STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 41 



In ni}- 3-oiitbful days it required but little labor or care to raise 

 apples, cherries or plums. All we had to do was to set out our 

 orchards and the trees took care of themselves, and yielded fruit, 

 such as it was. But few farmers took the trouble to graft their trees, 

 and those who did so procured their scions from some neighbor who 

 possessed a native favorite tree, plastering them up with an unsighch' 

 lump of claj', kept in place by some old rags tied on with rope j-arn. 

 At the present time the fruit of these scions would be discarded as 

 only fit for cider apples. The only plums raised sixty years ago 

 were sour damsons ; and red cherries were considered a luxury. 

 The propagation of good fruit has made great progress within the 

 last half century, although the labor of accomplishing it has vastly 

 increased. Three score 3'ears ago the orchardist had but few 

 insect enemies to contend with, and his trees yielded large crops of 

 fruit, with very slight care, while at the present time nothing but the 

 utmost vigilance will protect his trees from destructive insects. 



Apples are now selling in our market for one dollar and fift}' cents 

 a bushel, while sixty years ago the best could be bought for twenty- 

 five cents a bushel, and cooking apples for twelve and a half cents, 

 and some of our farmers who possessed large orchards, sold their 

 apples at six cents a bushel, the purchasers gathering them from the 

 orchard ; while cider sold in our market for one dollar a barrel, the 

 empt}' barrel to be returned to the seller. 



In 1850 and '51 I was station agent on the railroad at our depot. 

 At that time, every spring, thousands of apple, pear and plum trees 

 were brought from New York and Connecticut b}^ the cars, and set 

 out by our farmers. I then came to the conclusion, from the great 

 interest taken in orcharding, and the large number of trees brought 

 into the State, that in a few years the fruit of our orchards would be 

 a drug in the markets, and would hardly pay for the harvesting, 

 but such has not proved to be the fact, as apples now bring a higher 

 price throughout the country than ever before. Why is this so? Do 

 our orchards refuse to 3ield fruit as in former years? 



Among the earliest enemies of our apple trees which we had to 

 contend with were bark lice. If these pests infest a tree badl3' they 

 absorb the juices which are required for its growth and the perfec- 

 tion of fruit, and the tree is barren of fruit or yields onl}' a few 

 shriveled apples. To destro}" these pests a wash of strong soap 

 suds must be applied about the middle of June to every part of the 

 tree infested. Probabl}- some who are present have noticed that 



