56 STATE POxMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Alfred Smith, of Monmouth, was next called upon, and 

 read a paper on the same subject, with the following intro- 

 ductory remarks : 



"I was much interested in the hearty welcome extended to 

 the Society last evening by Mr. Torsey, in behalf of the citi- 

 zens of this good old town of Winthrop. And I am happy to 

 meet so many of my old associates with whom I first started 

 in life. It was in this town that 1 had my birth, and my feel- 

 ings often find expression in the words of the poet : 



"How dear to my heart are the scones of my childhood! 



* * The orchard, the meadow * * 

 And every loved spot that my infancy knew." 



It was in an orchard of seven acres, in this town, that I 

 caught the pomological brain fever, when a child of nine 

 years, which has followed me ever since, and I expect will 

 follow me till I pass over to the other side, where men emerge 

 'angels from their clay,' and are permitted to eat the fruit of 

 the 'tree of life that stands in the midst of the Paradise of 

 God.'" 



ON THE MEANS NECESSARY TO PERMANENTLY RESTORE 

 TUE PRODUCTIVENESS OF OUR ORCHARDS. 

 By Alfiucd Sjhtii. Monmouth. 

 Now, that we see the sad decline in our orchards and their 

 products, and feel the necessity for renewed efibrts to restore 

 them to their original productiveness, the inquiry arises : 

 What means are available, if any, to this end? The answer 

 is — intense, persistent cultur'e, applied yearly to our trees and 

 orchards. It is evident, that comparatively few have acted 

 on this principle, while the majority have left their orchards 

 to struggle with the grass, and have even robbed them of that, 

 which should have remained for mulching. It is also evident 

 that they cannot compete with the grass and its thousands of 

 rootlets, getting the best of the elements of plant food in 

 early summer, leaving but a small portion for the trees. 

 Therefore, such a course is nearly as disastrous to the growth 

 and i^roductiveness of our orchards, as the ravages of the 

 ■caterpillars. 



