MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. 59 



this keeps the insect from the root, and, in case of dry weather, 

 keeps the ground moist. In pruning, I do not hke to leave Hmbs 

 too low, on account of ploughing and working among them ; 

 neither will the fruit be so handsome where the limbs come too 

 near the ground. 



Waltham, Sept. 15, 1846. 



Benjamin Wheeler's Statement. 



The peach and apple trees you examined on my farm were 

 set out in the spring of 1845. The land was a rocky pasture; 

 it had been in pasture for about thirty years. The stones were 

 dug out in the fall of 1844, and the land was ploughed, and the 

 holes were dug at the same time. There was some manure dug 

 in around the apple trees ; it was compost made of part mud 

 and stable manure. The peach trees were not manured at all. 

 Last year, the land was planted with potatoes, and a light dress- 

 ing of manure was spread on. This year, it was planted with 

 corn. The trees near the house were set out in the spring of 

 1843 ; part of the land was very dry and gravelly, and, at the 

 lower side, the soil was a deep yellow loam. The holes were 

 dug six feet across, and from eighteen inches to two feet deep. 

 The top of the soil was mixed with peat-mud and put to the 

 bottom of the holes. Since the trees were set out, the land has 

 been well manured, and cultivated with carrots and potatoes ; 

 the trees have been well trimmed, and dug round with a 

 spade. 



Framingham, Sept. 17, 1846. 



Galen Merriam^s Statement. 



Of peach trees, I have over six hundred, the most of which 

 have been set out within three years. I have one hundred and 

 twenty-eight pear trees, about one third of which have borne 

 fruit, and about one fourth of which are on quince stocks. I 



