers is permitted, whether in public grounds or in the private 

 garden of the humblest tiller of the soil. The cultivation of flowers 

 should be encouraged still more b3- this Society, and I would recom- 

 mend that one or more liberal premiums be offered to the schools in 

 Maine that will make the best display of flowers grown by the chil- 

 dren within the school grounds. It will not cost the Societj- much, 

 and the influence would be permanent. I do not imagine there would 

 be a crowd of competitors the first year or tw», but in future years 

 it would become more general. 



Our various agricultural organizations are intended for the dis- 

 semination of knowledge among the people of the State. The public 



