very successfully by the originator; it is most productive and the quality is from fair to good-about on a par with the Sharpless. It is a late variety, with fine flesh, and keeps remarkably well. The Jewell is perhaps a little better in quality than the Belmont, and the size compares favorably with that of the Sharpless, while the form is better. Judging from the plants shown here last summer, it is very prolific, and it makes very strong runners.

Of the newer raspberries the Cuthbert is most popular and is becoming generally cultivated. The only new currant is Fay's Prolific, which in vigor and size of fruit does not compare favorably with the Versaillaise.

Hon. Marshall P. Wilder said that we live in an age of enterprise and progress in originating and introducing new fruits; and though many of them prove of little value the spirit which leads to this work is commendable. Many kinds once popular have disappeared or are disappearing, and their places must be supplied. In New England the interest in collecting pears has been so great that forty years ago A. J. Downing called it a mania. Over a thousand kinds have been tested; many have proved of no value, but from among these collections have come the fine kinds which stand out like stars in American pomology. Some supposed new kinds have turned out to be old ones; like the Baronne de Mello, a variety of high quality, which was discovered last season by persons who thought it new. Among other fine varieties which have not been appreciated are the Emile d' Heyst and the Waterloo; the General Warren, supposed to be a seedling of the late Francis Dana, proves to be identical with the latter. Mr. Wilder suggested that premiums should be offered for the resuscitation of fine old varieties. He considered the Washington Strawberry apple fully equal in beauty to the Gravenstein, and only second to it in quality. He could not agree with Mr. Wood in regard to the Rogers grapes. The Barry, Wilder, and others succeed with him almost as well as any varieties except the Concord and Moore's Early. Charles Downing preferred the Wilder to any other native grape. The Lindley is superior even to the Delaware; he showed it to eleven connoisseurs, nine of whom pronounced it best. It is a variety which we cannot dispense with. In some seasons the Rogers hybrids may mildew, but in others they do not. The speaker said, however, that his grapes have a very favorable location. He admired Mr. Wood's good taste in retaining the

Hervey Davis and Wilder strawberries, the former of which is a seedling from the latter. He commended the Jewell as a very remarkable variety; one plant had fifteen fruit stems, averaging ten berries to a stem. The Prince is probably a parent of the Jewell; it is as high flavored as any variety, makes a large stool, and bears an abundance of fruit. The Triomphe de Gand continues to grow with him as well as any other kind; a neighbor cultivates half an acre and has no other. The Parry is promising. Of raspberries the Souchetti, imported thirty years ago, took the first prize last year, and is perhaps the most valuable kind for family use. The Marlborough is a most remarkable grower; he had exhibited here a cane nine feet in length. It is not of the highest quality, but is very productive and seems perfectly hardy. It produces a host of suckers-sometimes fifty to a stool-which must be kept down or the crop will fail. The Caroline, which is a true hybrid between the Brinckle's Orange and a Blackcap, is hardy and valuable.

O. B. Hadwen, Chairman of the Committee on Publication and Discussion, remarked that all present had been interested in the discussion, and had learned from the practical experience of those who had spoken, and perhaps from long observation of their own, that new seedling fruits are necessary to take the place of those which have gone out. He announced for the next Saturday a paper on the Cultivation and Transplanting of Forest Trees" by Wil

liam C. Strong.

BUSINESS MEETING.

SATURDAY, January 23, 1886.

An adjourned meeting of the Society was holden at 11 o'clock, Vice-President BENJAMIN G. SMITH in the chair.

On motion of Francis H. Appleton it was unanimously Voted, That the State Board of Agriculture be requested to consider the desirability of requiring that every incorporated agricultural society, receiving the State Bounty, shall include the subject of Forestry in their annual discussions at their Farmer's Institutes.

Adjourned to Saturday, January 30.

MEETING FOR DISCUSSION.

THE FOREST INTERESTS OF MASSACHUSETTS.

By WILLIAM C. STRONG, Newton Highlands.

It is a prevailing impression that the climate of Massachusetts has changed since the days of its early settlement. But it is to be noticed that this impression is vague, and takes form in conflicting opinions, with the changing seasons, as they may chance to be either hot or cold, wet or dry.

However trivial may seem the value of such fluctuating and conflicting opinions, it is not to be disputed that certain very material changes, both in the climate and in the soil, have taken place in this State. The descriptions of early writers concur in showing that the country was originally covered with a heavy forest growth, from the mountains to the very brink of the sea; except where interrupted by the salt marshes, the meadows along the shores of rivers and ponds, and occasional open upland spaces where the Indians planted their corn. The scouting party sent out from the Mayflower reported even of Cape Cod that it was "all wooded with oaks, pine, sassafras, juniper, birch, holly, vines, some ash, walnut; the wood for the most part open and without underwood, fit either to go or ride in." (Mourt's Relation, 1622.)

In Wood's New England Prospect," printed in 1634, the islands in Boston Harbor are described as covered with "good timber to repair their weather-beaten ships. Here also may be had masts or yards, being store of such trees as are useful for the same purpose.

And in regard to the quality and productiveness of the soil, similarly enthusiastic descriptions are given. In 1629 Rev. Francis Higginson wrote, "The aboundant encrease of corne proves this countrey to bee a wonderment. . . What will you say of two hundred fould and upwards? Our turnips, parsnips, and carrots are here, both bigger and sweeter than is ordinary to be found in England."

In the same year Master Graves describes the luxuriance of vegetation as follows:-"Thus much I can affirme in generall that I never came to a more goodly country in all my life, all things considered. If it hath not at any time been manured and

husbanded, yet it is very beautifull in open lands. . . No place barren but on the tops of the hills; the grasse and weedes grow up to a man's face; in the lowlands and by fresh rivers abundance of grasse and large meddowes without any tree or shrubbe to hinder the sith. I never saw, except in Hungaria, unto which I always parallel this countrie, in all our most respects; for everything that is heare, eyther sowne or planted, prospereth far better then in old England. "

as now.

It is to be regretted that no accurate statements are made of the yield per acre of the various products of the soil. But, judging from these and many similar general statements which the limit of time forbids me to cite, we have every reason to believe they were far beyond the average crops of the present day under like culture. It is true we read of their occasional failure by reason of droughts; and it is certain that droughts occurred then as well But in judging of their frequency and intensity we are to bear in mind that the plowing of early days was the merest scratching of the surface, that little or no retentive manure was used, and that at the present day and under such conditions our crops would prove uniform failures. It is safe to say that, with the advantage of a virgin soil and with the conservation and more uniform distribution of moisture afforded by the forests, our ancestors had good reason for making glowing comparisons with the fertile soils of Europe.

Turn now to the aspect of our State at the present day, and we are compelled to admit a mighty change. We except, with pleasure, the alluvial spots around our cities, which receive special enrichment and high culture. We point to these with pride, as yielding products largely exceeding those of the past. But the fertility of these gardens serves to make the barrenness of the surrounding hills and plains only the more conspicuous.

These outlying fields have been laid bare for a century or more, and subjected to the influences of our clear, hot sun, of sweeping winds, and of washing rains. To a large degree the organic deposit of ages has been exhausted by continued cropping; or dried and blown, or washed, away. So exhausted have many sections become that they are abandoned for tillage and are now neglected pastures, or are left to a straggling and miscellaneous forest growth. It is a well known fact that there are, and have been for years, numerous farms for sale in all parts of the State at a price scarcely

sufficient to cover the value of the buildings connected with them. There is a well understood significance in the term "land-poor, as applied to a man even in this good old Commonwealth, which is so prosperous in commercial and manufacturing enterprises, and furnishes ample markets for all farm products. But the naked trath is that the lands are not productive; the fertility is gone, and to keep them in heart requires about as much expenditure as the value returned by them. Of course it is evident that land will be wanted in the vicinity of our cities and thriving manufacturing centres, both for homesteads and also for cultivation, without regard to the question of profit. And there are special lines, as for example the production of milk, where there is an encouraging prospect of remuneration. Indeed, we may say that, with capital, improved machinery, improved methods, near and excellent markets, and a large amount of energy and brain, most of our farms may be made to pay,- still the very statement implies that the lands are now in a low and exhausted state, and are suffering from neglect. The same causes which have operated to change Palestine and other countries of the old world from lands "flowing with milk and honey" to regions of extreme sterility have been, and are now, operating in our own land, and we are sitting by as idle witnesses.

It is, indeed, an ungracious task to report the poverty of the land. But the fact stares us in the face, and it is folly to shut our eyes upon a situation so serious. And especially is this so, if by wise effort it is possible, in a good degree, to ameliorate this condition. It is true we have a long and difficult problem, in attempting to change not only the soil, but also the very climate of a State. But a reversal of the processes which have caused the changes in the past would surely, if followed for a sufficient time, restore the original condition of both. If left in undisturbed possession Nature would, herself, in the course of ages bring back the stately growth of the forests, and restore the pristine richness of the soil. But, obviously, this is not what we seek. No one desires to reduce Massachusetts to the condition of a howling wilderness. What we do desire is to restore a fair balance between field and forest,- to devote certain sections, which are unfit for other purposes, to their own legitimate end.

There are thousands of acres of rough hills and of barren coasts and sandy plains in different parts of the State, which are unfit