FIRS T F R FITS. 



305 



per year. Another man, who grows Roxbury Russetts 

 exclusively, has during the past ten years received an 

 average annual income of $1,000 from his orchard of a 

 thousand trees — only two-thirds of which are in bear- 

 ing — and fifty per cent, of this is net profit. A large 

 majority of growers have not been raising fruit for 

 market more than fifteen years, and there are now 

 thousands of orchards containing 500 trees, and more, 

 probably not more than half of which are in bearing. 

 The value of orchard lands ranges from $5 to f 50 per 

 acre. Even after planting, many owners do not ap- 

 preciate the value of their orchards, and the price is 

 still low — ranging from $25 to $500 per acre. While 

 the difficulties of fruit raising are not to be ignored, the 

 same skill and industry which make men and women 

 successful in other vocations, will insure eminent success 

 in this line. Maine offers a promising field for the or- 

 ganization of a stock company similar to those operating 

 in Florida and California. 



Dr. G. M. Twitchell, Lecturer of the State Grange, 

 advocated the extensive use of poultry in connection 

 with the orchard, as an inexpensive means of keeping 

 up the fertility. Professor I. O. Winslow, of St. Albans, 

 considered swine exceedingly valuable for this purpose, 

 and also as an aid in holding the apple maggot — Trypeta 

 pomonella — in check. 



" Fruit Growing in Aroostook County" was the sub- 

 ject of a paper by Hon James Nutting, of Perham. Only 

 within a few years has it been thought possible to raise 

 fruit in this region. Of the various kinds first introduced 

 Duchess of Oldenburg is the only one that is wholly suc- 

 cessful, though in some localities Alexander and Fameuse 

 do well. A few later introductions have been added and 

 the list of hardy varieties now includes, in order of ripen- 

 ing : Yellow Transparent, Duchess, Tetofsky, Montreal 

 Peach, Wealthy and Dudley's Winter. The latter is a 

 seedling of Duchess, raised by J. W. Dudley, of Castle 

 Hill. The following sorts have been tried and;found want- 

 ing : Peabody Greening, Red Astrachan, Pewaukee, Mc- 

 intosh Red, Haas, Gideon, Mann, Early Russian, Talman 

 Sweet and several other so-called hardy varieties. No 

 good sweet apple has yet been found. Of crabs, Hyslop, 

 Lady Elgin, and Lancaster are the only ones that have 



proved a success. Plum culture is now receiving much 

 attention. Moore's Arctic, which originated at Ashland 

 on the Aroostook River, is the favorite variety, but even 

 this requires laying down in the fall to do well. The 

 strawberry is the only small fruit extensively cultivated. 

 Aroostook valley is as far north as there is any 

 attempt at orcharding, and the 20,000 people in the St. 

 John valley will solve the problem of a market for sur- 

 plus fruit. Up to the present time there are few enemies 

 to contend with. No borers have been found, and there 

 are very few worms. The greatest insect pest is the 

 green aphis, which infests scions the first season. The 

 only apples badly affected with scab are Fameuse and 

 Mcintosh Red. 



In the discussion following this paper, E. W. Mer- 

 ritt, of Houlton, said Moore's Arctic is the only plum at 

 all reliable in Aroostook county, but that the conditions 

 seem specially favorable for this variety. Apple trees 

 should not be more than 12 to 20 feet apart, and should 

 have low heads. Limbs should start about two feet 

 from the ground. Attention was called to the Gideon 

 apple, which is a handsome fruit, but is always rotten at 

 the core. Agawam is the most reliable blackberry — 

 Snyder is utterly unreliable. 



J. G. Barker read a paper on " Our Homes and How 

 to Improve Them." A love for the beautiful cannot 

 be formed in a few weeks or a few months. It is the 

 work of time, and should be impressed on the minds of 

 the young. Prizes should be offered by horticultural 

 societies for the most attractive homes. Trees and 

 shrubs should be more extensively planted. For climb- 

 ing roses, give the old Queen of the Prairie and Balti- 

 more Belle a chance. The tulip tree is well adapted for 

 avenues and the lawn. The oaks are exceedingly valu- 

 able and should be more extensively planted. More 

 attention should be given to hardy shrubs and less to 

 annuals. 



On Thursday, a large delegation from the society 

 visited Bucksport, by invitation of F. H. Moses, the 

 florist who supplies the Bar Harbor trade. Mr. Moses 

 has some 16,000 feet of glass, and his plants show 

 evidencesjof skill, watchfulness and "gumption." 



W. M. M. 



