STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 37 



Do not be satisfied with growing fruit the bearing year, but feed 

 your trees so that they will produce crops every year. The more 

 one makes fruit growing a specialty the better he will succeed, for 

 the reason that he will stud3- more to make it a success. Tlie 

 orchard may be kept in a growing condition in several ways, — the 

 better way for each one being dependent upon his situation and 

 resources, and either of which will be entirely satisfactor\' if properly 

 done. If a person has a plenty of common farm-yard manure that 

 is thoroughly decomposed, we believe nothing will give better returns 

 than this, thoroughly incorporated into the soil with plow or culti- 

 vator, being always careful while at work with these tools in the 

 orchard. 



If 30U have not a plenty of farm-j-ard dressing to spare, but have 

 brakes in your pastures, coarse hay or straw to spare for the orchard, 

 3"ou may thorouglily mulch and follow it up year after 3'ear with no 

 risk as to the final result. The course that I pursue and the one 

 that my experience teaches to be best for the average farmer is to 

 pasture with sheep or swine. The orchard which I spoke of in the 

 former part of this paper, has been used as a sheep pasture for 

 several years and the trees make good growth and bear as good 

 crops as an}' one that I know of. 



The worst enemy that I have to contend with in the orchard is the 

 borer, and I know of but one sure preventative and that is the death 

 of the pest. A wash occasionally of whale oil soap suds will in 

 a large measure prevent his getting into the tree, still you must ever 

 " watch and pray" and go through your orchards occasionally with 

 the knife and wire and see that this terrible pest does not long re- 

 main in the tree. I trust that no one will be so enthusiastic as to 

 believe that he can be successful in raising an orchard without much 

 care and labor. The old adage that '* eternal vigilance is the price 

 of success" holds good in fruit raising, and with vigilance, with care, 

 and intelligent labor at all seasons nothing pays better dividends, 

 nothing adds more to the comfort of the family than an orchard, but 

 if one expects to raise fruit w-ithout labor, withmit eternal vigilance, 

 he is in the end doomed to disappointment. I am aware that there 

 is a feeling of distrust among the farmers of Maine. I am aware 

 that many of even our most successful farmers, long to revel in the 

 orange groves of Florida, the cattle plains of Texas, or the wheat 

 fields of Dakota. But, Mr. President, where can we find happier 

 homes than in our own New England, where the apple, the " King 



