of Potatoes or Corn, with less labour and greater profit. The Colonel 
then spoke of the Messrs. Clapp, of Dorchester, who, by systematic 
culture, raised on five acres of land, planted with Apple trees, 600 
dollars worth of Currants as an under-crop, while they had each year 
a large crop of Apples. He said that the Pear had been considered 
more difficult to cultivate than the Apple, but he was satisfied that in 
the first 15 years he could make as much profit from an equal number 
of trees as he could from Baldwin’s Apple, although they would require 
different treatment. The chairman said that Currants were an exception 
ag an under-crop in orchards, as they will grow in the shade, and bear 
abundantly where no other crop will succeed. Alluding to under-crops, 
the Colonel thought for the first eight or ten years ploughing would not 
hurt the trees, and he would recommend the raising of root crops, so as 
to keep the ground free from weeds. 
In reply to a question relative to pruning, Mr. Brown said,—if a tree 
is pruned late in spring, when it is in full activity, and all the pores 
full of sap on its way to the twigs, buds, and leaves, there to be elabo- 
rated into the food that goes to form wood and fruit, the sap will, in 
most cases, pour from the wound, and keep the pores permanently 
open. The continuance of this impairs vitality, and sometimes destroys 
the tree; but if the pruning is performed at the proper season, the 
wound readily heals over. Our ancestors through habit having con- 
tinually performed this operation at a wrong season, the result is, there 
is scarcely an orchard in New England 380 years of age which does 
not bear unmistakable evidence of this unnatural and untimely pruning. 
AURICULAS. 
So Dr. Plant never had a worse Auricula blooiwn, and I never had a 
better, nor so good; and therefore I may be permitted to regret that 
there was no national exhibition this year, and to console myself with 
the belief, as everybody else does of himself, that if there had been one, 
‘‘ Tota” would have stood first in its list of prizes. In reality, I do not 
believe, although the times are so difficult to fix so as to suit all exhi- 
bitors, but that at any time during the season of bloom he would have 
stood high; and if he could have chosen his day, it would not have 
been easy to surpass his lot. In fact, I have never till this year seen 
anywhere anything like such a collection of fine trusses of so many 
varieties as I have now had in my own boxes, nor have my plants ever 
before shown such a state of health. As ‘“ D.” has promised: us an 
account of the bloom of the year, I will not enter into the matter; but 
it may be useful to state that the leading truss with me in each class 
was by no means what I should have expected, namely, in green edged, 
Headly’s Conductor, with 13 pips; in greys, Chapman’s Maria, with 
nine; in whites, Heap’s Smiling Beauty, with 13; in selfs, Martin’s 
Mrs. Sturrock, with nine. Nor do I think the four could be excelled. 
The last, after growing it four years, I have no hesitation in ranking as 
the best self yet let out. And I now withdraw what I said, three years 
