54 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Gardiner alluded to the absolute practice of boring a hole 

 in the trunk of the tree and filling it with sulphur as a means of 

 preventing the ravages of insects. He had tried it years ago and 

 found it useless. 



Mr. Lapham, of Pittston, concurred in the opinion last expressed, 

 and said he had found the knife and wire to be the onl}' reliable 

 means for destroying the borer. 



Mr. Hammond recommended pasturing sheep in the orchard, and 

 said that in five years since adopting that practice he had very little 

 trouble from borers or insects of any kind. 



Mr. Pope, of Manchester, and Mr. Briggs, of Turner, speaking 

 from their own experience in pasturing with sheep for many years, 

 found no diminution in the number of borers from that practice. 



C. J. Oilman, of Brunswick. The matter of pruning of fruit 

 trees seems to have been overlooked in this discussion thus far. If 

 there is any fault in the orchards in the State of Maine, I think it is 

 in the abundance, or super-abundance of wood in the tree. A 

 gentleman who is now present has a splendid orchard in this town, 

 and although it is in proximity to that institution which m}- friend 

 McLellan alluded to, I hope it will survive the ordeal. I have been 

 constantly' saying to him, as the result of my observation and prac- 

 tice, that now is the time for him to begin to trim his orchard. An 

 apple tree, or the fruit upon it, requires the sun, as much as corn, 

 wheat or potatoes, for proper development, in order to arrive at the 

 best results. On examination, one-half of the Baldwin apples that 

 we find in our markets in New England are simply shaded ; it is of 

 a green color; it has not had the sun, and the fruit does not com- 

 mand the highest price in the market ; the quality is inferior. There- 

 fore I say that this subject of the trimming of our orchards is im- 

 portant. The process should commence a 3'ear or two after the tree 

 is set out to save large gashes in cutting out limbs in the after life 

 of the tree. I have been told that my process was severe, that I 

 was taking out too much wood. I cut some limbs two or three or 

 four inches in diameter and the result has been that while it was a 

 severe operation to the orchard, tiie fruit has gi-eatly improved. 

 Then again, I have still further to suggest that where an orchard is 

 taken in season and treated in this manner, the fruit is larger and 

 more perfect, and is more easily harvested. 



With respect to another point suggested by the President in his 

 very interesting paper, as to the mode of packing fruit. Now I 



