or four years, and it is on the side hill. You have been making it out here that alfalfa is worth about eighty dollars per acre. It may be on the right kind of ground, but not on side hills. There are patches in my field where there is good alfalfa and then there are patches where there is none at all. I got a little discouraged with it and tried to plow it, but I couldn't plow it. It is a terrible thing to try to get rid of. But I say I believe our horses and cattle like it the best of anything they can get. Give them corn and they will take alfalfa hay first. We had a good deal of trouble at first trying to cure it right. Down there nearly every spring it rains so much that we have to cut it in wet weather. This last spring it was very high, very heavy, and we did not let the ground get dry enough, and consequently we had a little mould. It is all right and a splendid feed.

Mr. Jamison: You don't know how glad I would be if I could hear what is said and know whether these men are picking me to pieces or not. The Chairman: Oh, no; they are not, Mr. Jamison.

Mr. Jamison: And whether I should be glad to answer them back or not. But in making a talk to you in this way some little things escape Now one thing in particular that I wanted to call your attention to is this: Above all things try to have everything quiet about your feed lot. Don't have any horses around your sheep. If the horses begin to make a racket and the doors are open every last sheep goes out. Another thing, be quiet yourself when you are among them. If you must sing, sing the same song. If you must whistle, whistle the same tunes. And another thing, don't make any great changes in color in your dress. If you wear a black hat, don't pick up a red one when you go into your lot or you will have trouble. Now, how did I come by this information? I remember one morning very well, I went out to my sheds to feed my lambs and they all started to get out of the way. I could not think what was the matter until quite a little while afterwards, and then I happened to think I picked up an old red hat that lav around the house and wore that to the lot, when I had been accustomed to wearing a black hat.

Another thing, don't try to feed old sheep with the lambs. As soon as the ewe comes into the lot she will make trouble for you, for the older she gets the greater fool she is. I had about a dozen old ewes in with a hundred lambs. There were three or four ways I could go into that feed lot. I could not get in in any way without starting an old ewe, and from the time she first saw me she started every lamb out of the lot. That is one of the things a man must run up against, and one he has got to watch against or else he will be overcome in his efforts.

In reference to that bunch of ewes, I sold them to a man one day and I got them and put them in a pen at the side of the feed lot. In two hours I could see a difference in those lambs. They began to quiet down. Why was it? Because the old ewes were not there, the first time any one came around they would jump up and run.

A member: I would like to say in reply to Mr. Jamison, he says. while he does not understand everybody very well, he always understands me. Now, the only thing that I heard said about him here that might be discouraging was Brother Chamberlain's remarks, which seemed to indicate that he might be a Yankee. (Laughter.)

Music by Cecilian Ladies' Quartette.

The President; We are glad to have listened to such an excellent paper as that presented by Mr. Jamison. We have another excellent address for this afternoon by Mr. W. G. Farnsworth, of Waterville. Mr. Farnsworth has made a success of the work he is going to talk about. His subject is "The Culture of Fruit by the Farmer."

ADDRESS BY W. G. FARNSWORTH.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Institute:

It is unnecessary for me to say this afternoon that I am pleased to be with you, although I would much prefer filling a position in the audience. We always enjoy meeting with men of our own kind and occupation to discuss the matters that are of interest to each and all of us. In my fruit talk this afternoon I will endeavor to make my remarks as brief and to the point as possible so as not to weary you. And for a few moments let us observe the subject. You will notice it is culture of fruits by the farmer and not the culture of fruits for the farmer. Now, while we ourselves are commercial fruit growers and following this line of work as a business, we do not feel, as possibly a few of the commercial growers do, that we should discourage the growing of fruits by the farmers for their own use. I have heard some make the remark "that we will injure our markets." Now we believe that our markets largely are not with the farmers, as but very little of the fruit or a very small proportion of it is consumed by the farmers. Further than this, if the professional fruit grower who makes a profession of this and studies it from every standpoint cannot enter the market and compete with the farmer he had better seek some other branch of business for which he is better adapted. On the contrary, we do earnestly urge every farmer and every person who has a tract of land and can do so, to grow his own fruit in abundance for his own use, supplying it in abundance for his family. There are several reasons for this. One is for the pleasure it is in the home and in the family, to have it in abundance that we may go to the orchard and gather it fresh from the place where God has so abundantly provided it. We may have it nearly every day in the year. If not from the trees we have it in the cellar or cold storage, in one form or another. Another advantage is the health it affords having it regularly three times a day. Now I do not advocate using it as a food exclusively as Prof. Lazenby has already stated, as it would require rather more than we are capable of consuming. I am satisfied that another point that we may consider along this line is that of making the farm pleasant for the young people, the boys and girls upon the farm. There are many present here today, or at least a few of us, to whom the mention of the old harvest apple tree in the corner of the orchard or the small patch of wild strawberries in the corner of the meadow will bring back some pleasant memories. But I believe if we can furnish these to the boys and girls upon the farm, many of them will possibly choose it for a profession where

otherwise they might not and we can get them to stay on the farm and engage in farming. I have heard some farmers say "We buy what we want" as an excuse for not growing. Do they mean this or do they mean to say they buy what they must have? Many times it is the latter-buy what we must have. There is a great difference between these two assertions. What we want, judging by myself, would be all that we could consume upon the table three times a day for three hundred and sixty-five days in a year and many lunches between meals. What we must have often is simply a few bushels at the height of the season for canning purposes, from which we would secure two or three meals fresh on the table of the different kinds of fruit, with a few barrels or bushels to store in our cellars for winter's use. Hence there is a good deal of difference in these two expressions, what we must have or what we want. Others will say, "We cannot spare the time or the labor required to grow the fruit upon the farm." Well, now, I have just been listening this afternoon to Brother Jamison and the discussion. Why, they are growing carrots or green feeds of different kinds and forage plants for the sheep and lambs. We will go to a considerable amount of labor in growing green products for farm animals. Why not spend a little time and labor in growing fruit that our children and family will relish? I think we should do for them fully as much as we do for our cattle and sheep. There are others who think there is some mystery connected with it that they cannot grow it successfully for their own use. True, we must admit, that at the present age the number of insects and different diseases which destroy our orchards are seemingly on the increase, and we must fight harder and harder each year and study these diseases and insects more closely to grow it successfully. Yet I believe we can grow fruit regardless of all these, and if we ourselves as farmers cannot and do not like taking up the study of these diseases and insects, possibly the young boys or boy upon the farm will be glad to do this and make it his future vocation. While I do not wish to advocate the growing of fruit largely by the farmers in connection with the other work upon the farm, unless they are fitted to give it the care or attention that they should, and care for it by spraying, pruning and thinning of the fruit to make a success of it, I do believe that it is a duty involved upon all of us to furnish it in abundance for our families and our homes..

Now, in considering this question, after we have decided to grow our fruit, probably the first question is the location of the plantation. Now, while there is a difference of opinion as to the different locations for growing fruits, some locations doing better than others, I suppose as a rule we should choose a point or a plot of land near the house so that the wife and children of the home can gather the fruit for the table, not obliging them to go thirty or forty yards, simply because there is some suitable place for fruit at that distance. By employing the tools and a little labor, fitting the ground and thoroughly draining it, nearer the house, we as a rule can have success. The form of this plot, as has often been stated, should be in the form of a long strip so that the work can be done with a horse and cultivator and dispense as much as possible with the use of the hoe upon this fruit plot. If it is taken good care of at the right time it requires but little labor with the hoe to keep it in good condition.

The first fruit that I will mention is that of the strawberry. I mention this for the reason that it is the first fruit of the season to ripen, generally coming along in June, and you have already heard it said many times probably about the strawberry, that the Lord might have made a better berry, but he never did.

In the culture and care of the strawberry the first point to be considered is that of the plant and selection of the variety. Now, when we come to speaking of the different varieties of the fruit, I will not attempt to give you a list here

that will succeed throughout the State, for it is my opinion and belief that you can get far better information by going to your nearest fruit grower or neighbor who is growing for his use, asking for the varieties that have succeeded in your vicinity. What is successful in my locality may be an utter failure in some other point in the State. Hence I will not speak of the variety, simply that in selecting strawberries we should be careful and set some plants of a perfect blooming variety, if we are going to use an imperfect blooming variety, so that they will fertilize the other and produce fruit. This is all I will say as to the selection of the varieties.

As to the plants. We would not wish to use plants from old beds, never setting plants that have been taken from beds of more than one season's growth, always use new plants. On receiving them and after our ground is ready to plant, we should prune the top and the roots of even the strawberry plant, cutting them off to about four inches in length and removing the old dead leaves or runners that may still cling to the plant. In the setting of the strawberry for the home use we would suggest the spade and line method, using the line to get our row straight and plant with the spade. Carry the plants in a pail in which there is a couple of inches of water and in which the roots are placed. If there is a boy about the place have him carry the pail and hand you the plants. Place the spade in the ground at an angle of about forty-five degrees, straightening it up, leaving about four or five inch open space behind the spade. The plant is given a little jerk to straighten the roots which are put into this space. Now, that is a very rapid way of planting and we find it very satisfactory. We must be very careful in placing in the ground and getting it at the proper depth. If the plant is too deep every rain will wash the earth in and form a crust there and destroy the plant by smothering. While if it is not deep enough the roots will be exposed. As soon as the plants are set we start the cultivator at once. Our ground has been rolled firm and it is left smooth for planting. Then by tramping we have packed it solid and we wish to loosen up the surface and have a fine earth mulch there to hold the moisture that the plant requires for its growth. We aim to keep the runners cut off from some of the varieties, and where we are growing varieties like the Crescent or Warfield we aim to keep off the runners until the latter part of June. We also remove all the blossoms, cutting off the blossom stems the first year, as what little fruit is borne will be spoiled by the rain beating it into the ground, and we want the strength that goes to this fruit for the growth of the plant. The culture and care consists simply in keeping a fine loose earth mulch there all the time, conserving the moisture for the plants and gradually narrowing up the cultivator as the season advances and allowing the runners to spread. In September we aim to go over the bed and thin out. If some of the varieties, such as the Warfield, set their plants too thickly, we can take a small hoe and thin them out again to about six or eight inches apart and placing in the best possible condition to produce a full growth the coming season. The winter protection consists in mulching as early in the season as possible. In field culture of course we have to wait until the ground freezes, and I believe it is advisable to do so in home culture.

For the mulch, if we have marsh grass that we can use we would prefer this, if not we can use leaves or straw. Leaves are very apt to blow away unless we weight them down with evergreens or branches of trees, but straw from our fields will do just as well if it is free from weed seed and reasonably well threshed. In spring we aim to remove this mulch before the green leaves start or about the time it is ready to start. After this growth is started we are liable to injure the plant by removing and exposing it to the heat. If we aim to keep

the beds over until the second year, immediately after harvesting we would go upon it with a cultivator and cultivate in between the rows again, thinning out and hoeing, putting it into nearly the same condition it was the preceding year, though our practice has been for field culture and I believe it will be for house culture, to set out a new bed each year as we can do this nearly as easily as we can clean up an old bed, and we get better fruit and more of it. A few words as to the raspberry. There are so many of them. The black raspberry we plant in a different way. We set the plants about six to eight feet apart, depending somewhat upon the variety as to its rank and thrifty growth, marking out the furrow as deep as has been plowed. There is some of the loose earth that will roll back in and upon this earth we set the raspberry plant. Now we aim to use a thrifty plant. We would much prefer throwing away the small feeble plants, using only good plants; taking hold of the stem with the left hand, covering the roots about an inch in depth. Then as it grows we gradually fill the furrow up as we cultivate.

The pruning the first year of the raspberry consists in pinching out the terminal bud after it has attained a growth of eighteen inches (the red raspberry we do not prune until the coming year); by pinching out its bud it is self-supporting and it does not fall over. The following spring we cut back the side branches to about six inches in length the first year; after this about ten inches in length the side branches, and allow the main branch to grow about two feet before pinching back. We aim to remove all of the old wood the second year, as soon after harvest as possible, thus removing lodging places for disease and insects. I believe we can keep our plantations and garden plots freer by this means. If we are crowded with work upon the farm and cannot give our small fruit the attention we should, I believe we can mulch our raspberries and blackberries heavier with straw. If we mulch them so as to keep down the weeds and keep the moisture there we can do this and save work, but we would prefer cultivation where practicable.

Now as to the blackberry. We will give it a little more space, the rows a little farther apart; then they are sometimes a little too close as they are very friendly.

The currant and gooseberry we plant in similar manner to that of the raspberry and blackberry, and care for them in much the same manner. The growth of the currant is different from that of the raspberry and blackberry. For this reason the currant bears its fruit on wood two or more years old, while the raspberry and blackberry bear their fruit on wood of the present season. Thus we aim to cut out each year two or more of the older plants and allow some of the newer ones to take their places.

I will say nothing as to the grape, although I believe it is one of the choicest fruits that we have upon the farm and is easily grown in sections where the grape rot is not injurious to any extent.

I wish to say a few words as to some of the tree fruits. In going over the State I have noticed many of the old apple orchards. As a rule I believe we can say that four-fifths of them are neglected; they require pruning, spraying and cultivation. On the contrary there are very few thrifty young apple orchards in the State, to my observation at least, and I have been in many portions of this State, in the southeastern portions especially, I am satisfied from what little knowledge I have of that portion of the State that the apple orchards can be grown with profit. Much of it is adapted to the growing of the apple successfully if they will give it the proper care.

As to the varieties of the apple for home use, this is a local question and must be decided for ourselves. I am satisfied that one mistake is made in my