STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 71 



I would like to sell for ten cents a dozen. 1 would not advise auj-body 

 to take them at that price. I do not think the Marshall is going to be a 

 success. 



Ques. Is the tree currant a success? 



Ans. Xo, sir. One of the troubles of currant culture is the currant 

 borer. If you have grown a single stem and that is bored and killed 

 your jig is up for that bush. But if you have them in bush form the" 

 killing of a single cane will not hurt your bush. The tree currant is 

 nothing but an ordinary cane made to grow tall by cutting off the buds. 

 It is a mighty taking name and the tree agents get a big price for it. 

 AVhen you can buy currant bushes at fifty cents a dozen they can sell a 

 tree currant for a dollar a tree. The tree currant is a little novelt}', but 

 I think there is no advantage in gathering the fruit. 



Ques. How do you deal with worms? 



Ans. I give the bushes one or two dustings with drj^ hellebore, mixed 

 Avith a little plaster. 



Ques. How do you apply it? 



Ans. "With one of those dusters that are made for that purpose. 



Ques. Have j'ou ever had any experience with the flj' that lays its 

 eggs in the currants causing them to drop? 



Ans. I have not. I have heard of it in some sections. 



Prof. Harvey. This is a serious pest in Southern Maine. It begins 

 with the larger ones, stinging them on the upper end, and continues to 

 sting as long as they last. 



Prof. Harvey. I spent a whole week last j-ear on the head waters of 

 the Kennebec about Jackman, and all through that region I did not see a 

 single blackberry. I found on the mountain region over towards Sandy 

 bay some blackberry bushes, but not the high bush blackberry common 

 in the southern section of Maine, — another variety of blackberry. I do 

 not know the reason for this unless it is that the high bush blackberry is 

 a more southern species, — its natural habitat is further south. I can see 

 no reason in the soil or anything of that kind, to account for its not 

 growing in Aroostook county, but simplj- in the fact that it is a species 

 of plant that reaches its northern limit. It is not an arctic plant, but 

 belongs to the Xew England flora. 



Ques. Are there any better varieties of the blackberry than the 

 Agawam and Snyder? 



Ans. Xot for this lattitude. The Agawam is one of the most hardy 

 varieties for New England. The berries are medium in size, and it is 

 one of the best blackben-ies for table use. Very large berries are showy 

 but of inferior quality, having a large core in the center. 



Ques. How many strawberries did you ever sell in anj^ one }^ear and 

 how much did you get for them? 



Ans. I never keep run of the amount of money I get, it varies with 

 the year. Sometimes I will get four or five or six thousand dollars, and 

 again not as many hundred. The yield varies from fifty bushels in a dry 

 season up to 150 or 200 bushels. The greatest drawback to successful 



