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LIBRARY

OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS

AGRICULTURAL

COLLEGE

REPORT

I^bc Connecticut »*•» •
pomological Society

FOR THE YEAR J 90 1

WITH PROCEEDINQS OF THE ELEVENTH
ANNUAL MEETING, 1902

ITBLISHED BY

XLbc Connecticut pomological Society

1 902

(cu^ , lO (^ CHAPEt

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Officers of the Connecticut Pomological Society.

1909.

President NORMAN S. PLATT,

395 Whalley Ave., New Haven.

Vice-President JOHN C. EDDY, Simsbury.

Secretary HENRY C. C. MILES, Milford.

Treasurer ROSWELL A. MOORE, Kensin^on.

COUNTY VICE-PRESIDENTS.

Hartford— A. C. STERNBERG, West Hartford.
New Haven— E. M. IVES, Meriden.
Fairfield— A. C. INNIS, Stratford.

Litchfield— JAMES M. WHITTLESEY, Morris.
Middlesex— C. E. LYMAN, Middlefield.

New London— STEPHEN P. STERLING, Lyme.
Windham— H. B. BUELL, Eastford.

Tolland — Prof. A. G. GULLEY, Storrs.

STANDING COMMITTEES.

Injurious Insects. Exhibitions.

Prof. W. E. Britton, New Haven. E. Manchester, Bristol.

Connecticut E.xperiment station. Joseph AlbiSTON,

J. H. Putnam, Litchfield. South Manchester.

Harvey Jewell, Cromwell. Walter H. Baldwin, Cheshire.

Fitngous Diseases.
Prof. A. G. GuLLEY, Storrs. Membership.

A. B. Plant, Branford. Orrin Gilbert, Chairman,
N. H. Sherwood, Southport. Middletown.

Markets and Transportation. Legislation

J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury. j q -EmY, Simsbury.

John R. Barnes, Yalesville. Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan.

C. S. Brewer, Hartford. a. C. Sternberg, West Hartford.

New Fruits.

n c -D n 11 Auditors.

Geo. S. Butler, Cromwell.

Stancliff Hale, So. Glastonbury. W. E. Waller, Bridgeport.
H. L. Fairchild, Bridgeport. Frank N. Pl.\tt, Milford.

CONTENTS.

Proceedings. page

President's Opening Address i

Secretary's Report *. 4

Treasurer's Report 8

Report of Legislative Committee 9

Report of Committee on Membership 9

" " Exhibitions ii

" " Markets and Transportation I2

" " New Fruits i6

" " Injurious Insects 19

" " Fungous Diseases. J. H. Putnam 25

Some Lessons from the Pan-American Fruit Exhibit. Prof. A. G.

Gulley 29

The Lime Sulphur and Salt Mixture for the San Jose Scale 36

Cover Crops and Soil Conditions in Orchards. G. Harold Powell 38

Novel Methods in Apple Growing. Grant G. Hitchings 50

The Essential Points in Profitable Small Fruit Culture. A. G.

Sharp 70

Ornamental Planting about the Farm Home. F. W. Card 79

Injurious Insects. W. E. Britton 84

What have we Learned about Peach Growing and Selling in 1901 ?

T.N. Barnes loi

Plum Culture and further Planting of Plums. J. T. Molumphy

and G. S. Butler 107

The Prevention of Brown Rot of the Stone Fruits. F. C. Stewart 112
Cold Storage: Preparing and Storing the Fruit. Wm. H. Hart . . . 117
Some of our Common Fruit Diseases, with Special Reference to

the Brown Rot of Peaches and Plums. C. O. Townsend .... 133
What are the respective Advantages of close and wide-apart Orchard

Planting? George H. Hale 145

Domestic and Foreign Fruit Markets, and their Requirements.

Charles Foster 147

Election of Officers 165

How to Attain Success in Canning and Preserving Fruits. Ciiarles

E. Steele 167

Resolutions adopted 172

39254

IV CONTENTS.

PAGE

What are the Chief Factors in Producing Fruitfulness in Apple

Orchards? J. H. Merriman and E. M. Ives 175

Report of the Committee on Fruit Exhibit 182

Report of the Committee on Exhibits of Implements, etc . 183

Rei'Ort of Institutes, Exhikitioxs, Field Meetings, etc.

Institute at Whigville, March (5, 1901 187

Hamburg, March 15, 1901 191

Litchfield, March 19, 1901 198

Shelton, March 21, 1901 215

Institute with Cheshire Grange, March 27, 1901 . 221

Summer Field Meetings.

Strawberry Field Daj^ at Bristol, June 24, 1901 228

West Haven, Jul}' 30, 1901 230

Berlin, August 22, 1901 232

Fourth Annual Fruit Exhibition 235

List of Memkeks, 1902 241

Constitution and By-Laws of the Society.

CONSTITUTION.

Article I. — The name of this Association shall be The Connecticut

POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Article II. — Its object shall be the advancement of the science and
art of pomology, and the mutual improvement and business advantage
of its members.

Article III. — Any person may become a member of this Society by
paying into the treasury the sum of one dollar per annum. If the annual
fee remains unpaid for two years, the membership shall cease and the
name be taken from the roll.

Article IV. — Its officers shall consist of a President, First Vice-Presi-
dent, one Vice-President from each county in the State, a Secretary, and
a Treasurer, to be elected annually by ballot, to hold office for one year,
or until their successors are duly elected.

The President, First Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer shall
constitute the Executive Committee of the Society.

Article V. — The Society shall hold its annual meeting during the
month of February, the time and place to be decided by the Executive
Committee, at which time the annual election of officers shall be held,
various reports submitted and an exhibition and discussion of fruits
take place; also other necessary business be transacted. Other meetings
for special purposes may be arranged for and called by the Executive
Committee whenever it is deemed advisable. Printed notice of each
meeting to be sent to every member of the Society.

Article VI. — The following Standing Committees of three members
each, on the following subjects, shall be appointed by the President, to
hold during his term of office ; the appointments to be announced at
the annual meeting of the Society :

Business and Legislation, Fungous Diseases,

Membersliip, New Fniits,

Exhibitions, Markets and Transportation,

Injurious Insects, Two Auditors.

Article VII. — This Constitution may be amended by a vote of two-
thirds of the members present at any annual meeting.

2 THE CONNECTICUT FOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

weather conditions caused in some orchards a very httle of curl
leaf on the peach. Curl leaf of the peach is a disease with
which we in Connecticut are troubled but very little, but in
some sections it is very serious, requiring a spray of Bordeaux
in early spring to keep it in check.

There was a short, sharp drought in June followed by drench-
ing rains and humid air, continued well into the ripening season
of the peach. These conditions in the latter part of the season
worked havoc with the large peach crop by breeding monilia to
an alarming extent. For the successful ripening of the peach
we need a dry, clear air. This we usually have in September,
and hope we may have in future years, if there are any peaches
to harvest.

The productive powers of the peach are wonderful ; cold
winds, clouds or rain do not prevent pollination, only frost will
do it and this we seldom have after our fruit trees are ready
to blossom.

The peach crop of 1901 in Connecticut was a full one, and
much the largest of any yet produced. The N. Y. & N. H.
R. R. reported that they carried out of the State 162,760 baskets
and 3,678 crates of peaches ; allowing 250 baskets to a car this
would make 660 cars. As a matter of fact, many more cars
were used, as many small shipments were made using only the
bottom of the car. These, I suppose, were all shipped north
and east, and mainly to the large cities.

I am assured that another season it will be possible to ship
to New York City in train loads and have them arrive in time,
a thing which up to the present could not be done. In 'ship-
ping to the north and east we get quicker and more reliable ser-
vice than in former years ; the railroads showing a desire to aid
us where they can. I cannot but think that we ought to ship
in car lots to greater distances and to a greater number of points
than heretofore.

A full crop now in Connecticut means much more than it did
three or four years ago, and I hear of large plantings to be
made the coming spring, so we are likely to be put upon our
mettle in disposing of our crops.

The European market as an outlet for our peaches is in sight,
but is still untried. If season favors, probably some trial lots
will be sent over the coming summer.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 3

Labor Day, coming as it does on Monday just as we are well
started in our peach harvest, causes a bad break for us, making
three days in succession in which little or no fruit can be sold,
and on Labor Day of last year, and the year before, some of
the railroads would haul no fruit, making the situation extremely
hard and causing large losses.

I earnestly recommend that this Society take up this matter
and endeavor to obtain relief where needed, by getting the
railroads to haul our peaches on Labor Day the same as on
other days.

The interest in apple culture still continues ; commercial
orchards have been planted during the last five or six years and
more are planned for in the immediate future.

This is in sharp contrast to the preceding period of thirty or
forty years, during which very little planting was done.

The autumn exhibition of fruit held in New Britain at the
beginning of October, notwithstanding the unfavorable season,
was, as an exhibition, a pronounced success. Certain districts,
notably Bristol, New Britain and Middletown, were able to, and
did show, a large variety of apples every way worthy of the
Connecticut Pomological Society.

A good exhibit of grapes was shown, also a fine lot of peaches
from all parts of the State. This was the fourth of its kind,
and, as exhibits, all have been successful.

They have been helpful no doubt to those who have attended
and to the exhibitors themselves, but as an educator of the
general public they have not been a success, as the general public
does not attend.

Unless we can secure a better attendance I doubt the economy
of continuing them.

Our committee on fruit packages and transportation did good
service last year in advertising our orchards and bringing solici-
tors and buyers among us. I have no doubt this will continue
and will be a help to us, the want of which has long been felt.
The railroad men assure me that for our next crop we will have
solicitors and buyers from New York City as well as from
Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Our legislature last winter passed a law for the suppression
of insect pests and appropriated $3,000 annually to carry out
its provisions.

4 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

It is aimed particularly at the San Jose scale, which each
season keeps bobbing up in new localities, where its presence
has not been suspected before. It multiplies so rapidly that it
soon injures both tree and fruit, and its control has up to this
time been so difficult, that this provision by the State offering
assistance as it does, can only be a wise one. Take notice of
its provision and make use of its help.

It makes it the duty of the State Entomologist to visit and
inspect any grounds upon request, or any grounds which he has
reason to suspect are infested with serious pests. Prof. W. E.
Britton of the New Haven Experiment Station is the State
Entomologist, and he is thoroughly in sympathy with the work
of the Connecticut Pomological Society. Fellow members, this
new enemy, the San Jose scale, is one of the hardest to manage
of all our orchard problems. One of our members who has
been battling with it the longest, says : "Our plans for orchard
work in the future will have to be made over new and made
with reference to it."

I have not yet been confronted with it on my own grounds,
but my advice would be to any one finding a new colony, to use
vigorous measures to prevent its spread. I would rather fight
one colony than six, and six is what you will have (and perhaps
more) if you neglect it a little while. Spraying for insects and
disease seems just as important as ever.

The results are just as evident. The coming season is likely
to inherit from the last a bountiful supply of spores, of monilia,
and probably apple and peach scab and other fungi, the products
of a wet season. It behooves us to look well after these things,
and where we can do so, remove the cause of trouble.

We have a full program before us, perhaps too full, for I
believe in having a free interchange of thought and in asking
and answering questions, when opportunities come. Be ready
to express yourselves and to draw out information by questions.
The question box is also before you, and I trust will be utilized
freely.

The President : The next matter will be the report of the
Secretary.

Mr. President and Members of the Society:

The increasing interest in fruit culture that is manifest all
over our State : the number of acres devoted to and the capital

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 5

invested in fruit crops, which is increasing every year, and the
growing demand among consumers of fruit for the best in kind
and quahty — all these things are reflected in the growth and
importance of the organization representing this industry, now
recognized everywhere as the Connecticut Pomological Society.

Or to put it another way, and this is probably the correct one.
Through the efforts of this Society, beginning in 1891, in secur-
ing protection to the peach growers from "yellows," and con-
tinuing year by year in educating its members, in disseminating
useful information, in securing protecting legislation, in short, by
advancing the "science and art of pomology^" by every means at
its command — by all this effort the fruit-growing interests of
Connecticut have been largely developed and the people of the
State stimulated to a greater appreciation of fine fruits. But
whatever point of view you take, these two facts stand out — the
rapid development of fruit culture in our State and the steady
growth and prosperity of our Society.

The past year has been the most successful in the history of
the Society.

The interest of all our members has been held, more new
names added to the roll, our meetings have been better attended
and our efforts extended over a wider area.

The Menihcrship. From February i, 1901 to February i,
1902, we have received 94 new members; 4 have withdrawn
and 4 deceased ; total number of names on our list is now 398.
We have 368 members in good standing.

Although the gain for the year is encouraging, yet it is not
as large a showing numerically as I hoped we should be able
to make at this time.

The excellent work of our Committee on Alembership, headed
by Mr. Gilbert, has resulted in securing a list of over 900 names
of farmers and others interested in pomolog}' and should lead
to a rapid gain in numbers and influence.

Our plan has been to obtain a large mailing list of reliable
names in every town in the State and thus extend the circulation
of our programs and other publications.

This Society ought to have at least 500 members within the
next year, and we can accomplish this readily, if each member
will back up the work of our committee and take it upon him-
self to speak a good word for the Society at every hand.

6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

During the past year I have received from membership fees
and other sources $355. This has been turned over to the
Treasurer. I have drawn orders for the payment of bills to the
amount of $827.75, besides the distribution of $397.25 to win-
ners of premiums at our annual fruit exhibition.

The increase in our appropriation to $1,000 per year, granted
by the last General Assembly, was most gratifying to the Society.
The additional funds have been a substantial help in carrying
on the work of the organization. It has enabled us to secure
more talent for our meetings, to carry on institute work and to
issue creditable publications to our membership.

During the year a report of the Society's work in 1900 has
been prepared, and, with the proceedings of our last annual
meeting, published in the shape of a book of some 250 pages.

Meetings. Besides the tenth annual last February, the
Society held ten meetings during 1901. By invitation of the
Granges in different parts of the State, five institutes were held :
At Whigville on March 5; Hamburg, March 15; Litchfield,
March 19; Shelton, March 21, closing with Cheshire, ]\Iarch 27.
Every one of these was a success, both in point of attendance
and lively interest. No feature of our work brings the Society
into closer touch with the people and gives it the opportunity to
benefit so many as do these institutes, and the best reason I
can give for continuing them is to tell you that we now have on
file ten invitations for future institutes.

Three very enjoyable and profitable field meetings were held
last summer. June 24, by invitation of E. ^Manchester & Sons,,
the Society visited their fine dairy and fruit farm near Bristol ;
the occasion taking the form of a "Strawberry field day." July 30
our worthy President (Mr. Piatt) acted as host and welcomed
some 200 of our members at his West Haven peach orchards.
A shore dinner at Vi''averly Grove was also a feature of that day.
The largest field day of the season was on /\ugust 22 at the
Connecticut Valley Orchard Co.'s farms in Berlin. This was
a very interesting event for all who attended, the inspection of
the extensive orchards and Manager's Molumphy's hospitality
combining to make a pleasant and profitable meeting.

Preparations were begun early for the fourth annual fruit
exhibition, and the event took place in New Britain, October
1-2. The exhibition was a splendid one, fully up to the stand-

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 7

ard of previous years. Fifty-three members contributed exhibits
and the awards amounted to $397.25. An excellent speaker was
provided, but unfortunately the attendance was far below what
such an event should call out.

It is becoming a serious question with your officers as to
w^hether these fall exhibits really pay. The last one cost the
Societv about $148 outside of the premiums paid. Was it worth
what it cost ? Educationally, yes ! but otherwise probably not.
Some different plan must be considered if we are to continue
these exhibitions in the future.

Lastly the recent institute with ]\Iiddlebury Grange, January
29, rounded out a year of activity and usefulness.

The Society has not undertaken any new lines of work the
past year, except to gather data for a fruit crop report, which
led to our publishing a forecast of the apple yield for 1901.
Both this and the work of the Markets and Transportation
Committee in trying to bring about a better and more profitable
distribution of the peach crop, are certainly steps in the right
direction and if begun earlier in the season would result in a
big financial help to our members. I would suggest that this
Society follow the example of fruit growers' associations in
other states and pay more attention to helping its members in
a business way. If the fact that we, as fruit growers, are
organized and mutuall}- bound together, gives us any power,
then why not make use of that power in marketing our products,
in treating with transportation companies and in purchasing
needed supplies?

Let us realize the advantages our organization gives us and
utilize them to their fullest extent in advancing our business
interests.

Another suggestion in conclusion, and that is that our county
vice-presidents be asked to visit noteworthy orchards and fruit
farms in their respective sections of the State, and report to
the Society such facts in relation to culture and management
as may be of general interest.

This has been a year of activity in the Secretary's office, and
the correspondence has grown month by month. The number
of inquiries received from other states (and even foreign coun-
tries) would indicate that Connecticut pomology excites the
interest of a wide circle. We have sent out upwards of 5.000

8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

programs, circular letters and other literature, with the result
that our name and fame is widespread.

With sincere thanks to the Society and to all who have so
kindly assisted me in the work, this report is
Respectfully submitted,

H. C. C. Miles, Secretary.

The President : I will call the attention of those who have
come in to the exhibits of fruits that we have on the tables at
the rear of the hall. They certainly look quite nice. I have
not looked them over carefully yet, but I think you will find
among them some new apples which we are all watching with
interest. We shall all be interested in looking these over when
we have leisure.

We will now ask the Treasurer for his report.

Treasurer Moore then read an itemized account of the receipts
and expenditures for the past year, of which the following is
a brief summary:

Report of Treasurer.

1901. Received.

Feb. I. Cash on hand $152.23

From State of Conn 818.5 1

Members' fees 356.00

Other sources 3.25

$1,329.99
1 90 1. Paid.

Feb. I. Premiums $397-25

Speakers and Expenses 211.93

Printing 322.5 r

Salary and Ex. Sec. office 167.86

Rent of halls 81.00

Miscellaneous expenses 4445

1902.

Feb. I. Cash on hand 104.99

$1,329.99
R. A. Moore, Treasurer.

We have examined the foregoing account of the Treasurer and the
vouchers thereof and find it correct.

A. C. Sternberg, 1 ^ ,-.
„ T^ e r Auditors.

H. E. S.WAGE, f

Hartford, Conn., Feb. 4, 1902.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 9

The President : The by-laws provide that the President
shall appoint annually two auditors to audit the accounts of the
Secretary and Treasurer, and I will appoint at this time for that
work, Mr. A. C. Sternberg of West Hartford, and Mr. H. E.
Savage of Berlin. They will please audit these accounts and
report later.

Are there any inquiries you would like to make of the Treas-
urer? If not that finishes the reports of the elected officers,
and the reports of the committees will now be in order. The
first is the report of the Legislative Committee : Mr. A. R.
Wadsworth of Farmington.

Mr. Wadsworth: Mr. President, Ladies and Gcntleuien:
I would say, as most of you know, that we got through at the
last session of the Legislature an increase in our appropriation
from the State of $500, which makes the income of the Society,
at the present time, from that source, $1,000. We also
secured, Mr. President, for the suppression of the San Jose
scale, and the other insect pests of the State an appropriation
of $3,000, which has been turned over to the Experiment Station
at New Haven, and the w'ork is now under the charge of Prof.
Britton. You will remember that we had quite an argument
whether that should be placed with the Agricultural College at
Storrs, or with the Experiment Station at New Haven, but it
w^as found that they were not prepared at Storrs at that time,
and in such a condition that they could carry on the work to as
good advantage to the fruit growers of the State as they were
at the Experiment Station at New Haven, and so it was placed
with the Station at New Haven. We believe that the passage
of that bill will result in a great deal of good to the public,
and especially to the fruit growers of the State.

The President : According to that report there has been
considerable done for our benefit during the last year. These
two appropriations, — one of money appropriated for the
Society's use, and the other the appropriation for the suppres-
sion of insect pests like the San Jose scale, and others — that
was a very important matter to us. We shall have more to say
about that later on in the proceedings.

The next report in order is that of the Committee on Mem-
bership.

Mr. Orrin Gilbert: Mr. President, when my predecessor

lo THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

handed over the office to me, he said that he beheved that we
already had nearly all the fruit growers in the State as members
of this Association that could be gotten in. I hardly thought
that was the case, and I thought we must look over new fields
if we were to add to our membership, and after spending a
good deal of time one way and another trying to find out how
to add to our list, I finally decided that I would mail a request
to every member of the Society asking him to be so kind as to
forward the names of his neighbors, and those of his friends
all over the State, who were interested in fruit growing, but
more particularly those in his immediate neighborhood. I think
we sent out about three hundred and fifty of such appeals, but
I think I have received replies from about a hundred only, but
from those we have succeeded in getting pretty close to a
thousand new names, and the Secretary promised, so far as
possible, to send to them a program of this annual meeting. I
think he has sent out seven hundred and fifty odd. It seemed
to me that in this way we ought to interest a good many new
friends, and increase our membership largely. I think it has
had a good effect, and I am glad to see so many new faces
here, and I hope they will all be inclined to join the Society
before they leave for home.

The President : We will be glad to have as many more new
members as we can get to-day, and you can see Brother Gilbert
or the Secretary. Either of them will be ready to make you
a member of the Connecticut Pomological Society. Brother
Gilbert has devoted a good deal of time and thought in an effort
to bring the Society to the attention of new people, and there
ought to be a good number added to our membership as the
outcome of it. Besides having a good attendance here, we
ought also to add a lot of new members to-day, and new mem-
bers in the future from it.

Mr. Gilbert : I would be glad to receive returns from those
who have not already written me. Letters are coming in every
day with new names, and I think if you will all take hold and
help out in this matter we can get nearly all the names of those
in the State who are interested in growing good fruit. There
must be ten or fifteen thousand people in the 3tate who have
land from which they are or ought to be growing fruit, and
who would be benefited by membership in our Societv. If we

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. u

all take hold of this work a large part of them, I believe, can
be brought into the Society.

Mr. J. H. Hale : Mr. President, I do not like to see these
valuable reports come in to us without their receiving a word
of recognition. Now I know from personal experience that
the work that Mr. Gilbert, as a committee, has done to add to
the membership of this Society during the last few months has
been a most valuable aid to our work. He has done some
remarkably good work. He has advertised our Society to
people throughout the State that have not been reached before,
and he comes in here, and tells in his modest way of what he
has done, and we simply pass it. We ought to do something
more than that. The worthy chairman of our Legislative
Committee, through his interest in this Society, and because
he was in a position last winter in the Legislature to do so,
got through some legislation which is going to be of the very
greatest benefit to us. He was able to secure for us not only
an additional appropriation to expend in the work of this
Society, but further than that, the San Jose scale law was passed,
which carried with it an appropriation of $3,000, — all of which
was not only in the interest of this Society, but in the interest
of the whole State, and it was done at the instance of this
Society, and by men representing this Society. I move you,
Mr. President, that we accept both of these reports, with thanks,
for the good work that these committees have done.

Secretary Miles : I wish to say a word in behalf of Mr.
Gilbert. He has not only done a great deal which will be for
the benefit of our Society, but we have not received any bill
for the work which Mr. Gilbert has put in on this effort to
increase the Society's membership. I understand that Mr.
Gilbert intends that his pocketbook shall bear it all. I think
we should adopt this motion by a rising vote.

Motion seconded and passed.

The President : Now we are ready for Mr. Butler, Chair-
man of the Committee on Exhibitions.

Mr. G. S. Butler: Mr. President, our annual exhibit at
New Britain in October was probably the largest exhibit of
good fruit ever gotten together in Connecticut. Your Treas-
urer has drawn checks for about $400 to pay tlie prizes awarded
at that exhibition. I have been asked if the exhibition paid?

12 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Paid whom? The exhibitors, the Secretary, the Treasurer,
the Committee, or the lookers on? Although, personally, my
check was not very large, I believe the exhibitors received a
fair return for their services rendered. Officers and committees
always work for love, and the measure of their profit is whether
they can still maintain friendly relations with the recipients of
their gratuitous services. On this basis I believe the second
class in pomology found the meeting profitable, and now if the
third class, who are principally ourselves, learned to respect,
honor, love and help one another more, there can be no question
but the exhibit which drew us together in friendly competition
and intercourse was of lasting benefit and profit. The exhibi-
tion was the largest we have ever held, and the class of exhibits
very creditable, all things being considered, although not an
improvement on those shown in 1900. As conditions were
much less favorable, an improvement could hardly have been
expected.

The prizes were all awarded to citizens of the interior coun-
ties, with the single exception of C. I. Allen, who possibly
carried off honors enough for the whole four border counties.

We hope these exhibits will be continued, that the competition
will be closer and larger, and the exhibits even more profitable
to all interested.

The President: What will you do with this report? Will
you act upon it now?

Motion made and seconded that the report be accepted.

Passed.

Now if there is nothing more about this report of Air. Butler's
we will call on Mr. Hale to report as Chairman of the Com-
mittee on "Markets and Transportation."

Mr. J. H. Hale: Mr. Chairman, and Ladies and Gentlemen:
Your Committee on Markets and Transportation has never
seen any very important work to do until this last season's
large peach crop throughout the State convinced us that per-
haps we might do something to see if the crop could not be
handled more readily. I thought something ought to be done,
especially as a large number of the growers were handling
a crop for the first time. To do good work in this line it was
necessary to ascertain as nearly as possible the volume of the
crop, and so, early in August, I wrote a personal letter to a

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 13

hundred and thirty-two of our members, and others who own
peach orchards in our State, asking them to send me an esti-
mate of the size of their crop, and also to send me the name
of any of their friends and neighbors who might have a crop,
and for an estimate of that. I sent out those letters and asked
for a prompt reply. I received replies to about 62 per cent.
Some came in later. It is of no use, if you are doing business
in the fruit line, unless you are prompt. About 62 per cent,
replied promptly. The others took longer. Some of them took
two or three weeks. They might just as well have not replied
at all. But there were only about 62 per cent of the replies
which were of any value, and the estimates from those showed
that there were a little less than one million baskets of peaches
on the trees in the State at that time. The estimates from
the other replies which came in later showed that that figure
would have been increased two or three hundred thousand
baskets. After I got an estimate of the size of the crop which
was tO' be moved to market, I went at once to see the officers
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co. and
received very cotirteous treatment, and they offered to do all
in their power to handle this crop, but they told me that with
the exception of two growers (and then I think it was the 8th
or loth of August) no one had notified them that they should
want any cars to transport the crop in. They had made no
special arrangements to ship anything ovit of the State, and
yet there was a million baskets of peaches which were liable
to be thrown into the market and for which transportation
would be demanded within a short time. They were glad
to get this information, and they at once took the matter up
with the stations at different points, and the whole thing was
taken up, and the best done that could be vmder the circum-
stances.

Then after I had gotten this information in hand I compiled
it and sent it to the fruit trade journals of New York, to the
Commercial Bulletin, and to the fruit trade papers of Boston,
and also to the leading papers of our own State, and to the
agricultural papers circulating in this territory, and also with
the papers forming the Associated Press, so that news of the
condition of the crop throughout Connecticut was promptly
distributed throughout the country. It resulted in bringing

14 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

into this State a large number of commission men from various
cities, and it brought also a number of buyers into the State
who purchased quite an amount of the crop ; but the lack of
proper transportation facilities, of refrigerator cars, prevented
buyers from a distance from handling as much of the crop
as they otherwise would have done. I know of buyers from
Central New York who came here, and in one instance a
buyer from Ohio, and one from Philadelphia, but, as I said
before, the lack of any provision for refrigerator cars prevented
those men from buying the fruit because they did not feel that
it could be safely marketed. And further than that, the lack
of transportation in connection with the Xew York market
was such that the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
could not give us any direct service within twenty-four
hours, or at least deliver the fruit the next morning after it
was picked, and this prevented much if any of the fruit going
to that market. There was a little of it that was sent by
express, and some of it went into the New York market by
steamers, but the bulk of the crop had to go to commission
men in Providence, Boston, Worcester and Springfield, and a
few smaller outlying towns in New England. As the result
of this lack of preparation the market in Hartford, Conn.,
Springfield, Mass. and Providence. R. I. was overloaded
throughout the whole season, and the fruit sold there from
25 to 50 per cent, less than it did in other markets because
those markets were overloaded.

That is about all I have to say, and I think that covers the
situation. Another season I think the situation will be decidedly
different. The volume of business in Connecticut was such as
to have attracted the attention of the refrigerator car line
people, and the next season, if there is any fruit crop here, both
of the large refrigerator car lines of the country will be pre-
pared with a stock of ice in the State, and with cars enough to
handle the business, and there will be a chance for wider dis-
tribution to better markets, and with the consequent better
prices to the growers. Our New Haven railroad will also plan
to take our fruit, and get it into the New York market. Not
to lay it down there the next morning, but to get it there by
midnight. It must be there by midnight so as to be ready early
for distribution the following morning. I can assure you that

ELEl'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 15

this railroad, which has, practically, a monopoly of the business
in our State, is, through its present freight department, in full
sympathy with our desire to move the crop where we can get
the best market, as the leading manager has told me that they
wanted to do ever\^thing they could to serve the growers in a
reasonable business way, and the only reason why there was a
lack of cars, and a lack of the necessary facilities to move the
crop promptly and handily last season, was because they did
not know what was coming. None of us had notified them of
the situation up to the time I went to see them.

The total expense, or of money paid out for this work, was
$6.64.

]\Ir. Wadsworth : Mr. President, I move you that the
report of the Committee be printed in our proceedings, and that
it be accepted on our part with our thanks.

The President : You have heard the motion of IMr. Wads-
worth that this report of the Committee on Markets and Trans-
portation be printed in our report, and the thanks of this Society
tendered to the Chairman of it.

Prof. Britton : I move to amend that, Mr. Chairman, so as
to include the report of the Committee on Exhibitions.

Mr. Wadsworth : I will be very glad to accept that amend-
ment. Mr. Chairman, and I would like to further amend it
myself by saying that the Committee be continued. I refer to
the Committee on Alarkets and Transportation.

The President : Then as I understand it, the motion is to
accept the reports of both Committees with the thanks of the
Society, and that the Committee on ^Markets and Transportation
be continued.

Motion seconded and passed.

Mr. Wadsworth : My object in making this motion to have
this report printed in our report is because I believe it will show,
not only to our own members that we have such a committee
at work for our mutual interests, such as caring for our surplus
products, and finding an opening for them in the markets, but
those who are not members, understanding this, it seems to me,
will be glad to come in where they can have the privilege and
the benefit of this work. I think the fact that we have a com-
mittee working on such a line as that, and that the Committee
is doing work which is of such obvious benefit to us all, if that is

1 6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

printed in our report it will tend to increase our membership.
It is mutual interest that we are working for. That is what we
are here for, and it is just such work as that which will tend
to make the Society a success.

The President : The next in order is the report of the
Committee on "New Fruits." Mr. F. L. Perry of Bridgeport,
Chairman.

Mr. Perry: Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen: In
response to the call of our Secretary, Mr. Miles, I have prepared
this short report for the Committee on "New Fruits." I shall
call your attention to, and try to speak of, just what I know
about myself. When you stop and think of how many there are,
you will see that I cannot do more.

New fruits, and the facts concerning their value as adapted
for our climate and soil, is the subject open for discussion. If
we happily find in our experiments one new variety that gives
promise of satisfactory, paying results, we are well paid for
whatever time or expense we may have been to, aside from the
pleasure we have derived in this exceedingly interesting and
fascinating employment.

My personal experience during the last three years has been
principally with new plum creations. A hobby, maybe, but
at the same time stimulated by the larger money value derived
per acre from this fruit, and in less time, than from any other
variety of fruit-bearing trees I have grown. We all know the
"Abundance," "Burbank," "Red June," "Satsuma," and
"Chabot" as market values. Have we anything better? I have
invested in the last few years, $3, $5 and $10 per foot for graft-
ing wood of Burbank's new creations, cross-bred. Oriental and
American varieties of plums.

The "America" is a cross between the "Abundance" and
"Robinson." A healthy grower, and very hardy. It has not
fruited yet with me. It is represented as a glossy, coral-red,
flesh yellow, and very delicious, but as it is from the same family
as "Gold," and "Juicy," I cannot put much faith in it.

The "Apple Plum" comes next in alphabetical order. This
is a strong grower, inclined to be flat-headed like the "Bur-
bank," and equally productive. It is larger, however, and not
so liable to rot before it is ripe. It falls as soon as ripe. A
fairly good keeper, and is a little later than the "Burbank."

ELEJ'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i?

Color, a mottled brownish red, flesh pink and high flavored,
firm, and desirable.

"Climax." This has been pronounced the King of Plums. It is
as large as "Wickson," and more highly colored, and sometimes
measures 6^ by 75^ inches. The fruit is heart-shaped, color,
Vermillion red, flesh yellow, sweet, and delicious. It ripens
with the Red June. It is the largest early plum known. The
pit is large, but separates easily from the flesh. It is a good
grower, and the form of trees is like the peach. I planted two
hundred in my orchard last spring, and they show many fruit
buds. Hundreds of acres are being grafted to this variety, as
it gives promise of being a valuable market acquisition. The
few that came to New York last year brought $9 per bushel.

"Chalco." This is a tomato-shaped plum, and is taken for a
tomato at first glance. The fruit is large, brownish red, and the
flesh yellow, rich and melting when ripe. It is a good keeper,
an upright grower, and hardy.

"Sultan." This is a cross between the Satsuma and Wickson.
A good grower, early, and fruits abundantly, the previous year's
growth of wood being loaded with fruit to the extreme ends. It
is free from rot, ripens before Burbank, falls like apples when
ripe. The flavor is sub-acid, and delicious. I have a hundred
set for fruiting.

"Shiro." This is the strongest grower of the lot. I had but
one plum of this variety this year, and that was grown in the
shade. It was very good. It was egg-shaped, a bright yellow
transparent fruit. It is very transparent. The seed can be
seen through the flesh.

This includes the few of the newest introductions that I have
fruited. I am, however, anxiously waiting to see the fruit of
the "Bartlett," the "Gonzales," and many other varieties of
newer plums.

Of the new strawberries, I am testing the highest extolled
new varieties besides my own new seedlings : these latter are
pronounced by our largest fruit dealers the most delicious they
have ever eaten. In shape they are conical, wedge-shaped, some
have pink flesh, and some are a dark crimson. The largest
fruit has brought me 18 and 20 cents per quart the past two
seasons. One variety the past season produced at the rate of
14,000 quarts per acre, and without any special Sttention.
2

i8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Another, one hundred berries on a plant set the September
previous.

Of blackberries, Rathbun and Texas easily surpass anything
I have heretofore grown, in flavor and size.

The President : I want to introduce to you, at this point.
Mr. Berry of the Hartford Cold Storage Co.

Mr. Berry: I have been instructed by the Superintendent of
the Hartford Cold Storage plant to extend a cordial invitation
to the members of this Society to visit our cold storage plant
on Windsor street in this city. If you will come and see us we
will show you the most modern and up-to-date cold storage
plant located in Hartford, or in Connecticut. We should be
pleased to have you come out at any time during yovir con-
vention.

The President : I understand that the Auditors appointed
to examine the accounts of the Secretary and Treasurer are
ready to report.

Mr. Sternberg : Our report is a very short one. W^e have
examined the accounts of the Treasurer, and the vouchers there-
for, and we find them all correct. This report is signed by
both of the auditors appointed by you, Mr. President.

The President : You hear the report of the Auditors, what
is your pleasure to do with it?

Mr. Wadsworth : I move it be accepted, and the reports of
the Secretary and Treasurer accepted as approved.

Motion seconded and passed.

Mr. Sternberg: I wish to offer a suggestion that after this
the President appoint the auditors a year in advance, so that
the report, or the accounts of the Treasurer, may be audited
before his report is presented to the meeting. I think that is
the proper way to audit accounts of this character.

A Member: Mr. President, I make that as a motion.

The President : I also think that is the proper way. I was
a little bit surprised to find that it had not been the custom
heretofore. I think it is the right way to do, and I would be
glad to fall in with it.

A Member : There is perhaps liable to be a little difficulty on

Note. — The above invitation was accepted by vote of the Society, and
during the Convention many members availed themselves of the privi-
lege extended to visit the plant.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 19

account of the new incoming President. ]^Iight it not be well
to amend that by authorizing the President of the previous year
to appoint these auditors?

The President : Whoever comes in as President has to
appoint a number of committees, and this might go with it if it
is so understood. I think it can be managed that way.

Motion seconded and passed.

The President : It will be the proper thing to appoint the
auditors hereafter with the other standing committees that are
for the year.

The next report for us to hear is from the Committee on
Injurious Insects. It will be by Prof. W. E. Britton of New
Haven.

Report of the Committee on Injurious Insects.

It is expected that in a report of this kind the presence or
absence of certain injurious species of insects will be noted. If
the report covered the whole State, its value would be apparent,
but the present report is based upon the observation of this
Committee in a few localities and upon facts gleaned from corre-
spondence with fruit growers in different sections of the State.

Pear Psylla. The pear psylla {Psylla pyricola, Forst.), which
has been so abundant for three or four years, was much less
abundant during the season. Expecting another serious attack
in the summer of 1901, all pear trees at the Station were sprayed
with the kerosene and water mixture (containing 15 per cent,
of kerosene) on June 4th. No injury to the trees resulted from
making the application on a fair day, but as the insects were not
abundant in that vicinity the exact effect upon them could not
be determined.

San Jose Scale-Insect. The San Jose scale-insect {Aspidio-
tus perniciosns, Comst.) is still the most important insect pest
of the orchard, and it has increased with great rapidity during
the past season. Experiments conducted by the writer in
cooperation with some of the members of this Society, indicate
that the scale may be held in check by spraying with either
crude oil (having a specific gravity of not less than 43 degrees,
Beaume.) or with kerosene and water, the mixture containing
20 per cent, of kerosene, applied just before the leaves appear
in spring. Fifteen per cent, of kerosene mixed with water was
used on peach and plum trees in foliage with no appreciable

20 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

injury to the trees, and was in some cases quite effective in
holding the pest in check. It remains to be determined whether
or not the continued use of these oils upon the same trees may
not result injuriously, even though a single application causes
no apparent injury.

We are certain that the annual inspection of all nurseries in
the State will be a substantial check upon the further distribu-
tion of the pest upon nursery stock, though we cannot expect
that the danger from this source will be entirely eliminated by
anv system of inspection, however thorough, or any form of
legislation however stringent. Most nurserymen are now pro-
vided with facilities for fumigating their nursery stock, and we
strongly advise the members of this Society to demand that the
trees which they may purchase from any nursery be properly
fumigated before being shipped to them.

Fall Web-Worm. The season has been remarkable for the
great abundance of the Fall Web-Worm (Hyphantria ciinea,
Drury.) during the summer and fall. Nearly all kinds of fruit
and forest trees were attacked and stripped of foliage, and the
injury extended all over this State and into other states. There
are two broods each year, the first usually doing little damage,
but the second brood of caterpillars begin their destructive work
in August, and frequently cause much damage. They form
little nests at the ends of the branches by drawing their silken
webs around a few leaves, and inside, the young caterpillars
feed, eating only the green portion of the leaf at first, but as
they become partially grown they are able to devour the whole
leaf except the mid-vein. The past season many large trees
were entirely defoliated, and the nests are now to be seen on
the trees of forest and roadside as we drive through the country
or ride over the railroads. In the orchard, of course, injury
will be prevented if the foliage is kept poisoned until late in the
season. It is very easy, however, to remove the nests when
first formed, as they are always at the ends of the branches,
and may be cut off with a tree pruner and destroyed.

Hornets Injuring Fruit. During September, specimens of a
large reddish-colored hornet were received at the Station, with
the story that this species was responsible for considerable dam-
age to ripening fruit by rupturing the skin and eating the juice
and flesh. In the vicinity of New Haven, pears, especially,
were injured, and the insect had not been observed in previous

ELEVENTH ANXUAL MEETIXG. 21

seasons. Later the same kind of hornet was found on fallen
fruit at the Station, and it proved to be the giant hornet of
England and Europe (Vespa crahro, L.). It was accidentally
introduced into this country many years ago, and established
itself near New York. It has since multiplied slowly and
has not spread very far from the spot where it was first dis-
covered, but has been seen occasionally on Long Island and in
New Jersey.

Fruit Injured by the Bumble Flozcer Beetle. Peaches and
plums suffered some slight injury by the Bumble flower beetle
(Euphoria inda, L.), which attacks the largest and ripest speci-
mens of fruit and eats holes in them.

Snoivy Tree Cricket. The snowy tree cricket {Qicanthus
nivens, DeG.) has been rather abundant in some portions of
the State. It injures raspberry and blackberry plants by
depositing eggs in the canes, which usually break off at the
incision. Young peach trees in nursery rows are also attacked,
and twigs containing eggs were quite common in some nurseries
during the fall. It will probably not become serious, but these
twigs should be gathered and burned.

Yellow-Necked Caterpillar. Many trees including fruit trees
were defoliated in September by colonies of yellow and black
striped caterpillars. These caterpillars have the curious habit
of elevating both head and tail when disturbed. The adult
insect is a moth (Dataiia minis tra, Drury.), and the larva is
called the yellow-necked caterpillar. On account of the gre-
garious habits of this insect it can be best combated by gather-
ing the caterpillars when they occur and destroying them.
Paris green on the foliage will forestall any injury.

Red-Httmped Caterpillar. The red-humped caterpillar
{CEdemasia concinna, S. & A.) was fairly common on apple
trees and allied plants during late summer and early autumn.
This caterpillar has a peculiar appearance with tail elevated
and a red hump on the back of the body near the head. The
color of the head is also red, and the body is marked longi-
tudinally with yellow, black and white lines. The remedy is
the same as for all leaf-eating insects.

Hag-Moth Caterpillar. An occasional enemy of fruit trees
was rather common in August and September, devouring the
foliage of the pear trees. The caterpillar is a very curious one,
and would scarcely be taken for a caterpillar at all. It belongs

2 2 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

to a group of moths whose larvae have no feet and are called
slug-caterpillars. It is brown in color, and has curious irregu-
lar projections, usually eight in number, four on each side of the
body. The adult is a small, brown moth, with narrow wings.
The scientific name is Phohetron pithccinm, S. & A., and it will
probably never be sufficiently abundant to cause serious injury.

Paris-green and hand-picking are the remedies.

Saddle-Back CaierpiUar. Another slug-caterpillar, closely
related to the hag-moth, feeds upon the leaves of fruit trees.
I refer to the saddle-back caterpillar {Einprctia stimulea, Clem.)^
Avhich is so striking in appearance that one cannot fail to
recognize it. The caterpillar has a brown body with tufts of
spines along the sides. Two appendages at each end of the
body also bear spines. The central portion of the body looks
as if covered with a blanket of bright green color. There is
a circular brown spot edged with white on the back. The
spines are somewhat poisonous, or at least irritating to the
touch. The adult insect is a small brown moth. Hand-pick-
ing and spraying with poisons are the remedies.

In conclusion, I desire to thank the members of this Society
for many specimens of injurious insects and notes regarding
them. With the increased activity of the Society, its large
membership, and liberal appropriation from the State for its
work, it would seem that the subject might receive even more
attention from the members, and that much benefit might be
derived from a careful insect survey of the whole State, with
especial reference to those species attacking fruit plants. The
last General Assembly, as you know, passed a law giving the
State Experiment Station an appropriation for insect work.
This work is now organized, and every possible assistance in
the way of information and advice will be given to yoii all if
you apply for it, and a personal examination of the orchard,
garden or field will be made without cost to the owner, when-
ever the occasion seems to warrant it. Investigations and
experiments are now in progress and will be continued to
obtain more definite information regarding certain injurious
species and the best methods of combating them.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

W. E. Britton. State Entomologist.
Chairman of Committee on Injurious Insects.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 23

The President : Does anyone wish to question Prof. Britton
about insects at this time? Or Mr. Perry about new fruits?
They have both reported to you.

Mr. Liegey : I want to ask Prof. Britton one question. I
had a letter from my brother, who is abroad, and he writes me
that thev say over there that the phylloxera was brought from
the American plant. I would ask Prof. Britton to tell us about
that ?

Prof. Britton : The phylloxera has been with us for a great
many years. It is true it is an American insect, but it does
not afifect our native fruit very much. There is one form of
it that lives upon the leaves, and causes little galls to form,
in which they live, and there is another form that lives upon
the roots of the grape vine, and causes galls upon the roots.
During the early part of the nineteenth century the attempt
was made to grow the European grapes in this country, but
the attempt failed, principally on account of the attacks of
this insect, and it was not until our American grape-growing
was based upon our native varieties that it made any progress.
In California they grew the European species of grape, but the
phylloxera has not been present there. I hear, however, that it
has been taken to California, so that we may expect that it will
cause some trouble. It was imported into Europe on grape
cuttings, or plants sent over from America, and has done a
great deal of damage in the large vineyards of Europe. In
some cases where the vineyards have been so situated that they
could be flooded for a portion of the year, these insects, when on
the roots, have been drowned out. In other cases carbon bisul-
phite put on the ground around the vine has been a useful
remedy. That has been only a partial success, however, for
the roots of the grapevine run so far down that it is impossible
for the gas to go through the soil and kill all the insects. The
best remedy which they have, however, is to use American roots.
If they graft the European varieties upon American roots, that
will help matters a good deal. They are so hard and tough
and the insect cannot injure them very seriously. That is being
practiced in some portions of Europe at present.

Anything in the way of tobacco water is helpful. It is a
good idea, in case you find you have it, to put light tobacco dust
around them. That will have a tendency to keep them away.

24 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Liegey : I had some vines, and some of them were killed
by the phylloxera. When I noticed them some of the heads
were hanging down about an inch, and the next morning they
were all down. I don't know how it got into my vines, but I
think the insect must have been in the plants when set. A
good many of my vines died just that way. Can the insects
come in the plant?

Prof. Brittox : The insect was probably present in your
vineyard on some of the other vines. As I understand you,
this was the European species of vine that it attacked?

Mr. Liegey: Yes.

Prof. Britton : I thought so, and I doubt if you will ever
be able to grow the European species on account of the insect.
You will be able to grow the vine by a great deal of care and
trouble, but not to any great extent.

The President : Have you heard or seen anything of the
Gypsy Moth in our State.

Prof. Britton : I do not know that it has ever occurred in
Connecticut, although there have been reports several times to
that effect. Upon investigation, however, it turned out that
they were false alarms. There is a colony of them in Rhode
Island not far from Providence, and we may expect at any time
that they will be brought into Connecticut.

The President : I suppose you and your assistants are pre-
pared to smother them as soon as they make their appearance?

Prof. Britton : As soon as we know about it ; yes, sir.

The President: The matter of Pan-x\merican exhibits, of
course, has taken up a great deal of our attention, but as this
is the first meeting we have had since the Buffalo Exposition
closed, I think you will be interested to hear something about
the exhibits of fruit which Connecticut made there. • Prof.
Gulley is here.

The Secretary : Mr. President, I think Mr. Putnam is here,
Chairman of the Committee on Fungous Diseases.

The President : Then we will take that up first, as it comes
in the regular order on the program.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 25

Report of the Committee on Fung:ous Diseases.

By Mr. J. H. Putnavi of Litchfield.

Mr. President: The work of your Committee on Fungous
Diseases has not been very rduous during the past year, as there
have been few inquiries or reports. In the following report I
am much indebted to Mr. Plant and Mr. Butler for notes con-
cerning the prevalence of diseases in their localities, and the
results of treatment.

The apple rust and scab have been prevalent during the
past season, and Mr. Butler reports the canker serious in some
places. Owing to the light apple crop many growers neg-
lected to spray as usual, and the very wet spring interfered
with the operation and made what was done less effective.
This gave worms and scab a glorious opportunity, and they
improved it.

Mr. Plant reports that his crop of apples from an orchard
that has been regularly sprayed for a number of years, while
small, was very free from scab and bitter rot.

The apple canker has only recently been thoroughly investi-
gated. It is caused by a fungous germ entering the bark where
some injury, as a sun-scald or abrasion, has occurred. The
same germ produces a twig blight, and black rot of the fruits.
The New York Station advises a wash made of lime 30 lbs.,
tallow 4 lbs., salt 5 lbs., and water enough to spray easily.
This should be applied to the branches and trunk to prevent
sun-scald, and also spray with the Bordeaux mixture, and cut
away the diseased parts. The Delaware Station recommends
painting the limbs and trunks with Bordeaux thickened with
lime like whitewash.

Mr. Plant reports that his pears were free from leaf-blight
and scab, and that he has, by ten years of systematic spraying,
totally eradicated them from his orchard, while they are very
prevalent in orchards adjoining.

This leaf-blight must not be confused with the pear-blight.
The leaf-blight, which also affects the fruit, the leaf-spot and
the scab, can all be controlled by the use of Bordeaux. The
pear-blight, however, can only be eradicated by the use of the
saw and culture, avoiding a very rapid, succulent growth.

26 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

I believe that Prof. Townsend, who will address you later, has
experimented with a lime and sulphur treatment, and may be
able to give us something new on this subject.

]\Ionillia, or the brown-rot of the stone fruits, has been
unusually severe the past year, and Avas undoubtedly the most
damaging of the plant diseases. Mr. Plant reports the disease
more severe near the coast than in inland orchards, and no
experiments with spraying in his locality. Mr. Butler reports
it very bad on the fruit, but that it affected the trees less than
in 1900. As there will be two papers at this meeting treating
this subject I will not go into details. (By selection of certain
varieties this trouble can be somewhat overcome by commer-
cial growers, but it is aggravating to the amateur. avIio must
give up his most cherished varieties, particularly of the
European plums.) ^My limited experience leads me to believe
that dilute Bordeaux, — 2 lbs. copper sulphate, 2 lbs. lime, and
50 gallons of water. — can be used ordinarily without injury
to the foliage of the peach and Japan plum, and that copper
sulphate two ounces, or even four ounces, to fifty gallons of
water can also be applied frequently with profit.

This treatment will control the scab too, and assist in con-
trolling the leaf-curl, which can also be held practically in
check by a thorough spraying with strong Bordeaux just as
the buds are swelling.

Mr. Plant reports the peach leaf-curl doing much damage
particularly to the Elberta, and the yellows also very trouble-
some in some localities.

There is no longer any dovibt but that the black-knot can
be controlled on European plums by Bordeaux supplemented
by cutting and burning the knots. Mr. Butler reports an
outbreak of the disease on the Satsuma variety of Japan plum.
It may be an entirely different matter to control the knot, if
the Japan variety are to be generally subject, as we cannot use
full strength Bordeaux.

The black rot of the grape was very prevalent the past sea-
son. Selection of variety is a great help, certain varieties
being much less subject to it, as a rule, than the hybrids, but
here again, some of the best varieties in quality are the worst
affected. I have had good success with the Brighton by bag-
ging after thorough spraying, but this is hardly practical on

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 27

a commercial scale. ]\[r. Plant reports the black rot prevalent
even where the vines were sprayed, and suggests washing the
vines in the spring with a solution of copper sulphate in addi-
tion to regular spraying. Usually a thorough use of Bordeaux
will control it, supplemented in bad seasons with the weak
solution of copper sulphate, — three ounces to fifty gallons of
water.

Anthracnose and mildew are controlled by the same appli-
cation.

Anthracnose is reported as prevalent on the black rasp-
berry, but less on the red variety. Keeping the young canes
covered with Bordeaux, and cutting out the old canes as soon
as done fruiting, is the best treatment.

Blackberry rust is reported in some sections. Cutting out
the diseased plants as soon as they appear is the only remedy,
Selection of resistant varieties is a great help.

Leaf-blight of currants and gooseberries has been prevalent
in mv vicinity for several years, but I find little difficulty in
controlling it with two early sprayings with Bordeaux, and
one after the fruit is gathered. It may be out of my province
to remark here that I have usually included paris green in
the second application, but this year I used Bowker's Disparne
(which is but another name for arsenate of lead) with deadly
effect on the currant worms, and no deaths reported from
families using the fruit.

The mildew of the gooseberry is a disease where selection
of variety counts for much, the American variety being little
troubled while the European kinds are very susceptible.
Potassium sulphide, one ounce to two or three gallons of water,
is the best treatment, though Bordeaux is useful in holding it
in check.

The mildew of the melon can be controlled by Bordeaux,
but I have been unable to get any definite results in the treat-
ment of the blight, and I trust some light may be thrown
upon this most destructive disease during this meeting.
Unless we get help we must give up growing the muskmelon.

In many sections the strawberry rust has caused great
damage to crops. The new beds must be kept sprayed, and
it is undoubtedly good economy to dip the young plants in
Bordeaux before planting. It will do little good to spray old
beds, or anv bed where the rust is well established.

28 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

I am convinced that much time and money is wasted every
year because of using mixtures improperly prepared, and not
doing the work thoroughly, and hence I append a few general
suggestions.

In regard to diseases: Fungous diseases are caused by
fungous germs growing upon the leaf, stem or fruit: such
are the scab, rust, leaf-blights, rots, mildews, black-knots, etc.,
and are prevented and controlled in a measure by the use of
copper or other solutions which kill these germs.

Bacterial diseases are caused by a bacterial germ which
usually enters the system of the plants, such as pear-blight,
and probably peach yellows, and the melon-blight. The most
satisfactory remedies yet discovered are a vigorous use of axe
and saw\

In regard to mixtures: Bordeaux has practically supplanted
all other fungicides in treating fruit diseases, with a tendency
to use the weak solution of copper sulphate in place of the
ammoniacal compounds of copper, and a dilute solution of
Bordeaux, — one-half usual formula for the stone fruits \vhere
the Bordeaux would injure the foliage.

Application: Do not spray until you know what you are
spraying for. It will not pay. Do not spray wdth materials
improperly prepared, or with Bordeaux made of air-slacked
lime. Do not fail to dilute the lime and copper sulphate before
mixing, and mix vigorously. Do not fail to strain the mate-
rials. If you do, do not swear if the nozzle clogs. Do not spray
when most convenient, or when it looks like a long fair spell;
spray at the proper time.

As a rule the first spraying should be done when the buds
swell, and again when the last petals fall, but weather and
conditions, not date, control these to a great extent, and all
subsequent applications, if necessary, entirely.

Don't forget to pay oflf that grudge against the codlin moth
and other insects at the same time.

The President : We are glad of this very full report by
Mr. Putnam.

Now, if there are no further questions we will hear from
Prof. Gulley on "Some Lessons from the Pan-American Fruit
Exhibit."

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 29

Some Lessons from the Pan-American Fruit Exhibit.

By Prof. A. G. GtiUcy of St oris.

It has been my privilege to have been connected with fruit
shows, both large and small, on many occasions, but not before
in running one for six months, and at such long range. To suc-
cessfully carry on the work required more labor than I, at first,
fully realized. Nearly one thousand miles of travel was made
within the State and over two hundred letters written during the
past season, wholly in connection with the matter and exclusive
of all work done the year before in general preparation and
putting fruit into storage. This last part, however, was very
important. The action taken by the Board of Agriculture in
1900 was valuable in two ways. First, in making previous
preparation, and getting material ready in advance, for the
opening of the Exposition. In this we had the advantage of
several other states that made exhibits. Second, in the method
in which the State exhibits were made and for which I several
times heard words of praise. That is, the agricultural and hor-
ticultural displays were made by and in charge of those particu-
larly interested, and with no commission appointed by the State
to have general charge, and perhaps with but little idea of the
work in hand. Connecticut was alone in taking this plan. On
the other hand, several states were there with top heavy expen-
sive commissions, and in two cases, at least, that is all that was
there. Another state had to adopt about the same plan before
it was able to fill the space assigned to it in the Horticulture
Building.

The idea of being prepared is well worth keeping in mind.
Such expositions will be held in the future and it will be advis-
able for this Society to take initial steps very early in the matter.
If this is done before the State takes action, there is more
probability that the work would be left more fully in its hands.

To go back. I admit I was not fully aware of the results
that had been attained in cold storage. It was with some
anxiety that I awaited the opening of our stock before shipping,
and was much relieved when our Secretary, who handled it at
that time, reported that it had kept with but very little loss.
But his opinion of its future success was expressed when he

3° THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

added that it probably would not keep very long after being
opened at Buffalo. President Piatt also gave the same opinion
when he saw it unloaded at the Exposition, judging from the
A^ery ripe odor given off at that time. We were all wrong. After
shipping and restoring in cold house, then getting out again
wdien needed, all kinds stood up well, two weeks at least, and
some much longer. Some showed a scalded surface w'hen first
opened, notably the green varieties ; R. I. Greening perhaps the
worst. Roxbury Russet came out in practically the same condi-
tion as when stored, but soon began to shrivel. But Baldwin,
Sutton, Ben Davis, Red Canada and Newtown Pippin all lasted
from four to six weeks ; some of the last remained on the tables
from June i8th to September ist. New York, Illinois and
Missouri had 1900 apples on the tables throughout the whole
exhibition, the first several kinds and the others two or three.
New York made an interesting comparison of varieties by plac-
ing a barrel of each on the same table and noting the lasting
qualities under the same treatment. Baldwin, Ben Davis, Eso-
pus Spitzenberg and Yellow Bellflower, were still well repre-
sented when I saw them five weeks later. All of which goes
to show that chemical cold storage of fruits is a success and
that fruit so stored will readily keep till disposed of. Cold
storage fruits will in the future be very prominent in pomologi-
cal exhibitions. Had I the same work to do again, I should
not hesitate to put up all our late fall apples to exhibit at least
at the opening of the exhibition, only taking pains to pick early
and store at once. The New York people wall be able to make
a full report as to the general keeping qualities of many of
our prominent varieties. I regretted to learn' that Wagener
was among those that tended to scald. I believe even the small
farmer can get much benefit from cold storage as now carried on.
A great deal has been said at different times about the differ-
ence in quality and color of the same varieties grown in differ-
ent sections. There was a fine opportunity to study the matter
at the Exposition. I must say, when the varieties came from
places wdiere they were grown largely, that idea was mostly a
myth. There were at one time Elberta peaches from Ontario,
Michigan, New York and Connecticut ; at another Baldwin
apples from the same sections as well as other prominent kinds.
I doubt if any one after a most thorough inspection could have

ELEf'EXTH AXXUAL MEETING. 3^

correctly replaced specimens taken from the tables. But kinds
taken out of their latitude varied much in color more then in
quality, as Ben Davis from Missouri or New York. So far as
brilliant color was concerned, the northwestern states led, but
in varieties of very low value Gravenstein. Xova Scotia,
produced wonderful specimens for their color. l)ut not at a
time to be compared with the same fruit from the States.

As to the success of the exhibit as a credit to the states, I
judged fully as much from the opinions of people present as
otherwise. I am pleased to sav the decision was very favorable.
In this I allude to the Connecticut State exhibit in its several
sections in Horticultural Building. The remarks usually
expressed satisfaction with the display as compared with other
states.

It was not. however, unanimous. I allude now, of course, to
visitors from Connecticut. In every case of complaint, how-
ever, the complainer had to admit that he. and usually his
section of the State, had done nothing to help the display.
Xone of those fault-finders did anything afterward to help the
situation, although earnestly solicited to do so.

Perhaps the most interesting visitors were old residents of
other states but born in Connecticut. These invariably
expressed their pleasure at seeing their native state represented.

On the other hand, the disappointment and criticism
expressed by visitors from states that had no display was very
marked, particularly from one or two large states for which
there was no reasonable, excuse. A very near neighbor came
in for her full share of this.

This of itself, to me. seemed a very good and sufficient reason
to be represented upon such occasions.

The expense of making such displays is also interesting.
Just here, so far as the pomological exhibit was concerned, we
made a mistake ; we did not use all of our appropriation. This
may be a source of trouble to future applicants for help for
the same purpose. This came about from the utter impossi-
bility to get such supplies of fruit at times as would have been
desirable. The very poor crop of apples and great loss of
tender fruits from rot cut the supply short. Aside from this,
the expense ran very close to the estimates made in the spring.
The actual total expense paid by the State was $1,256.41, and

32 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

divided under four general heads as follows: Installing
exhibit, $330.00; express on fruits, $172.75; collecting fruit,
$405.00, and care of exhibit, $370.00, which totals, less proceeds
of sale of material at close of Exposition, leaves the above
amount as the expense of the exhibit, and which amount, in
connection with that used in the other departments, was prob-
ably as profitably invested as it could have been in any other
method of advertising the farm products of Connecticut.

Mr. J. H. Hale: I think there is just one thing which, per-
haps, was not made clear in Prof. Gulley's report, that it was
impossible for him to get fruit shipped from the State. It
was not due to the fact that there was no good fruit to send.
The real trouble was, so far as I know, and I know it was the
trouble with me and with many of my friends wdio had good
fruit, and good-looking fruit, — the real trouble was, we had
so much and such continued wet weather we did not dare ship
it. Lots of people who would have shipped did not think it was
wise to waste the express money because the fruit was very
liable to get into a condition where it would go down in a few
hours. The real trouble was the continued wet weather during
the summer. The growers in Connecticut would have kept
those tables piled up, and would have used up Prof. Gulley's
surplus money, and more, too, if it had not been for the weather
conditions.

Prof. Gulley : We had had so much wet weather that the
frliit this year would not stand up for the average time.
Peaches, from twenty-four to forty-eight hours under the best
conditions that we could get this year. Strawberries, from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and in a few c^ses about three
days. Blackberries, about one day, and raspberries, about one
day. It was not safe to keep fruit any longer than was abso-
lutely necessary for fear it would go down on account of the
wet, damp weather.

Mr. Sternberg : I would say that I had a bushel of very fine
cherries, which I had had picked with the intention of sending
them to the fair, and the following morning after they were
picked, when I was getting ready to pack them I found that
about three-quarters of them had gone with the rot, so I con-
cluded it was not best to ship them.

At this point the meeting took a recess until the afternoon
session.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 33

Afternoon Session— 1.30 P. M.

Convention called to order at 1.30 ]■. m.. President Piatt in
the Chair.

The President: If you are all settled in your seats, I want
to introduce to you a gentleman from New York City who
used to be a commission man but is now an editor — Mr. Tuck
of the "Producer and Distributor."

Mr. Tuck : Ladies and Gentlemen : I had the pleasure of
being in Hartford some two weeks ago and through my friend,
Mr. Brewer, and also through my friend, Mr. Hale of South
Glastonbury, my attention \vas called to the meeting of your
Society which was to take place to-day. I, therefore, took it
upon myself to pay you a visit, as I had heard that your
previous annual gathering was productive of much good.
x\fter having been editor of the Fruit Trade Journal, believing
that I had sufficient theoretical knowledge to enable me to
engage in the commission business I took the opportunity
and entered into that business in New York. We followed
it up for two years, and until the finances got so low that I
made up my mind that I didn't know anything about the busi-
ness and I quit. So I drifted back into the newspaper business,
and therefore came up to Hartford to report your proceedings.
My predecessor in the other newspaper told me that your
meetings gave a very good knowledge upon various subjects,
but there are certain other things in connection with this busi-
ness that I think it would pay a person to think over, and that
is particularly if you are engaged in commercial fruit growing,
or fruit and produce growing. It has sometimes been a sur-
prise to me that the growers do not pay the same attention
as to how their packages are put up as they do to the growing
of the contents. In the present age of either over-production
or under-consumption it l)ehooves every fruit grower, or every
grower of fruit for market, to pay some attention to this subject
so as to be able to compete with almost every state in the
Union, particularly so far as the trade in the large commercial
cities is concerned. Take, for instance, Xew York, IJoston,
Philadelphia, and a few other cities of that same class. There
is hardly a product of any prominence known in this line but
what will reach any one of these markets, and tliey are there
3

34 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

brought into competition with each other. Now I heard one
of the professors say to-day that the Connecticut apple was
very favorably regarded in some markets, but that in some
cities like New York, which is quite near to you, they like a
Missouri apple. They come in competition with yours in that
market, so that one of the questions for you to determine is
whether you put up your apples as well as the growers in that
state do. I am stating this question of apple-packing from
the standpoint of the newspaper man, but I think there is an
idea among the leading apple growers of the country in favor
of using boxes instead of the ordinary barrel. An argument
in favor of that is that it makes a smaller package, and it can
be more readily handled by the retailer or consumer. And
so it is with questions pertaining to other packages. You
have no doubt heard Mr. Hale upon the question of the proper
grading and packing of peaches. It is a question there as to
what is the best package. I speak of this merely from the
standpoint of the newspaper man as something which it has
appeared to me should receive more attention.

Now, if I may be permitted to speak of the newspaper, and
I hope you will pardon me for so doing because I happen to
be engaged in the business. The trade paper has its advan-
tages, and whether it's the paper I am connected with, or any
other, I believe every fruit grower and every farmer ought to
read such a paper of some character. He ought to read a
tages, and whether it's the paper I am connected with, or any
that he is engaged in. There are hundreds and thousands of
newspapers that will produce articles or addresses from such
well-known authorities as your Mr. Hale, who is a man of
national reputation, or from Prof. Powell, and others, for fifty
cents or a dollar a year. You have that paper coming to
your door every week, and it is a great help and a benefit to
you. It does not make so much difference what the character
of the paper is so long as it is a good paper pertaining to the
line of industry in which you are engaged. And that is one
of the good things about the fruit growers. I fail to find many
fruit growers but what will tell you that they are taking a
number of such publications. I simply mention this as one
of the things that ought to come to your attention. I thank
you for your courtesy.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. ' 35

The President: Would you like now to call up any of the
questions on the question list? Here is a question from the
box. "Do you advise spraying apples more than twice before
the blossoms open?" It does not say what you are spraying
for, whether it's for apple scab or something else. I should not
suppose anyone would need to spray apples more than once
before the blossoms open, for the canker worm, or anything
like that. I will ask iMr. E. AI. Ives for his experience. He
lias been one of our best managers in spraying.

Mr. Ives : Some years ago when I first began to spray, I
used to spray once when the blossoms were first opening, and I
followed that up for three or four years, but I finally got all
over that notion and sprayed twice after the blossoms dropped ;
once, immediately after the dropping of the blossoms, and again
ten days or two weeks later putting in a separate spraying, but
not spraying before the buds opened. I think after you have
sprayed awhile you get rid of some of these fungous diseases,
and you do not need to put it on quite so early. I shouldn't
spray now until after the blossoming period, and I do not spray
more than once. I used to do it twice, and I would now if I
thought it was necessary. I do it once, and try to do it
thoroughly.

The President : You are talking about spraying with
Bordeaux ?

Mr. Ives : Yes, sir.

The President : There is no doubt a great deal in that fact
that Mr. Ives speaks of, that after spraying a number of years
the quantity of trouble from fungous diseases is lessened, and
there is not so much need of it.

Mr. Ives: And there is another thing; I find that I can use
a less amount of material, and use it weaker. I have been
working that down for some years.

A Member : I consider it very important to spray thoroughly
before the blossoms open because you then not only control the
fungous diseases, or help to control them at that time, but there
are several other things which are kept down better by spray-
ing at that time, such as tent caterpillar, and some other pests.

The President: Do you spray with Bordeaux?

Answer: Yes. Distribute it in the orchard all about. You
■cannot kill tent caterpillars after the blossoms open. That is
my experience.

36 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The President: What do you find to spray it on? There
are no leaves there at that time?

Answer: You want to get it on to anything" that is there.
You want to kill these caterpillars when they are little fellows.
The tent caterpillar has hatched out from the Qgg, and you can
get at them then to kill them better than you can later. We
sprayed last spring and we killed out clean all the tent cater-
pillars.

Mr. Ives : I would agree with what Mr. Hart says, that if
one is troubled with tent caterpillars, it is better to spray before
the blossoms open. I do not have them, and so I do not need
to spray until the codlin moth come along.

Mr. Cook : I would like to inquire if this spraying will kill
the green aphis?

Mr. Ives : I should think not. Not in my experience any-
way. I used to spray, as I say, before the blossoms opened.
I used nothing but sulphate of copper. You can get the spray
in among the limbs, and it tends to keep them cleaner and
healthier. Yon can get the spray in among the limbs of the
trees at that time handier than you can later. It has that
advantage.

A Member : I would say that I have followed that method
and used as high as twelve pounds of copper to fifty gallons of
water. Of course that is excessive, and I do not think it is
necessary, but there is one thing certain, it leaves the bark
smooth and clean, and the trees are exceptionally healthy.

The President : That would be the remedy for the peach
leaf-curl. I used this particularly for brown rot in plums, and
incidentally, the peach trees being in the same orchard received
the same dose.

Question 13 on the list is this: "Has any one in the State
tried the lime, sulphur and salt mixture for San Jose scale?"

That is a California remedy. Has anyone tried it in this
State ? There does not seem to be anyone here who has done so.
It is reported from Washington that it did not answer in the
eastern states. That opinion, I understand, was based on some
trials of it which were made, but some people are beginning to
think that that trial was not a very fair one. and one or two
experiments that I have heard of this season seem to indicate
that it does work in the eastern states.

ELEJ'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 37

Prof. Powell of Springfield, Mass : Mr. President, I would
like to sav in that connection that we have had a report, which
was received last Saturday, from New Jersey, that it had been
tried in Burlington County. A large peach orchard there,
wdiich was badly infested, was sprayed last spring, and even
after that one spraying, so far as an inspection this last fall
could determine, the owner had cleaned out the scale, and he is
so well impressed with the remedy that he intends to spray
again this next spring so as to make sure that any which are
left there will be killed. He is so pleased with it that he also
intends to try it in his apple orchard. The result in that state
seems to be quite favorable.

Mr. Hale : In reply to that question, and further in regard
to what Mr. Powell has just stated, it was stated at the New
York State Association meeting that while it was generally con-
ceded that lime, sulphur and salt would not w'ork in the east,
yet experiments this last year in Maryland, on a large scale,
and in this particular case in New Jersey, and one other where
it was tried on a smaller scale, and also one instance where it
was tried in Canada, it has proven fairly successful. Last week
at the peach growers' meeting in New York, it was further
stated that in the vicinity of Millerton, in that state, it had been
tried wuth success. That makes five distinct points in the
United States where it has been tried successfully. It was
further stated at the Central New York State meeting, that
the general understanding that it would not work in the east,
was all based on experiments which were made on five or six
trees. All the entomologists said the dose would not work,
but the fact seems to be they didn't have any foundation to base
that on. I think that is the situation as it is to-day. I under-
stand that the state entomologists of a number of states are
going to make their first experiments with it this year.

O. What proportion do you use of this lime, sulphur and
salt?

Mr. Hale : That is a regular stock preparation.

Q. Do you know what that is, Mr. Powell?

Prof. Powell : I do not think I can give it to you here, but
there is a standard for it that I think you will find in the reports
of the Department of Agriculture. It is very cheap. It is
said only to cost one cent a gallon.

38 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Ives : I would like to inquire how that is mixed.

Prof. Powell : I think that the formula calls for 40 pounds
of sulphur to 20 pounds of lime and 15 pounds of salt. It is
boiled and then diluted, and then added to 150 gallons of water.
The lime and sulphur are boiled together for an hour until
thoroughly dissolved and then the other is added and boiled for
five or ten minutes additional. In the experiment which was
tried in New Jersey a different formula was used in which the
proportions of lime and sulphur w^ere larger. I think it was
stated that it cost one cent a gallon when using the larger
amount of chemicals.

The President : Professor Powell is ready now with his
address, and if you will be seated so far as possible, so as not
to make any noise by moving around, we will proceed. This
lecture is on "Cover Crops and Soil Conditions in Orchards."

Cover Crops and Soil Conditions in Orchards.

By Prof. G. Harold Powell, Assisfanl Poinologist U. S. Departuient

of Agriculture.

Mr. President, and Members of the Coiiiieefieiif Pouwlogical
Society:

I can assure you it gives me a great deal of pleasure to meet
with the fruit growers of Connecticut, and to take part in the
various discussions here concerning fruit growing. This is a
time of very rapid activities in all lines of business, and the
fruit grower who is walling to stay at home and depend upon
his own resources alone for success is mighty apt to get left.
The most successful fruit growers are the men who have studied
their business, and who have kept up abreast of the new develop-
ments and practices of the times, as those things have a direct
bearing upon their business. These conventions are among the
most active influences, it seems to me, in educating the fruit
growers in the various new lines of work as they are brought
out, and it speaks well, it seems to me, for this State, that you
are starting out at this meeting with such a large audience as
you had this morning. I have been in quite a number of con-
ventions in the last few weeks, where I have come in contact
with one of your well known sons of Connecticut, and if I had
believed all that was said to me, I should have begun to think

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 39

that there were just two states around which the horticulture
of this world centered, and those were the two states of Con-
necticut and Georgia. (Laughter.) This is the first time that
I have had an opportunity to come up here and see for myself.
I was born over in a neighboring state, where the conditions
are not unlike the conditions here in Connecticut, — right over
in the neighboring State of New York ; so that I feel that I
know something about the conditions which you have to meet.

It also gives me a great deal of pleasure as a representative
of the National Department of Agriculture, which is interested
in every line of work which concerns the farmers and fruit
growers of the country, and I extend with a great deal of
pleasure the hearty greetings of the United States Department
of Agriculture to this Connecticut Pomological Society.

I believe that I am to talk to you this afternoon about cover
crops. I will not be able to take that question up in detail, but
I wish to talk to you for a while about some of the fundamental
principles of that subject. Now in order that we may see what
an important place the cover crop plays in orchard economy,
and also to bring into relief the present condition of many
orchard lands, it will be necessary to pass in rather a rapid
review some of the things that take place in the soil. I may
say that all soils are made up primarily of a rocky basis ; that
is, the principal part of the soil is obtained from mineral sub-
stances which have become disintegrated through the action' of
the climate, water, and frost, and prepared for use through the
action of numerous living organisms called bacteria. In it, of
course, is a great deal of vegetable matter, and in that these
living organisms. Now besides all this, there is a varying
amount of water in every soil which the plants drink up, and I
want to pass in review some of the functions of this so that we
may understand a little more intelligently some of the things
which take place in the soil, and so see some of the important
points which have come to play such an important part in our
modern orchard methods. I suppose there is no soil in Con-
necticut that does not have from 2,000 to 20,000 or even 40,000
pounds of potash and phosphoric acid, which are important
elements of plant food, in every acre of ground. I suppose
there is no soil that on an average does not have from 20,000
pounds up. In fact, there are no arable soils of whicli analyses

4° THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

have been made, which do not show sufficient of this plant
food to last for generations and generations to come. It is
most of it, however, in an insoluble condition, and it is fortunate
for us that the most of this plant food is in an insoluble condition.
Now I want to emphasize that point right here, because the
soils which bear profusely are the soils which are rich in quanti-
ties of phosphoric acid and other plant food elements, and which
we think sometimes we must buy. This element in the soil is
in this condition, and one of the most important problems before
us is to learn how to liberate and make use of these stores of
plant food provided by nature in the soil. Now in the breaking
down of the vegetable material of the soil, that breaking down
is due to the action of these myriads of bacteria of which I
have spoken. I do not care to go into that process, but through
this action the decomposition which takes place in the soil by
which acids are given off, and these acids mix with other kinds
of acids, and with the carbonic acids, and act upon the mineral
portions of the soil, and the result of this action is to dissolve
out portions of this insoluble phosphoric acid and potash, and
to carry it back in solutions to the plants so that they may drink
it up and grow upon it. So I would emphasize the fact that
there is in our soil an immense amount of plant food that is in
an insoluble condition, and that that food is liberated indirectly
through the action of the bacteria in the soil.

I would also go one step further, and I would like to empha-
size the importance of water in the soil of our orchards. There
is no fruit grower here who cannot look back and remember
the small amount which came into his pocket in certain seasons
owing to the lack of moisture. There is hardly a year goes by
that our fruit does not suffer from the lack of water just at
the times it needs it most.

I will venture to say, however, that in nine years out of ten.
enough water falls upon the soil during the spring and fall
months to carry the most of our orchards through the entire
season, provided that water could have been caught, or retained
in the soil, and I think it could have l>een. provided the soil
had been in proper condition.

Now it is one of the principal objects in our systems of
culture in the orchard to provide for means to retain the
moisture that goes into the soil. We suffer year after year on

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 4i

account of the lack of moisture in our orchards, and we suffer
from that lack of moisture more times than we think rather
than from the lack of plant food. Xo matter how much plant
food is present, the plants cannot make use of it unless there
is plenty of moisture in the soil. I have no doubt you might
send a chemist to examine your soils and that you might find a
lack of as much phosphoric acid, or a lack of as much potash
as you will find in some of your arable soils, but it will not do
to condemn that soil : the trouble is, the conditions that are
needed for the liberation of plant food for the growth of plants
do not exist in that soil. So it is in many soils. We have there
the plant food, but not the conditions necessary for plant
growth except possibly moisture and possibly some of this vege-
table matter. And, as a matter of fact, it is only through the
introduction of some of the influences of culture that I shall
mention, that the soil becomes productive. It may be rich in
plant food and still be non-productive.

The soil may be in such a condition that these myriads of
bacteria cannot live and work to the best of advantage under such
conditions, and the soil, therefore, may be non-productive.
There is a close inter-relationship existing between all the forms
of life.

Now I want to say further, that besides furnishing the acids
and thus contributing to the plant food, the vegetable matter in
our soil has several other very important functions to perform
in our orchards, and one of the most important which arise
is in the matter of furnishing organic nitrogen.

Through the breaking down of the soil there is given off
organic nitrogen which can be used for the plants. And right
here I want to leave with you one suggestion, and that is.
though the fruit grower is ignorant and often buys nitro-
gen, a kind Providence has provided all the nitrogen that is
needed for the growth of all our important orchard fruits. I
will develop that just a little later. And I would say one other
thing about vegetable matter. One of the most important
functions of vegetable matter in the soil is to increase the water-
holding capacity of the soil itself. Soil filled with vegetable
matter is like a sponge. It takes the water in slowly and it
holds that which it gets. If the soil is hard, it can hold but
little moisture, and it soon loses that which runs into it, so

42 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

that the vegetable matter not only has this influence upon the
plant food, but it performs one of the most important functions
in the soil, and that function is to give the soil a greater water-
holding capacity.

I remember a few years ago we took some samples of soil
from a field where a crop of clover had been turned under. It
was turned under before the dry season came on, and that
orchard, I believe, during the drought that followed showed
about 15 per cent, of water in the soil.

In an adjoining field we took samples from a piece of land
Avhere the soil was of the same general character, but in w^iich
no crop had been turned under, and there w^as only about 9
per cent, water. That is to say, the other soil had not had
vegetable matter turned into it. And so' I have seen it time
after time. Even where the land was so light that they had to
put a mortgage on it to hold it down, extremely sandy light
soil, and a soil that loses water very quickly, — I have seen those
soils, after being filled with coav peas, produce crops without
any apparent effect from drought.

The whole thing was brought about, I believe, by giving the
soil a greater water-holding capacity, and by turning under
this green matter which increased the vegetable matter in it.
I cannot emphasize this too strongly. We have been cropping
our soils generation after generation by crop rotation, and have
not been supplying the quantities of vegetable matter that are
taken out year after year by the growing crops, and so in New
England, we have been burning up through successive crops
the vegetable matter in the soil until the soil in many places is
dead and hard, and does not respond so quickly to treatment
because of its lack of water-holding capacity. It does not have
the characteristics which are favorable to bacterial life, and
therefore it is weak in those acids, the giving off of which is
essential to the production of plant food. The plant food is
not given off so readily as in soil where the vegetable contents
have been continually maintained.

I have been emphasizing this, especially in its application to
our fruit crops, because I believe that one of the most essential
prerequisites to success lies in having this vegetable contents
of the soil kept up through the green crops or cover crops.
Our soils have become depleted of vegetable matter. I am con-

ELEJ'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 43

vinced from a wide observation that this burned out condition
is the primary trouble with most of our non-productive soils.

We have seen analyzed many of these non-productive soils,
and have seen it demonstrated that that, in all probability, was
what was the matter. So I would emphasize right here to the
fruit growers of Connecticut the importance of moisture in the
soils in our orchards. Xo fruit can fill out well and get into
fine condition without plenty of moisture just at the ripening
time. Air. Hale can tell you that, especially of the peach. It
does its filling out largely in the last two or three days, and unless
the soil is in such a condition, you do not get as fine fruit. If
the moisture is absent wx have these little hard peaches on
which the skin is shriveled. They are nothing but peach pits
with a little skin over them. I cannot emphasize this too
strongly. It is one of the most important propositions that
the fruit grower has to contend with — this question of the
depletion of the soil and the deficiency of moisture in the grow-
ing crop.

Now vegetable matter may be maintained in our soils in quite
a number of ways. Perhaps one method is by sod culture, but
I will not say very much about that because I am to be followed
by a gentleman who has produced this year one of the finest crops
of apples that has been seen anywhere by an intelligent system
of culture. His crop was one of the finest that I have known
of anywhere in New York State. So I wall not say very much
about sod culture. Where there is an excessive amount of
moisture in the soil, it may be well to exhaust the soil of some
of that w^ater.

You go north here, and there are many places where they
keep the sod on the land for the purpose of pumping out the
w^ater that is in the land. I do not question but that under
such conditions it may be possible to grow a fine orchard in
sod ; under conditions wdiere there is too much moisture natur-
ally in the land. But if the system of sod culture is followed
and the grower continually grasses over his land, and leaves it
on the ground so that in time it forms a mulch so that the
vegetable matter goes back into the soil, there is no question
but what that kind of soil culture may be a most economical
way of supplying vegetable matter to the soil. But I would
say this most emphatically; in the usual sod orchard where

44 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

the grower continually grasses over his land and leaves it, it is a
practice which has caused this eastern part of the country the
loss of a great deal of prestige in the markets.

I believe that sod culture is responsible for a good deal of
the decline in our prestige in New York. The State of New
York has spent a great deal of money in looking into the causes
of this decline, and when they got through it was all included
in one big word, "neglect."' And that included neglect of
tillage, neglect of pruning, neglect of spraying, and neglect of
all those things which are essential to be done by those who
practice apple culture and expect to be successful in the enter-
prise.

So I say, that sod culture has caused this eastern country
the loss of much of its prestige, and I believe it is going to
cause the central west the loss of its prestige in a few years. In
fact I have been through some of the great apple orchards out
there, and with the neglect I have noticed, and sod culture,
I have seen many of the trees looking as though they had
seen their best days — so that I believe that sod culture out
there, in a short time, will cause some of those apple growers
the loss of their standing in the markets.

So that I warn you against sod culture. Now there are
other methods by which the vegetable matter of the soil may
be furnished economically, and I would develop right here the
importance of the cover crop in the orchard. Its purpose is
simply to maintain and increase the vegetable matter, or vege-
table contents of the soil. After the cultivating season is
passed, the cover crop is sown and it is allowed to grow until the
fall months, and during the winter months, and it is plowed
under the next spring. It is turned under at the same time of
year when the tillage begins again.

Now there are two general classes of cover crops : one the
great group, which not only furnishes vegetable matter to the
soil, but which through the agency of these little organisms
called bacteria have the power of taking nitrogen that is in the
soil, and in the air of the soil, and converting it into use for
the plants ; into a form for the plants to use. Such plants as
the clovers, beans, peas, and the vetches, and all such plants
have this power. They have little nodules on the roots, and
in these little nodules bacteria live, and they have the power

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 45

of making use of the nitrogen in the soil, or rather of convert-
ing it into a form for the use of the plants.

That type of plant is very valuable. The nitrogen is very
stimulating. I have seen, however, too much nitrogen cause
damage in a peach orchard. Too much nitrogen causes a too
rapid growth, and it is a growth which is susceptible to winter
killing, and which causes the fruit to ripen much later in the
season, and it makes it soften and more susceptible to rot.

Too much nitrogen in a pear orchard causes an abundance
of succulent shoots, the type most susceptible to pear blight.
Too much nitrogen in an apple orchard ( if applied year after
year ) may cause the foliage to increase very largely so that
the trees become dense-headed, and the fruit on such trees is
very apt to be light-colored and probably of poor keeping
quality. Buyers get so they recognize this fruit in the market,
and it is, of course, afifected in price. On the other hand, where
the land is well supplied with nitrogen, we have seen the
Northern Spy produce a crop year after year for a series of
seven or eight years without a break, and where previous to
that it was hard work to get a fair crop every other year. So,
if a grower understands the danger from too much nitrogen,
and knows how to apply this stimulant, and when it is wise,
and knows how to check over-stimulation. — -it is the happy
medium which we should all try to attain. There is no ques-
tion, however, but with this class of leguminuous plants the
orchards can obtain the supply of nitrogen which thev need,
practically without cost, and it is a supply which is ample for
the purposes of the orchard.

Now, there is another great group of plants that we may call
the non-leguminuous plants. That group is made up of rye, win-
ter oats, buckwheat, sowed corn or broom corn, rape and cowhorn
buckwheat, sowed corn or broom corn, rape and cowhorn
turnips. These plants are very useful to use when the soil is
hard, in order to get it into good condition. Hard, heavy soils
should first be broken up with the non-legumes like rape, turnips
or buckwheat, and after that, after the character of the soil is
improved, then you can use the clovers, vetches, and peas. At
the top of the golden scale of cover crops stands crimson clover,
needing the most thoroughly prepared soil, and of the greatest
value in orchards that have long been under tillage. Rve, rape.

46 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

turnips, cow peas and buckwheat, will grow on poorer soils and
are useful as forerunners of the crops mentioned.

The most useful cover crop is the one that lives through the
winter, and the least desirable is the one that dies with the
first fall frost. Therefore the clovers, vetches, rye, winter oats
and rape are more desirable than cow peas, soybeans, or turnips.

A Member: What does that vetch seed cost?

Prof. Powell : Vetch seed at the present time is high.
It costs five or six dollars a bushel. It seeds along in June.

A Member: How much of that seed is required per acre?

Prof. Powell : About three acres to a peck.

The President : I think I fully agree with what Mr. Powell
has said as to the general desirability of adding humus to the
soil and of conserving moisture in it. I think, however, there
is need to use good judgment, as either of them in excess tends
to make green-looking, soft and easily-rotting fruit.

The last season, particularly in the latter part, we had too
much moisture and would have been glad to have got rid of
some of it.

Prof. Po\\ell : That is where sod culture would have
come in. It might have paid you to have had something which
would have pumped the soil out to some extent.

The President : We w-ould have been glad of most any way
to get rid of it.

[Here a large number of pictures were thrown on the screen,
and the lecture by Professor Powell, which it is impossible to
reproduce, and of which the following discussion formed a part,
was continued.]

A Member : Don't those long-rooted plants help to pump it out ?

Prof. Powell: Those long roots on such plants as you see
here help to get the soil into condition so that it can hold more
moisture. I believe one of the mistakes that our orchardist
sometimes make, is in allowing cover crops to grow too long
in the spring. Of course, that is something which has to be
guarded against. If a crop is allowed to stand too long, it
pumps out an immense amount of moisture. We have seen
instances where, by allowing crimson clover to grow too high
before it was turned under, it might have pumped out so nutch
water in that time that on account of the loss of moisture there
was a damage to the crop.

ELEfEXTH ANNUAL MEETING. 47

A Member: I was going to say that under the same condi-
tions I would use sod culture. If I had an orchard on my
farm, and it was on a piece of land that was heavy, and had more
moisture on it than I thought was absolutely needed at all times
of the year, then I might let that orchard go into sod, but I
believe nine times out of ten, the man who allows his orchard
to grow in sod, does it at the expense of the apples. I believe
under those conditions, such as have been described here, if I
had them on my place, I should certainly grow the orchard in
sod. As I say, under those conditions it might be a good thing,
but I should not want to recommend sod culture as a general
thing.

Prof. Powell : If there is an excessive amount of water,
of course it might be well, but I would not by any means have it
understood here that I was here to recommend sod culture.
Under some conditions though, I am not saying but it may be
a good thing.

Mr. Hale : Why wouldn't you drain the land first before
you undertook to raise an orchard on it, instead of practicing
sod culture after you got the orchard going, which most of us
believe is bad?

Prof. Powell : It might not be necessary if there wasn't
an excessive amount of water.

Mr. Hale : But you are talking about an excessive amount
of water. Why wouldn't you drain the land first? Then there
would not be a chance for a difficulty of that kind.

Prof. Powell: It might not be necessary. Of course
you would have to be guided by the conditions that existed. If
I had a cover crop which I could use to regulate the amount of
water that might be sufficient.

Mr. Hale: You don't answer the question. Don't try to
dodge now.

Prof. Powell : Under those conditions, I believe I could
maintain my orchard cheaper by sowing once or twice a }ear
than I could by cultivating it. Under those conditions I might
be willing to do that.

Mr. Hale: You think it would be cheaper, l)ut what would
be the final result?

Prof. Powell : I would take my chances on the result.
I think probably when Mr. Hitchings talks he will show you

48 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

some results that will open your eyes. I don't want to have
you understand, for a moment, that I am recommending sod
culture. It is the last thing I will recommend for nine growers
out of ten. It is not adapted to their conditions in my judg-
ment, and they probably would not understand how to use it
successfully. Some of them would probably cut off the hay
and put it in the mow. But under the conditions I mentioned
in mv talk, I believe it has lost the eastern fruit growers their
prestige.

]\Ir. Merriman : Is there any danger from the sand vetch, or
some of these other plants from turning out to be obnoxious
w'eeds ?

Prof. Powell: Not if a man is a good cultivator; I should
not think there would be. If I understand you. I do not think
there is any danger at all of the vetches becoming weeds. I
do not know of anything that is dangerous, except alfalfa, in
the orchard. If alfalfa is allowed to grow in the orchard I
should not want to take my chances.

Mr. Merriman : I don't think you understand my question.
The reason why I asked was this : in sowing some of this in my
orchard, while I supposed I had the seed of what I wanted to
sow, yet what I really obtained was a noxious weed from
Delaware. I don't want to take the chances of getting some-
thing else besides the vetch.

Prof. Powell: That is true. They have sent out stuff' that
thev ought not to send. Of course you are liable to strike those
seeds in any part of the country. As I understood your ques-
tion, it was whether there was any danger of these pfents run-
ning into weeds. There is no danger at all.

Mr. Merriman : If there is any such thing that has proven
to be a weed, I would not have it for a thousand dollars on my
land.

Prof. Powell : A man, of course, runs that danger in
planting or sowing seed from anywhere.

Mr. Fenn: Ever since the introduction of cow peas as a
cover crop, the newer varieties are being introduced all the
while, and it has got so it is pretty hard to tell just which is the
best or what you want. I'd like to ask Mr. Powell if he recom-
mends any particular variety?

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 49

Prof. Powell : That is true. There are about a hundred
different varieties of cow peas. I saw some seventy or eighty
varieties growing together a couple of years ago. Of course
the cow pea growers, Hke the fruit growers, want to get better
varieties if they can, and I think they are being improved all
the time. Out of this mass of new varieties there are coming
every year some that are much better than others. I think for
a cover crop the Early Black is one of the best.

Mr. Hoyt : What do you think of sowing barley, or oats,
springs oats, as a cover crop?

Prof. Powell: I should not want oats on the ground if my
land was adapted to crimson clover, on account of the fact that
the crimson has the power to catch moisture and nitrogen that
might otherwise be lost. I would also rather have a crop that
would live through the winter. But more especially I would
rather have a crop that has the ability to gather up nitrogen,
and it is a well known fact that these leguminous plants that I
have mentioned do have that power. However, in Delaware
winter oats have been used to some extent as a cover crop.
One of our most successful growers down there uses winter
oats as a cover crop for his orchard.

Mr. Hoyt : You were talking about crimson clover, where it
grows, and it is all well enough in its way, but I want some
crop that I can grow that will cover the ground, not so much
to catch nitrogen as to protect the soil.

Prof. Powell : Then why not take rye ?

Mr. Hoyt: The trouble with that is that it will get ahead
of you in the spring if you do not look out.

A AIember : We have found a great advantage in crimson
clover, especially under those conditions where you cannot grow
oats, buckwheat or turnips and winter oats. Where you cannot
get a nitrogenous crop I would earnestly recommend to you a
trial of cowhorn turnips. That will grow where clover will not.

The President : We have another speaker to go right on
this afternoon to talk on orchards. He is going to take up a
very interesting subject for our Connecticut people. This is
Air. Grant G. Hitchings of South Onondaga, N. Y. He will
talk to us on

50 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Novel Methods in Apple Growingf.

By Mr. Grant G. Hitchiugs, So. Onondaga, N. Y.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It was with some degree of rehictance that I consented to
come down here and talk to you, but thinking that perhaps
some of these theories of mine, and some of these methods
employed by me as a grower, would be interesting to you, I
consented to come. In order to make a continual success of
fruit growing, it is necessary to thoroughly understand certain
underlying principles and then to vary the practice and treat-
ment of your orchard as your particular soil, location, and
climate seems to require. In my talk to you this afternoon,
these principles, and the different methods I have adopted to
conform to them, will be described, and also the results of the
several methods as I have seen them practiced and worked out
on my own farm. I will describe the methods practiced upon
my own farm, from the planting of the trees to the marketing
of the fruit. Xow, there are three main principles to observe,
and the most important of the three is, how to retain the mois-
ture in our soils. The next is, how to keep up the supply of
humus or decaying vegetable matter in our soils, and the next
and third is, how to maintain healthy foliage on our trees.

Now in regard to these three principles, it is necessary to
thoroughly understand the reason for them. When I com-
menced to observe and think about this thing, I made up my
mind that what we wanted was some plan which would give us
a profit and enable the work to be done the cheapest, and at the
same time get good results in the quality of the fruit. Whether
I have been getting good results or not from my methods I
will leave you to judge after you have heard the little I have
got to say, and perhaps look at some samples of apples which
I have brought over with me. I have tried to follow the plans
of these professors, and in most things I agree with them.
But what I am doing is almost revolutionary to what they say
ought to be done or to what the}' recognize as a correct method.
It is a complete turnabout. It is almost directly the opposite.
Now the importance of moisture in the soil has been thoroughly
explained this afternoon, and tliat a tree in order to grow must
take its food from the soil through its roots in liquid form, or

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 51

rather in the form of a sokition, and hence the importance of a
continual supply of moisture in the soil. That means from
spring until fall there must be a continual supply of moisture.
Of course, an excess of water in the soil, as Mr. Powell said,
is to be avoided, as well as a deficiency, and what we want to
know is, how can we best maintain a proper amount of moisture
so as to get the best growing conditions to the trees.

Now my friends are saying to put on a cover crop in the fall
and stop cultivation, and that is where I claim it is a mistake.
It allows the ground to dry up, because the cover crop takes
the moisture out of the soil that your trees need. The growth
of the cover crop takes this moisture that your trees need. The
fruit buds in the orchard for next year are formed during the
fall, and at that time you want your moisture that is in the
ground in your food for the trees. You do not want to subtract
without the Lord will guarantee you enough ahead.

Two years ago we had a drought in the fall, a serious
drought. What was the result? When you were trying to
grow your cover crops your moisture got away through capilliary
attractions, and the result of it was, there was no strength
furnished to the trees to make a good set of fruit, and in the
spring, while some of the trees blossomed out good, there was
not the fruit there ought to have been. Some thought it was
the rain that caused the blasting of the young fruit, but in my
orchard we had just as much rain as my neighbors had, and I
had the most perfect crop of fruit I ever had. Now what was
the reason of that? I simply had mowed my grass during the
spring. They say, you should cultivate in the spring so as to
furnish plant food so the trees will grow. I say that is wrong.
I say that you want to^ retard that growth. You want to take
some of the excess moisture out in the spring with your grass
and then cut it. I cut it and place it around the trees, where
it acts as a mulch and assists the bacterial action in the soil,
which is necessary, and which was so plainly described by the
speaker before me, and so also to assist in holding the moisture
in the fall. If you have barren ground there is a constant
evaporation going on, and with the evaporation, it is gradually
using up the humus in the soil which you want to keep. If
you have this mulch on the ground the moisture will stay there
for weeks and you can get the advantage of it. It helps to keep

52 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

the moisture in the ground through the fall when the young
fruit sets, and the result is you will get a good crop of fruit
buds and you give the trees vitality to set the fruit, and the
result, as has been demonstrated in my experience many times,
is a good crop of fruit. So, in that respect, my plan is revolu-
tionary. It is directly opposite to the practice of what the pro-
fessors teach.

Now my plan is also a very cheap plan. We are told that it
is necessary to cultivate in the spring. If I was a nursery man
and was selling trees, and w^anted to grow large trees, I should
certainly cultivate in the spring, but with the fruit grower it is
not wood that you want, it is fruit. W'hat we want is to give
the trees strength and vitality while they are forming the fruit
buds, and that is where I claim my practice helps. I think
somewhere at Cornell perhaps, and I don't know but what it
was Professor Beach, through the use of a microscope, has
shown that along in June you can commence to discover the
new fruit buds or the elements going into those buds that form
the fruit. The fruit begins to form in June. The trees are
reproducing, and I claim it is good sense if we are growing
fruit to stimulate those fruit buds through the fall. You want
to get a good strong fruit bud. If you want to get a strong
set of fruit you must have strong fruit buds in order to do it.
Now there is another advantage to it.

By having my grass in the orchard that way, I haven't got
to stop in the spring to attend to the orchard, except to spray
or something like that. When I go out onto my farm in the
spring, I have got a lot of other work I want to do, and I don't
want any more than I can avoid, and by having my grass
growing in the orchard it gives me a lot of spare time so that
I can grow a crop of strawberries or corn or early potatoes,
while that grass is growing in the orchard.

To the man that is on a farm and who is paying for his farm
that means a good deal, because you can devote your labors to
something else. Now all this time your grass is taking out
some of the excess moisture, which is just what you want, and
then along in July when you get the work out on your farm
well enough along so that you can attend to it, then you can go
in there with your mowing machine and cut this grass and
place it around over the roots.

ELEVENTH AXNUAL MEETING. 53

Now I want to say, in order to have it successful it is neces-
sary to have a soil filled with humus or decaying vegetable
matter. So I say when you first set an orchard, try to get
ground that is as full of humus as you can. It is just the same
as though you were trying to grow a good crop of corn. You
have got to work at it and put it where it will do the best.
There is the soil, and you want to get as much humus into it
as you can. You want land that has got as much of it as you
can have, because that is what makes the trees grow.

When you set your trees, you want to mulch them with straw
or something like that so that the ground around those trees
will not dry up ; this helps to keep the supply of humus and
moisture in the soil. You don't want to cultivate around it.
Cultivation exhausts the humus. Cultivation causes the humus
in the soil to be burnt up much faster' than it otherwise would
be and it destroys the sponge-like condition of the soil which
is so much desired, and that is one thing that makes it neces-
sary, as some think, to grow cover crops to restore the humus.
There is no need of my repeating that. So I say, when you
put out these young trees, mulch them first so that the roots
can get hold of the soil, and so that the soil will not dry up.
And then in July cut the grass in the orchard and place that
around the trees. Continue this for about six years. Do not
pasture that land or remove that grass in any other way. Just
cut the grass and put it around the trees, because by doing that
you are accumulating humus, and that is what Prof. Powell
says we need in our soil. By doing that it gets the soil into
a condition which is just right for perfect fruit. I found that
out. I found out the advantage of that when the trees com-
menced to bear. I have had several years' experience, and these
trees when they get up to be five or six years old commence to
bear, and in the six years' experience I have had, I know that they
have each year been doing better than they did the year before.
That is the result. It is an easy way. It's cheap. In the
spring, when you want to be about other work, you haven't got
to stop and attend to your orchard as I said before. You are
free to attend to other crops. All you have got to do is to
wait until the grass gets up and then mow the grass and put it
around the trees.

54 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

I believe that my plan, my system, is responsible for the
success I've had. Some of them say it is my soil. I do not
care what kind of soil it is, I believe you can get it into condi-
tion better for fruit growing, much better by that treatment.
Perhaps it is my soil. I do not know about that, but even if it is,
I believe that the treatment helps it. Some say it is the soil
and the location of my orchards. They say there is a good
deal of moisture in my land, but I believe that will work just
as well where the ground is dry, because there are some parts
of the orchard which are dry, and previously we found that
the crops would dry out there to some extent, but since we have
been able to increase and hold the humus (and I have taken
particular pains to watch it to see), I do not see any differ-
ence in the result or in the fruit where we have applied those
conditions. Perhaps it is well to cut the grass there a little
earlier, but as a rule, you want to let it grow in the orchard
through the spring and thus stimulate the fruit bud formation
through the fall, and as the grass decays through the fall it
makes a mulch all over the roots, and that is just what you
want.

A tree, you know, is a continuous crqp on the ground. It is
not like a crop of corn. The tree stands there all the while
demanding this plant food, and you must keep putting it there
if you want good, strong healthy trees. So I say, accumulate
humus when the trees are small.

Now a great many men who want to set out a young orchard
say, let's cultivate that one year. You are robbing the trees of
something that they need if you do that. Accumulate humus,
and accumulate this decayed vegetable matter, and so get the
soil into proper conditions for plant life. That is the secret of
it. That is what we need more than anything else.

Now I have always found that to stimulate the orchard with
nitrogen is a wrong thing to do. I have been observing what
these men who have been sowing leguminous plants get from it.
They begin by telling me that their fruit does not color enough.
At the Western Association meeting some of the men got up
there and .said that if they could have waited until January
they would have had some nice apples. Their fruit did not
color well up to the time they had to pick it. What is the
reason of that? A\'hat had those men been doing in their

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 55

orchards? They had been plowing under leguminous crops all
the while to secure nitrogen. The nitrogen stimulated the wood
growth. That is what happened in the orchard. The orchard
was so stimulated with nitrogen that they could not get good
colored fruit from those trees. That is a condition of things
we do not want.

Now I never have any trouble to get the finest kind of color
and to get it every year. If we can get that color by that
system, why not have it? Our friend Hale would get that
color if the color could be gotten in any way, but as good a
grower as he is, I don't believe that he can show as fine color
as I have seen obtained under this system. And some of us
are not so strenuous as he is. Some of us like to take it a little
slower, and so I have been trying to adopt a plan whereby I
can get the result without so much labor and expense. And
so this plan that I am describing applies, particularly, to those
engaged in farming who want to make some money out of their
farm work. There are other ways of doing these things, but
they are too expensive for us fellows who want to- make some
money out of our farms. I am not talking to men who do all
these fancy things. We want to make some money. That is
what we are in the business for. There is no use in having
to do three or four things and go through a lot of hard work
to get a result when one will do it. We want to save labor
and expense if we can.

Now these bacteria in our soil; how do they work? What
do they need to work on? Those are questions we want to
find out. Let me give you an illustration. If you will take
a few boards and put them into a pile and let them lay through
the summer, and in the fall you take up the boards direct from
the ground, you will find that it is all wet and damp under-
neath. Now if you plant that spot you will find that you can
see where those boards lay all summer just as far as you can
see. Now there was something under there that did that. What
was it? All you did was to favor bacterial action just at the
time, perhaps, when it is needed. Now what do you do when
you mulch your trees or put that grass around during July or
August? In doing that you favor bacterial action just at the
time when the fruit buds are forming, just when they need
what is in the soil to make them strone and vigorous.

56 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Now if that system does that, why is it not a good practice?
In the spring you are growing the grass there in your orchard
when you want to take out some of the excessive moisture,
and when your trees do not need this so much. It may restrict
the growth to some extent. So much the better. We do not
want too much wood growth. But by doing that, by- restrict-
ing that growth, by shading the ground, you save your moisture
when you want it, and it is a cheap method, and it is a method
which produces good results. If that is so, then why is it not a
good practice?

Now let me commence at the beginning of the orchard and
explain in detail down through, as there may be some good
points that I may not have thought of.

Now in choosing a location for the orchard, it is well to get
a location where the ground is a little higher than the surround-
ing country if you can, and it is better if you can get a northern
exposure. There are several reasons for this. You get the
cold air and the orchard will drain off in the morning quicker.
The foliage will dry off quicker and earlier in the morning and
this will have a tendency to lessen the danger from fungous
troubles. And not only will that be the case, but it will not
affect your fruit buds, so it is better on the ground. Another
thing: when the sun comes up in the morning the rays will
strike over into the foliage the first thing if it is on high ground,
and the sooner the orchard dries off in the morning, the better.
Then, in the middle of the day, the sun rays do not strike so
direct and that is a point in your favor, especially in the winter
time, because, if it happens to be a warm day, sometimes the
buds will swell and upon the high ground the air is cooler and
there is more apt to be stirring, and the reflection of the sun
is not so great and consequently there is not so much danger.
So you see that it is a reason, notwithstanding the fact that
you can grow good fruit the other way.

Now an orchard that is protected by woods is a pretty good
thing. The heat, the hot air of summer, sometimes injures
the trees when the hot air strikes your trees ; for where the
warm drying hot air of summer strikes your trees it sometimes
injures the trees and the fruit, and if you have got your orchard
in a location where you have got some woods against it, it
tempers it, cools it somewhat, and I think it is a l)enefit.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 5 7

Now our grandfathers did not have any trouble about grow-
ing good crops of fruit. Why did they not have trouble?
They grew it, and they got it, and they did not have so much
trouble from many sources as we do. New ground, you say?
Well, I think we should do the same thing if we can. I think
we should select a field for new orchards, as I said before, with
as much humus in it as possible or decaying vegetable matter.
New land is best. We want to select land that has got humus
in the soil and it is more often that we find that on new land.
When you find it on old land, if the land has been cropped, it
has been put in in some way. On land that has not been used
and where the vegetable matter has had a chance to decay and
accumulate, that will make the best for orchard purposes. You
sometimes have taken up an old crooked rail fence. Maybe
it has been down fifty years, and when you plowed it up and
put in the crop, you found it was some of the best land you
had. It is the same principle, the action of bacteria working
there. The land has rested, it has been kept in a condition
where the bacteria had a chance to work, and it has been kept
going. New land is best, but if you cannot get that it is a
good plan to put on a seeding of clover, timothy and redtop,
equal parts, so as to get it in the next best condition.

Now in selecting varieties, it all depends upon your market.
If you have got a good local market you want some fall and
winter varieties, and particularly you want some good early fall
apples. I will mention a few that I have found best. The first
that I should take is the red Astrachan, and the Gravenstein.
That was mentioned as doing well in Nova Scotia. We can
do just as well with it as they do. It is one of the best apples
we can grow. And then the Mcintosh. If you can grow some
good Mcintosh apples you are all right as to market. The
Northern Spy also, and your Baldwin, and the Sutton, and the
Rhode Island Greening, those are about the best four for winter
apples that I know of. I have not seen anything that beats
them much. So much for the varieties.

I should advise placing the rows all of 38 feet apart and put-
ting the trees from 28 to 36 feet in the rows. I think it is a
good plan to vary the distances in the row so as to break the
force of the wind. Then I would try and select the best places
in the rows for the trees ; to take the best places or the best

58 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

ground. I vary the distance anywhere from 26 to 30 feet and
often more, so as not only to get a better place for the trees
but to break the wind. There are two points well worthy of
being taken into consideration. In digging the hole to put your
tree in when you are setting them out, there is a point there
that I would like to emphasize. IMost everybody thinks they
understand how to set a tree. My plan is to dig the hole and
place some mellow soil in the bottom of the hole and then pack
the soil over the roots very firmly. It will start the trees better
than it will in any other way. The reason for packing the dirt
firm around the roots, and for having mellow soil under the
roots of the tree is because the roots of the tree will start in
the direction of the least resistance and that will be down.

If you will put mellow^ soil down under your tree and pack it
firmly on top, you will get a much better start for the tree. As
I say, the roots will follow in the direction of the least resistance
and if the soil is packed hard on top of course they will go
down. I should prefer even to get a tree out of line a little in
order to get it into a good place and so get it into good shape
and get a good start.

Immediately after planting the tree you want to put some
mulch around it. Do not do too much cultivating around the
tree. That is one thing that I have mentioned. Every time
you cultivate you tend to exhaust your humus. That means
something. That is what you want to put into the soil instead
of taking it out of it. Some of these men that advocate culti-
vating forty or fifty times if necessary — they are using up the
goose that lays the golden egg, because they are using up the
humus by cultivation. I find that the longer you cultivate the
less effectually you can hold the moisture or prevent capillary
action. You have all heard of that. That works very nicely
for a while, but after you have followed that up this humus
becomes burned out and then }ou can cultivate all you have
a mind to and you cannot keep that in the soil where you
w'ant it. The soil moisture will get away in spite of you.
Through this plan of mine I claim that you are accumulating
humus all the while.

Now a word in regard to spraying. Some do not think it
pays. Some say it is not necessary to spray but once. But I
believe in spraying at least three times. Spray every year

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 59

whether there is any fruit in sight or not. You never can get
healthy fruit buds without perfect fohage, and your fruit buds
are already formed now for next year's crop. The first
spraying should be done just as the leaf buds are breaking.
Then is the time to use the Bordeaux mixture. The next time
is just before the blossoms come out. If you have got any
insect pests in your orchard I claim that that is the best way
to keep them in check. By putting on the spray in this way
you do it just at the time when it is most effective to destroy
these dift'erent pests that you have got to reach at certain
times if you are going to do any good. They are more readily
killed then. Then, you want to spray again after the blossoms
fall.

My plan is to repeat that last spraying if it rains before the
petals close up. It may be that sometimes it will be necessary
to spray more than three times in order to keep some insects in
check. Some of them are very much more readily killed when
the worms are small. You take the canker w^orm that is first
cousin to the tent caterpillar, and he is a bad fellow to handle.
Wq had some experience with that fellow and w^e had to spray a
number of times before we killed them out. We found by taking
a pound of paris green and putting it into the mixture and then
spraying after a rain — we sprayed one year seven times in the
month of June — we were able to control this pest. Of course, if
you are going to use a strong dose you will have to use an excess
of lime. I put in about three times the amount of lime that is
needed before the foliage comes on. We tried it with a smaller
quantity of paris green but it did not work, and we finally put
on a pound and by using plenty of lime it did not hurt the
trees. We had to do something or be eaten up.

And then the last time, in spraying for the codlin moth, spray
after the blossoms fall. That is thoroughly understood and it
is explained by the Experiment Station just how to do that.
The main thing is to know how to mix your Bordeaux mixture.
It is very necessary to do it just right. If you do not you are
apt to have trouble.

It may be necessary sometimes to drain your orchard. The
work of drainage is an important matter. An excess of water
is just as harmful as a deficiency. You want to look out for
that when you start your orchard. You do not want to put an

6o THE COXXECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

orchard on land that is too wet. Of course after you get your
orchard going and in good shape, it will drain oflf some every
year; but that is an important matter, to get land where you
can keep the proper amount of moisture in the soil to the best
advantage.

Now I have preferred to describe the methods that I follow.
I have brought some apples here which will show you how
the size and color run, and give you a general idea of the results
that I can get by this system. I claim that by this system you
can produce as finely colored apples as there are grown.
These apples that I have here were kept in cold storage.
They were put in cold storage as soon as they w^ere picked, and
kept there until the 20th of December and then taken out and
kept in an ordinarv^ cellar until now. And that is a point I
want to bring up. If we can put our apples into cold storage
it will be a good point for us. You can keep the apples better,
and save more of the crop so that it will be cheaper, and it
enables us to keep the apples in better condition until we can
find the right kind of a market. I have brought some of the
Wealthy, Spitzenberg, and the Northern Spy, and I shall be
glad to have some of you people test them.

The President: I presume that there are a good many who
wall be glad to ask Mr. Hitchings some questions now.

Mr. Hitchings : I should be glad to answer any questions,
if I can.

Mr. Kelsev: I would like to ask the speaker if he would
advise any man to allow water to run in the holes when he is
setting trees? In other words, is it a good plan to set the trees
in where you have got water in the bottom of the hole?

Mr. Hitchings : I have set trees in that condition, where
we had to take the tree and put it right into the muddy water
and soil at the bottom of the hole and it did just as well.

Mr. Kelsey: Well, do you advise taking that kind of soil
for an apple orchard, or would you advise that it should be
drained off?

Mr. Hitchings : Certainly. I should say to let it drain out
if you can. As I said in my talk, an excess of water is about
as harmful as a deficiency.

The President: What was the temperature of the cold
storage where these apples were kept ? ( The President referred
to samples exhibited by ]\Ir. Hitchings.)

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 6i

Mr. Hitchixgs: I think about 36.

Mr. Ives : How much annual wood growth could you expect
to get from the first beginning of the young trees under your
system ?

]^Ir. Hitchixgs : If you will take notice from the pictures
that have been shown — those trees were from five to six years
old, and the annual growth would vary from 6 inches to 8
inches. But in some of them it would be a good deal more
than that. You will get all the growth that is necessary. I
try to restrict it. You see if you have got an accumulation of
that vegetable matter there, it forces them along until the grass
gets started in the spring. You want time for the blossoms
to develop.

Mr. Fexx: How many apples did you get on those trees the
fifth year from the setting?

Mr. Hitchixgs : There were some trees that had a bushel
and a half on. They ran from a bushel up to a bushel and a
half.

Mr. Ives : On the fifth year, as I understand you, they were
mostly Jonathan, Wealthy, Spitzenberg and apples of that kind ?

Mr. Hitchixgs : I will tell you what I got from six-year-old
Northern Spy. That is an apple which usually does not bear
very strong. Six years from planting I had 150 I guess, and
a good many of them had half a bushel of Northern Spys.
Some of them are here. I stimulate the fruit-bud development
and restrict the wood growth. By stimulating the fruit-bud
development on trees nine years old, and on those eleven years
old we have had at least fifteen bushels per tree. Sometimes
when a tree is eleven years old — on certain trees we have picked
as high as twenty bushels.

Mr. Fexx : And with no other fertilization other than what
they got by your simply mowing the grass and putting it around
the trees?

]\Ir. Hitchixgs: That is all. Never was a pound of fer-
tilizer put on the orchard. It has been spoken of by somebody
that they did not think the trees would live. Right in this
orchard there are trees that have been standing there a hundred
years. There are quite a number that were set a hundred and
four years ago. An old lady, a neighbor of mine, told me
she could remember seventv-five vears and she savs that never

62 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

in that time did she know of a failure in that orchard. Right
around amongst those trees I have set young ones.

Mr. ]\Ierwix : What kind of grass do you use ' in your
orchard when you make your planting of trees?

Mr. Hitchings: In planting an orchard if you can get new
land, that of course is best, and I would say to use red clover,
timothy and redtop. That is when you first set the orchard.
You will get quite a crop from helping the bacterial action in
the soil. And if you have not got the grass to put around,
the redtop will help because it makes a very fine aftermath.

Mr. Cook : I would like to inquire about your orchard —
whether the hills are high there? I read in a paper some time
ago about raising apples in the hilly country. I think it stated
that that was the best place ; that there they grew best. The
description was of a side hill. I should think there would be
a good deal of wash come down from the hills, and from that
description that there would be a good deal of water get into
the land.

Mr. Hitchings : Of course there would be some water if
you have got it on a side hill with higher land above the
orchard. Perhaps there would be an excess of water run down
at certain times. I think if you can, when you are selecting a
location for an orchard, it is a good thing to get it on pretty
high ground. I explained about that in my talk.

Mr. Cook : I rather thought that those apples showed an
excess of potash. I should think so.

Mr. Hitchings: You do not want too much nitrogen. If
3'ou have too much nitrogen in the land you will get pale color.
As to the potash, I don't know.

A Member: How deep is that mulch which you put on?

Mr. Hitchings : When you first start you want more mulch,
especially until you get your grass growing. After that the
less you need it you can spread it out thinner. After your
trees have got well started, you will find that they need a very
light amount and it is better to spread it out well, especially
before the harvest time. You will save more of the fruit that
way.

Mr. Cook: Did I understand you to say that you sprayed
when they were in blossom ?

Mr. Hitchings: No, sir. I think I said to spray immedi-
ately after the blossoms fall. I meant to say that.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 63

Now on the question of mulching. When you first commence
put it about the tree, and then spread it out as they continue
to grow larger. As the trees in the orchard get larger you will
find a little go a great ways. And right here is another point.
By this method we can leave your apples on the tree and you
needn't be afraid of the rain knocking them off' when they
commence to ripen. So you can leave the apples on the tree
until they have got ripe.

If a storm knocks any of them oft it don't hurt them any.
I have picked them right up off this mulch in that way and
taken them to Syracuse and got a dollar and a half for a bushel.
You see thev do not get into the dirt when they drop oft'. They
drop into a clean place, and it's soft, and it does not hurt them
any. If they dropped into the dirt some of them would be
an entire loss. That is a great advantage because you can leave
your apples on until they get into a condition just as the trade
wants them, and then when you can go into market that way
you are a pretty good fellow. It strikes me anything you can
do to get that condition you had better do it. You can get
just what is wanted, and when the people get a taste of them
they are sure to want more.. That has been my experience. It
is quality you are after. As the trees grow I keep carrying
the mulch out a little ways so it is all around. When the fruit
commences to come then you see there is a lot of fine grass
formed in the whole orchard and the apples will drop anywhere
and it don't do them any damage. If the apples fall they are
not broken. Of those that drop at least nine-tenths of them
would be marketable.

The President: Do you get size enough on your apples?

Mr. Hitchixgs: Yes, sir, plenty of it.

The President: Do you get a good yield? What is the
yield if you can tell?

]\Ir. Hitchings : Well, of course it varies, but about 300
bushels to the acre. ~\[ost of these trees have been set some
time. I commenced with 180 trees and have been setting since.
Those that are in full bearing yield about 300 bushels to the
acre.

Mr. Tuck: About what price do you get on the average?

Mr. Hitchings: About $1.50 on the average. It depends
upon the market of course. If vou have got the right kind of

64 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

quality you can set your own price. There are not many apples
grown right around Syracuse and so there is no trouble in
getting a good market. That is why T spoke of the Mcintosh.
They begged me to bring them in by the dozen if I did not have
them by the bushel.

A Member: Would those keep as readily for cold storage?
I mean those that you have been describing that you picked up
and took to market?

Mr. Hitchings : No, sir. There is a certain stage at which
the apples should be picked for cold storage. If you let them
go beyond that stage they do not keep so well. If you pick
them at the right point you will have apples that wall keep
perfectly. There is a point in the way you take care of them
when you are picking. If you place them out in the sun they
are not apt to keep so well in cold storage. If you pick them
right, then you can keep them well. Of course that is some-
thing everybody has got to learn by experience.

Mr. Morgan : I should like to inquire of the gentleman if
this land of his that is under sod culture is mellow land?

Mr. Hitchings : Some parts of it would be as hard as rock
and you know what that means. Sometimes when there has
been no rain it will get quite hard, but where the mulch is put
round it conserves the moisture and there is no chance for it
to dry up.

Mr. J. H. Hale : I think we have all been highly entertained
by the address of our friend Hitchings and by what he has
said about his apple orchard and the results that he has got
from them. However much we may differ with him in ideas,
or as to what has been the cause that has brought about the
desirable results that he has evidently got, I think we can feel
sure of one thing and that is that his enthusiasm in the cause
and his faith in his methods of work have had something to
do with the results. I should have to differ with him very
sharply on the general principles that he has laid down. He
has made about as good an argument perhaps as can be made
for sod culture, but a large share of that success he has had —
and he certainly has had marked success — has its basis in
the man himself. He believes in himself; he believes in his
methods, and a man with his enthusiasm will be successful
anvwhere.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 65

IMost any man who will give the care and attention to his
orchard, and spray as often as he has done, is bound to get
tine-looking apples. That is one great secret of it. A man
with his faith in the apple tree would be a success on almost
any line. But on top of all that he let the cat right out of the
bag when he said that right alongside of these trees, and he
says he has got trees a hundred years old that have borne fruit ;
and that is where he let the whole thing out.

It shows that there is some particular virtue in Hitchings'
land. There is no doubt but what he has got an exceptionally
good piece of land, and it would grow apples if the sod was
up to the top of the trees. That is plain enough. It is plain
enough that God Almighty made that particular piece of land
to raise apples on and Hitchings simply landed on that particu-
lar spot and has taken advantage of it.

He says it is all due to sod culture. That sod culture theory
of his is all nonsense from start to finish. Your fathers and
grandfathers tried it here in Connecticut, and for 200 years, and
made a miserable failure of it. Most of them mowed their grass
and left it there. But some of them carried it to their barns
and fed it.

Dr. Fisher up in Pittsfield, Mass., tried that sod plan and he
kept at it until he was almost old enough to die. Then he finally
learned better and he put his orchards into rational culture and
then he got better apples and more of them.

I can cite a host of instances. Mr. ^Morrill, the Michigan
peach grower, eleven years ago was working as a laborer for
other people wdien he started his little orchard, and to-day he
is worth more than one hundred thousand dollars. He has made
it because he has everlastingly been turning the soil.

Mr. Hitchings : Let's see about that. Friend Hale came
up to our meeting in Syracuse and he told us about growing
fruit and cultivating, and before he got through he said the
finest apples that he saw anywhere in the country were grown
up in ]\Iaine where they never cultivated ; where the soil was
all held down so that they couldn't cultivate it. It was mulched
with rocks and sod. (Laughter.)

?iIr. Loomis: If mv friend Hale will come over and see us
I will show him two orchards in which I know that the grass
has been mowed, and the trees nmlched in verv nuich the same

66 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

manner as Mr. Hitchings has described, for forty years, and
one of these orchards is the best orchard I know of in Tolland
County.

Prof. Powell: I just want to point out the danger of draw-
ing a general conclusion from a single example like the one
which has been cited here by Mr. Hitchings. I can take you
down almost anywhere in this country and show you plenty of
orchards in cultivation which have been changed from sod cul-
ture, and where the growers are getting from 50 to 75 per cent,
more fruit than they ever got from the other practice. On the
other hand, I can take you up in Maine and show you orchards
in sod that are bearing the finest types of fruit.

Down in the mountains of West Virginia, where they cannot
cultivate, I have seen some of the finest colored fruit ever
grown, and yet, you go down in our part of the country, through
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, and I venture the assertion
that you will travel many a day before you will find a single
orchard in sod that is giving anything like fair returns. I want
to say that there is a great danger in this. I gave you my
ideas. I believe in sod culture under some conditions, but I
want to point out to you the great danger of taking a single
example, whether it be from a man like Mr. Hitchings or from
any other man, and trying to draw a general conclusion from
their success. You must work this thing out for yourselves.
Nobody can work it out for you. There is not an experiment
station in the country that can work out your salvation. You
must do as Mr. Hitchings has done, — work it out for yourselves.
There is not a successful grower in the country but what will
tell you that after all success in a large measure depends upon
the man. I will venture the assertion that a dozen men might
go and locate right next to Mr. Hitchings and attempt to grow
an orchard as he has done and make it a failure because they are
not Hitchings. A man might locate right by the side of Mr.
Morrill and even cultivate more times than he does, and still
not have his success because he was not Morrill. Nobody can
work out a man's own system so well as the man himself. And
there is where the value of a discussion of this kind comes in.
It is to point out some of the general principles of orcharding,
but you must l)e very careful how you attempt to make these
principles applicable to your conditions. Of course there are

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 67

certain principles that are generally applicable, but what I want
to point out is the fact that because ]\Ir. Hitchings has been
very successful through a system of sod culture, it does not
follow that the same success would follow the general appli-
cation of his methods. Mr. Hitchings seems to have struck it
just right, but what I want to do is to throw out a warning
against the idea that because Hitchings can do it anybody can
do it.

You must work things out for yourselves. If your condi-
tions are such that you need tillage you will not be successful
without it. You must adapt your system of culture to the
conditions which surround you.

Right over on my father's farm, not very many miles from
here, there is an example. My father was one of the success-
ful grow-ers and he used to grow under sod, but he used to
draw out load after load of manure to get a good crop.

On other orchards, even when well manured and with the
best sod culture, it would be hard work to get a biennial
crop, so that I say it would be very unwise to draw a general
principle or a general conclusion from a single or even a num-
ber of successful examples, that sod culture w^as the thing.
You must apply these principles to your own conditions and
in a measure use your own judgment. Don't bank on sod
culture and don't bank on tillage. Use your judgment as to
what is best under the conditions which surround you. Work
it out for yourselves. It does not lie in what somebody else
will tell you. It lies in yourselves to apply certain fundamental
principles to supply what is necessary for bacterial life and for
plant life, and after that it is the man behind the gun that does
the work.

Mr. Edwin Hoyt : I do not believe it depends altogether upon
the man behind the gun. Of course the man is an element, but
what is necessary to produce good apples like -some of these
we have been shown here to-day? You must have moisture,
and you must have plant food. You must have both. If Mr.
Hitchings is getting plant food by his system he will get apples
and fine apples, provided that he destroys the enemies that
hinder their perfection. I do not care how able a man is, if
he does not give his trees plant food he will not get fine
apples.

68 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

You may give a pig all of some kinds of food it can eat,
but if you do not give it some corn it will not get fat. If you
do not give fruit trees the kind of plant food which they require
you will not get fine fruits.

This gentleman is evidently getting the plant food that his
trees want, but he says he is not feeding his orchard. Can
we raise apples in Connecticut on our worn-out soil without
plant food? Can we set out an orchard and let the grass grow
in it on most of our lands, and without plant food of some kind
will our land grow clover without petering out the soil? Very
few soils can do it until we apply fertilizers.

He says that he puts back all the grass in the way of grass.
What he takes out of the soil is apples. He may put on his
vegetable matter and mow his grass and keep it there, but in
time unless he has got an inexhaustible supply of plant food
he adds nothing to his soil. He adds nothing, but he is taking
out apples all the time. If he adds anything he adds nitrogen,
which he is opposed to. In the decomposition of that vege-
table matter he gets nitrogen and he gets potash and he gets
phosphoric acid. But where does that come from? It comes
out of the very soil that the grass does.

Now so long as the plant food in that soil keeps up he will
have apples, and he will have them by mowing his grass and
putting it back again. It is an easy way. It's a cheap way.
But on our Connecticut soils, on the most of our soils let us
not forget to put on the materials that the apples want. If we
do that we shall be safe. Under his method I think we shall
be unsafe. Another element in his success is being able to
get rid of the enemies of the apple. He says that he sprays
three times any way and that sometimes he sprays five or six
times a year. We can get apples in Connecticut as good as he
has in New York State if we are as careful as that. All we
want is the food, and the soil, and tlie trees. }'ut the food
into the soil and nature will place it in the apples.

Mr. HrrcHiNcs : I think there is potash and ])hosphoric acid
enough in a great many soils if it is handled right. I do not
have any trouble in getting the very best color and my method
is cheaper than by buying artificial stimulants to o])tain it.

Prof. Powki.l: I h()])e you will excuse me, Mr. President, for
talking so nnich, but T just want to say one thing. I have

ELEl'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 69

just handled 75 Ijushels of Mr. Hitchings' fruit and he certainly
deserves a great deal of credit for what he has done. I have
selected specimens from a great deal of fruit that he had in
storage this year. On our government experiment we had
some 75 bushels, and I noticed in looking over these speci-
mens that they w-ere not exaggerated specimens at all. — they
were about his average. I am glad to say that. After hand-
ling over 75 bushels of them I felt that I got fairly acquainted
with them. And I want to tell you another thing.

Here is one of the secrets of his success. When I went up
there on one occasion he was away from home. I went out
in the orchard on his place wth some members of his family.
Two little fellows took me all around and they pointed out the
different varieties. One of them was six and the other eight.
It was astonishing the knowledge those little fellows displayed.
As they went through the orchard with me they would say.
"Here is Mcintosh," "here is Jonathan," "here is Ben Davis."
and so on. They pointed them right out to me. And they
made comments too. "Here is one of the finest apples on the
place." "And here is another."

Let me tell you, friends, that there were two boys, one six
years of age and the other eight, telling me all this, and it did
not take me long to come to the conclusion that there was a
Pomological bent in that whole family.

I agree with what Mr. Hale says. A good deal of the success
of Mr. Hitchings is due to the fact that he is just chock full
of pomology. He is just chock full of good apples. He can't
raise anything else.

The President : Do we want to follow up this apple question
any further?

Mr. T. S. Gold : Here in Connecticut, and I suppose it has
never been denied, we have the largest apple tree grown in the
United States. Where was that grown? In a plowed field or
in a cultivated field ? So far as I can learn, it was grown in
soil which had never been disturbed from the time the tree
started to grow, and it grew to be a great, magnificent specimen
when it had reached its full maturity. It was over here in the
town of Cheshire, and it lived to be over one hundred years
old. It grew where the plow had never touched the soil and
where nothing had ever disturbed the soil about its roots.

70 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

There is an argument which may be in favor of sod culture
that these gentlemen have not advanced. I believe that there
is a certain amount of truth on that side of the question.

The President: If there is anything more that you care to
ask Mr. Hitchings about his methods, I will ask him to stand
right up here in front and tell you all he can ; if not, we will
go on with the regular program. I think we are now ready
to hear from Mr. .\. G. Sharp of Richmond, ]\Iass., on special
question No. i, "What are the essential points in profitable small
fruit culture?" Mr. Sharp is as able to tell you about small
fruits as Mr. Hitchings is to talk about apples. As it is, I
think we had better go on and I will introduce to you Mr.
Sharp.

Mr. a. G. Sharp: Mr. President and Felloiv Members of
the Connecticut Pomological Society: Your question asking for
"The essential points in profitable small fruit culture" I will
try to answer under five heads.

First — A good stock of plants of a few choice varieties. It
is almost as impossible to obtain good results from weak or
diseased plants as it is from poor seed to get a good harvest.
Having a few good varieties, your goods soon become known,
and you have less occasion to mix varieties in the same ship-
ment. Keep testing in a small way (by the dozen or hundred)
the new varieties. Fruit must be bright and smooth and of
good average size of its kind. The quality must be good, if
not the highest, and you must learn w'hat does best on your
soil under field culture by the side of older and well 'tried
varieties. My specialty is the Cuthbert raspberry. I have
grown many new kinds by the side of that variety for the past
twenty-two years, but I have found none as good for me and
my trade. Some other kinds may be better for another locality,
as the Cuthbert will not do well everywhere.

Second — Well prepared soil and thorough and continued
cultivation. It should not be too deep. This is of as much
importance as an abiuidance of fertilizer without it. Though
we want a sufficiency of well-balanced fertilizer, it is better to
cut it short than the cultivation. Give your plants plenty of
room. We are apt to crowd them by this intense system
of culture, which does not pay in all respects, and we have got
to see to it that the plants have the proper amount of room.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 71

The top of the ground should be kept fine and loose. The last
season I increased my yield of potatoes one hundred bushels
per acre above former yields though I used no more fertilizer.
The crop was 25 per cent, better for the extra cultivation.

Spraying is now a necessity. The best fruit cannot be grown
without it. No matter what the variety of small fruits, perfect
foliage always precedes the best. Spraying must be thorough
and at the proper time in order to obtain the best results. The
trimming and thinning must also be done with care. No one
set of rules will fit all cases. Trim and thin according to
growth of plants, strength of soil and distances between hills
or rows. I set raspberries and blackberries five and six feet.

Third — Knowledge of the best markets. It is essential to
know what is wanted by the people who are best able to pay
for high-priced goods. The point is how best will suit their
case, or to catch the eye in the market. Usually the best dealers
have not the time to praise your goods. You must make them
as attractive as possible, and put them up in convenient-size
packages. Aluch of the finest fruit in the garden is sometimes
spoiled in appearance before it reaches the sight of the con-
sumer by careless handling, or packing in inconvenient shape
for forwarding. Observation is one of the best features. We
must visit the markets occasionally and see what others are
doing, and have a talk with the dealers. They usually know-
best what will please the public especially in their locality.

Fourth — Square dealing: it takes many years to establish a
reputation and it is just as essential to keep it as it is to build
it. This cannot be done without personal attention to details
of the business. You can lose in a few days by a little care-
lessness that which it has cost years to establish, and when it
is once lost you cannot regain it. Be sure that the surface is
a fair representation of the entire package, or lot of goods,
whether they are graded in size or not. The grower and dealer
must have a perfect understanding and work together to obtain
best results, having perfect confidence in each other. I have
never needed much help from the commission men and could
sell at the farm, or railroad station near it, direct to retailers
more than three times the amount of fruit I can grow, and
usually make the price myself f.o.b. at the farm.

Fifth — Perseverance or endurance in the effort to raise the

72 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

best that can be grown : I began 22 years ago with these inten-
tions, and have endured 20 years longer than some of my friends
and neighbors predicted at the start, and that in spite of the
fact that I have been working on a rocky, heavy, clay soil on
a farm situated from 150 to 200 miles from all the best markets.

If brother Hale had given up the year before he struck his
first big crop of peaches, I fear the birth of this valuable Society
would have been delated many years, and there would have
been several hundred thousand less peach and other fruit trees
than there are now upon many of the hills, and in many of
the valleys of Connecticut. In Massachusetts to-day it is very
essential that we have a love for the business, are walling to
work, and are not content to stop short of the top. The top
is something which keeps getting higher as competition increases
and the insects and plant diseases become more difficult to
handle. Our business is now in such a situation that it requires
constant watchfulness and study through the entire season.

Sixth— Profitable small fruit culture : the profits in this as
in other lines of business often depend much on the supply and
demand. Some 12 or more years ago Hale Brothers were put-
ting up "Yankee Jam" from the last pickings of their red
raspberries because of low prices and people getting tired
of the fruit. I put up nearly a ton one year rather than sell
the fruit at 10 or 12 cents per quart. I have here three photo-
graphs of a field of Cuthbert raspberries taken July ist, 190T.
or about three weeks before picking. The fruit from this field
last season sold at 19^4 cents net f.o.b., and the year before that
at iyy2 cents net f.o.b. For the entire crop there were no com-
missions paid or other expenses to come out of the amount
received. The first shipments brought 20 cents in Boston and
the last two crates 24 cents wholesale. The field is six years old.
You will notice the perfect foliage, and while the canes are tied
close to the stakes, shading them completely from the sun's hot
rays, the fruit is all on the surface of the hills, getting all the
sunlight possible to make color and quality perfect, and enabling
the vines to quickly dry oflf after a shower, and therefore ready
to pick.

Fine red raspberries will be scarce and high for some years
to come or until some of their many enemies can be overcome,
for there are so manv wavs thev can be used bv those who like

ELEJ'ENTH .-^NXUAL MEETING. 73

them, put up as well as fresh. The great difficulty of getting
plants free from root gall and the increasing depredations of
the wasps and yellow jackets are discouraging to smaller
growers. About all they are able to do is to grow enough
for their families and the birds without selling a surplus. Of
course a good many have turned a surplus into the market.
One who had been selling from seventy-five to one hundred
dollars worth yearly from his garden plot told me that if the
bees kept at them he would never set out any more, and I have
heard many others say the same thing. Then, too, others
will not take the trouble to spray in order to protect the foliage
from the diseases and insects that prey upon them. Of course
there are different ways of looking at these things. Otherwise
there would be no use for us to gather here to discuss them.

I consider it an honor to be called here, now for the third
time, to address this society on small fruit culture.

The President : Now is the time to draw out from Mr.
Sharp all the information you can. to learn how to raise your
berries, and all about it.

Mr. Sh.vrp: If there are any questions which you would like
to ask me, I will answer them so far as I can.

Mr. Smith : How do you keep your vines healthy?

Mr. Sharp : By spraying them.

Mr. Smith: When?

Mr. Sharp : T spray in the spring before the buds start.
Spray foliage just before the fruit buds open.

Mr. Smith: What do you spray with?

Mr. Sh.vrp: Bordeaux mixture, using a quarter of a pound
of paris green to fifty gallons of water. Of course if you are
spraying foliage it will not do to use too strong a mixture
without putting in some lime. I usually put in about two
pounds of lime.

A Member: How do you protect yourself from the attacks
of hornets and bees?

Mr. Sharp: I try to sprinkle water on them. I have not
got any way of protecting myself entirely from them. About
the only protection that I know of is to have the piece large
enough so that you can get some fruit for them and yourself
too. The only way to do is to have raspberries enough for
all. I think vou will have to feed them as we do the l)irds

74 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

until they find something that they like better than they do
raspberries.

A Member : Are yoti troubled with the leaves blighting or
drying up?

Mr. Sharp : I have laid that to root-gall. I have found
some of that, but I have attribtued it to root-gall.

A Member : The canes die out the second year after that
makes its appearance, don't they?

Mr. Sharp : I have not been troubled any more the second
year after than I have the third or fourth.

A Member: What I mean is, that when they come up the
next year after this trouble makes its appearance, there is usually
a pretty poor prospect of the crop amounting to anything.

Mr. Sharp: We do have that occasionally, but I have laid
it to root-gall. It has not been bad with us, and probably my
experience is a good deal more limited than many others.

A Member : It is something which is entirely new with me.
I have a great deal of it; and there are some other plantations
that I know of that have been troubled that w'ay. It is entirely
new and it is very fatal as I understand. I did not know that
it was due to root-galls.

Mr. Sharp : Have you examined the roots ?

Same Member : I don't think I have with reference to that.

Mr. Sharp: I think you will find that it is due to a gall on
the root.

A Member : Has raspberry growing received the attention
it deserves, and if not, why?

Mr. Sharp : I endeavored to answer that in my paper par-
tially. It is because of the depredation of these insects, and
the necessity for spraying for the various diseases, root-galls and
other things like that. It is certainly not because the fruit
will not sell if it is in good condition. There is certainly as
much demand now as there has been for years.

A Member : How do you like the Loudon raspberry ?

Mr. Sharp: It does very well in some localities. I have
seen some that were very good. They are not very much
cultivated, however. I do not think they are equal to the
Cuihbert.

A Member: Do you think they have as good a flavor as
some others ?

ELEJ'EXTH ANNUAL MEETING. 75

Mr. Spiarp: Oh no, I do not. There is nothing that suits my
taste so well as a Cuthbert.

]\1r. Moore : Do you pinch back the young canes or let them
grow ?

Mr. Sharp : Here is a photograph that will show you how
they look now. Of course we hold them back so as to prevent
too much growth.

Mr. Moore : I would like to ask also, if the gentleman is
troubled with the disease called anthracnose?

^[r. Sharp: Not on the red raspberries. I have seen it on
the black.

]vIr. ]\Ioore : What varieties do you raise mostly ?

Mr. Sharp : That's what I was speaking of a minute ago.
The Cuthbert does the best with me.

Mr. Moore : And as I understand, you cut back the canes.
How much do you cut them back in the spring?

Mr. Sharp : I think it is a good plan to keep them down
to about five feet if you can. The canes will run up sometimes
eight or nine feet high in good ground. If you pinch the canes
back too much it makes a very stocky bush and then there is
a little pendage which comes out. It is our practice to hold
them back as much as seems best. In Berkshire County we
sometimes take off four or five inches, unless the field is on
exceptionally high ground and is well protected.

I have been growing the Cuthbert now for a good many
years.

A Member: How do yoit grow them, that is as to distance
between plants in a row, and how far apart are the rows?

Mr. Sharp : I have grown them every way. Five feet each
way and 4 by 6, and 4 by 5, but I have come to the conclusion
that 5 by 6 is the best.

Mr. Innis: What is the best variety of red raspberries now?

Mr. Sharp: I do not know. Of course a good many would
differ about that. The best I have ever found is the Cuthbert.
That has done the best with me. It bears well, and I think as
a rule it is more hardy.

A Member: Are you familiar with the '"Munger" black rasp-
berry now being advertised by some of the nurserymen ?

Mr. Sharp: I have known about it for a good while but
have not tried to grow it for ten years. My soil is a heavy

76 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

clay soil and I get that anthracnose I think very readily on
such varieties as that. I do not think it is as good as some of
the other varieties and it usually brings about half price in the
market.

On motion of Mr. Hale, duly seconded and passed, the Society
voted to commence the morning session on Wednesday at 9.30.

Evening Session— 7.30 P. M.

President Piatt called the meeting to order at 7.30.

The President : First we will take up some of the questions
on our list. "Is the Jonathan apple preferable to the Baldwin or
Sutton for Connecticut orcliardists ? if not, what is?"

Does anyone know enough about the Jonathan apple to answer
that? One of mv brothers has some trees 25 years old in Mil-
ford. He seems to think they drop early. It is a very high
colored apple, however. They are the only trees I know of.

Prof. Powell: I might say just a word on the Jonathan.
In New York, in some parts of the State, for the last few years
thev have been including the Jonathan as one of their main
apples in planting young orchards. It is an apple of very high
quality and under proper conditions does very well. It is an
apple that keeps in storage well and out of storage well. It
keeps into February or March. It is not a very strong growing
tree. It is rather of a drooping habit, yet you can make a very
strong tree out of it. People like the Greening or the Sutton,
but when vou can get this fruit they are good strong bearers
and it is fruit of the highest quality.

Mr. Kelsey : I would like to say that some few trees that
we have are doing very nicely. I believe it is a good apple, but
I would not advise anybody to set out the young trees. I think
top-grafted trees will give better results than the Jonathan.
I think if it is top-grafted I have every faith that it will prove
to be a very valuable apple in the State. I know that it has
kept well and I believe that it will kee]) as well as some of the
other varieties. That is a desirable quality, and it is a bright,
shiny, well-appearing apple. I am very much pleased with
it. I believe the Sutton is worth a good deal more if you
can make it grow well. If it's going to Ik mean about that
we have got to have something to take its place. I have some

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 7 7

doubt about that. The Jonathan is not so well established, but
I believe with proper culture it will make a very valuable apple.

Prof. PowEr.L : That is our practice at home, — to top-graft.
We have succeeded in getting a great deal more vigor into the
trees bv top-grafting, especially in the Xorthern Spy. When
it is put upon Spy stock it makes one of the most vigorous and
strongest growers of any apple in New York.

I was in an orchard the other day and was looking at some
Sutton Beauties and T thought if I was to start an orchard I
would start it down within a short distance of the ground. I
think if I was to start again I would start down within i8 to
20 inches of the ground. That makes the trees very much
handier to get at.

The President: A part of this question says, if it is not
as valuable as the Sutton, what is? There was a gentleman
here to-day that I wanted to have speak about some of the new-
apples, as he comes from the West. He said that he did not
like to say anything about them because "I have not had them
long enough." That is one great trouble in trying to say any-
thing about new apples. Just one crop does not permit us to
really make up our minds what they are.

One of the southwestern apples that looks well and takes
well, — I think it's on the table here, I am pretty sure it is, — is
the Senator. There is another name for it, but I think you
will find that name on it. It is a very bright-colored apple,
of good size and finely marked. It is as fine as the Sutton.
At least, I call it so. It is a promising apple.

Mr. Fenn : Has your brother fruited it?

The PREsn)ENT : I don't think so. The exhibit on the
table came from ^lanchester.

Prof. Powell: The Senator is not a very late keeping winter
apple. It is an early winter apple. It is usually out of the
way by the first of the year. It is not like the Ben Davis, and
it will not keep like a good many of your eastern varieties.

A ]\Iember : Will it keep equal to the Baldwin ?

Prof. Powell: Probably not. The Baldwin is usually a
very good keeper. I have seen this apple in cold storage, and
it is good now. It is firm and hard and it is still keeping well
in cold storage. They have l)een in since last September, but
these I am speaking about were grown on very high altitude

78 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

in West Virginia. It is a very fair quality of apple and a
very good apple.

The President : Another question — 'Ts there any profit in
Connecticut in trying to grow for market, peaches earlier than
the Mountain Rose?"

Mr. Smith : I have not had much experience. We orchard-
ists, if we can raise a few trees that would be earlier, it might
be very nice to have them for market, but, as I say, I have not
had much experience. I think, Mr. President, Mr. Barnes
knows a good deal more about that than I do.

Mr. Barnes : Mr. Chairman, I never had much faith in the
early ripening varieties, so I never planted them. We have the
Triumph, but we have tested these kinds only in a very small
way. Just a trial, and from what experience I have had I have
not changed my opinion any. I have no faith in the early
ripening varieties whatever.

Mr. Smith : I judge our season is very unfavorable for early
fruit, the fact that some years there is so much rain which
damages the crop. That is the trouble with these varieties.
It may be due to climatic influences, but their weak point is
a tendency to rot.

The President: Last spring I cut out one hundred Early
Rivers trees that were healthy and in good condition to bear.
One of our members in Branford has been trying the Early
Rivers, and is preparing to cut out the trees. They will bear
and are large enough. We tried to carry them to market, and
although they had rather rot than to keep, when we got them
to market we found that they were rather sour, and rather
green-looking, and the market men were scolding about them all
the time, so we got tired of it. I have seen some very early
ones that were very good flavor, however.

The President: I think we will have to drop this question
at the present time and take up the order of the evening. Our
first lecture on the programme is to be an illustrated one on
''Ornamental planting about the rural home." by Prof. F. W.
Card of the Rhode Island Agricultural College at Kingston.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 79

Ornamental Planting About the Farm Home.

By Prof. F. IV. Card, Kingston, R. I.

The first object in ornamental planting should be to produce
a picture. The growing of a plant for its flowers is not land-
scape gardening. Neither is the growing of plants to form a
pattern bed, in itself, landscape gardening. These things may
play a part in the picture to be produced, but in themselves
are not the picture. To produce such a picture requires artistic
instinct equal to that demanded in the expression of any other
kind of art. Indeed, it presents difficulties which other arts
do not present. Compare the painting of a landscape upon
canvas and the painting of one upon greensward. The land-
scape painter chooses first his point of view and compels the
one who would look upon the picture to accept that point of
view. The landscape gardener must make a picture presentable
from many points. The landscape painter may heighten the
effect of his production by the introduction of a stately tree,
a winding river or a mountain summit. The landscape gar-
dener is debarred from such possibilities. The artist upon
canvas completes and paints his picture as it is to remain. The
gardener must conceive a picture which will be always chang-
ing, never complete, yet always artistic and beautiful. He
must expect his effort to be often thwarted by accident and
disease, yet when rightly conceived and carefully carried out,
his living picture may appeal to the highest artistic instinct.
It is a picture which presents and interprets nature ; a picture
of life and activity, painted by the hand of the divine Master
of the universe.

Landscape gardening, like all other arts, had crude and simple
beginnings. In the olden days, when man's house was his
castle, and that castle w^as surrounded by a strong wall to keep
out his enemies, gardening at its best could but be cramped and
artificial. The natural result would be that the planting should
partake of the artificial and geometric character of its surround-
ings. Straight lines and sharp angles prevailed. A bed on
one side would be balanced with a bed on the opposite side.
Greensward, the canvas upon which the modern gardener paints
his picture, played little part or was entirely wanting. As time
passed on the surrounding wall was no longer needed, Init the

8o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

dooryard fence and the mathematical style of gardening long
remained. A reaction set in against this style of planting, and
the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme. Apostles of
natural gardening arose who would place the house in a pasture
and plant dead trees to simulate nature. Out of the controversy
has come our modern style of gardening. This aims to inter-
pret and emphasize the beauties of nature, but to eliminate her
faults.

The two types of gardening still persist, the geometric or
artificial, with its wealth of pattern beds, exotic plants and

Fig. I. — Gracefully massed shrubbery — Nature's own planting.

ornaments, and the natural, with its more easy and graceful
lines and lack of pronovmced features. Two expressions sug-
gest themselves as possible in the natural treatment of a place.
These are known as the picturesque and the beautiful. The
picturesque is in keeping only upon rough or rocky surfaces,
or where the trees give evidence of battling with the elements.
The beautiful is in keeping with smooth and grassy slopes,
spreading trees, wealth of foliage and flowers. It is the expres-
sion to which most farm homes more easily lend themselves.

That landscape gardening is a fine art, offering scope for the
highest artistic faculties, should not deter the one who is not

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 8i

an artist from making any attempt at planting a home picture.
A few simple principles will render the development of such
a picture comparatively easy. The first of these is the need
of preserving ample stretches of open lawn. The lawn is the
canvas upon which the picture is to be painted. It should not
be frittered away in meaningless planting. Out of this prin-
ciple grows the second, that planting should be in masses rather
than scattered. To avoid stiffness and formality, the third
principle arises, which is, that planting should be irregular and
avoid straight lines. The group is the unit of artistic planting.
It emphasizes the good qualities possessed by single specimens,
and adds features which no single specimen can give. It should
be in the highest sense irregular, both in ground outline and
sky outline. It should be dense enough to afford abundant
play of light and shadow, but open enough to provide for
proper growth of the individuals composing it. To plant such
a group seems easy, but the common mistake of the novice is
to make it too dense and regular, to produce a formal clump
rather than an easy and graceful group. The use of the group
does not prevent the development of individual specimens and
the highest enjoyment of those specimens. They may best be
placed at prominent points or projections in the outline of the
groups. Care should be taken to choose plants which har-
monize in their foliage and character of growth in arranging
the group.

A prominent feature of modern gardening consists of bring-
ing in the beauty which lies beyond our own borders. Our
enjoyment of beauty on another's ground does not prevent
his enjoyment of that same beauty to the fullest extent. Groups
should, therefore, be arranged so that attractive features out-
side should be open to view. Oftentimes a scene not especially
attractive in itself becomes so if partially shut off from view.
This the group can do. It can also be used to hide or mitigate
unattractive objects, a service often of the greatest importance.

Walks and drives are often a necessity ; they are never an
ornament. They are for use. They should, therefore, go
where they affect to go in a direct and business-like way. This
does not mean that they must go in an absolutel}- straight line.
Few men will walk across a field in a straight line, perhaps
none, unless aiming to do so. A walk may curve to present
6

82 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

an attractive line of beauty, yet be direct. If planting can shut
off from view what is ahead, so much the better. In small
grounds drives are always objectionable, and should be omitted
if possible.

Water enters but rarely into the composition of the home
grounds. When it does, it may be easily spoiled. Nature
handles it wisely ; man may well take pattern. She never bor-
ders it with a stiff and rigid band. She lets it wander carelessly
down in its own way, and fringes it with plants as carelessly
placed.

Fig. 2i — A walk may present an attractive line of beauty.

The application of these principles, and a little effort, to the
rural school grounds of our country, would work a vast change
in their appearance. I recall passing a schoolhouse in the midst
of a beautiful farming region, within five miles of one of the
great nursery centers of the United States, some years ago.
That house stood close to the highway, flanked by its hideous
out-buildings, and with not a tree or shrub anywhere about
the grounds. Bold, bare and cheerless, it stood there, an eye-
sore to the whole region, yet at that nursery center doubtless

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

83

tlH

84 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

every year hundreds of ornamental trees and shrubs go on to
the brush pile. What a change a little effort on the part of
those interested might make.

Applied to the home, these principles carried out would add
greatly to the attractiveness and air of prosperity of the place.
It would also add much to the enjoyment of its occupants. It
would provide a stretch of green lawn reaching away from the
house, with glimpses of most desirable views in the distance
from most frequented windows. It would afford, by the mass-
ing of groups about the boundaries, a proper setting for the
house. It would, at the same time, afford ample opportunity
for love of individual trees, shrubs and flowers. In a word,
it w'ould often transform a harsh, forbidding scene into a beau-
tiful and inviting picture.

The President : We have another lecture, an illustrated one,
but whether it will be as pleasing as this one we have just had
I cannot say, but we ought to get considerable instruction out
of it to carry home. This is to come from Prof. Britton of the
Experiment Station of New Haven, on "Injurious Insects."

'* Injurious Insects/'

By Prof. ]V. E. Brittoti, State Entomologist .

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: This question of
injurious insects is a very important one, and one that is grow-
ing yearly more important. This afternoon our president told
you of a large apple tree which never had been cultivated.
He might also have said that the tree was never sprayed. It
was very old, but we do not believe that the lack of care
increased its longevity. As a matter of fact, we had fewer
insect pests at the time that this tree was coming to maturity
than we do at the present day. It might be well for me to pause
for a moment here, to say that these pests are increasing con-
stantly with the progress of our civilization. As our com-
mercialism has grown, and we are sending out steamships and
railroad trains all over the globe, and shipping produce from one
end of the earth to the other, it has become a very easy matter
for these pests to find lodging in freight, and upon these trains
and steamships be carried from one part of the world to the
other. That is probably the reason why pests are more numer-

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 85

ous to-day than ever before, and consequently, we must fight
them more vigorously than ever if we expect to be rid of the
damage which they cause. We hear a great deal of complaint
about them on ever}' hand, and yet we might as well recognize
the fact that they are with us, and we cannot expect to drive
them out without a lot of hard work against them. It may be
interesting to some of you if I should, at this point, say some-
thing of the development of the remedies which are used now
in fighting insect pests. Previous to 1829 tobacco water was
known as an insecticide.

I think it was in 1840 that the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society offered a prize of $120 for the cheapest and most effec-
tive method of destroying the rose beetle. Two years later
this sum of money was awarded to a Massachusetts gentleman
for a remedy which had been tried by the committee and found
to work fairly well. This remedy consisted of whale-oil soap,
two pounds to fifteen gallons of water. It was not until about
1868, however, that Paris green was used as an insecticide.
Its use was developed more especially in connection with the
Colorado potato beetle, which formerly lived in the Rocky
Mountains and began to work eastward soon after the potato
crop was first cultivated in that region. This is a field crop,
and was cultivated of course for a long time in the eastern
states. As the great West became settled, potato fields were
planted each year further and further westward, until they
finally reached the Rocky Mountains, and the potato beetle,
which fed on the wild plants there, began to feed upon the
cultivated ones. About 1874 it reached the Atlantic coast.
Various materials were tried, but after some experimentation it
was found necessary to use insecticides which were more power-
ful than any that had been used previously and it was found
that Paris green would answer the purpose very well. From
the use of this poison at that time many of our modern methods
of fighting insects have sprung. It was in 1878 that Paris
green was first used as a remedy against the canker worm,
and as its success was shown, it was then used for other insects.
One man in New York State observed that the trees which
had been sprayed were freer from the codlin moth than other
trees which were unsprayed, and so it has gradually come about
that at the present time no grower expects to obtain a crop of

86 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

fruit without spraying his trees with poison, in order to kill
off the leaf-eating insects, and some of the other pests which
infest our orchards. At the present time, as you know, there
are several things which are used, such as the Bordeaux mix-
ture, and kerosene emulsion, each for a specific purpose.

Fig. 4. — The Red-Humped Caterpillar, Oede»iasia concin7ia S. & A.;
natural size. Feeds upon apple foliage.

This picture represents the red-humped caterpillar Oedemas'ia
concinna S. & A. It feeds upon the foliage of the apple tree,
sometimes doing considerable damage. Of course any of the
arsenical poisons will kill it. It does not occur in large num-
bers, but occasionally does some damage.

The whole question of fighting these insects depends upon
the structure of the insects ; that is, upon the different kinds
of mouths or mouth parts which these insects have. An insect
with a sucking mouth has a long tube which it thrusts into
the tissues of the plant and sucks the sap of the plant for its
food. Against sucking insects we must apply something that
kills by contact, like whale-oil soap or kerosene, in order to

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

87

destroy them. We can also kill them by placing them in a
tight house, tent, or box and generating some poisonous gas
that will suffocate them. Many other destructive insects obtain
their food by biting the leaves and parts of the tree. Insects
belonging to this latter class can be readily killed by the use of
the arsenical poisons, but it is of no use to poison plants as a
remedy against sucking insects.

If we are asked to advise treatment against a certain insect
it is always necessary to find out first whether it bites or sucks
its food in order to know how to treat it.

Fig. 5. — The Plum Cnrculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar Hbst. ; enlarged.

Probably very few of you have seen the adult of the common
apple worm, or codlin moth, Carpocapia pomoncUa. It is a
very pretty brown moth. This moth lays usually its eggs upon
the apple and sometimes upon the leaves. The eggs are very
minute and it is interesting to examine them when they are
highly magnified. The marking or sculpture of the egg is very
pretty. While this moth may lay its eggs upon the apple or
upon the leaves, it almost always enters the apple at the calyx
end. The full-grown larvae is what we usually find inside the
apple when we try to eat it.

The illustration shows the proper condition of the young
fruit for spraying. Just after the blossoms fall the calyx end
of the apple stands upright. If we apply the poison at this
time we are sure to get some of it into the end of each little
apple, if the work is carefully done. As I said before, the little
insect usually enters the apple at the calyx end, and if we are
able to put the poison there we are sure to kill him. A little
later on in the season the calyx begins to close up and if we
spray then the poison cannot enter the calyx end so readily.

88 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Still later the calyx is almost entirely closed, so that it will be
impossible for the poison to enter. As the fruit develops the
apple gradually turns downward instead of standing upright,
as it does at first. The calyx will not then hold the poison.
While we can always combat this insect by spraying, we can
also kill many of the pupse by placing around the trunk of the
tree a band under which many of the larvae will crawl and
transform. The band should be removed occasionally and the
pupas destroyed.

Fig. 6. — Young Apple Fruit. The diagram at the left shows the proper
condition for the first spraying ; the calyx is wide open. The
figure at the right shows the calyx nearly closed ; too late for
first application.

Hazeltine's moth trap is a piece of apparatus much adver-
tized for protecting apple orchards. It is claimed to do great
things. This has been questioned by many entomologists in
the country. I was reading the other day a statement that it
caught in an entire season only one or two specimens of certain
noxious insects, and many which are beneficial, and which we
do not want to kill. On the whole, therefore, I think it has
been decided that the injury was far greater than the benefit
from the use of a trap of this sort.

You are all familiar with the common peach lx)rer, Saninno-
idca exitiosa, which attacks our peach trees. The eggs are
laid during June and July and the larvae work in the
trees, usually becoming full-grown the following spring. They
are often found in the masses of gum which exude from the

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

89

injuries of the trees. The adult female is black with two orange-
colored bands across the body. Among the experiments which
have been tried in order to discover an effective remedy for the
peach borer, Prof. Slingerland has found that a coating of gas
tar placed about the base of the tree is quite eft'ective, but this
sometimes injures young trees and is not therefore safe to
apply. Hydraulic cement, wire netting, tarred paper, and many
other things have been used on the trunks of peach trees with-
out success. After all, the only sure thing is to dig them out.
The only successful preventive is the gas tar, and that is dan-
gerous on account of the damage to the trees.

Fig. 7. — Round-Headed Apple Tree Borer.

A serious pest is the common fruit bark beetle or shot hole
borer, Scolytiis rugulosiis, which attacks the peach and Japanese
plum, often killing trees. The round holes are where the adults
have issued from the bark. If we remove the bark we find a large
number of tunnels where the larvae have been reared, most of
them, however, not descending into the hard wood. All the
transformations take place inside of the bark. These adults some-
times feed upon the small twigs in June and July, occasionally
causing a good deal of damage. They bore in at the base of
the twigs, which soon die. This can probably be prevented if
the tree is well sprayed with Paris green.

90 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The illustration shows the adult of the common round-headed
apple-tree borer, Saperda Candida, which attacks apple trees and
tunnels in the trunk near to the surface of the ground. It is
dark grey in color, with two white stripes along the back.
Three years are required to complete its life history. The only
sure remedy is to dig them out. Sometimes w^e can kill them
by injecting a little bisulphide of carbon in the tunnels and
stopping up the holes. This will kill them by su-ffocation.

Fig. 8. — The Hag-Moth <Z2X^x^\\\2s, Phobctron pitliccium S. & A.;
natural size. Eats the foliage of the apple and pear.

Tlie apple-tree tent caterpillar, Clisiocampa Americana, forms
nests or tents on the trees in May. The young come out in
the morning to feed and later go back into the nest, where they
remain at night and in stormy weather. It sometimes does
considerable damage by defoliating trees. It is well to destroy
the nests if it can be done at a time when the young are in
the nests and before they have done much injury. This insect
can be readily controlled by spraying the foliage with Paris
green or arsenate of lead.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

91

The illustration shows a curious insect called the hag moth
caterpillar, Phobetron pithcciuui. It is brown in color, and
would hardly be taken for a caterpillar at all. It has no legs,
and crawls about in much the same manner as the snail. The
body is provided with curious appendages, irregular both in

Fig. 9. — The Yellow-Necked Caterpillar, Daiana viiiiistra Drury ;
natural size. This caterpillar was common in 1901 and
devours the leaves of all kinds of fruit trees. A full-grown
caterpillar is shown at the left.

shape and in number. Wherever this insect causes injury —
and it frequently does to the pear — it can be prevented by an
application of the poison to the leaves. As a matter of fact it
is seldom abundant enough to cause serious damage.

One of the species abundant last season was the yellow-necked
caterpillar, Datana ministra. This is found upon nearly all of

92

THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

our fruit trees, and also upon the trees of the woodland. It
is a very easy matter to kill these by crushing them, as they
are usually found upon young trees, but an application of
poison to the foliage will prevent injury.

w

^

w*

.■f^

m*M

! -^'' ;^\«^

Fig. 10. — Saddle-Back Caterpillar.

Some will recognize this as the saddle-back caterpillar,
Empretia stimulca, which we sometimes see upon fruit trees.
Like the hag moth caterpillar, it has no legs. It seldom is
sufficiently abundant to do serious damage, but if it becomes
necessary to treat it, Paris green is the remedy.

A plant-louse, the Wooly Aphis, Schiconciira lanizera, is
a common pest in our nurseries and apple orchards. There
are two forms of this insect ; one living upon twigs and branches,
where it forms curious enlargements, and the other upon the
roots. While this is a very serious pest, yet the form which
attacks the upper part of the tree is very easy to control. It
can be controlled by thorough spraying with kerosene emulsion
or kerosene and water (15 per cent, kerosene), and even by
common soap and water ( i lb. to 8 gals. ) . Upon the roots,
however, it is more difficult to kill because you cannot get at
it, and some orchardists now place ground tobacco about the
roots in setting young trees. This is good practice.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

93

The San Jose scale : We now come to the scale insects, and
of these the San Jose scale, Aspidiotus periiiciosus, is by far the
most injurious. The cut shows you the appearance of a tree
infested with it. This is a most interesting insect. The spots
as shown in the picture simply mark the places where the scales
are situated. The insect itself is underneath the spot or cover-
ing. If we lift up one of these coverings the insect can be
seen though it is exceedingly small. The insect itself secretes

Fig. II.— Plum Twigs nearly coated over by San Jos6 Scale. Natural
size. Appearance of Infested Twigs.

a wax-like substance which make these coverings and we find
that the scale is attached to the bark by very slender hair-like
appendages on the under side. These form the mouth parts or
sucking tube. An interesting thing about these scales is that
they are not hatched from eggs like many insects but they are
born alive. The young scales after being born crawl about
for a few hours until they find a suitable place to settle. As
soon as the young scale has settled in a satisfactory place, it
begins to pick out slender wax-like filaments from its back.
After a few davs it molts and these filaments unite with the

94 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

cast skin to form this covering, which we call the shell or
armor. The female is unable to move afterwards and soon
loses legs, eyes and antennae. Nothing but the mouth parts
and the reproductive organs remain and these are very strongly
developed. In the male we have an entirely different develop-

FiG. 12. — Infested Peach Twigs. Mature females and young scales clus-
tered in a groove of the twig may be seen at the left. A female
with shell or covering raised is shown at the right. Consider-
ably enlarged.

ment. The mature male has antennae very strongly developed;
it has eyes, legs, large wings, but strange to say it has no
digestive system and therefore cannot take food. It has only
to mate with the female and die. That is its whole mission
in life. The San Jose scale is exceedingly prolific and there-
fore spreads very rapidly. It was discovered in Connecticut
in 1895, but it has become very widely distributed all over the
State, having been found in over one hundred localities.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

95

Fig. 13.— Plum Tree killed by the San Jose Scale-Insect. This repre-
sents a plum tree in New Haven which was killed by the scale.
This was photographed in July, possibly in June, but at a time
when the other trees were in full foliage.

96 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Fig. 14 shows the appearance of the insect upon apples.
Around each insect there is a reddish discoloration, whether it
is upon the bark, the fruit, or the leaves. Of course upon dark
heavy bark you cannot see it so well, but upon thin light bark
it is apparent. When a tree is badly infested we find the
insect not only upon the twigs and branches but upon the trunk
and fruit.

Fig. 14.— Infested Apples showing the discoloration around the Insects.
Appearance of Infested Fruit.

This insect gets on both the upper and under surfaces of the
leaves, and usually gathers along the veins on both sides, as
you will see. Frequently the leaves seem to become completely
covered and drop off. I have seen them dropping from the
tree in July.

Now what can we do to save infested trees and kill this
insect ? So serious a pest surely must require drastic measures.
Some of these little lady beetles, which we know are our good
friends, feed upon the scale. Several species are enemies of

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

97

the scale and one feeds upon it almost wholly, yet they have not
held it in check in Connecticut. Most of these bright little
beetles, usually red in color, with conspicvious spots, are bene-
ficial because they feed upon other insects and especially upon
plant lice and scale insects. We cannot expect, however, to
hold the San Jose scale in check by this means only. It is
necessary to treat the trees in some other way to kill this insect
in order to save the trees. We have found that here in Con-
necticut, if we spray the trees just before the leaves appear in

Fig. 15.— Plums showing the reddish discoloration caused by the Insects.

the spring with a mixture of kerosene and water, using 20 to
25 per cent, of kerosene, we can kill nearly all the insects upon
a given tree. Crude oil may be used in place of kerosene and
either should be mixed with water under pressure by means
of a pump for the purpose. We can kill nearly all of the scales,
but it is impossible to kill them all because we cannot bring
this preparation into contact with them all. It is almost impos-
sible to spray a tree so thoroughlv that some will not escape.
But the application is so effective that in some instances less
than one per cent, of the scale have been found after this treat-
ment. Of course what I have said does not apply to trees in
foliage because if we were to use this strength of kerosene and

7

98 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

water on such trees we should be hable to injure the tree seri-
ously. If it is applied to dormant trees in proper weather,
which means a bright day, and there is not too much put on,
it will not injure the tree. At least that is what our experiments
show and we have reason to believe that this is correct. Crude
oil may also be used undiluted but we must be sure to use only
certain grades of oil. It was found that oil by the Beaume
hydrometer test showing a specific gravity below 43 degrees
would not do. Anything above 43 degrees is safe to use, but
the higher we go the more expensive the oil becomes, and
anything below that is apt to injure the trees.

There are also other efifective methods of treatment, one of
which is fumigating with hydrocyanic acid gas. This has
been used in California and also in Maryland and some of the
other states, but so far, in Connecticut, we have not done much
of anything with it in orchards, largely on account of the
expense. Nursery stock is now being fumigated in Connecti-
cut quite extensively.

We can use kerosene and water, using 10 per cent, of the
oil upon the trees and foliage in the summer time. We found
that 15 per cent, of kerosene could be applied to peach trees
when in foliage. With that proportion we found we had a few
leaves fall, and here and there a peach would be destroyed but
there was no great injury to the tree, and we feel now that the
trees can be sprayed at that time with the preparation contain-
ing 15 per cent, of kerosene. I should not want to go above
that. It is doubtful if a 10 per cent, mixture will kill all the
scales, but it kills many of the young ones. We found it may
make a difference when we apply it. In two experiments where
the trees w^ere sprayed, one, I think, the 19th of June, and the
other the 26th, we only killed about half the scale insects on the
trees. In another instance where the spraying was done on the
24th of July less than one per cent, of living insects remained.
It may be that at the time the adult scales are ready to give
birth to the young, they may be harder to kill than at other
times.

It is quite important that the oil and water should be well
mixed. There is quite a variety of apparatus on the market
for that purpose. Some of the apparatus which appears in
some of the pictures I have shown does the work very well.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 99

A barrel pump should be used for orchard purposes. The
small bucket pumps are excellent for small work, but they
are usually not large enough for large trees.

Fumigation is a method which is coming into vogue among
our nurserymen. The trees are placed in an apartment of
the house, and the fumigation is carried on by means of a gas
made of cyanide of potash, sulphuric acid and water, taking for
each I GO cubic feet of space 20 grams, or a little less than one
ounce of the cyanide, one and a quarter ounces of strong sul-
phuric acid to two ounces of water. Dilute the acid and put
this into a stone jar. Of course it is necessary to see that the
house is well and tightly closed. Put this generating jar inside
the door of the house and drop the cyanide into the jar and
move away quickly. The trees should be left in the gas for
about half an hour. Then we can open the doors and the house
should be well ventilated before anyone enters. The doors and
ventilators should be made so that they can be opened from the
outside. If this work is carefully done it is the surest way of
killing San Jose scale, and is especially adapted for nursery
work. Some of the states, as you know, have laws prohibiting
the entry of nursery stock which has not been inspected or
fumigated. I advise every member of this Society to demand
that stock be fumigated when purchasing from any nurseryman.

Of course in orchard work, where the growing trees are being
treated, in order to use this method it is necessary to have a
tent to cover each tree.

Several questions were asked of the professor, after which the
very interesting evening session was brought to a close and the
Society adjourned to Wednesday at 9.30 a. m.

The session was marked by a large attendance, including many
Hartford people.

ioo THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Second Day— Morning Session, Wednesday, Feb. 5.

The meeting was called to order at 9.30 a. m., President N. S.
Piatt in the chair.

The President : Now if you will please come to order, we
will, according to our plan, begin with some of our exercises.
We have some papers left over from yesterday and a lot of
questions, and we have some short essays or speeches from some
of the members of our own Society that must come in to-day.

You will be gratified to know that the Secretary says that
he took in yesterday over $100 for membership fees. I suppose
they were largely renewals, and we hope there will be much
more taken in to-day.

The day will be full of interesting matters to us all, and even
if we did not have anything on the programme we would be
able to take up the time fully with questions about what we
want to find out from our own people, and the people who
are here.

[At this point Vice-President E. M. Ives was called to the
chair.]

A Member: I would like to inquire whether Mr. Putnam
has had good success in using arsenate of lead as an insecticide ?

Mr. Putnam : I used this in connection with spraying. I
have used it even on gooseberries. It is not really arsenate of
lead. It is a preparation put up in a finely concentrated form.
I use it on potato bugs sometimes. I always use a pound of
lime with the mixture in spraying for potato bugs. It was
not very satisfactory, but I think this form of arsenate is a
very good form in which to use it. I have used it on currants
as well as gooseberries. It was used with very satisfactory
results in those cases.

Mr. Innis: In accordance with our usual custom, Mr. Presi-
dent, would it not be wise at this time to appoint a committee
on nominations for officers for the coming year ^

The President (Mr. Ives) : I should prefer that the nomi-
nating committee be appointed by the regular chairman.

Mr. Innis: I think it has been the custom, Mr. President,
for such committee to be appointed by the President.

A Member: My idea of it is, Mr. President, that it would
be a good idea to make these nominations from the fioor.

ELEJ'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. loi

jNIr. Innis: In order to determine that I will make a motion
that the President appoint such a committee.

Motion seconded.

The Preside.xt: The question is called for on the passage
of this motion of Air. Innis, to have the President appoint a
nominating" committee. Those who are in favor of this motion
will manifest it by saying "Aye." I will call for those who are
opposed. It seems to be a unanimous vote, and the motion
is carried.

I think perhaps we had better take up now some of these
special questions on the programme. We will call for the
second question on the list: "What have we learned about
Peach Growing and Selling in 1901 ?" I understand that that
special question was assigned to Mr. J. Norris Barnes of Yales-
ville. I presume he has something for us, and if so we will be
pleased to hear from him.

Mr. Barxes: Mr. President and Gentlemen — In considering
special question number 2, wdiich has just been referred to by
our President, the latter part of same has been given a promi-
nent part, for it has seemed especially desirable that at this
time, when so manv of common interest are brought together,
consideration should be given to certain facts that were emphat-
ically brought to our attention during the season of 190 1.

It will have to be admitted, to start with, that the numerous
damp, sunless days, as well as heavy rains, presented adverse
conditions to the full and proper development of the fruit crop
that few preceding crops have had to contend with, and wdiich
it is encouraging to believe mav not again soon repeat them-
selves in so marked a degree. Possibly some of us, in fact
many of us, may feel more or less dissatisfied with some features
of the work required to handle the 1901 crop of fruit — either
as to the labor in handling, packing, transportation, packages
for the fruit, or the markets, and not the least of these, the
wastes of the orchard, and all of which may well l)e considered
from an economical standpoint in perfecting plans for future
use.

I wish to refer, if you please, for a moment, to my own town.
A\'allingford, for a statement of conditions that existed in one
of the large and growing centers of peach production in Con-
necticut, season of T()0I. and some items of which may l>e of
interest and value to others. It is estimated that one hundred

102 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

thousand baskets of peaches went to market from here, at least
double the quantity ever sent out before. Some of the most
extensive and finest young bearing peach orchards in New-
England are located in this vicinity, as well as many younger
ones not yet of bearing size. It is estimated that upwards of
forty thousand peach trees will be planted out near this center
this coming spring.

The fruit of this locality was mostly sent from two shipping
points. Wallingford and Yalesville. At the first mentioned place,
a storehouse and trackage was obtained, a capable man placed
in charge, who took care of the loading and shipping of tlie
fruit, and a certain sum charged the shipper per basket for
services rendered. Here buyers from different places came in,
saw the fruit as brought in, and secured their supply for ship-
ping. At the other place of shipment, Yalesville, in the same
town, a similar plan was pursued, the owner of the fruit
being expected to pay a small sum per basket to cover items
of expense, such as boards, nails, labor, etc., putting into car,
and a small per cent, commission on sales for office work
involved in looking after shipments, telegrams, telephone ser-
vice, etc. In both places the services of experienced men were
obtained, and the general working of the plan was satisfactory
to all concerned. Several of the large peach growers of the
State made every effort last season to obtain shelf- refrigerator
cars, but, I think, without success. Refrigerator cars without
shelving could have been had in limited numbers, but as arrange-
ments had been made to pack the fruit in i6-quart baskets, no
great use was made of these cars.

It would seem that the Connecticut peach shippers cannot
longer do without ice cars. They are a necessity, and must
be had if we expect to successfully market our fast yearly
output of fruit. We must have more market room, as well as
avoid, as much as possible, the necessity of rushing sales the
moment the fruit reaches its destination, on account of lack of
keeping qualities. Our railroad people, while seemingly dis-
posed to help the fruit-shipping interest, fail to comprehend
the situation, by not providing suitable cars except in small
numbers ; and, consequently, the bulk of the crop went to
market in tight-boxed cars, with results gratifying to no one,
unless to the carriers. Several parties urged rej^eatedly the
matter on the railroad officials, to prevent, if possible, this very

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 103

condition of affairs. An effort was made to arrange with the
express company to take out our fruit on regular express service
trains, and with a fair chance of a successful deal, when it
was learned that no cars could be furnished to the express
company for such a purpose. And so, of course, that ended
that negotiation, and forced us to accept whatever was offered
in the way of cars — mostly of the sweat-box type. I believe
that the efforts made to secure favorable consideration were
made mostly in an individual way, and, therefore, may not
have carried as much weight as some other and more united
effort would have done. It is too much each one for himself,
and as long as we are without any business organization as
growers and shippers, it may be hard to exert any greater
influence. If better car service cannot be provided, if we have
to take refrigerator cars without shelving, if Ave have any,
then a change may have to be made in the form of the fruit
package, and this may be quite desirable in so far as it may
prevent the spilling and thieving which shippers have had to
put up with so long.

As to markets, we found that just three good distributing
points outside of our peach growing section were available,
namely, Boston, Providence and Springfield. New York City
could not be satisfactorily reached, although one of the nearest
distributing points to our fruit growing section. I believe that
the matter of transportation, of securing better and faster
train service in order to reach more distant markets, is well
worth a united effort on our part to obtain. I believe the
fact should not be lost sight of that local markets were, and
are, likely to be over-supplied, and shipping otit the best is a
necessity.

There is not a doubt that fruit men from the large distrilnit-
ing centers like our fruit, and if we pack it properly we have
no competition to fear from other sections of the same time of
ripening as ours. Several times since I have been growing
peaches, Connecticut has been one of the few states where
peaches could be had, and the big markets were open for any
reasonable supply at good prices, and I expect to see such
conditions come again. The record for twenty years back proves
that the Connecticut man sometimes has peaches when the
others do not.

I04 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

What shall we do with the class of fruit not good enough
to ship — the over-ripes, the slightly decayed ones, and the small
and imperfect, of which there will always be some? The
orchard man usually has enough to do in taking care of the
better fruit, and certainly he did have the past season. It
would seem that any locality that might serve as a fruit center
would very properly have a fully fitted establishment to make
use of this class of fruit, as well as of a better class — can the
best, evaporate or otherwise make use of some, and obtain the
juices from the remainder of the fruit. I see no other way
that seems practicable of making use of the orchard wastes.

I have alwa3's held that it was wise policy for the peach
grower, as much as possible, to isolate his orchard in order
that slackness of management on the part of would-be neigh-
bors might not prove a source of annoyance and loss to him,
but I am ready to admit that under present market conditions,
a large quantity of fruit in the locality convenient for shipment
from a certain point is an advantage, for when it becomes
known that good fruit in abundance can be had, buyers and
receivers will fairly hustle one another to get it.

The fact should not be lost sight of that, at the present time,
the fruit from an orchard of medium size can be disposed of
more readily in a locality where the business is well established
than it can in a position where improved shipping facilities
cannot be taken advantage of, and the place is not readily
reached by prospective buyers.

No doubt we all desire to produce fruit that will class as
"best" — there is more pleasure in it and it is more profitable.
One very important quality such fruit should possess, is color
that is attractive. I believe that is the most important quality
to work for ; then texture and size. From some experiments
made in the past, and from noting conditions surrounding cer-
tain individual trees, I am inclined to believe that mulching
sufficiently to keep down vegetable growth and retain moisture,
will tend to give better color ; that a tree that is growing very
fast, either from the efifect of very persistent thorough tillage,
or the effect of heavy applications of fertilizer, will tend to be
deficient in color. There is no doubt that soil has very much
to do with fruit color, and applying either of the above men-
tioned, or the lack of so doing, might seem to be negative in

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 105

results. If by mulching our bearing trees in part with any
convenient material we can maintain sufficient vigor of the
tree, improve the color of the fruit, and save' a part of the
tillage and fertilizer bills, it would seem a desirable thing to do,
especially if we may make the small stones, which are so abund-
ant on some of our orchard lands, serve as a mulch, a permanent
one. and costing nothing but the labor in placing them there.
We know that some things which tend to lessen vigorous growth
of trees, seems to cause fruit to be produced of higher color,
and possibly of earlier maturity, such as partial griddling by
a wire or other means. The work of borers and the new (to
us) disease of the peach which seems to, in effect, lessen the
tree vigor by a kind of griddling, gives earlier maturing fruit
and beautiful color, although off in flavor. These suggestions
are offered merely as pointers towards certain conclusions. We
are done with the tall-growing fruit tree of any kind, and the
first favorable opportunity will find the tops of many such trees
coming oft', to be thereafter kept down, and all young orchards
will be grown low headed, for from almost every way of con-
sidering the matter the advantage seems to be with the low
headed, wide spreading tree form.

Mr. Platt : There may be some questions on this. Could
you tell about your plan of partial cultivation, or cultivation the
fore part of the season, and mulching?

j\[r. Barnes: My idea of mulching is to keep down the grass
and conserve the moisture.

Mr. Platt : Have you ever used covers for your baskets
in shipping them out?

Mr. Barnes : Not largely. I have very little doubt but what
it adds to the value of a shipment of fruit. There may be two
or three cents involved, but if you are handling two or three
thousand baskets of fruit a day it is one of those things which
adds to the labor, and it is a burden for somebody to carry.
That is one reason, I think, why but little has been done in that
line. If the market demanded it, and it would pay. doubtless
we would do it.

The President : In a wet season how much cultivation
should you give to a peach orchard?

Mr. Barnes: I cannot give an opinion on that. I should say
that in everything I do with the orchard or anywhere else, I
calculate to have a reason for it. but I should sav that that was

io6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

a question which each one has got to settle according to his
own conditions. In the first place, on peach land, I would not
take land that was wet enough so that any ordinary amount of
moisture would make any difference. Further than that, if
in a wet season there is a lot of growth of vegetable matter,
probably the amount of moisture that growth would take would
not make any difference because it would not be enough, and
so in that respect at least tillage would be all right. As a
matter of fact, in our orchard we calculate to till, rain or shine,
and I don't know but what it's all right. At the same time,
judging of the behavior of some of the old orchards we have
in the last two or three years, and particularly in the growth
of fruit they have given, I think there may be such a thing as
over-tillage. I am not sure that is the reason, but I know there
is something wrong. I am inclined to feel, perhaps, that the
soil has had its vegetable matter largely burned out of it. and
something has got to be done to restore it. That is a theory of
course, and I cannot prove it.

A Member: I would like to ask, Mr. Barnes, for the infor-
mation of peach growers, what desirable variety we can grow
that will come on the market after the Elberta?

Mr. Barnes : I have always been myself very much inclined
to favor the Late Crawford class of peaches. They have always
made us a lot of money excepting in some years when we lost
all the buds. The young orchards that we planted last, we
planted very heavily of Chairs Choice, and they have fruited
for us two years. This last year in particular we had a very
fine showing and I think a good deal of them, but whether they
are better than the Crawford Late peach, I am not prepared
to say. They are a little smaller and seem to be a litttle later.
They are fine colored and handled nicely. That is a good point
in a market peach. You must have something that will handle
well, and at the same time grow to a good size and give us
plenty of them. I do not know that I can recommend anything
that I think will please better, provided your soil is right, than
that class of peaches. They want a good strong soil that is
dry, and good treatment of course.

A Member : What conditions are the buds in now ? Do they
stand the cold the same as the Elberta, or as well ?

Mr. B.\rnes : T think not quite so well.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 107

A Meimber : What varieties of peaches do you inckide in the
I>ate Crawford class?

AIr. Barnes : We have three varieties. The Wheatland,
Chairs Choice — I spoke of that more particularly, and we have
the Crawford Late. So far we have picked very few Wheat-
lands. They are a beautiful peach when you get them, but we
get but a few of them so far. We have got quite a large block
of them.

A Member: What about the Iron Mountain?

Mr. Barnes : We have not had them in fruit.

Mr. Cook : I have a peach called the Emperor which fruits
from the 5th to the 15th of October. It is a large, yellow, free-
stone peach. The only trouble that we have with it is that
it is quite liable to have the yellows. It is a fine peach and
it comes later than any other. I had a market in New Haven
for about two or three weeks and got as high as $2.00 a basket,
wholesale. Last fall they nearly all rotted, and a good many
have been killed out by the yellows. I bought two hundred new
trees, but I do not know what they will do.

A Member: Mr. President — Can we take special question
number 5 ?

President : Question number 5 is called for. Are the two
gentlemen who are to speak on this subject present, and ready
to report? If so, we will hear from Mr. Alolumphy first. Mr.
Molumphy is to speak on the question, ''Have the Returns from
Plum Culture been Sufficient to Warrant Further Planting; if
so, what kinds?"

Mr. President and Fellozv Members:

Several years ago, when plums were considered one of the
most difficult fruits to successfully grow in this state, a question
like this might have required very different treatment. At
present if the "results" meant simply plums, the first part of the
question could be quickly answered in the affirmative, for it
has been pretty thoroughly demonstrated during the past few
years that we can grow plums to perfection, and in wholesale
quantities, here in Connecticut ; they can be depended upon to
bear quite as regular crops as our other standard tree fruits —
apples, peaches, pears or cherries.

io8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The real point to the question, however, is, will our markets
take increasing quantities at prices that shall be satisfactory
to the growers?

Having fruited a large number of the European varieties, as
Lombard, Bradshaw % Green Gage. Damson, and others, also the
Chickasaws and Americanas, and after several years' experience
with the Japanese, I do not hesitate in stating as my opinion,
that there is no encouragement to plant anything in plums
outside of this last named class of the "J^P^-" Taking them in
order of ripening. Red June is early, handsome, salable,
quality not very high, but still not really bad. Would keep
this on the list for profitable planting until something better
shows up for its season, which is July 25th to August ist, ordi-
narily. Last year it was ten days behind time with me.

Next, Abundance, when properly grown, is good enough for
almost anyone, but if allowed to overbear, take it away — small,
insipid, worthless. However, as this inclination of the variety
to set too much fruit can be readily remedied by a proper system
of pruning and thinning, it can hardly be considered a fault.
Burbank is another kind that overbears and rots and needs lots
of attention, but is a grand market plum when at its best.
Wickson comes later, is large, handsome, and will do to plant
quite extensively. Satsuma, one of the finest of all, ripens in
September, and when well known, nearly every family in the
state will want a few^ bushels each year for canning and prescrib-
ing. In fact, if the "Jap" plums could be advertised in the way
some of the breakfast foods and health preparations are. by
distributing free pamphlets and calling attention to their merits,
it is probable the demand for this fruit could be largely
increased.

Besides the few I have mentioned there are a number that
have some good points but fail to meet all the requirements
of our markets. The Hale plum, when fully ripened on the
tree, is of the highest quality and the tree itself is a wonderfully
strong grower, but does not seem to be as productive as is
desirable.

Normand is large, bears well, and is a good plum, l)ut is yel-
low, and somehow yellow plums are not popular in our markets.
A large number of new ones are being tested, some of which
are very promising.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 109

To aid in developing this infant industry of commercial plum
culture, the market situation should be carefully studied. A
package suitable for shipping the very finest should be selected
by a committee of experienced growers, and used as the stand-
ard Connecticut plum package. The common peach basket
will answer very well for the bulk of the fruit as commonly
grown, but for the fancy ones something special is desirable,
and it would be of great benefit if a suitable package could be
brovight into genera! use.

In conclusion, the future for the plum-grower who keeps up
to date on varieties, and attends carefully to the details of the
business, is quite as promising, judged by the experience of
1901, as that of the fellow who sticks to any other line of fruit
growing.

The President : Perhaps we had better hear also from Mr.
Butler on this subject, and then have the discussion on both
papers. I will call on Mr. G. S. Butler.

Mr. President and Fclloiv Members:

The returns to the skillful plum grower have been sufficient
to warrant further planting, but perhaps it would be better to
ask, will the returns continue as satisfactory if the average
farmer continues to plant, care for, and market in the usual
way? The market is already over-supplied with Burbank plums
of the size of our meadow plums, or nearly as large as Marianna
grows naturally, and with no interesting flavor until cooked.
The Abundance and Chabot can be grown on the same plan,
but many of these growers are already finding the returns are
not equal to those of the average potato crop. The continual
presence of this inferior fruit in the market cannot but injure
the price of good fruit ; still our plums sold for an average of
50 per cent, above the price of peaches the past season, the peach
market being injured by the same condition of aiTairs.

The grower who will produce the best fruit, whether peaches,
apples or plums, will always find a market for it at profitable
prices provided his conditions are favoral)le, and he will certainly
acquaint himself with the natural conditions before he launches
very heavily into any matter dependent on nature.

I seriously doubt if there are many spots in Connecticut where
the Domestica or European plums can be produced at a profit,
with the competition now offered from Japanese and Japanese

no THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Hybrid varieties, which cost less to produce and are of more
attractive color. Most of the Americana varieties depend on
the culinary art to produce a market, but I believe a limited
supply would always find a ready market at paying prices,
although the long fruiting season habit of these varieties makes
picking more expensive.

Of the four original useful Japanese varieties, x\bundance,
Burbank, Chabot and Satsuma, probably Burbank will prove
least valuable in future, but there will be a strong market
demand for the other three for some time to come at paying
prices.

Of the newer varieties October Purple is most attractive to us,
with possibly Gonzales as second choice.

Many of Mr. Burbank's new inventions are promising, but
promising is not always performing, leaving the promise in
worse shape than if it had never been made.

Two early varieties were introduced, one tmder the name of
Maru, the other as Wasse Botankio (now renamed Lutts).
These are entirely out of the way before Red June begins to
ripen, are good lookers, but small size, and the Maru is quite
eatable, and would probably sell to a limited extent, and until
we get something better they may do very well for early plums.
With us the Red June lacks so much in flavor that it has not
been satisfactory. It is not a rapid growing tree and it is not
productive. I am inclined to think that the Burbank is one of
the plums we will soon get through with. Then there is the
America. This giant plum is about an inch in diameter at its
base, and the quality is about like that of the average Americana.
The Apple plum can be sold in any market for the Satsuma. It
is a trifle more blunt in shape. It ripens a little early and rots
a good deal worse, but the tree, I think, is a little hardier, more
of the Burbank style of tree, and it is a plum which I think will
prove fairly satisfactory where the Satsuma is not doing very
well. The October Purple has proven excellent in quality and
large in size. The color, however, was a long way from purple.

The Hale plum rotted very badly with us until this year. We
never have grown a respectable crop of it before. This year the
fruit set quite heavily and grew to a nice size. There has been
for the last two years a faint suspicion of a blush on the check
of the Hale plum.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. m

The Climax and Sultan we have not fruited, but friends over
on the Hudson River tell us that both are going to be good
plums.

A Member: How about the Wickson?

Mr. Butler : With us it has not been satisfactory. The tree
is not as it should be. The fruit is not satisfactory in size. The
color is very good, but we have been troubled a good deal with
the rot; in fact, more so wuth it than on other plums of its
season.

Mr. Innis : Do you spray for the plum rot?
• Mr. Butler: We cannot spray after the leaves are out. I
believe it would be all right to spray next month (March). But
we have done nothing but pick off the rot as fast as it has
appeared. We have gone over our orchards many times in the
early fruit season to get off the plums that were beginning to
show signs of monilia.

Mr. Innis: Do you find that the spraying in any way lessens
the rot ?

Mr. Butler : We have depended entirely upon picking.

Mr. Beckwith : Is there any difference in the effect of the
winter on the x^bundance and Burbank?

Mr. Butler : Why, I should not say there was any difference.
Both of them seem to be perfectly hardy. There are times that
the Abundance has been affected more by late frosts than the
Burbank. But so far as winter is concerned, it has not affected
either of them with us, but with one exception, and that only
very slightly.

A Member: Mr. President, can we take up question 7?

The President : "What is the Best Stock on which to Bud
the Japan Plum?"

Mr. Butler: I am perfectly satisfied that the peach is the
best stock to bud on. I think the union between the peach and
the Japan plum is more satisfactory.

Mr. Innis: I should just like to say in regard to budding on
peach and plum stock that my experience is right the reverse.
Those budded on the plum give a good crop while those budded
on the peach have never given me anything at all. I do not
know how to account for it.

A Member: I would like to inquire of Mr. Butler, is there
any difference of the life of these when budded upon one or the
other ?

112 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAE SOCIETY.

Mr. Butler: In our experience the Japan plum will live
longer and bear better, and die happier on the peach than on
the plum.

Mr. Stocking: My experience is that the plum on the peach
will die of peach yellows just as quick as the peach tree will.
Just the same.

Mr. J. H. Putnam : I wish to say, that we have a paper here
by Professor F. C. Stewart of Geneva, N. Y., which is right in
line with this subject. As Professor Stewart was unable to be
here he sent the paper in to the Secretary. Out of courtesy to
him we thought it proper to announce that we had the paper.
The programme is very full, but if it is desired this paper can
be read. If not, it will be incorporated in the report just the
same. The paper is very short and it is devoted entirely to the
prevention of brown rot in stone fruits.

Professor Townsend: I would be glad to hear this paper,
as I am to speak a little later on this subject. You can see, Mr.
President, that I am especially interested, and I will therefore
make a motion to that effect.

Motion seconded and passed and the paper, of Professor
Stewart was then read by Mr. Putnam as follows :

The Prevention of Brown Rot of the Stone Fruits.

By F. C. Steivart, New York Experiment Station, Geneva.

The brown rot fungus, Monilia fiiicfigena, is very destructive
to plums, peaches, apricots and cherries. It destroys the blos-
soms, kills the smaller branches and rots the ripening fruit.
Although long recognized as a disease which is more or less
destructive every season, often causing losses of 50 per cent, or
more, there is to-day no well established method of treating it.
Everywhere, growers of the stone fruits are asking. What shall
we do for the rot? And no one can answer the ([uestion in a
satisfactory manner.

On the different fruits the problem is somewhat dift'erent, but
in all cases treatment by means of sprays is hampered by the
danger of spotting the fruit ; and with peaches, apricots and
Japan plums there is the additional disadvantage that the foliage
is liable to injury. Consequently, regular and thorough spray-
ing with our standard fungicide, Bordeaux mixture, is impracti-

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 113

cal ; at the most critical time it can not be used. Spraving- must
be supplemented by other combative measures.

Since the rot fungus comes from fungus spores in the same
manner that weeds spring from weed seeds, care should be taken
to keep the orchard as free as possible from the spores. As with
weeds, the more thoroughly the disease is kept down the less
labor it is to control it. It is more profitable to fight the disease
faithfully every season than it is to fight it hard one season and
allow it to go unchecked the next. Where rot has had its own
way for a few years, every part of the orchard is so thoroughly
seeded with the disease that even the most radical measures may
not be able to eradicate it in a single season. Success is attained
only by eternal vigilance and constant warfare.

The first thing to be done is to carefully collect and burn all
the mummied plums and peaches hanging on the trees. All
agree that this is a profitable practice. It should never be
neglected. These mummy fruits harbor the fungus, and in the
spring become a source of infection. The usual practice is to
gather them some time after the leaves fall and before growth
starts in the spring, because they are then easily found ; but the
results would certainly be much better if they could be gathered
as soon as they show the first signs of rot, and before the fungus
has had a chance to form and scatter multitudes of spores. This
would necessitate picking over the fruit at frequent intervals
during the ripening period and would, perhaps, be more expense
than the results would justify. With cherries it would, most
likely, be altogether impracticable, but on the other stone fruits
it seems worthy of trial. If thoroughly done it must be very
effective. The fallen fruits should also be gathered and removed
from the orchard.

Before the buds begin to swell in the spring spray thoroughly
with strong Bordeaux mixture (6-4-50 formula). Just before
the blossoms open spray again with Bordeaux, this time using a
weaker mixture (2-2-50 formula). These two sprayings will
lessen the injury from blossom blight and subsequent attacks on
the twigs, and act as a check on the disease throughout the
season. On the domestica plums and Morello cherries the early
sprayings \\\\\ serve the additional purpose of discouraging the
spring attack of the black knot fungus ; while on the peach they
will prevent leaf curl.
8

114 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

On the domcstica plums two or three apphcations of weak
Bordeaux mixture (4-4-45 formula) should be made while the
trees are in foliage, but before the fruit commences to color.
After the fruit begins to color substitute ammoniacal copper car-
bonate solution for the Bordeaux. This will serve the double
purpose of controlling the leaf spot and checking the rot.

But with the other stone fruits I am loth to make any recom-
mendations for spraying while the trees are in foliage. On this
matter there is much difference of opinion, and experiments in
dift'erent parts of the country have given contradictory results.
Briefly stated, the situation is this : While the spraying of the
foliage of peaches, apricots and Japan plums with fungicides
containing copper has been successfully practiced by various
parts of the United States and by some recommended for the
prevention of fruit rot and other diseases, it has, in other cases,
often resulted in serious damage and is not to be recommended
in Connecticut (according to the investigations of Sturgis)*
and only in a very limited way in New York. It is a worthy
subject of investigation.

Of the fungicides which do not contain copper, potassium
sulphide solution is especially promising. In the experiments
made by Dr. Sturgisf potassium sulphide, at the rate of one
pound to fifty gallons of water, caused no injury to peach foliage
and decreased the amount of rot by nearly 20 per cent. The
chief difficulty is the frequency with wdiich it must be applied.

Thinning the fruit, also, will undoubtedly assist somewhat in
controlling fruit rot. One of the most successful peach growers
in Western New York, who has very little trouble from rot,
attributes his success to regular and severe thinning and his
practice of never allowing a single mummy fruit to remain over
winter on the trees.

At the recent meeting of the Western New York Horticultural
Society in Rochester, Mr. George T. Powell stated that during
the past season he has used plain copper sulphate solution (three
ounces to fifty gallons) for spraying sweet cherries in the Hud-
son River Valley. While the fruit was ripening the trees were
sprayed every day for about ten days. There was no injury to
the foliage, no serious spotting of the fruit and about one-half

*Sturgis, W. C. Conn. Agr. Exp. Sta. Rep. (1900), 219-254.
tLoc. cit., p. 253.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 115

of a full crop was obtained. Since there were no unsprayed
trees of the same varieties, it is impossible to detemiine accurately
the benefit done by the spraying ; but Mr. Powell is of the
opinion that had the trees not been sprayed the crop would have
been a total loss.

A Member: I should like to say, Mr. President, that I have
used a diluted solution of copper sulphate. I have used it on
Japan plums and on peaches as strong as four ounces to one
hundred and fifty gallons without damage, and then again I got
damage from that proportion. I never have had any damage
from two ounces to fifty gallons. The results were not as posi-
tive because it will not remain on the branches as well. In the
weather that you get the worst rot it is not likely to stay there.
You can put the spraying apparatus into a field and keep it there
all the time. It is very easy to use. Even if you have to use
it, or put it on every day, it is worth experimenting with, because
it is so nice to use. I think good results would follow if that
solution was used more generally in Connecticut.

Mr. Hale : I am glad that this paper has been presented,
because to my mind it is one of the most concise and practical
statements of the situation that we have ever had. A few years
ago it was a very common thing for some of our scientific friends
to recommend us to spray in the summer for monilia, and the
consequence was that a good deal of trouble was brought about.
Many of you know of the serious results in our orchards by the
dropping of the foliage. My plan here in Connecticut has been
to gather the affected fruit as fast as it has appeared. In handling
an orchard of any considerable size you will most always have
labor that cannot be used throughout the orchard. And if you
keep a little more than you want it can be used very usefully to
gather such fruit. I think it is a very good plan to make it a
point to go over the orchard and gather all the decayed mumni}-
specimens. It is our practice in Georgia to go over our orchards
every day. All the rotten and decayed fruit is picked and burned
every day. It is considerable of an expense, but we believe it
pays. Last year there was an excessive amount of rain, and in
the season of 1900 it caused probably a loss of 40 per cent, of
the Georgia fruit crop by rotting upon the trees. It grew many
spores in the trees and although we picked it faithfully through
the growing season, at the end there was an abundance of it in

ii6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.^

all ni}- neighboring orchards. Last year we sprayed these trees
with 5-5-50 in February and March. It is something that you
must follow up. Last year towards the ripening season we
made some change and sprayed with 2-6-50. We sprayed single
rows, and then crossed over a block to see what the result would
l)e, and w'e have had less rot there where we did the summer
spraying. We had so much less that I was well satisfied that by
picking off the rotting fruit in the growing season, and with a
strong spraying in the spring it would keep the trouble down in
a large measure. The best way to do though is to pick off the
rotting fruit. There is no way that will compare with picking
off the rotting fruit and cutting oft' the little branches that are
infected. Go right through with the pruning shears, and
prune the branches and the whole business. The first thing you
want to do is to spray just before the buds swell in the spring
and then follow that up by summer pruning and picking just
before the fruit begins to ripen. Go right in wath the pruning
shears in good bright weather. It will help to give color to the
fruit and keep down the rot. I think summer pruning before it
appears is one of the best preventives, and one' of the siu^est
things we can have to keep down the rot. That is the thing to
do on peaches and plums, but of course with cherries it is more
difficult.

A Member : I would like to ask Mr. Hale, why he burns the
mummies? In some cases it would be a good deal more con-
venient to bury them. If they were well covered would it not
be just as well?

Mr. Hai.e : Some people have been known to rise from the
dead. If you bury them they may rise, but if you burn them
you get rid of them, and rid of them finally and for good. So
I believe in cremation. I presume if you bury them it may be
all right, but burning is absolutely sure.

The President : This is an interesting subject, but our pro-
gramme is very full and we must hurry on. I think perhaps we
had better now take up the regular programme. I have the
pleasure of introducing to you Mr. William H. Hart, who is a
very large grower of apples and has his own cold storage plant.
He will now address you on

ELEJ'EXTH AXXL'AL MEETING. n?

Cold Storage: Preparing and Storing the Fruit.

By Williaiit H. Hart of Poughkeepsie, A\ Y.

I would stand before you with great diffidence if I supposed
you looked upon me as an authority. Like nearly all of you, I
am a fruit grower and learner in the matter of cold storage, an
art which is yet in its infancy, and in which much is yet to be
learned. I hope you may glean some useful facts from what I
say, and if I make any misstatements you will not hesitate to
discuss and correct them.

Many think that any food product placed in cold storage may
be kept without change for months or years. This is not usually
the case. Cold storage retards the process of ripening or decay,
which would proceed more rapidly under average conditions of
temperature. The time during which fruit of any kind may be
kept with profit depends entirely upon the variety of fruit stored,
and its condition when placed in storage. Let us consider, there-
fore, the preparation of the fruit for cold storage.

We must consider first, the variety of fruit ; second, the soil,
exposure and climate where grown, and the character of the
particular season ; third, culture, fertilizing, spraying and prun-
ing; fourth, time and manner of gathering and conveyance to
storage.

First. Li general terms some fruits are peculiarly adapted to
cold storage while others do not really yield a profit by this pro-
cess. The apple is suitable above all other fruits for prolonged
keeping in cold storage. The pear and the grape are each kept
in large quantities commercially and for a considerable time.
The peach is to some extent held for a shorter time, but with
doubtful results, unless selected and handled with judgment;
while the whole list of summer fruit, plums, cherries and small
fruits, need scrupulous care as to conditions of storage but may
not usually be carried in any large way over to a higher market.
Lemons and other tropical fruits may also be held with varying
results.

I will HQw speak especially of the apple. In setting an apple
orchard, if we wish to grow winter varieties suited to prolonged
keeping in cold storage, we should select a very short list, choos-
ing the kinds which keep well, and which are likely to be stored

ii8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

largely to meet a popular demand in the future, and avoid such
kinds as scald in storage, and are not attractive in appearance.
At present, the four great leaders now stored in large blocks in
a commercial way are the Baldwin, Ben Davis, Greening and
Spy. In the near future Gano will rival Ben Davis in a small
way commercially, and the Sutton may be a substitute for the
Baldwin, but is not likely to supplant it. It is better to plant
leading kinds to meet the public demand, and to grow the best
possible fruit of these kinds rather than to set a long list of
choice amateur varieties, and try to educate the public to use
them. Any kind not a leader is an annoyance in storage, and
will always bring less money in proportion to its quality than a
leader.

Second. The selection of the proper soil, exposure and eleva-
tion for an apple orchard determines largely the future value of
its output for cold storage. An elevated site, with strong soil,
retentive of moisture and with good air drainage, will yield finn,
close-grained, high-colored fruit with well developed oily skin,
and such fruit will keep long and well in storage ; while fruit
grown in a mist-laden valley will be of a coarser, open texture,
and the moisture will cause the protective oil of the skin to be
destroyed by fungus growth. Such fruit will shrivel and decay
in cold storage, and such a site should be avoided. The aggre-
gate summer heat in a low-lying valley also forces fruit into ripe-
ness long in advance of the hill tops. In selecting fruit for
storage the nature of each individual season, whether wet or dry,
hot or cool, must be considered by the buyer.

Third. Culture, fertilizing, spraying, pruning. — all these are
needed to produce apples best suited for cold storage. Culture
must be given perhaps by the newer way of mulching, or by the
more usual and approved mode of plowing and harrowing.
Fertilizing must be kept up in part by turning under cover crops,
and in part bv applying manures or chemical fertilizers, supply-
ing the elements needed to cause heavy yields of large, finely
colored, solid fruit.

Spraying is of vital importance, as properly sprayed apples
will keep very much longer than fruit from the average farmer's
orchard. Beyond a question, within a very few years, at the
present rate of planting, apples from young commercial orchards
of leading varieties and thoroughly sprayed, will practically

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 119

drive out of the market the wormy, gnarled fruit from old
neglected orchards, and of unfamiliar kinds.

Pruning also lets in sunlight and produces larger, firmer,
better-keeping fruit.

P'ourth. If perfect control of temperature is assured through
cold storage, it is better to gather winter apples earlier than
formerly, or so soon as well colored and developed. In our
latitude. Greenings are usually ready for gathering for cold
storage from the 15th to the 25th of September, or as soon as
nearly full grown. Gathered at this season, they remain green
and bright. If left until October they may become yellow or
clouded. Red fruit may require to be left rather later to color,
but all varieties should be gathered as soon as condition of fruit
is right, regardless of temperature. My own practice is to gather
apples so long as men are willing to work, whether wet or dry.
The pickers are told to keep out all showing decay, but all the
rest are slid out of the picking baskets into large storage crates
holding a barrel each. These are hauled soon as possible to the
storage and tiered up nearly to the ceiling, with small spaces
between them at intervals for air circulation. All moisture from
dew or rain soon evaporates in the dry air of refrigeration. The
fruit is graded and barreled at time of marketing at a season of
comparative leisure. Whether this method is better than the
usual way of grading and barreling or boxing the fruit ready
for market before placing in cold storage, I am not prepared to
say. On the one hand, the fruit is more bruised and injured in
grading, and in the other system more imperfect specimens may
remain to work injury to the rest. I am unable to say whether
apples tightly barreled shrivel much less and keep longer than in
open crates. These details are controlled by adjustments in
temperature, humidity and ventilation, and much is yet to be
learned. In my particular case, my system gives me satisfactory
results which, in a great commercial warehouse, it would not be
policy to follow.

After much thought and some little experience, I conclude
that the average fruit grower can do better by growing more
and better-keeping fruit, and selling it to the men who store on
a large scale rather than by attempting to build and operate a
small cold storage plant himself. I believe that mechanical cold
storage on a large scale is far better and more economical per

I20 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

barrel than natural ice cold storage on a small scale. I believe
that the bulk of the cold storage business will be done in the
cities close to transportation and the consumer. The great store
houses in varying seasons may be filled from widely separated
districts. The equipment for cold storage is so very costly that
it cannot afford to be idle part of the time. The smaller houses
in the producing regions should have a capacity nearer the
minimum rather than the maximum crops of such localities.
Thus they may be always filled and the surplus go to the great
warehouses where the temperature, humidity and ventilation can
be regulated to a nicety impracticable in the small plant.

I would not like to put mechanical refrigeration into a house
of much less than 10,000 barrels capacity, while a 50 or 100,000
barrel house, if you can afford it, is more of a business proposi-
tion, location being right. In such a building you may run the
machinery continuously and refrigerate all food products at a
far less cost per cubic foot and with more uniform results than
in a smaller house. Natural ice storage has its place in a small
way, but hereafter must stand second to mechanical refrigeration
in storage.

In gathering fruit for storage I keep it out of the sun, and
as cool as possible until put into storage. Refrigeration by rail
or steamers in transit is yet in its infancy. When this is per-
fected, we will have a vast outlet for our food products in other
countries, a trade as yet but little developed. He who plants
fruit at present must consider conditions which will prevail when
his fruit shall come into bearing, and grow such varieties and
under such conditions as to compete with all other districts for
this trade.

The President : This has been a most interesting paper,
and I think we are to be congratulated in having Mr. Hart
with us to-day. Are there any questions? I hope you will
improve the opportunity and ask him some if you have any in
mind.

A Member: How do strawberries keep in cold storage?

Mr. Hart: With great difiiculty. They are kept best by
protecting them with cotton batting to prevent circulation of
air.

A Member: Will you please tell us the degree of ripeness
of apples that is best adapted to give them good keeping qual-

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 121

ities. I mean, how shall we judge of the degree of ripeness
that they should have in order to be put in cold storage with the
best results?

Mr. Hart : From the point at which the tissues of the apple
are filled up. If the apple is gathered before that it will shrivel
more and it will not keep as well. It should not be quite
ripe. It should be comparatively green but advanced suffi-
ciently towards ripeness so that the flesh or tissues of the apple
are well filled out.

Mr. Innis : Do you find any difference in the keeping quali-
ties of fruit when there is a difference in the temperatures at
which it is gathered? For instance, if you gather fruit on a
cold day and put it into cold storage or gather it on a warm
day, is there any difference in the keeping qualities?

Mr. Hart: That varies with varieties. Generally speaking,
it is better for the fruit to be gathered on a cold day, and to
be kept cold until put into storage. I think as a general thing
it is always well to be careful to place the package on the
north side of a tree where the sun will not strike it, and to
keep it in the shade until it is under cover. I have always done
that. I would rather fruit would be out two nights than one
day, especially if it is very warm.

Mr. Fenn : I would like to ask Mr. Hart if the density of
the atmosphere in ice-cold storage is not objectionable some-
what as compared with the dry atmosphere which we have
found in the plant which we visited yesterday. (The Hartford
Cold Storage Company.)

Mr. Hart: There is much to be learned in regard to that.
I saw a quantity of fruit stored in a storage house in New
York in which there was a great deal of dampness, and yet
it was keeping well, and would not be opened for some time.
The atmosphere, however, ought to be dry. It is best to con-
fine the fruit in a dry atmosphere ; that is, ice-cold storage
should be so dry that you can lay a match on any piece of wood
in the building, and that is the case in a small storage plant I
know of at Highland, N. J. It is always dry enough to light
a match anywhere on any piece of wood. That is the object
sought for in mechanical plants, and with ice-cold storage,
while' of course, it may not be practicable to obtain the same
degree of dryness, yet it should be obtained so far as possible.

122 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Fenn : I knew of a house in which it was undertaken
to store some apples, but there was so much dampness there
that it ruined the fruit. The apples were not headed up. They
were in open barrels. But the density of the atmosphere
settled on the top of the apples, and the chill, or something
of that nature, caused a great many of the apples to burst open.
Even those that were down in the center of the barrels were
affected to some extent. I calculated it was owing to the dense
atmosphere. It was very cold, but at the same time there
was something that was wrong in principle. That was, of
course, in the early days, and before as much advance had
been made in the business as there is at present.

Mr. Hart : It may be that while it seemed cold it was not
cold enough. One of the most important things about cold
storage houses is not the ice nor mechanical refrigeration, but
it is one of the things which we do not see when we go in,
and that is the insulation ; making the walls perfect non-con-
ductors. It is a difficult thing to perfectly insulate any building
for cold storage. Many of them have failed for that reason.
The insulation was not perfect. While they get a low tempera-
ture, yet it would be a temperature of from 35 to 38 degrees
when perhaps it should have been as low as 32 or 33. I think
if you were to know about the construction of this house here
in Hartford you probably would find that they had buried at
least $50,000 simply in the insulation of those walls. That is
something which you do not see at all.

Mr. Fenn : A friend of mine who has constructed a small
cold storage plant put in I don't know how many loads of
cork in order to get proper insulation. In his plant I know
there is a double thickness with paper between, and paper on
both sides. This is an expensive thing to do. He told me
that he had spent $5,000 in there, and the room was not half
as large as this hall. He had the building and this was simply
in preparation for making a thorough cold storage department.
That is one of the problems of the cold storage business, and
it is certainly a very expensive one.

The President : I think it would be well to hear what Prof.
Powell has to say at this time a1)out any facts which have
been brought out during the experiments with cold storage
which have been conducted by the U. S. Agricultural Depart-
ment.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 123

Prof. G. H. Powell : Mr. President and Gentlemen — There
is no more important subject that could be discussed by those
who are interested in the keeping of fruit and farm products
than this subject of cold storage. In fact, the profits of the apple
business and the pear business hinge primarily upon the ability
to keep those fruits longer than through their natural seasons
by means of cold storage. The cold storage business, as
developed within the last decade, is one of the most important
auxiliaries that the American fruit grower has to-day as an
aid to his business. We hardly appreciate, I think, how much
cold storage means to the fruit growers of America. Out in
our western country, where they have a long, hot fall, it is
impossible for them to develop the fruit business without the
aid of something to carry the fruit through the warm fall months
and over to the time when proper markets can be found for
them. This business has developed so largely within the last
three years, and so perfectly, that the cold storage men them-
selves have made every effort to develop their houses to a high
degree of perfection. There are many cold storage houses in
this country that will carry an atmosphere for from six to nine
months, without the variation of a single degree, right through
the season. On the other hand, there are a great many dififi-
culties that the cold storage men have to contend with. They
are not as yet agreed as to the temperature which is best adapted
to certain types of fruit. You will find that the storage men
are not agreed as to the temperature at which they want to
keep pears. They will vary several degrees in their estimations ;
some advocating from 35 to 38 degrees, and others from 30
to 33 and 34. To some extent that is also true of apples.
Then the* fruit itself varies as to its condition.

For instance ; a cold storage man has a shipment of twenty
carloads a day, and the fruit comes in, all apparently in the
same or similar condition so far as the eye will tell, and yet
one carload goes down in three months and another carload
will keep a year ; and so the storage men have come to feel
that there is a good deal to be learned about this subject, and
the growers, on the other hand, feel that there is a good deal
that ought to be worked out in regard to the matter. Now
I want to say right here that the growers as a rule, when their
fruit does not come out in good shape, are like some types of

124 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

growers who are very apt to l^lame the commission men if they
do not get a good price ; they are apt to blame the storage men,
and say the trouble lies in the house.

Some growers seem to feel, as I have observed, that there
is something magical in cold storage ; that cold storage is a
plan by which first-class fruit can be made out of second-class
fruit. They put in a lot of stuff that ought to go to the pig-
pen and then kick up a row^ if it does not come out in first-class
condition. They wonder why the fruit does not come out good.
That has been the feeling, and that, very generally, the con-
dition of affairs, and so there came to the Government requests,
not only from the storage men, but from the fruit growers
also, to make a comprehensive study of the various questions
that affect the keeping qualities, and also the conditions that
affect the growth of fruit which is to be placed in cold storage.

Now I wish to briefly outline the work which has been taken
up by the Department. Congress appropriated a small amount
of money last year for an investigation of the keeping qualities
of fruit in cold storage. That was a start for the work. The
Department of Agriculture outlined some experiments along
this line. First, w' e w'anted to know something about the proper
time, or maturity of fruit for cold storage, and we wanted to
determine something about the temperatures in which certain
fruits kept best. Working along that line, we took up the
question of the keeping qualities of pears. We experimented
with the Kieffer pear — the great pear of the southwest — with
the view to determine its degree of durability in cold storage,
and I want to say in regard to that pear, that the storage men
had absolutely refused to receive it because it almost invariably
went down. Cold storage had not seemed to keep the fruit in
good condition. So this year we made three different pickings
of these pears. The first was made about the first of October,
another the loth, and another the 20th ; and of each one of these
pickings we made two storages : one on the next day after
picking, another some ten days after the fruit had ripened out,
and some while still hard and firm when it went in. Under
each of these it went in at 32 and 36. Now I will just sum
up. We found this : that the Kieffer pear must he picked when
it is firm and hard and green, and be put into storage as soon
as you get it off the trees. Every day that is lost after the pear
comes off' lessens its durability after it is put in storage.

ELEJ'EXTH ANXUAL MEETING. 125

Now I have some pictures here which illustrate what I am
trying to explain. These pictures are all hand-painted, and
show the condition under which a great deal of this fruit went
in. These paintings will give you a little idea. Now the
trouble with this pear has been that it turned brown at the
core, while the fruit has remained yellow on the outside. As
you will observe from this picture, there is a beautiful yellow
pear on the outside and all brown at the core. There is a pic-
ture showing the fruit as yellow on the outside and all discolored
inside.

Now we found that the discoloration takes place from delay
in getting the fruit into storage after it is picked from the
tree, and we also found that in nine cases out of ten a tempera-
ture of 32 degrees is better than a temperature of 36 degrees.
There is a great necessity for handling the fruit just as soon
as you can after it is in the proper condition of ripeness. That
is one of the important conclusions which we came to; that
the fruit must be placed in cold storage at the proper time,
and as soon as possible after picking, and also that it wanted to
go in at a low temperature, even down as low as 31 to 32
degrees. All our experiments showed that it should go into
a temperature down as low as 31 to 32 degrees. At that tem-
perature you can hold this pear right over into the next summer,
provided the fruit is in proper condition when it goes in. That
is, you must be careful to put in only perfect fruit. Imperfect
fruit will not keep in storage.

A Member : Has anything been done by the Government
on Bartlett pears?

Prof. Powell: We have not taken up the Bartlett pear yet
for an experiment, but we are going to take up that variety
this year. Qur funds were so small that we were able to take
up only two or three varieties at present.

N^ow I want to run over just a little of what we are doing
in apples. We went out into Missouri and Arkansas and we
took two pickings of apples, just as we had of the pears, one
when the fruit was firm and hard and in the condition that Mr.
Hart has described. We stored a part of that immediately, and
we let a part of it stand on the ground for two weeks and then
we put it in at 32 and 36.

126 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

We made another picking in two weeks and treated it in the
same way. We made these pickings from the southwest, in
Missouri and Arkansas, and then we came to lUinois and
obtained other fruit, and then to Xew York, where we got quite
a number of varieties from Mr. Hitchings, and also some fruit
from Lake Ontario region. We took a part of it and stored
it immediately, and a part of it was stored later. Then from
West Virginia and Virginia also we obtained some fruit and
stored it in the same w'ay. Now I have been making an inves-
tigation recently and can report what we found up to date.

We have found that the lower you get your temperature with
safety, the longer the fruit keeps ; that is, a temperature of
31, or even lower sometimes, the longer you can keep your
fruit. If it is kept at a temperature of from 34 to 36 its dura-
bility is much shorter. We have found also that the more
perfect the apples the longer their durability .in cold storage.
We have found also that mmiber 2 fruit never will turn into
number i fruit by being placed in cold storage. The storage
of number 2 fruit does not pay, as number 2 fruit always goes
down very much quicker. It does not pay to put wormy apples
into cold storage if you want to hold them up.

Now there are one or two other points that' I want to refer
to. Scald always appears upon the mature side of the fruit
first. On the Greening it will always appear on the side, or
down around the base of the apple away from the sun. We
have found up to date this : that those conditions which are
most favorable for the long keeping of varieties in storage are
not the conditions which prevent scald. That those conditions
which will favor the longest keeping of the varieties also favor
the most scald. We found also that in a temperature of from
34 to 36 there is five or six times as much scald as in a temper-
ature of from 31 to 32, and that those which were put in in
a hard and firm condition are not scalded as much.

Now let me say this : the Rhode Island Greening apples which
we got from Mr. Hitchings seem to be keeping better than some
we got from western New York, but these Greenings are scalded
much worse than those we got from western New York, but I
would not dare to say that sod culture adds to the good keeping
qualities, nor would I dare say that sod culture increases the
scald. We simply found those facts, and in this particular line

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 127

it would be unwise for me to take a single example like that
and attempt to draw a general conclusion for you fruit growers
and farmers. There is a great deal to be learned in this. Some
of the storage men feel if they get fruit from young trees that
it is very doubtful whether that will keep very well, or whether
it will keep as well, and also whether it will keep as well when
the fruit come from high land as from low land. There is
also the question of the keeping quality of the fruit from tilled
land versus land under sod culture, and from sprayed trees
as against unsprayed trees, that is, of course, where the condi-
tion of the fruit is the same. It is the intention of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture to make a comprehensive study of all these
various problems, and especially with reference to their effect
upon fruit for storage, and to see what can be ascertained for
the guidance of the growers and storage men.

Our ability to carry on our studies in these lines depends
upon the liberality of Congress in appropriations of money,
but we feel and hope that Congress will be kind to us, and
give us the necessary money so that we wuU be able to follow
out this line of work, so that in time the apple and storage
business may be put on a more certain basis with regard to
some of these questions than it is at the present time. Our
storage men feel that we are doing them some good, and the
growers feel that we are doing them a great deal of good by
taking up this work from this standpoint.

I am very glad to make a report of progress, and to give a
little inside view into the lines of work that the Department
has taken up in this connection. If I had more time I would
be glad to tell you more about the special lines the Department
wall develop, and especially with reference to what we are
doing with a view to developing the export trade.

The shipping of fruit abroad is an important matter, as afford-
ing an outlet for our surplus stock in foreign markets, and
of course, as has been well known, the great difficulty has been
to lay the fruit down in foreign markets in a good salable con-
dition. I am hopeful that very much can be done to improve
conditions in this direction.

The Kieffer pear has been sent across this year for the first
time, and very successfully. Some peaches were got across this
year and we hope that the time is not far distant when we shall

128 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

be able to introduce them by the carload and partial carload
lots into European markets. We are studying the conditions
under which these products can be sent abroad and we are
hopeful of doing something which will be of substantial benefit
to the growers of this country so as to enable them to develop
these markets for our fruits.

Mr. Smith : Have you been able to ascertain under what
degrees of temperature the fruit should be taken out so as to
be able to hold up well in the market ?

Prof. Powell : The Kieffer pear in coming out of a temper-
ature of 33 held up for three or four weeks. This pear coming
out at a temperature of 36 will not hold up nearly so long.
We found, as I think I said before, that the lower the temper-
ature the longer the fruit will keep after it comes out of storage.
The Kieffer pear will not hold up longer than three or four
weeks when it is taken out at that temperature. At a high
temperature it will not hold up as long as that. It will go
down quicker. I think one reason why the fruit goes down so
quickly out of cold storage, is because we take it out when it
is almost dead ripe ; then the fruit goes down quickly. But if
the fruit comes out in good, firm condition, and has been kept
under proper conditions, it seems to hold up well. There is
a good deal to learn in relation to this subject.

I have a little statement which I would like to refer to, show-
ing the result on an export shipment. It is a little statement
of the result obtained on a shipment of ten barrels that were
sent across by the Government, and which was packed under
growers' conditions. They netted the growers back in Virginia
$3.57 a barrel. That is, after all the charges had been paid.

Mr. Hale : While Prof. Powell was talking about the Kieffer
pear and of cold storage, I have been thinking what on earth
was the use of all that. The Kieft'er pears will keep in a
pig-pen.

Prof. Powell: The Kieffer pear would not keep this year
three days in ordinary storage, and it would not keep that long
in a pig-pen. Even after it had been in it would not hold up
more than three or four weeks at the outside. The season, of
course, has a good deal of effect.

Mr. Cook: I cannot keep them longer than that. If you
want to raise Kieffer pears you want to plant them in with the
Bartletts.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. . 129

A Member : I would like to ask Prof. Powell, or j\Ir. Hart,
if they can tell what degree of humidity is advantageous for cold
storage ?

Prof. Powell : At this time I do not know^ anything about
it, and I do not know as there is anybody that knows anything
about it. I believe that we shall come to know by experiment
just how much humidity is advantageous. We can gain a little
idea of it by the feeling of the people who have had experience,
but we shall probably gain a great deal more knowledge on that
by actual experiments. It is a subject upon which it is impor-
tant to gain much accurate information ; more than we have at
present. I have seen a cold storage man take a hose and just
wet the rooms right down at the bottom for a short time. It
is something which experience in a cold storage man enables
him to handle. He seems to know instinctively. It is a ques-
tion which the experience of the cold storage man may give
a little light on, but it is a question I cannot answer. If there
is any storage man here he may be able to tell you how he
determines when the room gets too dry. There has been no
scientific work as yet to determine what degree of humidity
is advantageous.

A Member : I have a friend in New Jersey, who for many
years was in the habit of putting his pears into cold storage
at once, as fast as picked, and his method of cold storage was
to put them in a shed where ice was stored overhead. There
was a constant drip of cold w^ater all the time down into the
room where the pears were, and the result w'as that they were
kept wet as well as cold all the time.

He practiced that with entire success for many years. As
soon as he got through picking, then he began to take out,
taking out two or three loads a day all the time, and, so far
as I know, his losses were very small, even nothing to speak of.
That is a method which could not be generally adopted, and
it is not in accord with the ideas of modern cold storage, but
it was successful in his case in keeping the fruit in good con-
dition for a short time.

Mr. Hale : Right along in that line, I think myself that the
cold storage men have been trying to get too dry an atmos-
phere. I think a good many of you gentlemen can look back
to your boyhood da}-s, when you went around among the
9

13° THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

neighbors' cellars with the other boys, and knew very well
where to find the best apples, and I think if you will stop to
think of it, you will remember that the cellars which had the
most water in them were always the cellars where you found
the most good apples late in the spring. That was my experi-
ence, and I think if you will think it over that you will remem-
ber, or a good many of you will, that the neighbors' cellars
where you got second-class apples, along towards spring, were
not the wet cellars. It was the wet cellars that had the plump,
sound apples in every time.

The President: I think Mr. Berry, of the Hartford Cold
Storage Company, is still with us, and if he has anything to
offer on this interesting subject, we will be glad to have him
take the platform. As many of you know, he is one of the
proprietors of this new cold storage plant in Hartford, and we
shall be glad to have him speak to us if he will.

Mr. Berry : The question has been raised here in regard
to humidity, etc., in regard to the storage of apples, and it
has also been remarked that dampness and ' moisture in the
apple room is a point that is not favored by the storage men.
From our experience so far (and we have been in that par-
ticular branch of the business), it is absolutely without any
question, that is something we have got to learn a good deal
about. But as regards humidity or dryness in the modern cold
storage plant, it is a matter which can be regulated. We
have our system under absolute and complete control as regards
the dryness or humidity of the atmosphere. We use in con-
nection with our cold storage plant a chloride-calcium system
for preventing too much dryness and also too much moisture.
That is something which is always within the control of the
superintendent of our plant. The control is maintained by an
instrument which measures the amount with mathematical
accuracy, so that the amount can be reduced or increased as
the necessity of the case requires, by the application of the
chloride-calcium to the refrigerating surfaces, and that, of
course, is in the discretion of the superintendent.

Prof. Powell: That is a matter of judgment.

Mr. Berry : Altogether. There is a scale on this instrument
which indicates the change or variation, and, therefore, enables
the superintendent, by reading the registration of the instru-
ment, to regulate and control that matter.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 131

Prof. Powell: How low will that work?

Mr. Berry: At an atmosphere of 31 degrees. That is the
lowest. Anything below that is not shown.

A Member: I would like to ask Mr. Powell this question:
How long have the pears been kept in storage that you say
liave kept up two or three weeks after being taken "out?

Prof. Powell: Why, the last withdrawal I made was of
Kieffers, and was on the 15th day of January, and from an
atmosphere of 32 degrees. Those were pears that were treated
immediately after picking, and when I left home they were
still in a perfectly firm, good condition. It looked as though
those would hold up about a month in a temperature ranging
irom 50 to 60. We try to put them in a condition that the
fruit growers would have had to have kept them in, but as
a matter of fact, in a temperature of 36, we found that even
though the pears were stored, those pears had reached their
limit of storage durability by the first of the year, but with
a decline of the temperature it looks as though they would keep
imtil well along in the spring.

A Member : Are the pears any better in January than in
December? In other words, does it pay to hold them?

Prof. Powell : Well, I doubt whether it would be advisable
to hold them. I should not want to advise that without look-
ing them over to see. The object of cold storage is of course
attained when they can be carried over until a good market
can be obtained for them.

A Member : I would like to ask something which it seems
to me is of interest to us all, and that is, it seems to me that
this is largely a question of how we can carry these pears so
as to have them good to eat at this time of the year, and I
have been asking myself if we do not make a mistake by trying
to keep them too long. The question after all is, is the condition
that these pears can be brought out in so as to make them in
good condition to give to the public to eat. Now one great
trouble, it seems to me, has been that in late years when they
have come out of cold storage they were hard, and they have
had to be put in some wann place so as to bring them up to
the proper degree of mellowness, and in doing that they have
been almost invariably injurecl; two-thirds of them in some
cases.

132 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Prof. Powell : I have no doubt but that is true with regard
to the Bartlett pear, but in our experiments we have not as
yet touched them. I would state this, however, that I think
one of the things which will help to ripen up these hard pears
is to push the fruit room where the temperature is, or should
be, about 31, up to 40. I think the Bartletts can be kept at
31. In fact, the more I see of pear storage the more I begin
to feel that we have been holding our pears at altogether too
high temperatures. I have seen Bartletts held at 31 right up
to date. In fact, I know that they will keep in a temperature
of 31 or 32.

A Member : Don't they freeze ?

Prof. Powell : No. The freezing point of fruit under such
circumstances is not the same as the freezing point outside.
Just what is the freezing point we do not know. The natural
freezing point, which is unsettled, runs from 28 to 31. No
work has been done in America to determine accurately that
exact point.

Mr. Comstock : What is the advantage of closed or venti-
lated packages when the fruit is sent to cold storage?

Mr. Berry : I would like to say in regard to that, that I
have been in a position to recommend to different growers as
regards the style of package that they should use when sending
fruit to cold storage, and I have taken that matter up with one
party in particular, and recommended that he ventilate his
apple barrels before packing the fruit into the barrels, and to
allow them to go to cold storage in that condition. I recom-
mended that he bore five or six augur holes at different places
in the barrel, say of half an inch bore. I have kept watch of
those apples and find they are decidedly better than those that
came in without that small system of ventilation in any of
the barrels. The sweat that the growers think is produced
after being picked, is allowed to form while laying in the
orchard, and I think that is avoided in great measure, or to
some extent, by ventilation in that way.

Mr. Sharp: At our Massachusetts meeting last year one of
the professors from our experiment station had several sam-
ples of apples packed in different ways, boxes, barrels, half-
barrels, etc., and they were examined at our meeting in March,
and it was decided that perfectly tight packages, as near air-

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i33

tight as possible, and the fruit packed in those packages right
from the tree, was the best way, because the less decay the
less shrinkage in weight there would be. Those apples were
weighed and examined afterwards and, as I recollect it, that
conclusion was borne out.

The President : We have still one other topic for the morn-
ing session, and we have pursued this subject quite a little, as
it has been very interesting, but I think it may be well to take
up something else now, so as to finish our programme. We have
with us Prof. Townsend from the Department of Agriculture
at Washington, and he will address us on the subject of "The
Fungus Diseases of Fruits ; with Special Reference to Fruit
Rot, or 'Alonilia.'"

Some of Our Common Fruit Diseases, with Special Reference
to the Brown Rot of Peaches and Plums.*

By C. O. Townsetid, Washing/on, D. C.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: The treatment of
plant diseases has come to be one of the important factors in
fruit production. It is to be regretted that more is not known
in regard to the cause and treatment of many of our fruit
diseases. Nevertheless, remarkable progress has been made
along this line within the past few years. Plant pathology is
one of our newest sciences, and it is to be remarked that this
subject has received widespread attention within the past
decade. People are no longer inclined to blame Providence
for the failure of fruit and other crops. It is also gratifying,
especially to those of us who are studying plant diseases, to
know that the scientist and the producer are now working
side by side for the solution of the many problems that con-
front the fruit grower. Science is simply the classification of
knowledge, the gathering of facts and putting them into shape
for practical use, and those who are interested in the develop-
ment of the fruit industry will realize that new truths are being

*This address was ilhistrated with lantern slides showing the different
stages of the various diseases mentioned and, so far as known, the
organisms that produce the diseases. Much of the value of the address
is lost in not being able to supply the pictures ; hence parts of the
address are published only in abstract.

134 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

gained and that these truths are being adjusted to practical uses
day by day and year by year. It is true that we cannot, all of
us, work along both the practical and the experimental sides of
these problems, but by coming together and comparing our
results from time to time we shall gain much that is of prac-
tical value to all who are interested in the advancement of the
fruit industry.

It is not my purpose to overestimate the importance of com-
bating plant diseases. This is only one of the important
factors in the development of fruit and other farm products.
But if we are to have healthy plants, the same rule holds
as in the animal kingdom — we must start with healthy stock.
That is a principle which cannot be too strongly and firmly
impressed upon the mind. It is true we must pay proper
attention to the preparation of the soil, and to the cultivation
of the trees after they are placed in the ground; they must
be fed and pruned, the insect pests must be kept under control,
and at the same time the various diseases to which our fruits
and plants are subject must not be neglected." The only prob-
lems in connection with fruit growing that we shall now con-
sider for a little while are some of the more common diseases,
their nature and their prevention. The first disease to be con-
sidered is the peach-yellows.

Although this disease has been known in this country for
more than one hundred years, neither the cause which produces
it nor the remedy for its eradication are known, but through
the painstaking work of Dr. Erwin F. Smith, of the United
States Department of Agriculture, much is known in regard
to the communicability of this disease, and we are able to keep
it in check and to encourage the growers to a very large
extent by the prompt removal, and destruction by burning, of
all trees as soon as they show signs of the yellows. The
unmistakable symptoms of this disease are a premature ripen-
ing of the fruit, followed by a production of fine willowy shoots
on some parts of the diseased tree. Those of you who have
been growing peaches undoubtedly have had the misfortune
to meet the yellows in your orchards, but by a united effort
among a number of growers living upon adjacent farms you
will be able to keep this disease in check by removing and
burning the diseased trees just as soon as the disease appears.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. I35

The question is often raised as to whether we can plant a
tree in the same soil from which a tree affected with the
yellows has been removed. I would answer emphatically,
"yes, if the proper precautions are taken." By digging away
some of the old dirt at the root and putting in some new earth
and then planting healthy stock, there is little, if any, danger
of perpetuating the disease. In some sections of the country
trees have been planted for ten years or more in soil from which
other trees diseased with the yellows had been taken out, and
they were just as healthy and just as productive of good fruit
as any trees in the orchard.

Much might be said respecting the methods pursued in some
of the States in combating this disease, but we must pass on
to the consideration of some of the other forms of plant
diseases.

In regard to plant parasites that produce disease, there are
three main classes, viz : bacteria, slime moulds and thread-like
fungi. One of the most important fruit diseases produced by
bacteria is the pear blight. In practically all pear-producing
regions this disease has been more or less destructive. The
organism producing this disease attacks the twigs or branches
of the tree and the only known remedy consists in cutting out
the diseased parts. Usually, just after blossoming time, you
will see the blossoms or the newly formed pears wilt and die.
The disease gradually spreads from the blossom to the twig
and down the twig into the larger branches, and unless its
progress is stopped, the disease often extends down until it
reaches and girdles the trunk. In cutting out this disease,
care must be taken to cut far enough below the diseased area
to remove all the organisms that are capable of producing the
blight. Some growers, who have tried to rid their orchards
of this pest by cutting out the affected twigs and branches,
have found at the end of the season that they had more of the
disease than at the beginning. This was owing to the fact that
they did not cut low enough to remove all the disease-produc-
ing organisms. The organism producing this blight is very
readily distributed, being carried, undoubtedly, by the wind and
by bees from tree to tree and from orchard to orchard. The
organism multiplies very rapidly and usually passes through
its life history in a very limited time. It is spread in the tree

136 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

through the sap, usually downward, but sometimes upward in
the twigs or branches. Of course a few of these in a tree or
twig would do very little damage, but the organism multiplies
so rapidly that the danger of ruining the tree and of infecting
surrounding trees is great unless prompt measures are taken for
its suppression. The pear blight represents only one of many
forms of plant disease produced by these small organisms or
bacteria.

The second class of disease-producing organisms is repre-
sented in the disease known as the crown gall. It is possible
that the disease is not serious in Connecticut or perhaps it has not
appeared here at all, but in some states it has become a serious
pest. It should be looked for first in the nurseries, as it is
more quickly and easily found on nursery stock. In some
sections it is not uncommon to find it on the older trees. When
this disease attacks a tree it produces one or more galls or knots
just at the juncture of the roots and trunk. In some instances
the galls appear farther down on the roots or several inches
above the surface of the ground. The organism producing
this disease has been worked out by Prof. Toumey of the Yale
Forestry School and, as already indicated, is one of the slime
moulds. This peculiar mould works into the tissues of the
root and produces enlargement at the point of attack. These
knots injure the appearance of the nursery stock and conse-
quently interfere with its sale. The affected trees are usually
shorter lived and less productive than trees produced from
healthy stock. All fruit trees seem to be susceptible to this
disease ; hence a careful examination of the stock should be
made before planting, and all affected trees should be discarded.
Whether the crown gall' is serious or is not serious in this
State, it is well to be on the lookout for it. In some sections
it has caused a great deal of damage, and there is no reason
why it will not thrive here if it is once established. In some
stages of the disease, it has been thought that these galls could
be cut out of the trees and the disease removed by that method,
but thus far this practice has been without satisfactory results,
since the galls soon grow again. It is well to prevent, if
possible, the propagation of these trees, and only healthy stock
should be relied upon for the orchard.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i37

Now we pass to the third form of plant parasite, the thread-
Uke fungus. This form is probably the most common, but
in all cases the great difficulty in fighting the various forms
of disease-producing organisms lies in the fact that in most
cases they are so small that we cannot see them with the naked
eye. A great many of our insect pests are beautifully illus-
trated and described and, being large enough to be seen with
the naked eye, become familiar objects, and in them there is
something tangible to combat. One fact, however, should be
strongly emphasized in this connection, viz., that these disease-
producing organisms are just as real, and just as definite in
their structure, as if we could see them with the unaided eye.
If we examine closely one of these fungi of the third class,
we shall find that it is made up of one or more thread-like
bodies which are hollow, and which are sometimes divided by
cross walls into compartments. These organisms are really
plants of a very peculiar structure and possess peculiar methods
of reproducing themselves. The reproducing bodies that are
formed are called spores. These bodies differ in appearance
in dififerent fungi, but their function is always the same, viz.,
the reproduction of their kind. Wherever these little bodies
find a place where the conditions are favorable, new threads
will be sent out, and a new fungus plant will be produced.
These reproducing bodies are usually too small to be seen with
the naked eye and are easily carried about by the wind or upon
the feet of insects. Many of these spores are protected through
unfavorable seasons by a provision of nature, and they are
thus enabled to live through the winter or through seasons
of excessive dryness. As it is, a large number of spores are
destroyed, but enough ■survive to perpetuate the species and
often to cause untold damage.*

The thread-like structures that develop from the spores force
their way into the tissues of the plants upon which they grow
and rob them of their nutritive substances. It is in this way
that these parasitic plants obtain their food, and at the same
time they impart to their hosts more or less poisonous material.

The bitter rot of the apple, for example, is produced by one

*Slides were exhibited, showing methods of spore formation, the
manner in which the fungus is produced from the spore and the way
it feeds upon its host plant.

138 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

form of thread-like fungus. If a spore of this fungus lodges
upon an apple it germinates under favorable conditions and
produces a thread-like structure that grows into the tissue of
the apple and causes it to decay. One may readily become
familiar with the disease from the appearance of the affected
spot and by the bitter taste of the diseased parts. The fungus
grows very rapidly, with the result that even in a few days,
through its ready means of distribution, it will be quite gen-
erally spread through the orchard. These spores multiply
rapidly by a pinching off of the ends of the fungus threads.*

*It is apparent, therefore, that cedar trees should not be
allowed to grow in the vicinity of apple orchards or, at least,
they should be kept free from cedar apples. In addition to this
precaution the trees should be sprayed several times during the
season with Bordeaux mixture. The matter of spraying is
something which must be taken into account in connection with
orchard management.

There is another disease of the apple called the Brown Spot.
The cause of this trouble seems to be different in different locali-
ties. In some cases the spots are full of a thread-like fungus,
while in other instances no parasite is found in connection with
the discolored areas. It is difficult to distinguish the former
from the latter except by the aid of a microscope. If the dis-
colored spots are full of fungi, the disease may be controlled, to
some extent at least, by spraying with Bordeaux mixture, just
before the buds open and just after the blossoms fall.

Those of you who are interested in the culture of quinces
know that both the fruit and the foliage are sometimes affected
with a scab similar to the scab of the apple. This has been
found to be entirely controllable by the use of the Bordeaux
mixture and other fungicides, and in view of the efficient remedy
very little may be feared from this disease.

Some of our fruits, especially apples, pears and quinces, some-
times have discolored bands or spots upon their surfaces.

*NoTE. Apple rust and scab were also described, and it was shown
that these diseases were also due to the action of thread-like fungi that
grow into the tissues of the fruit and foliage. Attention was called to
the fact that the peculiar growths sometimes found on cedar trees and
known as cedar apoles, are one stage in the life history of the apple
rust fungus.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i39

These discolored areas are caused by frost or other unfavorable
conditions, and are not due to the presence of a parasite.

The disease known as black knot, common on cherry and
plum, is easily recognized. The knots are usually brown at
first, but become black as they get older. Black knot is pro-
duced by a fungus that attacks the twigs and branches of the
wild as well as the cultivated species of both the plum and the
cherry. These knots should be cut out as soon as they appear,
and the trees should be thoroughly sprayed with a copper
fungicide.

In connection with all fungus diseases, too much emphasis
cannot be put upon the importance of thorough work in spray-
ing. Some growers have sprayed with very satisfactory results,
while others have been less successful. A failure to get good
results in spraying is often due to an improper preparation of
the fungicide or to a lack of thoroughness in its application.
It is true that the kind and condition of the tree, the stage of
development of the fungus, and the state of the weather, are all
important factors which contribute much to the success or
failure in the use of fungicides.

The black rot of the grape is probably the most serious pest
with which the grower of this fruit has to contend. Under
ordinary conditions the disease may be controlled by the use
of Bordeaux mixture. Usually five or six applications during
the season are necessary. It was in connection with the black
rot of the grape that Bordeaux mixture was discovered in
France, near the town of Bordeaux. No fence being between
the vineyards and the roadway, travelers in passing along were
in the habit of running into the vineyards and gathering a few
bunches of grapes to eat as they went on their way. The large
number of travelers in that section carried away a considerable
quantity of fruit during the season and the growers determined
to make the grapes appear to have been poisoned. Accordingly
they mixed together some bluestone and lime, and threw it into
the vines near the roadway. That year there was a serious out-
break of black rot in those vineyards, but it was noticed that
those grapes which had received bluestone and lime mixture
were nearly free from black rot, while farther back from the
roadway, where this substance was not applied, there was con-
sidera1:)le disease, and from that small beginning Bordeaux mix-
ture has come into general use as a fungicide.

I40 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Another fungus disease which often troubles our grapes is
the anthracnose. This disease is well known, and can be suc-
cessfully controlled by the use of the same remedy that is
employed in treating the black rot ; simply by spraying four or
five times during the season with Bordeaux mixture.

Finally the brown rot of peaches, plums and cherries is pro-
duced by a thread-like fungus Alonilia fructigena. As the name
of this disease indicates, the affected fruits assume a brown
color, but in a short time the surfaces of the diseased fruits
become gray or ash-colored. This is due to the formation of
the spores of this fungus. As soon as these newly- formed
spores find suitable conditions, they germinate and produce
slender, thread-like structures which penetrate the tissue of the
peach, cherry, plum, etc., causing a diseased spot to appear
within a few hours. The fungus needs no assistance from
insects or other agents in penetrating the surface of the fruit.
When once within the tissues of the fruit, the fungus grows
rapidly and produces a new set of spores in from thirty-six to
forty-eight hours, or even in a shorter time' under favorable
weather conditions. The rapidity with which this fungus grows
and produces spores accounts for the great amount of damage
that it may produce in a short time. It should further be noted
that this fungus is capable of living over the winter in the
diseased fruits that are allowed to remain over in the orchard,
so that when the warm, moist days of spring come the fungi
that have lain dormant in the decayed and partially dried fruits,
renew their activity and produce new spores. These spores,
like those of the previous year, are carried by the wind or other
agencies onto the limbs and branches of the trees. With these
facts in regard to the life history of this fungus established, the
all important question is, What steps should be taken for the
suppression and control of this pest? First, all partially dried
or mummified fruits, as they are usually called, whether on the
tree or on the ground, should be gathered and burned. This
should be done in the fall or winter, the earlier the better. It
is recommended by some that these fruits be buried, but it is
always far safer to burn them as soon as gathered. Second,
the fruit should be properly thinned. In no case should two or
more fruits be allow^ed to remain in contact with each other,
since the point of contact furnishes an excellent place for mois-

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 141

ture and spores to collect. Third, as soon as the rot appears,
the affected fruits should be gathered and burned. This pro-
cess should be repeated with sufficient frec[uency to prevent the
fungus from producing spores. Fourth, the trees should be
sprayed thoroughly with Bordeaux mixture before growth
begins in the spring. There is considerable difference of opinion
in regard to subsequent sprayings. It is known that the applica-
tion of fungicides will prevent the rot, but frequently consider-
able damage is done to the foliage, especially of peaches and
Japan plums, by the use of Bordeaux mixture. Hence, if subse-
quent applications of Bordeaux are to be made, the amount of
bluestone should be reduced and the amount of lime increased.
The speaker has had good results in the majority of cases in
using two pounds of bluestone with from six to eight pounds
of good lime in fifty gallons of water. If the trees are sprayed
after the leaves appear, there should be from three to five
applications, depending upon the weather and upon the variety.
It is apparent that the spraying should be continued longer upon
the late as compared with the early varieties. Fifth, remember-
ing that this fungus is capable of growing upon a number of
fruits, attention should be given to the conditions surrounding
the orchard, so that, while one is combating the rot in his peach
orchard, for example, the spores are not being brought into the
orchard from nearby plum or cherrv' trees. In this connection
it should be suggested that fruit growers upon adjacent farms
should combine against this common foe. While a single fruit
grower may do much in combating this disease, much more
satisfactory results may be attained by keeping the fungus
reduced to a minimum in the entire neighborhood, since the
spores are capable of being carried long distances.

Mr. Sternberg : I think we have listened to a very instruc-
tive address, but as it is dinner time I would suggest that we
now adjourn to 1.30, and then come back and continue the dis-
cussion. A good many of our friends, no doubt, will want to
ask the Professor a good many questions, and we shall be glad
to continue this suljject after dinner.

President Piatt announced the following Committee on
Nominations: Air. Edwin Hoyt, Mr. A. C. Innis, Mr. A. W.
Saunders, Mr. H. B. Buell, and Prof. W. E. Britton ; and a
recess to 1.30 was then taken.

142 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Afternoon Session, February 5th, 1.30 P. M.

The Society came to order at 1.30 p. m., President Piatt in
the chair.

The President : The lecture this morning was cut short,
because the dinner hour arrived just as Prof. Townsend had
finished showing his pictures. Now I do not doubt but you
will want to follow this subject further, and if there are any
questions which you wish to ask Dr. Townsend there will be an
opportunity now.

Dr. Townsend: I wish to add just a word to what was said
this morning. By adopting and practicing the methods sug-
gested this morning for keeping down the monilia, the results
will be better the second year than they were the first, and the
third better than they were the second, and so on, that is, the
effects are cumulative. This is a general principle that applies
to plant diseases of all kinds. It is of the highest importance
that each step in combating this disease should be carried out
with promptness and with thoroughness. There are two things
which often explain the lack of success in spraying. One is
because the mixture is not made with proper care, and the
other is because it is not properly applied. Care must not only
be taken in these particulars, but also in the promptness and
thoroughness with which the work is done. The trees must be
well covered with the fungicide. And, finally, remember that
spraying is only one step in the struggle against monilia. The
mummified and decaying fruits should be picked off and burned.

The President: Suppose this decayed fruit is left laying
around like old apples. I suppose it decays like any other
vegetable matter, doesn't it, and why isn't that the end of the
monilia spore?

Dr. Townsend: The peach does not always decay and dis-
appear like other vegetable matter, but it dries down and the
monilia fungus remains in these dried peaches and the following
year the fungus is capable of producing a new set of spores.
For this reason, the mummified fruits should be destroyed by
burning.

The President : Will the fungus live in the soil no matter
how much water there is in it^ or how moist the soil is?

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i43

Dr. Townsend: If the soil is constantly water-soaked and
the partly-decayed peaches are in the soil, the fungus would be
destroyed, but these dried peaches are not easily soaked through
and, remaining on the tree or on the surface of the ground, as
some of them do. they soon dry off and the fungus is protected.
A great deal of the fungus as well as a large part of the fungus
spores are destroyed, but enough survive to perpetuate the
fungus from year to year.

Mr. Wakeman : Does the weather have a good deal to do
with it, as to the amount of it that we have during a season?

Dr. Townsend : Yes, the weather has a great deal to do with
it indirectly. It is said that warm, damp weather aids the rot,
and that is true, since the germination of the spores and the
subsequent development of the fungus depends upon weather
conditions. If the fungus or its spores were not present the
weather alone would not produce the brown rot. Hence the
weather is only indirectly responsible for this trouble.

Mr. Beckwith : I noticed among the pictures that were
shown was one in regard to the growth of the plant knots on
the roots. I would like to understand a little more about that.

Dr. Townsend: I will say that the knots commonly called
crown gall, are liable to appear on our common fruit trees, such
as apples, peaches, pears, plums, etc. These knots vary in size
and usually occur at the crown of the roots. As shown by
Prof. Toumey in his work on this disease, these knots are pro-
duced by a slime mould. Sometimes knots are produced on the
roots of certain plants by a small worm ; in other cases they are
produced by an aphis, hence we should learn to distinguish
between the knots or galls of dift'erent kinds. The crown gall
is often found on nursery stock, care should, therefore, be
taken in selecting trees for planting to avoid this disease. No
remedy is known by which a tree affected with this disease may
be cured. It is true that a tree affected with the crown gall
may live for several years and even come into bearing, but the
general experience is that such trees are unprofitable.

A Member: I would like to ask the Professor if he will
kindly go over what he said this morning in regard to the treat-
ment of monilia ; if he will briefly go over that again.

Dr. Townsend : I shall be very glad to go over the different
steps in the treatment of monilia. In the first place, see that

144 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

all the mummified fruits are gathered from the trees and from
the ground and burned. Do not bury them. It might be all
right if they were buried, but they are liable to come to the sur-
face through the process of cultivation, and the fungus will live
for several years in the partially dried fruits. The next step
consists in picking the decaying fruit from the trees as soon as
it begins to rot. I believe I called your attention to the fact
that the spores may begin to germinate in twenty-four hours.
The spores may even produce a complete fungus plant in that
time, and from a single spore may come hundreds and thousands
of spores in a few days. So, just as soon as a rotten spot
appears on the fruit, destroy it so that no spores can be pro-
duced. If all decaying fruits are destroyed promptly there will
be no mummies. At the proper season for thinning the fruit,
see that this work is properly done. Regardless of disease you
would thin your fruit in order to get a good quality. From the
standpoint of disease, the fruits should not touch each other on
the tree, and the farther apart the fruits are the safer they are.
While the trees are still dormant in the spring, spray them
thoroughly with ordinary Bordeaux mixture. While there is
some question in regard to the advisability of spraying after the
leaves are out, it seems to me that the chances are in favor of
spraying at intervals of from ten to twenty days with weak
Bordeaux mixture. For these subsequent sprayings it does not
seem advisable to use more than two pounds of bluestone, with
six or eight pounds of good stone lime, to fifty gallons of water.
It would not be safe to depend upon spraying alone to control
this disease. The decaying and mummified fruits must be
destroyed. The spores may be carried through long distances ;
hence look to the surroundings of your orchard, see that no
decaying fruits are found in adjacent fields. Finally, induce
your neighbors to join you in your struggles against this pest.

A Member : Professor, can you prescribe some treatment for
what is called "Gummy Ooze" on the peach ? You might know
it by some other name.

Dr. Townsexd : No. It is quite common. I have seen
a good deal of it, and I am sorry to say I know of no remedy.
The cause of that gummy ooze is not known, and the remedy is
not known. I remember in one orchard of some thirty thousand
trees there was an outbreak of it, and it looked for a time as if

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i45

the trees would die, but they came out of it all right after a
time. I was unable to trace any cause for it. That particular
section of the orchard where it appeared was lower than the
rest, and there was some considerable moisture there, and there
was somewhat of a frost in the spring. It seemed to be a
weather condition, but I do not know as it was due to that. No
one has. been able to trace the cause of it.

The President : While the Committee on Nominations are
deliberating we will take up question No. 4: "What are the
respective advantages of close and wide apart orchard plant-
ing?" I believe Mr. George H. Hale of South Glastonbury is
to give us something on that.

Mr. George H. Hale : Mr. President and Gentlemen — I shall
talk more on the close planting of trees than on wide planting.
Although I now believe in wide planting, I have practiced to
quite an extent for twenty years the close setting of trees. In
1879 my brother and myself planted an acre of peach trees
fifteen feet apart. In 1880 we planted eight acres, and in 1881
some twenty acres, all of wdiich w^ere set fifteen feet apart each
w'ay. That gave two hundred trees per acre. Our first crop
of peaches was produced the fourth year when we received
about a basket per tree. Our first crop netted us 56 cents a
basket. Now if we can get one basket per tree, on two hun-
dred trees to the acre, and set fifteen feet apart, as ours were,
if we can set them thirteen feet apart it wall give us two hun-
dred and fifty trees to the acre, which means two hundred
and fifty baskets per acre. Or, in other words, if we are getting
$1.50 a basket, it is $75 an acre more, and money is what we
are after. We planted no more trees until 1890, and then we
planted about twenty-five acres at thirteen feet apart, which
gave us two hundred and fifty to the acre. In 1891 W'e planted
ten acres at thirteen feet, and in 1893 twenty-five acres at
thirteen feet apart, and they all produced good results at thir-
teen feet apart each way, and we thought at that time that
that might be considered as a sort of a standard distance for
setting, but this last year, when it came to 1901 (we dissolved
partnership in 1896), I had a large number of trees which
almost covered the whole ground when set at that distance,
and I said that the next time I would plant them as far apart
as twenty feet. It does not pay in the long run to set them
10

146 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

close unless you are short of land. I do not think it pays in
the long run to set them less than eighteen feet apart. I believe
you will obtain more money in the end than you will by
planting them thirteen feet, or fifteen apart. At the end
of the fourth year you will obtain just as many baskets from
your trees fifteen feet apart as you will from those set eighteen
feet, and when it comes to the second crop about as many, and
in the third a little less, and so on. In other words, w^e have
had trees that have been set twelve years from which we have
picked as high as twenty baskets. That is large. If you take
an orchard of ten thousand trees, if it will average four baskets
of marketable fruit to the tree it is a big yield. Of course, I
do not know what my brother would say on this. He has
generally done the preaching for the family, but I have had
considerable to do with the business, and, as you are well aware,
I was a nurseryman up to 1896, and if I had been telling you
this little story five years ago I might have said to plant your
trees thirteen feet apart. A nurseryman, you will always
notice, will tell you any thing in order to sell, trees — every time.
I don't suppose there are any nurserymen here to hear me say
that, but that does not make any difference.

A Member : Brother Hoyt is here.

Mr. Hale : When they get out of the nursery business they
will all come back here and tell you the same thing. Now
figure it up a little on the basis of trees fifteen feet apart.
Now you take the trees in a peach orchard, and they will die
out some. A peach tree at best is comparatively short lived,
and I should advise everybody, if they think their orchard is
not going to last, to plant them thick ; and that is one trouble,
you don't know. But I should say not to plant your trees less
than fifteen feet apart, and, if possible, make them eighteen feet
apart. At twenty feet it will only give you a hundred and
sixty trees to the acre, but I have noticed in places in an orchard
where there was plenty of sunshine that you got finely colored
and developed fruit. I had an orchard that I planted in 1897,
setting them fifteen feet apart, and they are all grown in
together, and this year I had a lot of fruit from that orchard
which was green and small, a lot of fruit which was second
grade. Occasionally through the orchard there was a space
where one or two trees had died, and I noticed that the trees

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i47

right around there bore beautiful peaches. They were finely
colored. Fine, handsome peaches, and that only goes to show-
that we must give them sunshine. I believe that an orchard
planted from fifteen to twenty feet apart will live longer.
Why? Because there is more room, and there is less liability
to disease, and there is more sunlight and air among the trees.
I believe such an orchard will last longer. Of course there
are a good many of you who may differ with me. Some may
want them thick, and some may want them thin, and you may
be sorry if you do, and sorry if you don't. If you put them
in thick and your orchard plays out in six or seven years you
Avill be sorry you did it. I think on the whole it is better to
set the trees the wider distance apart so as to get as much
henefit from sunlight as you can. The orchard will live longer
for it, and it is just as profitable, if not more so, in the end.

The Presidext : Of course, if you head them back you can
plant them thicker. It wants a man of good judgment to prune
the trees.

The order of the day now would be the election of officers,
"but the Nominating Committee is not quite ready to report,
and, as the next speaker is in a hurry to get away, I would now
like to have that speaker, j\Ir. Foster, address you.

Domestic and Foreign Fruit Markets^ and Their Requirements.

By Mr. Charles Foster of New York City.

Mr. President and Gentlemen: Through the courtesy of your
secretary, I have been asked to address you upon the subject
of "Domestic and Foreign Fruit Markets and Their Require-
ments." It is one that has had wide discussion, and requires
broad handling to lift it above the level of purely local, and often-
times, narrow interpretation. Within the limited scope of a
paper of this kind, I shall endeavor briefly to treat the question
from the viewpoint of the distributor in the home and foreign
markets — the necessary factor in a business of such magnitude,
whose contact with producer and consumer offers opportunity
for a fair study of conditions that make for mutual success or
failure. The proposition "what to grow and how to grow it,"
takes first rank in the discussion at issue, as success primarily

148 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

rests with the producer, who should seek to know what is
wanted most in the markets that he may exploit, and in what
manner it shoukl be presented to the consumer to command
the most profitable returns.

I think it may be stated with fairness that twenty-five per
cent, of the present supplies of fruits and vegetables coming
to the markets of the country could be eliminated without loss
to anyone but the carriers. If the producer needs proof of this
let him consult his returns, which almost invariably disclose
little or nothing received for an important percentage of his
product, with time and labor actually lost in preparation, and
hauling to railway or steamboat. That the process is kept vip
year after year attests the sluggishness of the average agricul-
tural mind in properly sizing up the situation. As a rule, he
satisfies himself with wondering why, and blaming his com-
mission merchant. The fault rests with himself. With no
high standard to govern him, he grows his produce poorly,
preferring an acre badly cared for to a half acre well fertilized
and generously cultivated ; and if it be strawberries or rasp-
berries or currants, the result is an excess of undergrade stock,
all of which goes to market as it is, because it cannot stand
grading, and the returns, as stated, are disappointing and
unprofitable. Had one-half the acreage been put out, I ven-
ture the opinion that the same fertilizing and care as that
bestowed upon the larger patch would have brought returns
almost identical. It is not that the smaller, and logically, finer
product, would bring so much more money, but it would all be
sold, whereas a heavy percentage of the poorer stufif finds no
ultimate market, but is thrown away and lost. It has been
stated, with some degree of truth, that the great mass of con-
sumers (the common people) enjoy little advantage from an
over-production of fruits and vegetables. It is, I think, due
largely to the fact that, while at such periods of excess the
grower and huckster buy more liberally, the ultimate waste due,
as stated, to poor quality, demands an averaging up in prices
on the best to make him safe against loss. One of the largest
of our retail dealers in fruits and vegetables in New York, who
will put out as high as two hundred bushels of berries to his
Saturday trade, recently stated that it is never the quantity that
l)others him. If the fruit were graded better, and his percentage

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i49

of rubbish eliminated, he could buy even more liberally and sell
cheaper. How often when most liberally supplied with goods,
the commission merchant finds the trade will float past him,
because he has not what they want, and are willing to pay for.
The knife is put in, the wagon boy or huckster gets the goods ;
the commission man works for little or nothing, and the shipper
gets what is left.

Turning from our home markets to those of the United King-
dom and the Continent, and we have the same problem to face.
Our average annual export of fresh apples from the United
States and Canada during the last twenty years has been
1,000,000 liarrels. For the last several years it has averaged
1,250,000 to 1,500,000 barrels. During the big season of 1896-7
it reached 3,000.000 barrels. It is a trade well worth conserv-
ing, and, b}- reason of geographical position, means more to
New England than to any other part of our commonwealth.
Here again we find grading and packing defective, but, by
reason of European sales being almost entirely at auction, where
samples are dumped, thereby disclosing the entire contents of
packages, irregularities are quickly uncovered, and goods are
sold more nearly for what they are worth.

One of the most interesting sights in the world to the lover of
fruits is the Liverpool Auction Room, where, in addition to
oranges, grapes and other seasonable products, as high as
50,000 barrels of apples have been sold in one busy day. How
absolutely essential is it, therefore, that fruits going abroad
should be properly graded and packed. It is only within a
twelvemonth that some of us have listened to the reports of
Canadian commissioners sent abroad by their government to
investigate the methods of sale, with a view to the betterment of
conditions and the enlargements of markets for Canadian food
products. Their recital of the irregular methods of Canadian
apple packers (largely growers of fruits) was both interesting
and instructive. It displayed the Canadian grower as one very
far removed from him who gives much that little may be
received in return. The exhaustive report of these fearless
emissaries of the Canadian government was one of the severest
arraignments of irregular methods ever listened to. As a result
of it all, and with an eye to the interest of a business that was
rapidly losing caste abroad, a most drastic law was passed by

I50 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

the Canadian Parliament covering the grading and packing
of apples whicli, if only fairly administered, means much for the
life of that industry. To-day in Canada, apples must be selected
and packed in conformity to governmental standard, any infrac-
tion of the law carrying a penalty sufficiently heavy to be a
burden to wrong doing. It is said, after a season's trial, that
this law is not working satisfactorily, but it at least suggests a
governmental foresight superior to that of the individual
Canadian fruit grower, who, impeded by a restrictive American
tariff at his border, can logically look to but one market for the
distribution of his important and constantly expanding crop
surplus. Who that has stood in any of the markets of the world
to which our special lines of perishables find their way has not
blushed at the sight of offerings unworthy of the name? It
was but last spring that a prominent commission firm at Liver-
pool wrote of a certain consignment of Russets from New York :
"It is a shame that any American of character should send such
trash to the English markets with the expectation of satisfactory
sale. The whole invoice after removal of the top layers is little
better than culls." A society of horticulturis'ts as prominent as
this, and which is bestowing so much time and thought upon
the subjects of conservation of soil, elimination of insect pests,
and the general physical up-building and expansion of orchard
and garden cultivation, can well afford to supplement its good
work by allying itself strongly upon the side of honorable
methods of marketing the developed product. The exalted
standard adopted by your distinguished colleague, Air. J. H.
Hale, of South Glastonbury, should be an inspiration to all
serious-minded horticulturists. His scientific skill in the grow-
ing of fruits is only exceeded by a studied choice of the most
marketable varieties, while his methods and style of grading and
packing have given him a name beyond reproach in all markets
he has entered. We have another in our own State of New
York, in the person of Mr. George T. Powell of Briarcliff
Manor, who, in addition to the study of how to produce, is ever
foremost in the discussion of how best to market his fruit crops.
Honesty of method is the prevailing instinct which dominates
the work of high-minded, practical men in all departments of
industrial life. The United States may well be proud of the
great galaxy of talent devoted to the elevation of fruit growing.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 151

from the haphazard standard of former days to that of the
scientific culture which gradually but surely is making its influ-
ences felt in every rural community. The great cry of the
distributor in the fruit markets of the world at large to the horti-
cultural societies, of which this is an honored representative, is,
"Come over into Macedonia and help us." The average grower
of fruits and vegetables needs just as much education upon the
secondary proposition, how best to market his product, as upon
the primary one of how best to grow it. The distributor, or
dealer, to whom he may consign, withholds suggestions for
fear of being misimderstood. To criticize a shipper's methods
too often means the loss of a more or less valuable client. It
doesn't pay, and is therefore considered not worth while. The
grange meeting and the county and state convention is where
work of this kind can be promoted without fear of misrepre-
sentation.

What the markets require is, quality first, and quantity next.
Let the peaches be well graded with but one variety in a pack-
age. Give generous measure. A crate of raspberries or straw-
berries scantily filled never brings its real value. Avoid the
"pony" package, and let the package be new whenever and
wherever possible. The apple barrel adopted by the National
Apple Shippers' Association is the standard of the country, and
will sell in any market at home or abroad. The stove-pipe
barrel of the Hudson River can go to Europe or to New York,
where they don't want it, but the great West will have none of
it. When using the generous second-hand flour barrel always
wash and dry it thoroughly. Flour dust upon apples, pears or
quinces means a cut of twenty-five or fifty cents in the price to
make the stock sell. It represents a poor economy of time and
labor. Use a stencil for the different varieties of fruits. It
costs but a trifle, and indicates care and interest in the details
that is always appreciated. Don't be ashamed to have a brand
of your own, and pack up to it. The No. 2 stock will sell under
a second brand, which can be understood. Shake apple barrels
often while packing the fruit, and the attendant pressing need
not then be too severe to bring it to market tight and in good
form.

And now a word about a few other rec|uirements of the home
and foreign fruit markets : A g-enerous e^overnment has recently

152 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

set apart a fund for investigating this field, and particularly the
latter, with a view to its enlargement. It has been my pleasure
and privilege to come into practical contact with Prof. W. A.
Taylor, under whose special direction some of these investiga-
tions are being made. We cooperated in the shipment to Eng-
land last fall of Bartlett and Kieffer pears, packed under the
supervision of a government inspector, with results, that in the
latter case especially, were most flattering. It looks to-day as
though we had found a market in Europe for some of the
dreaded surplus of Kieffers, about 4,000 barrels of which, dur-
ing the past season, have sold at good prices in the market of
the United Kingdom. Perhaps it may yet prove a fairly profit-
able, if not satisfactory, substitute for the rapidly degenerating
Eastern Bartlett of fragrant memory. It certainly looks, too, as
though we were going to give a large place, in both home and
foreign markets, to the Ben Davis apple, about which some of
the horticulturists grumble so fiercely. In this season of
Eastern shortage of red fruit, it is proving itself a wonderful
seller in all the markets of this country and Europe.

It is not the purpose of this paper to say "what to grow and
what not. The markets of the world want the best, and will
always pay a fair price for it. The commercial instinct is
strong, and markets clamor for what will sell best. It were
well to remember that in the development of new varieties an
eye should be had to all the essentials that make for success.
On these latter we may honestly differ, but all will agree that
the higher the level of production of anything, and the more
honestly it be marketed, the greater the chance for success and
profit to all concerned.

(Vice-President Sternberg was called to the chair.)
Mr. Foster: Now Mr. President, I would be very glad, if
there are any questions along our line of business, to answer
them if I can. It is very hard to either prepare a paper or to
make an impromptu address upon the subject of what the markets
require. The markets require so much, and such a variety of
produce, that it is very hard for any distributor to say what is
best, or what should be done, or what should not be done, but
if there are any of you gentlemen who would like to ask me
specific questions which I can answer, I shall be very glad
indeed to give you any information I have. I may say that of

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i53

the crop of 1896 we distributed about 650,000 barrels, but this
year only about 350,000 in the three markets of Liverpool, Lon-
don and Glasgow. The export of fruit to the old country is a
great and growing industry. The x\gricultural Department at
Washington, through its agent, Prof. Taylor, is investigating
this field with a view to finding means for its greater develop-
ment, and it is a field which offers great opportunities to the
American horticulturist, and especially to the men who will use
new and improved scientific methods. The man who selects,
and grades, and packs his fruit in the most tasteful and taking
manner, is the man who is taking the business, and at good
prices. That is the way that California has won its way, even
in the New England markets, with its fruit, and yet, I think we
will all agree that the California fruit does not compare with
our eastern products, but the point of it is, and particularly the
beauty of it is the fact that it is their packing which has enabled
them to meet the world, and to compete successfully in the
foreign market. They meet the French, who are the greatest
packers in the world, and they have fought their way against
the French product, and against the English markets, and they
have won out. So that to-day the Bartlett pear, and the Kieffer
pear, and the California plums of certain varieties have won
their way in England, and are selling there profitably. We
have not been able to do ver}- much from our eastern seaboard
cities by reason of the lack of available cold storage facilities,
or space upon our steamers. The California men export their
product by cooperation with the steamer lines, and they have
been able to take over all the space on a certain steamer each
week during certain periods of the year. They are able to ship
in large quantities, the shipment sometimes involving a matter
of five or ten carloads. We in the East cannot afford to experi-
ment in that way, and that being so we cannot expect our busi-
ness to develop rapidly, but from time to time we have been able
to use a part of that space, and have sent over some goods.
Last fall there was sent quite an important consignment of
Western New York pears, packed in boxes and half-boxes. The
half-boxes took the best in the English market. We sent over
several varieties until we flooded them, and it was not a very
good thing to do because the quality of the stuff was poor, and
it was not very attractive, but until we flooded them the returns

154 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

were exceedingly good, and above anything that we could get
for them at home. We realized as high as four to five dollars
a barrel. The barrel packages we were successful with only in
a limited way. The half-boxes were what took in the English
market. Some of the consignments arrived in poor condition,
but those that arrived in good condition competed with the Eng-
lish varieties, and realized good money. Of course to handle
this trade successfully we must have the benefit of cold storage
on ship-board, and the trouble with shipping in cold storage
on the steamers is the same as the trouble with cold storage in
the field. I understand that the question of cold storage was
discussed in your convention to-day. I should have liked to
have been present at that discussion, and have heard the differ-
ent opinions in regard to it. There are certain things in regard
to cold storage which we have got to understand as absolutely
necessary. The fruits must be gotten into cold storage as
rapidly as possible, and the temperature must be kept even.
The mistake of even a degree in temperature may cause loss and
serious trouble.

Mr. J. H. Hale: You spoke of using tasteful packages, and
advised against the use of common flour barrels. If we can't
get anything else what shall we do ?

Mr. Foster : Why, Mr. Hale, that question is almost a super-
fluous one, simply because in districts like Ulster Count}-, N. Y.,
and the back districts in Connecticut they cannot get new barrels
as readily as you can, and they have to depend upon the common
flour barrel, but it would pay many of those growers to obtain
new barrels. The difference in price is only a matter of ten or
fifteen cents at the most, while a good second-hand barrel can
be made all right to use ; in a good many cases it is not done,
and it operates against the price that the fruit brings. Why, I
have seen fruit come into the New York market so covered with
flour that you could hardly recognize what it was, and it was
very hard to convince the shipper that the fruit had arrived in
any such condition.

Mr. Merriman : I would like to know if a bushel package or
box would not be better in shape for the London market ?

Mr. Foster : Well, in one way it might, but the bushel box
costs in proportion a great deal more than the barrel. Unless
for fine yarieties I should say not. For fine varieties, such as
the King and that class of fruit, I should say "yes."

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i55

A Member : How about the Baldwin ?

]\Ir. Foster : Well, there are so many Baldwins. The Bald-
win is the standard export apple, but there are so many of them
that I should say, unless they were landed after the rush is over,
it would not be wise to pack in boxes as against the barrel.

^Ir. Innis : What is the best style of package for berries for
the New York market?

Mr. Foster: We like the 32-quart crate. That is about as
good a crate as we have, and it sells about as well as any other.

Mr. Sternberg: What is the prospect of our being able to
ship peaches to Europe?

Mr. Foster : I do not think there is much of any prospect at
present. I am sorry to say that, but we have been so disas-
trously unsuccessful with shipments of peaches that I should
sav that we could not do much in that line. They do not seem
to reach there properly. Those that reach there sound are
chilled through, and when they come from the steamer's cold
storage they are perfectly black and worthless. What we want
is better grading, and better selection. That all goes, you know,
to help the fruit to stand up, and it is also helped by cultivation,
and spraying, and proper fertilizing. I think it cannot be too
strongly impressed upon horticultural societies of this kind that
to get the best fruit we have got to give it the greatest amount
of care.

Mr. Sternberg: I want to ask if there is any special way
that you recommend apples to be packed for the English market ;
that is, as to the way in which they are put up in the package?

Mr. Foster: The best way to pack apples for the English
market is to do it in the orchard, in the field, of course, and to
pack immediately from the trees. A platform about the size of
that table is the best thing that can be used, and in its absence
get a large, stiff plank to lay under the barrel. Take the barrel
and turn the face side down, which would be the head of the
barrel. We double face them. They look better when opened.
Then after facing them double we pour in a basket or two
baskets of apples and shake them, not too freely but just enough
to jar them and to settle them. Then put in another basket or
two baskets, and so on, jarring and settling as you put in each
basket until you have got it filled up to about two inches above
the chime. Then put on the press. In that way the l:)arrels do

156 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

not need as much pressing, and you get good tight barrels. If
you have tight barrels the fruit will go to Europe all right. It
doesn't do to have slack barrels, or loose barrels. Here we sell
the whole bunch from a lot of fruit together, but over there they
sell it by sample and largely by auction, and they separate it
into four or five different grades. The buyers come down to
their great markets from all parts of the country, and if it is
slack they have no way of tightening up the fruit to get it home.
What they want is good tight fruit that will go home all right.

Now in regard to varieties. Of course red fruit is the stand-
ard in the English market. They grow in the United Kingdom
a good many apples, but there are very few of them of the red
varieties. Most of them are white and green varieties. They
have only three or four varieties of red fruit, and grow them
only in a small way. They have the Duxbury Red, and one or
two other varieties. Therefore they want our common Ameri-
can and Canadian red fruit more largely than they do green
fruit. And right in that connection it may be interesting to
you gentlemen to know that the old time. Greening apple is
coming again into favor in the markets, both in England, and in
our home markets. I had an inquiry from our people in Chicago
yesterday, asking me if we could ship them a good grade of
Greening. They said if we could, they would guarantee six
dollars a barrel for them. If I was to start to plant an apple
orchard to-day, I should plant twenty-five per cent, of it with
Greenings, some red fruit, and then the rest Greenings. It is
one of the best apples we have got, but it has been allowed to
degenerate. It is just as much a coming apple as any variety
we have, and by generous cultivation and care it can be made
just as profitable. We are getting $5 for it without any trouble,
and we are also getting $5 for Baldwins.

Mr. Sternberg : What are the keeping qualities of the Green-
ing as compared with the Baldwin ?

Mr. Foster: From the ist of February we calculate to have
our Greenings marketed. Everybody is afraid of Greenings
after the ist of February, and it is because the Greenings will
scald. So will the Baldwin, but the Greening will scald quicker,
and shows it quicker as it is a white skinned apple. Even the
Ben Davis will scald. (Laughter.) After it has been in about
so long it will scald just as well as the rest of them. But the

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 15 7

life of the Greening is not so prolonged, or the marketability
of the Greening is not so prolonged as the Baldwin or Ben
Davis. Do not be afraid to plant the Rhode Island Greening.
It is all right.

A Me.mber: What do yon think of the Pecks Pleasant?

Mr. Foster : It is an excellent apple. It is not an apple that
is grown verv freely. Unfortunately it is taken a good deal for
the Newtown Pippin. There are tricks in every trade but ours,
you know, and we do it when we can.

Mr. Cook : I have got some fifty trees that I bought for
Newtown Pippins. I bought fifty trees. I have been trying
ever since I have been farming, or for more than 32 years, to
get some Newtown Pippins, and I supposed I had some, but
talking with a friend one day, he says : "Cooke, have you got
the Newtown Pippin?" I told him I supposed I had, and he
looked at them, and he says : "They look very much like the
Newtown Pippin," but he says, "tfiey are just like what I have
known as the Peck Pleasant." I told him that I did not think
they were, but I have found out since that they were. But they
are a fine apple. They have borne every year continuously for
more than twelve years. It is eighteen years since we set them
out. It is a good, bountiful bearer, and I think one of the finest
apples I have got.

Years ago I had some old-fashioned Rhode Island Greenings
that came from \'ermont, but they overbore, and didn't amount
to very much. I didn't know anything about thinning fruit at
that time. Since we have learned more how to handle fruit, I
have bought several kinds of trees for Rhode Island Greenings,
but I never have got what I called the real Rhode Island Green-
ing tree until lately. I have got some growing now, and bearing
the fine, handsome, round and smooth apples such as we used
to see.

Mr. ]\lERRn[AN : I would like to know about packing the
apples for shipment. Vou say to raise them aliout two inches
above the barrel. What is the object of that?

Mr. Foster : I think an inch and a half or two inches. Some
packers claim if you pack them an inch above the chime it is
enough, but two inches is not too much.

Mr. ]\lERRi:srAX : I have packed a good many thousand barrels
of apples and it seemed to mc that was a good deal. Do you
use any cap and cushion ? Do you recommend that ?

158 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Foster : Yes, I think that is one of the best things to
do; to use the cap and cushion. It helps to protect the fruit
very much from the damp.

Mr. Merriman : I think they press the apples very much less.

Mr. Foster : They do indeed. I did not know what you
might think of the Ben Davis here, and when I spoke of it I
saw some smiles cross the faces of some of you good people,
but let me tell you when you talk about this great Arkansas
apple, or the Ben Davis, as a degenerate, it is having a great
sale, and is commercially one of our leading apples. I should
not wonder if there would be a million of barrels of that kind
from the W^est. I think you would be surprised at the quality
of some of these fine Arkansas Ben Davises. and the magnitude
of the cultivation of them in the West is something beyond our
Eastern comprehension. Their methods of cultivation are such
as are to be envied, and very much to be sought after and
imitated by our people here in the East.

A Member : I would like to state for the benefit of the gentle-
man from New York, that in Connecticut we regard the Ben
Davis apple somewhat the same as the dairymen do oleo-
margarine.

Mr. Foster : Well, I do not think that anyone who is intelli-
gent and honest can dififer much on the question of oleomarga-
rine, but the comparison is hardly a parallel.

A Member : It's simply a fraud on the Baldwin, that's all.

Mr. Foster: The Baldwin is a good apple to bank on, but
you understand, of course, that I am speaking of the Ben Davis
from the standpoint of the fruit distributor. It's an apple that
stands up well, looks well, and sells well, and the demand for it
is very large.

Mr. Hoyt: What is the cost for freight on it from the West?
What is the expense per barrel for shipping from Arkansas to
New York City? The expense per barrel or per carload from
Arkansas ?

Mr. Foster : Well, sir, on a seven thousand barrel lot which
were loaded around Lafayetteville, and in that territory, the cost
was just about a dollar and one cent a barrel. The rate from St.
Louis to New York is 56 cents per barrel by the carload, and
from Arkansas it costs between 90 cents and a dollar a barrel
through to New York. A few years ago we had a very happy

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i59

experience. Late in the spring, we had fifteen hundred barrels
of my friend, the Ben Davis, sent from St. Louis. It was just
about the 15th of April or the ist of May. These people out
there had them, and they were anxious to get them to market,
and thev were willing to take desperate chances, so they gave us
a consignment of nine carloads of Ben Davis apples, and we got
a rate through to Liverpool under refrigeration of something
like $1.25 from St. Louis. Those apples sold, almost all of
them, at an average of 24 shillings in the English market, or
just about $5.75.

Mr. Hoyt : What is the usual freight rate from New York
to Liverpool?

Mr. Foster : At the present time, for this season, it has been
two shillings, and five per cent, primage. It is about 53 or 54
cents. Cooperation for the benefit of the countr}- on the part
of the trusts has now become a part and parcel of the policy of
the steamship lines, and they have given notice of an advance
in freight, so we shall have a two and six freight rate now,
which will be about 65 cents. But that is not a high rate. The
freight rate from Buffalo to New York is 24 cents a barrel, so
that really the steamer rate of 65 cents for a trip of 3,000 miles
is not so bad. From Boston the rate is much less. We sent
apples from Boston for one and six pence, or about 40 cents a
barrel from Boston to Liverpool. Boston gets lower rates than
we do from New York.

Mr. J. H. Hale : As I understand Mr. Foster, he is speaking
in relation to the Ben Davis apple from a commercial stand-
point ; from the dealers' standpoint to-day ?

Mr. Foster: Entirely.

Mr. Hale : And we realize the fact that with any reasonable
number of barrels on hand you can find a ready sale for them.
But on the other hand, every one who has ever tried to eat one
of these so-called fine Arkansas Ben Davises, knows that it is not
a good eating apple. I don't know of a man living who ever
saw a man eat two of them the same day and live. But plenty
of people somehow or other buy them, and that is the reason
Foster is handling them. He speaks about their being planted
in the West by the hundreds and thousands, but we don't want
to let that tempt us to go to planting Ben Davis here. We want
to raise some good apples, and you can imagine what will hap-

i6o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

pen to the Ben Davis when the people get enough of a really
good apple.

A Member: And there is another thing we must remember
here, and that is, that the Ben Davis is not a long-lived tree.
It maintains a great product of fine looking red fruit, which
every one is fearful may shut out our fruit, but it is not a long-
lived tree. The life of the Ben Davis is not over ten years.
That ought to be a great comfort to some of our people here.

Mr. Hale : The Lord is on our side there.

Mr. Foster : Please do not misunderstand me about this. I
am not here to try to elevate the character of the Ben Davis apple,
but I am speaking from the standpoint of the man who dis-
tributes fruit, from a commercial standpoint entirely, and from
that point of view I say that the Ben Davis is a money-maker.
Now that fact cannot be belied, it is a money-maker because
there is a great demand for it in the markets, but I am not here
to advise you to plant it. It is not an apple that we should plant
in the East, because we can grow better varieties. Our Baldwin
of the East is a splendid fall apple. Our Baldwin of the East
is a standard apple which we can all bank on. But w^hat have
you people in the East been doing? What have you been doing
with many of the good varieties which you can grow and find
a good market for? You have allowed them to degenerate.
Take the Greening. You have allowed it to degenerate until
much of the crop is unsalable through careless methods of
culture. I think the scald can be sprayed out. I do not know,
but it appears to me as though care and attention would elimi-
nate this blight on the Greening. The demand for it even now
is increasing. It should be properly cared for. It is one of the
grandest apples you have got to market. There is no better
apple in the world than the Greening.

A Member : There is no danger from that Western Ben
Davis apple. While it may be true that some of our Eastern
varieties have not been held up where they belong, yet that Ben
Davis has got to be renewed three times while your Eastern stock
is under generous production.

Mr. Hoyt : The trouble is they have all been after red apples.
That is the reason why the Ben Davis has been so popular in
the market. Because it is a fair looking red apple. The Rhode
Island apple is a grand apple, but there has been no demand for
it. That makes the difference.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i6i

Mr. Foster : The appearance of fruit always helps to sell it.
A peach that may not he of the finest quality, if it has a beautiful
skin and an attractive appearance, it will sell well. Look out
around in our cities, and see the California oranges. They do
not compare, in my judgment, with the Florida or Jamaica fruit,
but they sell readily because of their good appearance. And
that is w^hat makes the Ben Davis such a ready seller.

AIr. J. H. Hale : Are the people always going to be fooled
that way? You know what Abe Lincoln said: "You can fool
some of the people some of the time, and some of them all the
time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."

Mr. Foster : Because that apple is a taking one in the market
there is no reason wh)- you should not try to raise good fruit in
Connecticut. There will be plenty of market for it. I do not
think we need to be afraid from over-fruit production. The
great question to-day is to grade, and to so market the fruit as
to make it attractive and salable. Very much of it is put upon
the markets to-day which does not realize anything except for
the people who bring it to market, — the carriers.

Mr. J. H. Hai-e : You have said here that you thought it
imlikely that peaches from our Eastern country could be shipped
successfully to the English market. Now that is a matter which
very greatly interests a large number of growers. Connecticut
is getting to be one of the great peach states of this country,
and there is a great desire in the minds of the orchardists in this
State to be able to find a market abroad. Now I am informed
that Mr. Brady, who is in some way connected with the Ham-
burg-American Line has, for a number of years, made ship-
ments, but I suppose he has had extra good treatment.

]\Ir. Foster : They will give him space which they have for
the preservation of their meat.

Mr. Hale: That is just the point. What they can do for
him in that kind of a way can be bought for money.

Mr. Foster : We have not been able to develop it. It is
going to be an expensive matter unless the steamship companies
will cut up their storage space into apartments, but I wish to
say now that our firm would be willing to help try the experi-
ment, and will stand a good share of the cost of taking peaches
to the English market.

II

i62 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Hale: I think it would be found that from twenty to
thirty orchardists would send all there was during September
and October each year, and there might be a good many more
than that. I am sure there is a desire on the part of our Con-
necticut growers to reach that market. We are growing
peaches here such as you never saw before, and we are going
to ship some of them over there. I didn't want you or anybody
here to run a\vay with the idea that it couldn't be done.

Mr. Foster: I would be willing to say to you people to-day
that our firm will contribute a goodly portion of the expense
of carrying on an investigation of that kind if we can in any way
get the steamship companies to cooperate so that it will not
involve too much delay. This is not new. The Californians
have tried it. They have shipped them to the other side without
success. Of course they have had the journey of seven days
across the continent to contend with, but they have had an offset
in a climatic condition which fills their fruit with a juicy sponge
and water which our eastern peaches do not, have, and it makes
them better to carry. But they have tried the experiment and
they could not make it go.

A Member: You remember that the White Star Line was
asked for their refrigerator space for an entire season, don't
you?

Mr. Foster: No.

A Member : They were asked what they would take for their
entire refrigerating space on their steamer, and they wanted
$35,000 for the season.

Mr. Hale: Connecticut peach growers are willing to pay
that all right.

Mr. Foster : The cold storage space upon all steamers going
from New York is largely owned under contract by the big meat
companies — Swift and Armour, and the others, and the only
way we can get that space is by sub-letting it from them, and
as our stuff goes at just that period of the year when their meat
is not going forward it is possible to get that space occasionally.
They take it by the season. The packers hire the space, and are
responsible for it whether it is filled or not. That is the reason
why we are handicapped so much in the matter of space. Prof.
Taylor of Washington has done a vast lot of good in this direc-
tion, and I hope you people will encourage the work that he is

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 163

doing. He is a splendid worker, and a very intelligent man, and
he is doing a lot to help develop this fruit business, especially
in the matter of small fruits, and in pears. I have no doubt' the
government, next fall, will cooperate to test what can be done
relative to this peach question.

Mr. Hoyt : Did I understand you correctly, that you had an
order from Chicago for Rhode Island Greenings?

Mr. Foster: Yes, sir.

Mr. Hoyt : Is it usual for you to receive orders for other
varieties of eastern apples to go to Chicago? If so, it seems to
me that is significant.

Mr. Foster : No. They are sending some to Chicago from
Western New York. They are sending some Baldwins, and
5uch local varieties as that. There is a scarcity in Chicago of
Greenings, because it is an apple which has been neglected.

Mr. Hoyt : What I wanted to find out was whether Chicago
people wanted eastern apples in preference to those raised
through the West?

Mr. Foster: The Chicago market is paying $4.50 for Bald-
wins, against $3 to $4 for their finest Ben Davis. The Baldwins
in the western market always will be ahead of the Ben Davis.
Of course it is the western Ben Davis which has flooded the
market this year. Our sending fruit out there is simply an
incident in the development of the business. Of course, it is
governed by the crop out there to some extent. Last year we
were shipping apples to Omaha and Kansas City. This year
they are coming from that way here.

Mr. Hoyt : When they have a scarcity there, of course, you
ship there. The prices are better I suppose?

Mr. Foster : Last year they did, yes, sir.

Mr. Hoyt: I thought it was quite significant if they wanted
eastern apples out there in the face of their own big crops.
That would be saying that the eastern apples were the better.

Mr. Foster: My dear sir, let me assure you that the Alaine
apple has brought, and will bring in the markets of the United
Kingdom, if it is properly cultivated and taken care of, the
highest price of any apples. Eastern apples have been allowed
to degenerate. The Connecticut apple has been allowed to
run down. And it is not only so here, but it is so all over
this eastern section of the countrv. I can ride for a hundred

i64 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

miles in the Hudson Valley and see orchards which have not
had any care in years. I have in mind an orcfiard of four
thousand trees, which has been in sod for the last twelve years.
It is an orchard which ought to produce eight or ten thousand
barrels, but which does not produce over twenty-five hundred
or three thousand. I cannot get the owner to do anything.
He is afraid of disturbing the roots. It's an orchard in the
prime of life, but it's of no use to talk to some of them about
up-to-date horticulture. I think I could run some of their
orchards better than they do.

A Member : I understood Mr. Foster to say that the demand
in the European market is for a red apple. I would like to
inquire of him if he thinks the prejudice against the green
apples, such as our Greening, will be overcome in the European
market.

AIr. Foster: I must say to you, that there is no prejudice.
The Greening comes to them at a period of the year when they
have others in greater quantity ; wdien their own apples are
coming upon the markets there, and they are mostly green and
white. They are all out of the way by the first of December,
and then we have a market for our surplus goods, but if our
green apples go to them during that period, they come in direct
competition with their green apples, and apples like our Green-
ing at that time do not bring a fair price. If we could get a
good green apple to put on the market at the proper time, we
could do well with it.

A Member: How is the Newtown Pippin?

Mr. Foster : That is an apple which, in the Hudson River
valley, has been allowed to degenerate. But I may say to you
that I had one invoice of Newtown Pippins this last Novem-
ber, which brought 45 shillings sterling in Liverpool. They
brought back just about $7.00 a barrel on the New York dock.
The Newtown Pippin is as popular as ever. California is
producing immense quantities of Newtown Pippins. There
w^ere nearly 250,000 boxes sent from California this last year,
and this year there will likely be 300,000 boxes shipped. Some
of them have been graded badly, and have been an awfully
degenerate lot of stuff, with the result that they have been a
loss to the Californians. They are learning their lesson rapidly,
however, in the matter of shipping Newtown Pippins to the

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 165

Eng-lish markets. They ship in boxes. The boxes are sixteen
inches bv eleven by ten. Those are the dimensions of the Cali-
fornia apple box, and they grade their apples in three grades.

A Member : How about the Roxbury russet ?

Mr. Foster: That, of course, is another excellent apple. It
is not so long lived as the Golden russet, but the Roxbury russet
to-day is bringing from 18 to 22 shillings sterling, and is a
splendid ap])le to ship as it's practically an all-winter apple.
The Golden russet is a still better shipper.

]\Ir. Sterxrerg : Of all the good points brought out by the
speaker, I think the most valuable one is what has been said in
reference to the Russet, and the Greening. I am sure that
some of our friends would like to know if they can get hold of
some old-fashioned Greening trees, and I call on Mr. Hoyt to
state to this meeting whether he has any in his nursery?

AIr. Hovt: Plenty of them, and always have had. I have
had to burn up thousands of Greening trees while we have been
short of Baldwins.

The President : Is the Committee on Nominations ready
to report?

Mr. a. C. Inxis: Mr. Chairman, I did not suppose it would
devolve upon me to make this report, but ]\Ir. Hoyt, the Chair-
man, is obliged to leave. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
your Xominating Committee begs to submit the following
nominations :

For President — X. S. Piatt of New Haven.
Vice-President — J. C. Eddy of Simsbury.
Secretary — H. C. C. ^liles of Milford.
Treasnrer — R. A. [Nloore, Kensington.

County A'ice-Presidents :

Hartford — A. C. Sternberg, West Hartford.
Nez^' Haven — E. M. Ives, ^Nleriden.
Fairfield — A. C. Innis, Stratford.
Litchfield — James AI. Whittlesey, Morris.
Middlesex-— C. E. Lyman, Aliddlefield.
Nezc London — S. P. Sterling, Lyme.
H'indliain—H. B. Buell, Eastford.
Tolland — Prof. A. G. Gullev, Storrs.

i66 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The President : You have heard the report of your Com-
mittee, what is your pleasure ?

A Member : I move that the Secretary be instructed to cast
one ballot for the list of officers as submitted by the Nominating'
Committee.

^Motion seconded and passed. The ballot Avas cast by the
Secretary, and the officers as per the above list were declared
elected for the ensuing year.

Mr. Inxis : Mr. President — There is one thing that the
Connecticut Pomological Society, in my humble opinion, is
somewhat backward in, and that is its institute work, and for
this reason. If you will notice where our institutes have been
conducted throughout the State, you will find that they have
been held among the more interested fruit growers. I believe
that we want to get out into those localities where the fruit
growers are not now connected with this Society. As one of
the County Vice-Presidents, each of us working in the various
counties as Vice-President, I believe we ought to try to have
some of these institutes held in those localities where there is
but little interest now. Take it in my own county, for example,
the whole northwestern part of the county is almost without
representation. I believe there ought to be some missionary
work done in those localities, and I would make that suggestion.

The President : You hear the suggestions of Mr. Innis, and
I think they are very important. I hope the officers will bear
them in mind.

We are now to have the last paper on our program : "How
to attain success in Canning and Preserving Fruits," by Mr.
Charles E. Steele of New Britain.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 167

How to Attain Success in Canning and Presefving Fruits.

By Mr. Charles E. Steele of Nezv Britain.

]\Ir. Steele: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen — I think I talked
to yon two years ago on this subject, and I told the Secretary,
when he asked me to prepare a paper for this meeting, that we
ahvavs learned something new in relation to this subject, and
that I would be perfectly willing to say what I had in two or
three points, and then be willing to answer any questions you
might wish to ask. I have wished very much that somebody
might represent the great interest of tin-canning here, because
the firm with which I am connected only cans in glass, and
there is such a vast amount of fruit that goes to waste in the
orchards in our State, and as there is a great deal of it that is
of value, it has always seemed to me a shame that it could not
be properly preserved. I have hoped very much that some-
body would put in a tin-canning plant of their own so that
which is now going to waste could be saved. I hoped that a
company might do that. I think that every great orchard
region should have not only an evaporating plant, but a preserv-
ing plant in tin or glass, or both.

And I want to say further, that the interest which was shown
at the recent fall meeting of the Society in New Britain, in this
line, was so great, and the exhibits were so beautiful, that I
think it shows that a great deal of thought is being given to
preserving in glass. I venture to say that you can look the
country over and you cannot find any handsomer goods than
were exhibited at New Britain. The ladies who exhibited there
were the most experienced ladies we have, and they deserve a
great deal of credit for the appearance of their goods. It is
such an attractive business in itself that it is a hard thing to
find a market for the highest class of goods when packed in
glass. Every lady is putting up her own fruit, and I am rather
glad of it, because it is for the general interest of the fruit busi-
ness, and it makes for the health of the people. I thoroughly
believe with my friend, Mr. Hale, that the fruit business ought
to be so encouraged that everybody could have all they wanted,
and in a great many cases it would be a great boon to health.
A friend of mine, and a very valuable friend, said to me a little
while ago, that he had been in poor health, and hardly able to

i6H THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

attend to his business, but when he was talking to me he said
that he had not been so well in ten years, and he laid it to eating
fruit. Instead of eating a few peaches, as people usually do,
he had made a meal of them before breakfast, and he told me
that he hadn't been in such good health for years, and he said
that he was going to follow it up, and eat freely of every kind
of fruit that he could find in the market.

Now I want to touch upon just about three points, briefly, in
regard to what is necessary for success in fruit canning in
glass. Some of the principles hold true equally as well when
applied to canning in tin. In the first place, have good cans.
The only thing that was attractive about some fruit that I saw
put up in old Mason cans, was the fruit itself. Don't put beauti-
ful fruit in old, rusty, unsightly-looking Mason cans. We would
not use them if they were given to us free of all expense. There
is too much risk of loss, besides the appearance of the cans. I
have brought along a couple of jars to show what I consider
a perfect can. The old process of turning a jar upside down
to see whether the syrup oozes out is not a perfect test. I have
seen bubbles come up through where a drop of syrup could not
come, and in a week or so that can would be spoiled. Even
though there might not be any syrup or air get out, the can
might become imperfect afterwards, owing to the fact that the
rubber may shrink, or there may be some slight imperfection in
the rubber, which may gradually let in the air. And then again,
if you do not cook the fruit just enough you take a good deal
of risk that way. Any of those things will result in fermenta-
tion, and the fruit is spoiled. Now here is a can that I wish
to speak of which has certain advantages. I think it is a good
looking can. It is patented by a party in New Britain. It has
got a cover fastening that is very convenient. The advantage
of that fastening is that you can put it on a hot jar of fruit, and
not touch the jar at all, and then lift it up anywhere. And then
there is a spring attached to it so that you can gradually tighten
it, and when you have tightened it as much as it is safe to do,
it is at the point of the greatest firmness. It is sealed up, and
you never can get it any tighter. That fastening is certainly a
very convenient thing.

Now I would like to call your attention to a method of pine-
apple packing which our firm has been following up. With

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 169

the pineapple, if you put it in slices, very often you cannot
use enough, and if you cut it in big pieces it does not look so
well, but by cutting it on a board before it is put in the cans,
drawing a long knife across it both ways, and cutting it into
pieces about half an inch square, it will, in shrinking, get down
to about three-eighths, and it makes better preserves, and looks
very pretty. It is very attractive in the market. It sells in the
market very readily indeed.

Now the second point is to get the best fruit possible for
canning. If you put poor fruit in tin cans nobody can see it,
but they will not be apt to buy much more that you put up.
When it is put up in glass the fruit shows right up, and }-ou
have got to put in good fruit. It's bad policy, of course, to
put poor fruit in either, but you can cover it up in tin where it
cannot be done in glass. And that is one beauty of the glass
package. It helps in the selling, but your lasting hold on the
market depends on your putting up such good fruit that they
will call for it year after year. Have it good. To do that, you
want vour fruit fresh, and you want it ripe, and you want it
sound, and you must have your fruit supply close at hand.
Since we went out of tins we have had more difficulty in getting
the best fruits, because some of the growers nearby us do not
have enough for our use of the right quality. By going a little
distance from our establishment, however, we have been able to
get first rate goods for our purpose.

Another point: In my judgment I should say that the 48 and
60 quart crates were better than the 32-quart crates for carrying
fruit into the market just right. The 32-quart crate is objec-
tionable, because the shaking of the car is so great that the
wobble of the crate at the time will shake up the top layer so
you would hardly recognize the fruit, but you take the 48 and
60-quart crates and the top does not seem to be disturbed at all.
That is something worth having, as it gets more of the fruit to
market in first-class condition. But the 32-quart crates are
much better than nothing. We have had dealers come in with
several crates of fruit that were spoiled in that way, particularly
raspberries and strawberries, and wanted us to take them.
They thought we could use them in our canning. We told
them we would not have them ; that we could not afiford to risk
our business by putting up any fruit which was not the very

17° THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

finest. We must have the very best fruit for all glass work.
The market is flooded with the poorer stuff, especially in the
various grades of goods sent out in tin cans, but for glass work
only the very best should be used, especially if you expect a
high-class trade at good prices. Some may claim that there
is no money in putting up fruit in glass. Just now that is true
to some extent, but it is going to have its future, however. The
people are getting tired of so much sweet stuff put up as so
much of the stuff on the market is, and they will soon be willing
to pay the increased price for a good article. The people can
eat two or three dishes full of these goods put up in glass, put
up with just enough material to bring out the flavor of the fruit.
Of course they will, because it is so good. We want to have
them eat it, and the people can afford to buy it because its
wholesome, and it's something they can enjoy. I believe that
fruit put up in glass when it is put up in the best manner, and
of the best quality of fruit, is going to have a future, and there
will be much more of it sold than there has been.

Now the next question that I want to emphasize is not to
allow yourselves to buy any fruit that is not warranted against
salicylic acid. All honor to the Connecticut Experiment Station,
which is doing such grand work for honest foods. I hope the
people themselves will respond to this.

The President: We have neglected our visitors from other
states. We have visitors here from Massachusetts and New
York. There is one gentleman that I want to introduce to you
for a moment. It is Secretary Hall of the Western New York
Horticultural Society.

Mr. John Hall: I want to say to you simply a word or
two. I am glad to bring from the old Western New York
Society its greetings to your Connecticut Society. We cele-
brated our 47th anniversary three weeks ago. I was delighted
with the meeting here yesterday, for it seemed so much like our
own, spirited discussions and good papers. I count it a good
deal of an honor to be associated with such an association as
ours, because of what it has done for horticulture, and because
of the relations it has had with names that have become histori-
cal, such as Charles Downing, and several others. I want to
say to you that we are gaining year by year in our membership,
and I feel that the officers of our Association would be very glad

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 171

indeed to know that I was here, and represented them before
yon, and gave you their hearty greeting. We have become
pretty well acquainted with some of your Connecticut men over
in our country, and appreciate their cjuality. AVhen we want a
little spice at our meetings we send over here to South Glaston-
burv, and we are always glad to see Brother Hale, as he never
fails to give us some good things. I thank you very much.

The Secretary : I have a little matter that I wish to announce.
We have had on our membership list for the last three or four
vears a gentleman in Middletown, who joined the Society on
the invitation of Brother Gilbert — ]\Ir. Samuel Russell, Jr.
This morning this Society was presented with a check for $25
from Air. Russell, and I think we should recognize it by a direct
vote of thanks. And I wish to say further, that on talking
with some of our leading members, the suggestion has been
made, and it seems to me as though it might be a good plan to
use this gift to start a fund with for some special object. Not
to put this $25 into the general funds of the Society, but to
make it the nucleus of a fund for some specific purpose. I
move, Mr. President, that we present our thanks to Air. Russell
for this gift.

Alotion seconded and passed.

Prof. Britton : I would move, Air. President, that this sum
of $25 be placed upon interest, the income to be used for some
specific purpose, which may be determined later.
Alotion seconded and passed.

Secretary PIall of Western New York Society : This sug-
gestion of vour Secretary reminds me. that the year before the
late Patrick Barry died, he presented our Society with a dona-
tion of $2,000, to be placed at interest, and the interest to be
used for some specific purpose. We had a committee appointed
to see how the money should be used, and they designed what is
known as the Barry medal, valued at $50. This year, two of
those medals have been presented. About the same time we
had another donation made to us of $2,000, the interest of which
was to be given in three prizes, one for the best plan of a
country home, another for the best plan for caring for an
orchard, and another for some new plant or shrub which had
good recommendations with it. Following that, the fund was
supplemented by subscriptions, which aggregated some $1,500

172 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

or $2,000, so that the entire sum is kept and is used for these
specific objects.

The following resolutions were ottered by J. H. Hale :

Whereas, the Connecticut Pomological Society has been
greatly interested and instructed by the address of ' Prof. G.
Harold Powell before this meeting, in relation to the cold storage
of fruits, also in the careful experiments now being conducted
by the United States Department of Agriculture on that line
with our leading commercial fruits, and

Whereas, these cold storage experiments, and also investiga-
tions in the development of foreign markets for American fruits
now being carried on by the Department of Agriculture, promise
to be of great commercial value to all our fruit interests, and
further accurate information along these lines will be awaited
by Connecticut fruit growers with deepest interest ; therefore
be it

Resolved, that the Connecticut Pomological Society would
express its grateful appreciation of this valuable work, and
would urge upon Secretary Wilson the importance of continu-
ing this work on even broader lines than already attempted,
believing as we do, that the few thousand of dollars so intel-
ligently expended will, in a few years, be worth millions to the
fruit growing interests of this great country.

Mr. Hale : Mr. President : I do say, with a full appreciation
of its importance, that it is a grand work that they have just
started, but it's just under way, and the Committee of Congress
are always a little shy about taking hold of any new thing.
They may think it's poor policy, but it's really a matter of vital
interest to us fruit growers. The information wdiich was given
to us by Prof. Powell has stimulated us wonderfully along
cold storage lines, and it was just what w^e needed. It's getting
at the very foundation of the thing. And think w'hat a work
Prof. Taylor has been doing in opening up foreign markets, and
in connection with the steamship companies, finding out what
they can do. By and by when the steamship companies learn
that the expansion of this export fruit trade is going to be a
valuable thing for them, they will give us space. I trust that
this resolution will pass, and that the Secretary will see that
copies are sent to Secretary Wilson of the Department of Agri-
culture, and another copy to the Chairman of the Agricultural

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i73

Committee, and to our representatives from Connecticut. I
believe they will be glad to know what is wanted for the further-
ance of the interests of the Connecticut growers.

Resolution seconded and passed unanimously.

Prof. Britton : I have a little resolution which I think best
to introduce at this time. You heard some of the remarks
which were made regarding the delay in the publication of our
proceedings. Now we all know that our officers have a great
deal of work to do. and our Secretary has a very small salary
■for his work, but we also know that it is very easy to put off a
thing from one day to another, but usually if we are obliged to
get a thing done by a certain day we manage to do it. Now I
believe that our proceedings should be published just as soon
as possible after the annual meetings are over, and if our officers
are not able to take the time to put them in shape. I think, with
the appropriation which we now have, they ought to be able
by securing assistance to get them ready for publication. I
therefore offer this resolution :

Resolved, That the proceedings of this annual meeting be
printed not later than April ist, 1902, and that the Executive
Committee be instructed to carry out this plan accordingly.

Resolutions seconded and adopted by the Society.

Mr. Sternberg: I move that all the exhibitors who have
contributed exhibits at this meeting be extended a vote of
thanks.

Motion seconded and passed.

]\Ir. Hale : There is one other thing. While our exhibitors
will in the future, as they have in the past, be entitled to credit,
and to our thanks, yet all of us cannot attend these meetings.
Some of our members cannot leave their business so as to be
here, and many who would be glad to be here are obliged, for
various reasons, to be away from the meetings, and they are
largely dependent upon the public press for information as to
what goes on here ; and I would like this meeting to pass a vote
of thanks to the leading papers of Hartford, that is, the Coiinvit,
Times, and Post, which have given very full and complete
reports of these meetings thus far, and have quickly distributed
the contents of our program not only to our fellow members,
but to all the citizens of the State who are interested.

174 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Sternberg : I most heartily second that, but I think we
ought to go further and include in this vote all papers. If
Brother Hale will accept an amendment including all the other
papers which have been represented here, I will be glad to
second that.

A Member: I will second that motion.

Motion seconded and passed.

Mr. Sternberg: We have had quite a number of dis-
tinguished speakers here, and we have had quite a number of
our own members who have done a great deal to make this
meeting successful and interesting, and I beg to offer a "blanket"'
resolution, one thanking all those who have participated in mak-
ing this meeting so interesting.

Mr. Hale: Just a resolution that we love everybody?

Mr. Sternberg: Yes. Including Mr. Hale.

Resolution seconded and passed.

The President : We have not finished our program yet, and
we shall not have time to unless we take it up now.

Mr. Sternberg: I believe that we have had such an excess
already that we shall only mar the results by protracting the
session, and I move, sir, that the reading of papers of other kinds
be dispensed with. And I also offer a resolution extending a
vote of thanks of this Society to our officers, one and all, who
have served this Society with so much fidelity and vigor, and
W'hose good work has contributed so much to our successful
meeting.

Resolution seconded and passed.

Mr. Hale : Mr. Chairman, there are one or two special
questions on this list which have not been touched, and which
some of our members have prepared themselves to answer.
Now it may be that someone has come here looking for an
answer to some of those questions, and it would be too bad to
have them go away disappointed.

The President : Well, here is question No. 3 on the special
question list. Let us take hold of that. ''What are the chief
factors in producing fruitfulness in apple orchards?" I see
that Mr. J. PI. Merriman and Mr. E. M. Ives are to answer
that.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i75

What are the Chief Factors in Producing Fruitfulness
in Apple Orchards?

By 3Tr. J. H. Merriman of Soidhington .

There are three things I shall note as essential to the fruitful-
ness of our apple orchards. Cultivation, to promote actively
the forces of nature ; pruning, to let in the sunlight to give
color and richness; and fertilizers, or food to supply nature's
wasted energies.

These principles apply first, to the man, and then to the
orchard. The man and the orchard are the two factors we are
to consider.

By cultivating the man, the mind, is the field ; cut away the
useless rubbish of past ages : do not use the useless plow-
share of ignorance and ease to break up the field, but let the
plowshare of thought of study and perseverance turn up to
sunlight God's eternal laws of truth, that have so long slumbered
in the bosom of ignorance. This is an age of progress and he
who will not awaken from his lethargy, and become a worker
in the great hive of nature, is only a useless drone in society.
Knowledge is power : the mightest offensive and defensive
weapon known among mankind. Knowledge comes only to the
diligent student. The great laboratory of nature is open before
him. Science has come to our assistance and the key of knowl-
edge has unlocked and revealed to the world many a hidden
secret, whereby the whole human race has become enlightened.
The chemistry of soils, plants, trees, and fruits, also fertilizers
(the necessities of one for the other), has given us a few
principles to appropriate for our advancement and the success
of our calling.

Botanists have revealed to us their researches in the field of
trees, plants and flowers, how they suck the potash and phos-
phoric acid from the soil, breathe in the nitrogen from the air;
the chemical changes, as they combine to produce carbon ; the
wood growth : how the flowers are pollenized and made fertile,
to produce the fruit.

The mind must be the pruning knife of foresight, to cut
away the dead limbs of prejudice, arising from long continued
practice of our forefathers ; the low and scragly branches of

176 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

ignorance, always in the way, and nonproductive, and let in the
sunlight of knowledge to fructify, beautify and adorn the mind.

These principles we cannot appropriate in their intricacies,
but we can and should at least have a rudimental knowledge
that we may apply understandingly if we would be successful
in the culture of fruit. The fruitful mind must be the success-
ful horticulturist ; we must grasp mere ideas, and be on the
alert for every lurking foe. A healthy mind must be fed with
useful knowledge : it strengthens, beautifies and adorns, and
will fructify in a truer enjoyment, a higher conception of the
beauty, harmony, and economy of God's eternal laws.

This intellectually answers the question how to make our
apple orchards productive : the same principles, cultivation,
pruning and fertilization, practically applied, are the requisites
of success.

Cultivation should be practiced until the trees are fifteen or
twenty years old and then should be cultivated, two years out
of three, the remainder of their life, which in Connecticut is
about eighty years.

Reciprocity then is a fixed principle in the laws of nature.

Thinning of fruit is necessary if you wish annual fruitage.
Fruit buds form in August ; if then they are loaded with fruit,
all the energies of the tree are required to perfect the fruits,
when if half the apples had been picked ofif in June, the trees
would perfect the fruit and also form buds for the next year's
crop.

The law of reproduction is nature's ow'n law : if w'e aid
nature and work in harmony with her, success will crown our
efforts. As well might you expect an ignorant boy to address
an audience with entrancing eloquence, as to expect a neglected
tree to produce luscious fruits.

God helps those who help themselves. That is also God's
law.

The foliage should at all times be of a dark, healthy green
color, and the trees should annually make a growth of 10 to 15
inches. A too vigorous growth is sometimes at the expense of
fruitage. If the ground is plowed once and then harrowed
occasionally with a spring tooth or disk harrow several times
before July, it can then be left till the following spring. Prun-
ing is also a necessary adjunct to success. It is the sunlight

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. I77

that paints our fruits in their beauty and gives that richness of
flavor that pleases the eye and tickles the palate ; the sunlight
must permeate every portion of the tree, and also give warmth
and comfort to the soil.

It is a law of nature that ''you cannot get something from
nothing" ; trees must be fed, if they are to produce fruit ; the
expended energies must be supplied with proper food to restore
those energies to their normal condition.

The President: Now we will be glad to hear from Mr.
E. M. Ives of Meriden.

Mr. Ives : Mr. President : My chief factors, perhaps, will be
grouped under five or six heads. First and foremost, I believe,
is annual wood growth, full and healthy foliage, checking fung-
ous diseases and insects, pruning, and thinning.

Get your wood growth first. I don't care how you get it, but
get it. Some have got it one way, and some another. You
must have annual growth in order to develop fruit buds.

And full and healthy foliage. I believe that is very essential
for the full maturity and development of the fruit, and particu-
larly in reference to its keeping qualities. The fruit is depend-
ent upon good foliage for that.

Then again we want perfect pollinization. We may get it
by assisting nature. I think many times we attribute the loss
of our fruit crop to other conditions that have nothing to do
with it. If we have imperfect pollinization we may think it's
a lack of constitutional vigor, and the failure of the crop has
been attributed to conditions which had nothing to do with it
whatever. I believe this. Many times we do not get at the
root of the matter. The true condition is neglected, and it may
not be the condition of the weather altogether.

Of course, the checking of fungous diseases and injurious
insects is very necessary, and we have had that pretty thoroughly
discussed. If we allow our trees to go unprotected, our insect
enemies are so numerous they are sure to do considerable dam-
age. The depredations of the codlin moth, and the work of the
apple scab, which we have had illustrated here, attack the leaves
and cause a good deal of injury to the foliage, so that by harvest
time we have little or nothing, and especially is it due to neglect
of those simple essential conditions and allowing these insect
depredators to go on without being checked.

12

1 78 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Pruning is also essential. We must have some of that work
done in order to get good fruit. If we want finely-colored fruit
we must not allow too much old dead wood, or allow the growth
to become so rank as to shut out the sunshine. Fruit must
have sunlight to get good color. Potash in the soil may have
much to do with it, but at the same time I believe it is the sun
that gives the color.

Then again, if we are taking pretty good care of the orchard
by cultivating, and thorough spraying, and we have got to look
out for these fungous diseases — and we are apt to have along
with them a very heavy set of fruit — that involves another
condition, for in order to get high grade fruit we must resort
to thinning.

Now as to some results if we apply these factors in the culti-
vation of fruit. Taking my orchard, which is thirty-five or
forty years old, and which for a long time was somewhat
neglected, but going back fifteen years, I have followed up a
record of the sales of the crop, and have figured up to see what
better care has done for that old orchard. And it is a fact, as
can be shown from my record back to 1886, the seven years
previous to 1894, and comparing those with the seven crops
since 1894, and taking the total crop of those seven years, and
taking the average annual production of the seven years since
1894, there were only twenty-four bushels produced for those
wdiole seven years more than there were previous, in any
one year, that is, taking the average since 1894. I first began
to spray with London Purple, but I soon gave that up
because of its uncertain quality, and the uncertainty of the
amount of poison it contained. Of course, it was new, and we
did not know very much about it. and I did burn the foliage
some. If I had used some lime, I think I would have got along
better. Beginning with 1895, I started in to use the Bordeaux
and Paris green, and that year the crop was very marked for
the improvement in the quality of the fruit, and for larger
production over previous years. And then in 1896 there was
a large yield, which was general throughout the country. Up
to that time it was the largest yield we had any record of. Then
in 1897 and 1898 there was a pretty fair crop in each year. In
1899 there resulted the largest crop that had been produced in
the orchard, exceeding that of the year 1896 by something like

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. I79

164 bushels. Then following, in the years 1900 and 1901 there
were still larger crops than followed the year 1896; that is, com-
paring the two crops following 1896, which was the largest up
to that time, with the two crops following 1899, and the figures
show that there were nearly 150 barrels more produced, follow-
ing the large crop of 1899, than there w'ere for the two years
follow'ing the crop of 1896. After the large production of 1899,
it was followed by a larger production by 150 barrels over
the two years following 1896. And right in there may come
an interesting question on the subject of thinning. Beginning
in 1898, it became necessary to take off some of the fruit in
order to get reasonably fair-sized apples. Perhaps that has
had something to do with the increased annual crop since 1898,
for it does show a high percentage of increase over the period
when just simple spraying was practiced, and no thinning
attempted. Now take the seven years up to 1894 and the
seven years since 1894, and we find that the increase in the
seven years following 1894, as compared with the seven years
up to 1894, is actually 670 barrels over the production of the
earlier period, and owing, it must be, to better spraying, some-
thing to better fertilization, and also to thinning. The figures
show it was due to something anyway, but whether it was due
to one thing more than to another of course cannot be told.
I am carrying on the records, and some time in the future
they may show something more of a change than they do
now, but the figures do show that under this practice there
is an increased production of fruit. Of course a tree may
grow a little more, and in comparing the seven years back
of 1894 with the seven years this side of it, there may be a
slight change in the productive area of the tree, but that would
have nothing to do with the marked increase in productiveness
of the later period -over the earlier one.

Mr. Sternberg: I think there is one thing we should do
before we close, and it is a very important one. We all agree
that this Society has been very prosperous, and we must
acknowledge that we owe a great deal to the efforts of Secretary
Miles. We are heaping more w^ork on him every year, and I
think it is only in fairness that we should increase his salary by
a small amount. I beg to offer a resolution that we raise the
salary of the Secretary to $100 for the ensuing year.

I So THE CONNECTICUT POM O LOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Ives : I would like to second that motion myself, and I
do so heartily. I realize, as perhaps most of us do, the work
involved now in the Secretary's office. We are holding so many
meetings, and so many other things are coming in, that it is a
great deal of work to carry on that office, and I think it is no
more than right that we should pay something for what we are
getting. We have no right to expect to get something for
nothing. I think it is unreasonable to expect it any longer.

Mr. Innis : I shall most heartily second that also. I don't
know whether our worthy Secretary is willing to take that other
$50 with the kicking he is likely to get, but I hope the vote will
pass just the same.

Mr. Butler: I want to second that too. I was just going
to do that myself.

jMotion duly put and declared carried by a unanimous vote.

Secretary Mtles : I will not take up the time wnth any
extended remarks on how much I appreciate this action. It
has come without the least thought on my part. I do feel, as
you know, the deepest interest in our success, and I think that
has been the greatest reason why I have tried to put so much
effort into the work. I have been willing in years past to do
this amount of work without expecting very much for it, but as
our Society has grown, and our funds and opportunities for
work have increased, it does seem as though the outlay of time
must be more each year, and I appreciate your action very
much. Your kindness, and the encouragement which my
friends have always shown me, is worth a great deal more than
any salary, and I assure you the success of the Society is due
very largely to that. I thank you.

The President : ]\Ir. Edwin Hoyt, and Mr. A. B. Plant of
Branford, who were to discuss the question, "What are the rea-
sons for the decadence of pear culture in our State," have gone,
and ]\Ir. Hale has also gone. He was to discuss the eighth
question, "What are the most effective implements of culture,
and what improvements might be made?"

A Member: Give us the last question, Mr. President. I
believe it is one of the most important, and Mr. Moore is here.

The President : The ninth question is called for. "Does
the amount of fertilizer applied have any effect on the rotting
of orchard fruits; is cultivation also a factor?"

ELEJ'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i»i

Mr. R. a. Moore : Mr. President and Members : When Dr.
Redmond was once addressing an audience which was very sym-
pathetic, after he had spoken he asked if anyone would hke to
ask him any questions and a gentleman asked him one, with
the result that they carried him out on a shutter to the hospital,
and a policeman came in and quelled the disturbance in the hall.
And after it was all over the chairman rose and said, "Is there
anybody else that would like to ask Mr. Redmond a question?"
but no one ventured to do so. Now I want to say in regard to
the first part of question number 9, "no," and in answer to the
last part "it does," and I hope that no one will ask me any
further questions.

A Member: Mr. President, I see by the program that there
are several who are down to speak on these questions, who have
probably prepared papers which they would have read if there
had been time. I move that they be requested to hand in their
papers to the Secretary so they can be incorporated in our
printed report.

Motion seconded and passed.

President Platt : I will now announce the members of the
various Standing Committees that have been selected to serve for
the ensuing year: Injurious Insects — Prof. W. E. Britton, J. H.
Putnam, Harvey Jewell ; Fungous Diseases — Prof. A. G.
GuUey, A. B. Plant, N. H. Sherwood; New Fruits— G. S.
Butler, Stanclifif Hale, H. L. Fairchild ; Exhibitions — E. :\Ian-
chester, Jos. Albiston, Walter H. Baldwin ; Membership — Orrin
Gilbert (and each County Vice-President) ; Legislation — J. C.
Eddy, Edwin Hoyt, A. C. Sternberg; Markets and Trans-
portation— J. H. Hale, J. R. Barnes, C. S. Brewer ; Auditors —
W. E. Waller, F. N. Platt.

It now being nearly 5 p. jr., and a majority of the members
desiring to leave on the early evening trains, on motion it was
voted to adjourn, and with concluding remarks of a congratula-
tory nature from the President, the Eleventh Annual Meeting
of the Societv was declared closed.

SPECIAL REPORTS.

The special committees appointed early in the session to
examine and report upon the exhibits made at this meeting
handed in the following very complete reports, which, owing to
lack of time, were not presented for action by the Society.

Report of the Ojmmittee on Fruit Exhibit.

The fruit on the tables does not show the variety usually
displayed at our annual meetings, but last season's short crop of
apples accounts for this. Of the exhibitors in apples, Mr. E. M.
Ives of Meriden, has Baldwin, Peck's Pleasant, Black Gilli-
flower, Pound Sweet, R. I. Greening, Roxbury and Golden Rus-
set, Fallawater and two or three sorts not named. All good
specimens and in good condition.

Joseph Albiston of South' Manchester displays several of the
new Southwestern apples, including Springdale, Arkansas Black,
Senator, Collin's Red, also Winter Pearmain, Flushing Spitzen-
burg, and one or two others better known. It is very doubtful
if any of the new kinds will be equal to those already tried in
this State. They evidently are good keepers.

H. E. Savage of Berlin shows R. I. Greening, Newtown,
Spitzenburg, Baldwin, Peck's Pleasant, Limber Twig and Rox-
bury Russet. All in good condition.

W. L. Hannah of \Yhigville has Roxbury Russet, and also
exhibits a bunch celery. The latter out of our line, but a good
sample. H. P. Lowry of the same place has R. I. Greening,
Roxbury Russet, Smith Cider, and a sweet variety, possibly
Green Sweeting.

E. Manchester of Bristol has R. I. Greening, Golden Russet
and Hurlbut, of the fine class of apples that he always shows.

J. H. Merriman of Southington shows some good Baldwins.

G. G. Tillinghast of ^"ernon presents a supposed seedling of
fine flavor, having good keeping qualities.

T. S. Gold of West Cornwall shows some good Newtown
Pippin, also American Golden Russet and Peck's Pleasant.

ELEJ'EXTH AXXUAL MEETING. 183

G. W. Staples of this city makes an attractive exhibit of a
number of varieties, all grown in Alaine, which have been in
cold storage since October. All very fine of their kinds. This
list embraces Fameuse, Gravenstein, Twenty Ounce, Wolf River,
Hubbardston, Seek-no-further, Fallawater, Yellow Bell-flower,
Northern Spy, King, and Wagener. None of the specimens
show scald.

After passing our native fruits we come to a large collection
of fruit and plants from our new possession — Porto Rico. We
do not attempt to name or describe, but it is well worth a thorough
examination, as probably most of it is entirely new to our people
here. It is, however, evident that our fruit growers are not to
be troubled with competition from that section. For this very
attractive and unique exhibit, the Society is indebted to one of
its leading members, Mr. George F. Piatt of ]\Iilford, who is
spending the winter on the island.

The State Experiment Station at New Haven shows a case of
specimens of injurious insects, also samples of several scale
insects, a study of which will enable one to recognize the several
injurious species.

All of which is submitted.

A. G. GULLEY,

J. T. MOLU-MPHY,

Coiniiiitfee.

Report of the Committee on Exhibits of Implements, Etc.

The committee appointed to examine the implements, etc.,
placed on exhibition, finds the display a most creditable one as
regards the quality of the articles shown, though less in quantity
than usual. The most striking one is that* of the Cutaway
Harrow Company of Higganum, Conn. This company shows
three most excellent orchard tools, viz., the California Orchard
Harrow, the Double- Action Harrow and the Extension-Head
Harrow. The first named is much used in the large orchards
of California, and is coming into use and proving just as effec-
tive here in the East. It is a large and powerful machine, built
on the well-known cutaway principle, throwing the earth toward
or from the trees as desired.

i84 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The Double-Action Harrow has an all-steel frame and four
gangs of cutaway disks ; one pair in front of the other, one
pair throwing the earth one way and the rear pair throwing it
the other, thus thoroughly and deeply stirring and pulverizing
the soil, and at the same time leaving a smooth and level surface,
a result long sought after. This machine is capable of being
extended in width so as to work under the limbs of trees, mak-
ing it equally desirable, both for open field and orchard work.

The Extension-Head Harrow is a modification of the well-
known Cutaway, so arranged as to- be used as an ordinary harrow
for field work, or it may be quickly extended so as to work
under the branches of trees. The gangs may be reversed so
as to throw the soil either way. These machines are all made
in different sizes and comprise a class by themselves, having
as we believe no successful competitors for orchard work.

No spray pumps are shown this year, but the Standard Oil
Company displays a sample of the crude oil used in spraying
for the San Jose scale. This we understand can be obtained
of the Standard Oil Company in Providence, R. I.

The Bowker Chemical Co.', Boston (branch at Hartford),
showed samples of insecticides, and photographs of fruit illus-
trating the benefits of spraying.

The Adler Chemical Co. of New York City advertise green
arsenoid, a highly recommended substitute for Paris green.

Coles & Co. of New York City exhibit the ordinary style of
peach basket which they handle, also the so-called Georgia
fruit carrier containing six till baskets for peaches, etc., also
two styles of picking baskets, for peaches and grapes, and two
kinds of strawberry baskets ; one clean and white of standard
size and one not so good, a "short" package which honest
growers have no use for.

G. S. Butler of Cromwell also showed some good sample
peach baskets in different sizes, made by Isaac Hoft'man of
New Jerse}-. We understand that Mr. Butler is to have the
State agency for the baskets shown by the Saginaw Basket Co.
of Michigan. These excellent baskets are of the same general
style as the well known Climax grape basket, but made of veneer
throughout, and in dift'erent sizes, holding from five to twenty-
five pounds of fruit each; handled and provided with either a
tight or slatted cover, strong, yet light, and reasonable in price.

ELEl'EXTH ANNUAL MEETING. 185

This seems to be a very serviceable and convenient package
for marketing grapes, pears, plums, peaches, melons, etc. The
largest size holds the same amount of fruit as the standard peach
basket now in use, and when its merits become better known
mav displace it in marketing that fruit, as it possesses several
distinct advantages over any other package on the market.

\\& recommend that members be more free to show at these
meetings any simple labor-saving devices of their own making,
which may be helpful to others, and thus help on the good work
of our Society.

Respectfully submitted,

Harvey Jewell,
A. B. Plant,

Committee.

Condensed Report of Institutes, Exhibitions,
Field Meetings, etc.. Held in 1901.

Following the annual meeting of 1901, the proceedings of
which were published in full in volume III, the Society con-
ducted five institute meetings during the month of March,
These institutes were held on the invitation of the granges in
the various towns, and as a means of developing an increased
interest in fruit culture among the people of the State, proved
very popular and successful. Each meeting was well attended,
a lively interest in the work of the Society was manifested and
the speakers were eagerly questioned on practical points in the
growing and marketing of fruits. The social and fraternal
spirit so often lacking in agricultural meetings, was evident in
these gatherings, making them thoroughly enjoyable occasions.

INSTITUTE AT WHIGVILLE.
March 6, igoi.

The first institute in the 1901 series was held at Whigville,
Wednesday, March 6th. The meeting was held in the cozy hall
of Whigville Grange, where the corps of speakers, after a long
cold ride from the railroad at Bristol, found a hearty welcome
and a goodly number gathered for the discussion of fruit culture
in its various branches ; the presence of many ladies was especi-
ally gratifying.

The following order of exercises had been prepared by the
officers of the Society and the Grange, and was well carried out :

PROGRAMME

OPENING AT 10.30 A. M.

Address of Welcome E. F. Gaylord, Master of Grange.

" Some Insect Pests of the Fruit Grower" . . . .Prof. W. E. Britton,

Conn. Experiment Station, New Haven.

" The Profitable Production of Berries" Geo. S. Butler, Cromwell.

" Practical Points for Peach Growers" . . .A. C. Sternberg, West Hartford.

Hfcess

1 88 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

AFTERNOON SKSSION AT 2

Question Box

" The possibilities of Apple Orcharding in Connecticut "

Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan.

" How to increase the profits from our orchards " ."

Prof. A. G. Gulley, Conn. Agricultural College.
" Experiences with Cold Storage of Fruits " C. I. Allen, Terryville.

A Question Box will be open to receive any inquiries on fruit topics, to
be discussed as time permits. All participate in this feature.

After President Piatt had called the meeting to order, E. F.
Gaylord, Master of the Grange, welcomed the Society in well
chosen words, emphasizing the point that the organization is
needed to represent the fruit growers of the State.

Prof. W. E. Britton was the first speaker, handling the sub-
ject of insect pests in a practical manner. He said that the
spread of injurious insects is increasing, and is largely due to
cultivation and transportation. A large part of his address was
devoted to a discussion of the San Jose scale, which Mr. Britton
said was on the increase in our State. There is no hope of
growing fruit in Connecticut without taking this pest into con-
sideration and being prepared to fight it by spraying. Its
natural enemies may hold it in check in time, but it is not safe
to wait for that.

Vice-President A. C. Sternberg of West Hartford spoke next
on "Practical points for peach growers." The speaker was of
the opinion that there was plenty of available land in Whig\dlle
well suited to peach culture and advised the young fanners to
make a start in this line of work.

In planting your orchards stick to the old and well tried varie-
ties, such as Oldmixon, the Crawfords, Stump, Morris White,
a fine canning peach, and Smock. Set the trees fifteen feet apart
each way and every third tree should preferably be an apple.
In this way you will secure a valuable apple orchard, after the
peach trees have ceased to be profitable ; a crop may be grown
between the trees the first two or three years, but do not plant
nearer the trees than four feet. Mr. Sternberg emphasized the
necessity of thinning the fruit in seasons of abundant crops — aim
to grow only large fruit. The crop should averag"e a dollar per
basket to be profitable and there is always a wide market for
first class peaches. Careless packing and grading of the fruit

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 189

will never pay, but attention to these particulars is most import-
ant. Mr. Sternberg's favorite fertilizer for the peach orchard
is ground bone, applied at time of setting and freely in after
years.

"Fruit growing is enjoyable, is profitable and has increased
the value of our farms besides being an incentive to our young
people to stay on the farm."

A lively discussion followed the address, showing the interest
aroused by the speaker. It was pointed out that to ship our
peaches to distant markets we must make use of cooperation ;
the single small grower is at a disadvantage.

Mr. Sternberg thought potash was not needed for the peach
crop in his soil ; others differed with him and favored the use
of potash in the form of unleached wood ashes. Prof. Britton
thought the lime in the ashes of even more value than the potash.
Mr. Hoyt said his soil must be fed with potash to grow good
fruit crops.

At this point a recess was declared and the company were
invited to the hall below to enjoy a bountiful dinner. The
warm hospitality and good cheer and the excellent dishes pro-
vided by the Grange ladies combined to make this feature of
the meeting a success.

At 2 p. M. the meeting was resumed. A discussion of the
fruit on the exhibition table was first in order. Some excellent
specimens of apples shown by E. M. Ives of Meriden attracted
special attention and numerous questions brought out some
practical information from Mr. Ives. The scald which is so
prevalent in certain varieties of apples. ]Mr. Piatt thought could
be checked by spraying. The Carter apple and Smith's Cider
were two varieties recommended for planting in Connecticut.
The first speaker of the afternoon was Mr. Edwin Hoyt of New
Canaan, one of the-enthusiastic believers in the possibilities of
fruit growing, especially apples, who read a very comprehensive
paper on apple orcharding in Connecticut. Mr. Hoyt began by
urging all to join the Pomological Society, thus helping to
extend the interests of fruit growing. In closing he predicted
that better days are coming for agriculture : capital is waiting to
be invested in fruit farming ; cooperation will play an important
part in the farming of the future.

19° THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

President Piatt called attention to the fact that Connecticut
had the record for the oldest and largest apple tree in the
country.

Mr. Ives asked how to manage the cold storage of apples?
Mr. Hoyt advised cooperation through the grange or otherwise
and to locate the storage house near the railroad to facilitate
shipping.

Continuing the cold storage question, Charles I. Allen of
Terryville gave his experience with a small storage house, or
"cooler" on his farm, where perishable products are stored
before shipping to market ; asparagus, berries and the like are
often successfully held over a day or two until the market is
ready for them. He explained the construction of such a house
cooled by ice and strongly recommended its use on fruit farms,
and where the grower desires to take advantage of the changes
in the markets.

In the absence of Prof. Gulley, who was to have spoken on
the profits of orcharding, Mr. Paul Thomson of West Hartford
was asked to tell of his experience with the apple crop of the
past season. Mr. Thomson said his orchard is fifteen years
old, and last year bore a crop of very fine Baldwins. He tried
the plan of packing his fruit in boxes, wrapping each apple
in tissue paper — 120 apples to the box, — packed in layers, like
oranges. This method was quite satisfactory, his fruit netting
him at the rate of $4 per barrel; the boxes cost about 15 cents
each and should be made with a partition in the middle for
strength. His trees were sprayed twice with the prepared
"Boxall" mixture, once before the leaves opened and again
when the blossoms had fallen. He practices pruning his trees
in midsummer.

Following this very interesting bit of "new apple culture," the
Society, on motion of Mr. Sternberg, passed a vote of thanks to
the Whigville Grange and the meeting closed with music.

ELEJ'EXTH AXXUAL MEETING. 191

INSTITUTE AT HA^IBURG.

One of the pleasantest as well as most profitable institutes of
the winter was that of the Society with Lyme Grange at Ham-
burg, March 15, 1901.

PROGRAMME

OI'ENIN(; AT 10.30 A. M.

Address of Welcome H. B. Sisson.

" The Outlook for Profitable Fruit Culture in Connecticut"

Pres't N. S. Piatt.
" Some Insect Pests of Orchard and Garden". .Prof. \V. E. Britton,

Conn. Experiment Station, New Haven.
Question Box.

Recess

Dinner served by the Grange

AFTERNOON SESSION AT I.30

" Fruits for Connecticut Farmers" Geo. S. Butler, Cromwell.

" Important Points for Connecticut Orchardists "

Prof. A. G. Gulley, Conn. Agricultural College.
" Experiences of a successful Apple Grower" E. M. Ives, Meriden.

The village of Hamburg, a portion of the quaint old town
of Lyme, is nestled prettily among the rough hills that stretch
back from the winding Connecticut River. Its broad farms,
adapted to grazing and the raising of cattle and sheep, which
products have for generations been its chief pride, are now
gradually being devoted to general staple crops as well as con-
siderable fruit growing. These rough pasture lands invite the
planting of extensive apple orchards and a new interest in such
crops is showing itself; hence a hearty welcome was accorded
the State Pomological Society on the occasion of the first fruit
growers institute held in Xew London County.

The meeting opened soon after ii o'clock with President
N. S. Piatt presiding.

An address of welcome from Mr. H. B. Sisson only empha-
sized the feeling of hospitality already so much in evidence.
The Secretary of the Society responded on behalf of the visitors
and took the occasion to sketch briefly the history and work of
the orsianization.

192 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

President Piatt then presented a paper on the Outlook for
Fruit Culture in Connecticut, which is reproduced here in full.

Conditions and Outlook for Profitable Fruit Culture in Con-
necticut.

By N. S. Piatt of New Haven.

Well, what is the matter? Is anything the matter with our
climate? Does it kill out our apple and cherry trees by the
wholesale in the winter like it does in some parts of our country?
Are we obliged to plant ironclad varieties to escape the winter's
cold ? After spring is well along, with sap rising fast and blos-
soms opening, are we likely to have freezing temperature and
wipe out the labor of years and our hopes alike? Do wx have
hot monsoon winds drawing out moisture from leaf and plant
and tree faster than roots can supply it?

Other districts have these troubles, but we .do not. If we lose
a tree or a few trees by winter's cold we think it unusual. We
are not obliged to plant ironclad varieties, which are usually
inferior, but may plant the best without hesitation. Spring
does not begin here so early as to run our trees into great
danger of being frozen up afterwards.

Our climate is about right, I think, for fruit growing. It is
as reliable as any and more reliable than most. We can grow
successfully almost all fruits belonging to the temperate zone.
But W'C started with the question as to its being profitable.

We can grow them successfully and profitably, provided the
market will take them and pay us enough, and if we can get
them to market cheaply.

Some fruits the markets delight. to receive and are slow to
get tired of, and it sometimes seems as if they could never get
enough. Berries and peaches are of this class, the demand
increasing steadily year by year. The cities will have them if
thev can get them. Our cheap lands and nearness to markets
put" us in good position to supply the New England towns.
When one can get pickers to gather the berries, the other con-
ditions necessary, namely, land, fertilizers, etc., can usually be
found readily enough, and one need not fear to grow the berries
in just as large quantities as he is fitted to take care of. Along

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 193

the Shore Line Railroad, in Branford or at New Haven, growers
send cars of berries to Boston, and have done as well the past
season as they have ever done. In Springfield, Alass., the larg-
est wholesale merchant there was lately complaining to me that
growers in that neighborhood failed, because of careless methods,
to furnish first-class strawberries. There are ups and downs to
the market for berries, but after all, the fluctuations are more
apparent than real. That is, in a plentiful year when berries
are low and profits small, we might be apt to think it would
never be any better, when just as likely as not the next year
or two will be the best for profit that there has been in a number
of years. It is not every one who can grow berries or any
fruit successfully and cheaply. It is strange that the propor-
tion is so small. It means there must be closer application and
more intelligent care. It has been so for years and years, and
is going to be so for years to come. Three or four years ago
a city fruit dealer, who had been in the business for thirty
years, said to me that "Connecticut people were planting too
many peach trees, were going to overdo the business, etc."
The trees he had in mind have borne one crop and there has
been no sign of a glut as yet.

A New^ Jersey grower who was at the annual meeting of the
Connecticut Pomological Society said that for forty years the
cry in Jersey had been, "we are planting too many peach trees,
the fruit will never sell," but the time has not yet come when
fruit properly cared for does not sell at a profit, and it is not
likely to come either.

Knowledge increases year by year, and it might seem as
though there was not nuich more to learn, but we all have to
begin at the bottom and, though knowledge is abundant and
its gifts seemingly to be had for the taking, yet not all are able
to apply it successfully.

The careful, the intelligent worker among our fruits in Con-
necticut need not fear overproduction, either of berries, or
peaches or apples. For aught I can see, the prospects for
profitable production and sale of these fruits is as good as it
ever has been, and the young man who wants to go into fruit
growing may do so just as fast as his ability to care for it will
allow.

13

194 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

A short discussion followed this paper, during which, in
referring to the destructive work of peach borers, Mr. Post of
Essex said that he practiced using unleached wood ashes about
the base of the tree, also washing the trunks with a solution
of potash. These methods had largely prevented the borers
from getting into the trees.

Prof. W. E. Britton told the audience about the insect pests
of garden and orchard, and suggested best methods of fighting
them. In closing he said many insects are friends of the fruit
growers rather than enemies, as they play an important part in
the pollination of our fruits. Investigations are now being car-
ried on by the Experiment Stations along this line of the suc-
cessful pollination of fruits, and we are learning much about a
subject that has received attention only in recent years. After
the professor had answered a number of questions, a recess was
taken for dinner. Here again the unbounded hospitality of the
good people of Hamburg showed itself and the hour was
enjoyably spent in partaking of the excellent dinner prepared.
The visiting pomologists, especially, did full justice to the
spread.

When the meeting was resumed a grange song was first on
the program, after which the question box was introduced and
as usual at these institutes proved one of the most valuable fea-
tures of the day. Among the good points brought out were the
following: European plums may be sprayed to prevent the
attacks of the curculio, as the foliage will withstand almost any
insecticide. ]\Ir. Piatt suggested that a grange might purchase
a complete spraying outfit for the use of its members. This
would be one very helpful form of cooperation and especially
so in the case of the more expensive machinery used for spray-
ing for the San Jose scale. Prof. Gulley did not advise buying
the knapsack style of pump. Barrel pumps are in every way
better for general spray work. Fresh home-made spraying
mixtures, such as Bordeaux, etc., are cheaper and better than
the ready-made mixtures now on the market.

The first paper of the afternoon was by G. S. Butler of Crom-
well on the topic, Fruits for Connecticut planters, and was in
part as follows :

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i95

Connecticut Fruits for Connecticut Farmers.

The first native fruit to greet us in early June is the straw-
berry. The old saying: "God might have made a better fruit
than the strawberry, but he never did," has been ascribed to
many truthful persons from George Washington down to Billy
Bryan, and still it is true.

By a proper selection of varieties and different methods of
care, we may have this delicious fruit in perfection for about
six wrecks, making our wives good-natured, the children happy
and contented, reducing both the grocer's and doctor's bills.
Two dollars invested in strawberry plants, if properly cared for,
will produce more solid comfort to the square inch than any-
thing I know of, not even excepting whiskey and tobacco.

Following strawberries, we have raspberries, red, black, yel-
low and purple, w'ith variations in flavor to suit all tastes and
covering about all of the month of July. Two hundred plants
will produce about 200 quarts under good care; enough for an
average family for daily use during the month, with a surplus
to can and jam for winter use.

Currants appear during the raspberry season ; few families
care for large quantities of the fresh fruit, but the jelly has a
reputation as well as a desirable flavor, w^hile the fruit insinuates
itself into our jams with other berries, and neither seem injured
by the combination. Fifty plants will produce over two bushels
of fruit, and few families care to use more.

Following the raspberries, or in fact soon after raspberries
begin, we have the dewberry, blueberry, whortleberry and black-
berry. The whortleberry and blueberry have never been culti-
vated successfully here, but as long as the portable saw mill
continues to lay low our native timber, we can find enough of
these delicious berries to float in our milk and make an occa-
sional pie. The dewberry has been cultivated with profit by
some during the past few years, and the special varieties grown
give large delicious fruit. Neither are perfectly hardy here,
but if covered in winter would undoubtedly prove profitable or
at least enjoyable in the farmer's fruit supply.

The high blackberry was broug'ht prominently to public notice
many years ago by the introduction of the Lawton, an immense,
sour berrv. Most blackberries are still sold in citv markets as

196 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Lawtons. This berry was not profitable, not being hardy
although a rampant grower, as my father said it cost him $5 to
get it into the garden and $50 to get it out. Similar experience
about the same time made the cultivation of blackberries unpopu-
lar in the farmer's garden. We now have several hardy varie-
ties of good quality which do not sucker as badly as the old
Lawton, and any farmer can easily supply his family with this
fruit with little outlay for plants and labor. The season of some
varieties lasts two months.

About the beginning of the blackberry season our pickers are
noticed eating apples, pears, peaches and plums. Doubtless they
produce some pangs, but the act reminds that the season of
such fruits is about at hand.

Pears may be had from the middle of July to the middle of
January, but are not very valuable on either end. A good
hungry family can keep the product of a dozen or twenty trees
from going to waste.

The peach season only lasts about two -n^onths, but what a
"hog" a man can make of himself during those two months ;
there is practically no limit to his capacity. Dr. Smith would
probably recommend the crop from one tree each week for each
member of the family, or eight to ten times as many trees as
members.

Of plums there are an untold number of varieties, in fact a
great number of families or groups of varieties, but only a
few of them do well here. Most of the Domesticas rot and knot
so badly the average farmer does not care to bother with them,
although in quality they are among the best.

The Japanese vary from good to indifferent and positively
bad, but all things considered are the most satisfactory plums
for the Connecticut farmer to supply his family.

The Americana are hardy and useful, but small and mostly
quite acid at the pit.

There are many gentlemen at work crossing these two last
named species and the results, we hope, will prove better than
either parent.

The apple we may have for twelve months if we choose, but
kept in our cellar they have 'never proved popular in straw-
berry time, but from early August to May we can eat a number
of good apples. No one cares for more than one tree of a

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i97

variety of the early apples, but should have an assortment of
both sweet and sour, and plenty of winter fruit. If properly
educated, each member of the family will dispose of about four
barrels.

In conclusion, if each and every farmer's family would devote
from one to two acres of land to fruit for their own use, they
would find it the best use they could possibly put it to.

Points in the discussion following were that more goose-
berries should be grown and better care given them. Their best
use is when in the green state.

The Kansas blackcap raspberry is about the best of all around
sort in cultivation to-day. The Abundance is the best eating
plum of the Japan kinds. Satsuma leads as a canning variety.
Those who have not eaten this plum when canned have missed a
treat. Mr. Butler has had eight years experience wath plum
trees on peach roots and prefers such trees rather than those
grown on plum roots. He reported that bees, when other food
is scarce, often injure plums and peaches by puncturing the skin
and suggested as a remedy to grow some food crop that the bees
will like better.

When asked to name best strawberry for family use, Mr.
Butler recommended the Brandywine. Clyde is also a good
berry and Ridgeway is fine for canning.

Many of the ladies present took part in the discussion on how
best to preserve strawberries.

Prof. A. G. Gulley of the Connecticut Agricultural College
was next introduced and gave one of his usual bright practical
talks on important points for orchardists. He said the apple
orchards of Connecticut are not generally in the best condition ;
they have been neglected, and many of these old orchards will
not pay to renovate. The miost money is to come from the new
orchards to be planted. The idea that apple orcharding in Con-
necticut will not pay is erroneous and the near future will see
much capital invested in this branch of fruit growing, with
every prospect of success. The speaker then reviewed the essen-
tials in good apple culture. The demand is for low-headed
trees in order to accommodate better cultivation, spraying, thin-
ning and picking the fruit. Don't mix different kinds of fruit
in same orchard. If it is an apple orchard grow apples, and

198 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

apples only. Hogs in the orchard may solve the problem of
cultivation on some rough lands. For varieties, plant the stand-
ard kinds of winter fruit and use such varieties as Duchess,
Wagener and that class as "fillers," to be removed later when
the trees begin to crowd. Fall apples often pay well; Sutton
Beauty is a profitable apple, but will overbear unless properly
headed back. Ben Davis and Northern Spy may serve as stocks
upon which to graft weaker growing kinds of superior quality.

Spraying to secure perfect foliage will give apples of higher
color.

Apples should be picked before October loth, said the pro-
fessor, but others contended that fruit picked later will show
more color.

Mr. E. M. Ives, the well known grower of fancy apples, was
present and showed a choice lot of nicely colored apples. When
called upon he gave a short talk on the little details that enter
into the growing of a good crop of fruit.

This closed the program, and after passing a vote of thanks
to the Grange, one of the most successful institutes ever held
by the Society was brought to a close.

INSTITUTE AT LITCHFIELD

March iQ, igoi.

PROGRAMME

OPENING AT 10.30 A. M.

Address of Welcome F. L. Tharp, Master of Grange.

"The Spraying of Fruit Trees"

Dr. W. C. Sturgis, Conn. Experiment Station, New Haven.

"The Apple as a Money Crop" Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan.

Question Box.

Recess

Lunch at Grange Hall

AFTERNOON SESSION AT I.3O.

Music.

"Plum Culture in Connecticut" Geo. S. Butler, Cromwell.

"Some Opportunities Connecticut Farmers Should Realize"

Pres't N. S. Piatt.
"The Home Fruit Garden" J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury,

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i99

Throug-h the efforts of Mr. J. H. Putnam of "Fernwoocl
Farm," an active member of the Society, a fruit growers" insti-
tute was held in the beautiful town of Litchfield on Tuesday,
March 19th.

Owing to the unpleasant weather and very muddy condition
of the roads, only a small number were in attendance at the
town hall when the meeting was opened at 10.45.

Vice-President J. C. Eddy of Simsbury presided, in the
absence of President Piatt.

After Worthy Master Tharp of the Litchfield Grange had
welcomed the visitors. Dr. W. C. Sturgis, of the Connecticut
Experiment Station, gave a very instructive address on "The
Spraving of Fruit Trees." The Doctor said in opening that
the growing of fruit is the oldest branch of farming. Spraying
is most essential ; there is no money now-a-days in fruit grow-
ing without it. The grower sprays to fight the parasitic fungi
that attack his crops.

The speaker then, by means of charts, explained how fungais
troubles develop through spores which multiply and spread very
rapidly, making these diseases exceedingly hard to conquer.
The black knot of the plum and cherry was taken as an illustra-
tion of such diseases.

One way to keep our orchard trees healthy is to clean up
and burn every bit of refuse and decayed fruit, for it is through
these that the spores often spread. He explained how covering
the foliage and fruit with copper solution, or other mixtures,
will make them proof against the spores. This is where the
value of the well known Bordeaux mixture comes in. We
should spray only as an emergency. Rather we should try
to carry out healthy methods of culture before it becomes
necessary to spray. Vigorous trees will always be less suscep-
tible to diseases, so w'e should aim to give attention to pruning,
cleaning the trees, feeding them, and thinning the fruit.

The selection of the stock is an important point to remember.
We have been striving for large fruits and lots of them. Hardi-
ness has not been thought of enough. In future we must select
those kinds that are less subject to disease.

The apple is the great standard fruit for New England, but
the scab is a serious enemy of this fruit. It attacks the leaves,
which are the lungs of the tree, and they fall; then the apple

200 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

is checked in its growth. This, and the apple rust, are not
entirely to be controlled by spraying, but it will help. The
leaf-spot of the pear and quince causes the fruit to crack but
may be prevented by spraying.

The quince was the first fruit to be treated with Bordeaux
in Connecticut.

The rot of plums and cherries is a hard trouble to control.
With the exception of the Japan type of plums, spraying should
be resorted to.

Will spraying pay? is the great question the fruit grower
asks. The professor showed figures to prove his claim that
spraying does pay, and when thoroughly done pays handsomely.

Replying to a question, Dr. Sturgis explained first how to
make and mix successfully Bordeaux mixture.

For grapes the Doctor recommended winter spraying with
copper sulphate; when buds open use Bordeaux, following it
up every few weeks during the season until the fruit begins
to ripen. This advice was seconded by Mr. Allen of Terryville,
a large grape grower.

Next came a valuable paper by EdAvin Hoyt, the veteran
fruit grower and nurseryman, on the apple, and for its many
practical points is reproduced here in full.

The Apple as a Money Crop, and How to Get the Most

Out of It.

By Edwin Hoyt of jXeza Cajiaan .

This question is one which should, and no doubt does, interest
almost every farmer. We study to learn what crops can be
raised on our farms, so we may realize larger returns for the
fertilizer and labor necessary to produce them.

I have given much thought and study to the question, and I
firmly believe there is no crop equal to the "apple" as a money
crop for Connecticut farmers, or in fact for New England
farmers.

From the yields and profits I have been able to gather from
orchards that have been well cared for, I feel I am justified in
saying that from $200 to $500 per acre may be readily realized
from an apple orchard of well-selected varieties, given proper

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 201

care and cultivation. This may appear to you as an exaggerated
statement, but first, let me give you a few facts, then you may
judge whether I have given the amount of yield per acre too
large or not.

Frank Olmsted of Chester, Orleans County, New York, sold
from ij/^ acres of apple orchard, 379 barrels of picked apples
at $2.40 per barrel, amounting to $909.60, or $606.30 from an
acre; and he had besides 300 to 400 bushels of apples for
evaporating.

George T. Powell of Ghent, New York, wrote me two years
ago, that the apples from two Baldwin trees near his place sold
for $110.

Mr. Washburn of Chappaqua, Westchester County, New York,
sold the apples on the trees from his four-acre orchard for $900,
or $225 per acre.

John Miller of Guardstown, West Virginia, sold 6,000 barrels
of apples for $14,520. They were raised on 34 acres, thus
giving him $427 per acre.

Twenty years ago, R. D. Tilson, of the same place, planted 16
acres of orchard. The crop in one year has brought over $6,000,
which is $375 per acre.

Mr. Morrill of ]\Iichigan stated before the Connecticut Pomo-
logical Society one year ago that a party in Western New York,
that fall, sold from 4 acres of orchard $3,000 worth of apples.

Tliirty years ago we picked from Baldwin and Rhode Island
Greening trees, set 15 years, 12 barrels per tree. This would
be from an acre containing 35 trees 420 barrels, which at $1
per barrel would be $420.

There are many more instances where like large yields and
profits have been realized, but enough have been cited to justify
the statement made, viz., that from $200 to $500 per acre may
be realized from an orchard intelligently managed.

There should be no doubt then that the apple can be made a
money crop, and more money gotten out of it than from any
other farm crop we now raise.

Now, this brings me to the second or most important part of
my subject, viz., "How to get the most out of the Apple
Orchard." What many farmers, no doubt, would like most to
learn is, how to manage their present orchards so as to make
them more profitable? That is a question for another paper.

202 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

I will only say, however, in passing, that if you have a herd of
cows which have been giving milk for six or eight years on
half feed rations, and are poor in flesh, scrawny, and unthrifty,
and you should ask me how to get the most money out of stock-
raising or your dairy, I would say, don't try to do it out of these
old, neglected, half-starved cows, but rather start anew, with
some thrifty, vigorous, and healthy young cattle, and care for
them as reason and good business methods would suggest, then
there might be a chance for some profit.

Your old cows, however, might be improved for a while, and
yield you more milk and profit, while the young stock was com-
ing on, by carding, housing, and liberally feeding every day with
well-balanced rations. This treatment would improve the old
and neglected herd, but you cannot make these cows yield now
what they would have done had they been liberally fed, and in
every way cared for from the time they were calves.

So it is with uncultivated, half-starved, and neglected orchards.
They, like the cows, may be improved by feeding, cultivating,
pruning, and spraying, so as to be much more remunerative, but
for the best and most profitable results it is better to start anew.

Therefore to show you how to get the most out of an apple
orchard (and I believe orcharding is to be the future business
of our New England farmers), I will start with a young orchard
and show you how to grow and care for it successfully.

First. Select the best piece of orchard ground you have,
which must be dry. If it is ridge land, as much of our Con-
necticut land is, with a retentive subsoil, so that water will drain
into and fill, or partly fill, a hole dug 20 inches deep, when left
over-night in the spring of year, drain it 3^ feet deep. Trees
will grow and bear on such land, but for best results drain it.
If the field is in turf, manure, plow, and crop it with corn to get
the soil prepared for the trees. It is immaterial whether you set
the trees in the fall or spring. If planted in the fall, do so early,
say in October. The soil should be first plowed and well har-
rowed, and after the trees are set, sow to rye for a cover crop,
to be plowed under the following spring. If not set with trees
until spring, plow, then fertilize with 1200 pounds of fertilizer
worth, at least, $30 per ton, or if you have it. 20 to 25 tons of
stable manure to the acre, and harrow it in well, when the field
will be readv for the trees.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 203

Second. The distance apart to set the trees. This should be
18 or 20 feet, just as the field will lay out in rows; say 18
feet each way or 135 trees to the acre. This distance I know
you will think too close to set them. I will give you my reasons
for setting the trees this distance, which has very much to do
with the early profits from the orchard. Trees set 18 feet apart
each way will take 135 trees to the acre, while if set 35 feet apart,
the distance more generally recommended, only 35 trees are set.
Trees set on good ground, fed, cultivated, and cared for, as I
will direct hereafter, should come into bearing the fourth year
after planting and they should bear one-half bushel per tree;
the fifth year one bushel per tree ; the sixth year two bushels ;
the seventh year one barrel and the eighth year two barrels per
tree. The increase of yield annually should continue until the
trees are out 15 years, although, perhaps, not in quite the same
ratio as the first five years named. Now we have had 100 trees
more bearing and giving us this larger yield of fruit for 10
years than if planted 35 feet apart. Now let me show you what
this means for profit. If the trees yield at eight years (the fifth
year after coming into bearing) two barrels of apples per tree,
it is safe to say the average yield for 10 years (until the trees are
15 years old) would be 3 barrels per tree. This gives for 135
trees per acre, 405 barrels of apples per year, and for 10 years
4050 barrels ; while if the trees had been planted 35 only to
the acre, and the yield 3 barrels per tree, would be 105 barrels,
or 1,050 barrels for the ten years. These at $1.50 per barrel
would give you for the acre of 135 trees for the 15 years' set and
10 years bearing, $6,075, while for the acre set 35 feet $1,575 oi"
$4,500 more money from the acre by planting 18 feet apart.
Now at 15 years, if these trees touch each other, suppose they
were cut down and cleaned otT, we have more money from the
acre than the orchard set 35 feet apart would produce in 25
years, if not in 30 years; but we need not do this, for we can
and must cut out every other tree, leaving the trees in the rows
diamond shape, with 67 trees left to bear five years more before
crowding again. Then take out every other row again, and we
have 34 or 35 trees left to go on and bear, as would be the case
if set 35 feet apart at first; or which I think would be better,
the tops could be cut off of every other tree, the same as if to
top-graft, and let the top come up new again. When they come

204 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

into bearing again, in three years, then serve the other half the
same way.

I have tried to show the increased profit from this close plant-
ing method, and will briefly state some other advantages : if set
1 8 feet apart and we bring the trees into bearing the fourth
year, we begin that year to receive some revenue from the crop.
We must give up cropping the ground after three years, and give
the trees the full benefit of the soil and cultivation. If the
trees are 35 feet apart, the space is so wide between the trees,
that it will be necessary to crop, the ground in order to utilize
the space and get something more than the few apples from the
35 trees, for the expense of fertilizing, cultivating, etc. The
liability in such cases is to injure the trees by this plowing and
cropping, or by seeding down to grass, which many would be
tempted to do. Again, the cost of producing the apples will be
much lessened by planting 18 feet apart than by the 35 feet plan ;
a factor to be always looked after to increase profits. One acre
with 135 trees mav be fertilized with one ton of fertilizer, which
would make the trees bear and grow rapidly, while if the ton
was spread over four acres to fertilize the 135, it would be too
scanty a feeding. The cultivation, so important, could be done
on one acre for 135 trees for one-fourth what it would cost to
do it on four acres, and besides would be much more effective.
The spraying, which is so indispensible now, for perfect fruit and
healthy foliage, could be done more cheaply, as two rows could
be sprayed at once, and no crop would interfere with the passing
through of a team, as might be the case if set at 35 feet.

Would the trees bear any more for being set 35 feet apart for
the first 15 years they were out? There is no reason to believe
they would, but rather the probability is that they would not
bear as much.

I trust I have made my reasons for planting the trees 18 feet
apart each way plain and reasonable to you.

The third consideration, after selecting the soil and determin-
ing the distance to plant, is what varieties to set. Now be care-
ful ! Do not take advice from catalogues or fruit journals from
all over the country. Varieties which may be good in Vermont,
Michigan, Illinois, ^Missouri, or Kansas, may not be worth plant-
ing here. Use for }our orchards only those varieties you know
do well here. If I were to plant, I would select Baldwin, Rhode

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 205

Island Greening. Hubbardston's Nonesuch, Jonathan, Wine Sap,
and some Roxbiiry Russets. There may be some other varie-
ties Hke ]\IcIntosh Red, Sutton Beauty, W'agener, and Wal-
bridge. that will do well here, but wait until further tested. Set
only those varieties you knozi' succeed here. I have often been
asked if it would not pay to set the Lady Apple ? They bring $10
per barrel ; or the Esopus Spitzenburg, they are quoted $5 per
barrel, when Baldwins are only $2. My answer would be "no."
There is no money in growing these varieties. The Lady Apple
would not be selling for $10 per barrel or the Spitzenburg for $5
per barrel, if they could be raised as easily as the Baldwin or
Rhode Island Greening. The fact that they bring these prices
shows that they are not easily grown. Ten dollars can be made
growing Baldwins to one dollar raising Lady apples.

Fourth. Get your trees where you are a mind to, only be sure
to get good healthy trees, and free from San Jose scale, with
tops formed up four to five feet in height. For your trees dig
the holes (in this previously prepared ground, as before noted)
two feet wide and twenty inches deep ; placing all the surface
soil in a pile by itself, and the yellow or subsoil by itself. In
setting the trees, be careful not to plant them but little, if any,
deeper than they were growing in the nursery rows. Fill the
hole with the black or surface soil, until high enough to receive
the tree. Spread out the roots, and as the surface soil is thrown
in upon the roots, work the dirt thoroughly in among them with
your fingers, lifting up the upper roots until all is filled under,
so that the roots may all lay a little slanting, and each encircled
with the soil, which should be pressed firmly in among the roots,
as the hole is being filled up. After the surface soil taken from
the hole is all used, then take a shovelful here and there about
the field until the hole is completely filled, and the trees firmly
set. The yellow dirt from digging the hole can be spread about
the field. The tree then has a fine bed in which to start and
grow. The soil being plowed previously and well fertilized, that
which is put into the hole in setting the trees contains all the
plant food necessary for the tree the first year. I speak of this
careful planting, because it is very important, so the first year's
growth will be a good one. If a tree starts off well and makes
a fine growth the first year, the foundation is well laid for the
fourth year's crop of fruit.

2o6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The trees now being set, the field plowed and fertihzed, say
with 1,200 pounds of good fertilizer to the acre and harrowed
in, It may be planted with potatoes, beets, carrots, strawberries,
or any hoed crop. The cultivation necessary for the crop will
do for the orchard the first two years or three, provided every
time the crop is cultivated and hoed, the ground about the trees
is hoed and kept free from weeds, soft and mellow. The bodies
of the trees should be washed every May with potash water, one
pound of potash to eight quarts of water. This is important,
and should never be neglected, until the trees are ten to twelve
years old at least. Spraying, pruning and thinning the fruit
should be done each year, and the trees examined every May and
October to destroy the borers, if any are present.

After the third year, crop the orchard no more, but fertilize
every year, using 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of good fertilizer to the
acre. Cultivate the ground annually, and cultivate every week
or two, at least, until the last of August, when a cover crop may
be sown. This may be crimson clover, rye or barley. In spring,
this is to be plowed and worked into the soil, as well as it can
be, with a cutaway harrow or cultivator; afterwards to be fol-
lowed through the season with a spring-tooth harrow or other
fine tilling implement.

The fourth year and after, apples are the only crop the soil
should be required to grow. Now the orchard has been reared
to bearing age, and should give a crop of apples every year fol-
lowing. The orchard, as I have said, should be fertilized every
spring with three-fourths to one ton or more of fertilizer, and
cultivation should begin early and be thoroughly done all
through the season, whether weeds grow or not. Cultivation
conduces to moisture, which is as essential to the trees and fruit
for best results as the fertilizer. Trimming should be done
annually ; spraying all that is necessary, and thinning the fruit
if the trees set too full to carry through the season properly.
Never let any other crop on the farm interfere with spraying or
cultivating the orchard at the proper time. Neglect other crops
if you must, rather than the orchard.

You may say I have estimated for a crop of apples every year,
while the facts are that trees bear only every other year. That
is true with our present management or mismanagement of
orchards, but orchards managed as I have directed will bear

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 207

every year, as readily as every other year. If the conditions are
right for the trees to bear every year, they will bear every year,
as well as they now bear every other year. These conditions it
is our business to supply, and it is the tree's functions to give us
the fruit every year, and the trees will do their part, if we do
ours. Nature through the soil never fails to do her part, if man
does his. This is true of all crops.

The conditions for annual apple crops are : a well drained
soil, a liberal feeding of the soil, spraying the trees to keep up
a healthy foliage, frequent stirring of the soil to maintain mois-
ture throughout the season, and thinning the fruit that the trees
shall not overbear. If these rules are strictly followed, as every
thorough orchardist should do, an annual crop is assured, pro-
vided a spring frost or blasting eastern storm does not come
when the trees are in blossom.

Now as we have an orchard grown into bearing age, we will
next see what the cost per year is to be, to grow our crop of
apples ready for picking. My estimate is as follows :

Fertilizer, one ton $30.00

Harrowing and cultivating, 10 times 15.00

Spraying. 3 times 15.00

Pruning 5.00

Thinning fruit 10.00

$75.00

The cost of picking, boxes, barrels, marketing, etc., would
have to be added to this, which would, perhaps, add $100 more,
or $175 for the acre. The lowest estimate of prices for such
well grown apples would be' $1.50 per barrel, for 405 barrels
from the acre would leave $432 profit from the acre, or if at
$3 per barrel, as they often bring, $1,040 profit per acre. The
cost per acre would be lessened somewhat in proportion to the
number of acres we had to care for. The cultivating, spraying,
etc., would be less per acre for ten or twentv acres than for one
acre.

Now that I have grown this orchard into bearing age, another
very important matter for profit confronts us. viz., the putting
up and marketing of the fruit. It is one thing to grow the fruit
well, but to derive a handsome profit for the labor involved, it
requires much taste and care in packing and marketing it. If

2o8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

there is one thing in our business that needs revolutionizing,
it is that of packing and m-arketing apples. In this section,
apples are picked and put into flour barrels just as our grand-
fathers did fifty or seventy-five years ago. This will not do in
this age. The eye is now educated to seeing nicer things more
than when I was a boy. Cleanliness, neatness, attractiveness, and
beauty are all vital factors in the sale of fruit of any kind. Half
of the apples offered for sale in the markets to-day are really
repulsive looking to a large portion of buyers, and not one-
quarter of the apples are consumed that should be for good
health, or would be consumed, if they were well grown and put
up in a tasty and attractive manner. The day for flour barrels to
send apples to market in has passed, if we are to derive the most
profit from them. Apples should be evenly graded as to size
and color, and no apples that are worm-eaten, or inferior in any
way, should pass into a box of No. i apples. Selected fruit
should be placed carefully in a box holding just one bushel. A
clean box made expressly for apples should -be used, lined with
white tissue paper (or other colors, as best sets off the color of
the apples to be packed), and when the transportation is to be
far, like shipping to Europe, each apple should be wrapped in
tissue paper, as is done with the best oranges. One bushel of
apples thus put up will bring more money than a barrel put up
in the ordinary way. This is not all : there will be a much larger
amount of apples used than are now used. How many families
in our cities will buy a full barrel of apples at one time. It is
more than a family might use before many of the apples decay,
but if put up attractively in bushel crates or boxes, many a family
would have a box of apples sent to them from their grocers,
where now they have none.

Go into any of the grocery or fruit stores and ask for apples,
and see what will be shown you. Ask for oranges and you will
see them displayed with all the attractiveness possible. That is
business. Put up perfect apples in the same way, and display
them in the same manner, by the side of oranges, and double the
quantity of apples will be sold, to that of oranges. The second
class apples can be put up in the same way and sold, of course,
at less price.

Next we must have a proper place for keeping the apples after
picking them until ready for market. House or barn cellars,

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 209

unless better than most cellars, are a thing also of the past for
storing apples. A place for keeping apples from decaying after
picking is what is needed, as much as anything else for largest
profit. ]\Iany an apple crop has been wasted after picking, from
being stored in an improper place. Two conditions are neces-
sary for the perfect keeping of apples, viz.. a cool atmosphere
and one with sufficient moisture in it.

Can these conditions be reached and maintained by the
grower ? Certainly they can. One way is with ice, and another,
when on a large scale, is in cold storage with chemicals, and such
places for storing perishable fruits are coming more and more
into general use.

Another important matter in large profit from the orchard is
the saving of wind-falls and inferior fruit. Orchards fed, culti-
vated, fruit thinned, and cared for as' I have directed, will not
have so many wind-falls as we now have under our trees, but
there will always be some not perfect enough to put in the boxes
to sell for No. i fruit. There should be in every town where
apple-growing is carried on to any extent, an evaporating plant,
where all the apples for drying may be brought to and dried.
This is now done in many places in Western New York, and
many thousands of dollars are made from these drying houses.
Apples are dried by hot air, and from 300 to 500 bushels per
day can be pared, bleached, dried, and boxed. They are then
put up in boxes of 15 or 20 pounds, and can be shipped any-
where. The market for these dried apples is the world. Apples
for this purpose usually bring 25 cents per bushel. This is
more than such apples are worth to feed cattle, or to make mto
vinegar. I have seen made from the cores and parings of apples
at these drying houses what is called "apple butter," a jelly
made from the juice and boiling it, until it comes out a thick
paste or jelly; and it is really very fine. I have never seen this
"apple butter" here in the East, but it has many uses, and is
very wholesome.

Now I have hurriedly gone over this question of the apple as
a money crop, and how to get the most out of it, yet there is one
important matter for greater profit connected with it that T have
not touched ; that is, cooperation or combination. Applied to
orcharding or farming, it is in advance of the farmers, but in
manufacturing, or in the mercantile business world, it is uni-
14

2IO THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

versally adopted and successfully and very profitably managed.
If one farmer in a town should plant ten acres of orchard and
care for it, as I have directed, he would, no doubt, make more
money from his orchard than from other crops he may raise on
thirty acres ; but if every farmer in the town would start in and
set out from one to five acres a year until all suitable land for
orchards was planted and cared for properly, then form a com-
bination or cooperate together (as can be done), the apples could
be raised cheaper, kept more perfectly, marketed more readily,
and at much larger prices than we now sell them at, than the one
farmer with his ten acres could possibly do. Buyers go where
the goods are to be bought, and any buyer will go and will pay
more for the fruit where he can get 5,000 to 10,000 barrels, than
to chase over the State to pick up 100 barrels here, 50 barrels
somewhere else and so on to get his wants supplied.

If all the suitable orchard lands of Connecticut were planted
to orchards and well cared for, the apples would all find a ready
market. There is not the least danger of over-production. The
world's demands are larger then we can supply. When orchard-
ing becomes the one business of Connecticut farmers, as it
should be, then untold wealth will pour into our State. Our
farms will be valuable and salable, and our farmers happy and
successful.

Those who put careful study, thought, and brain power into
apple orcharding, will be the ones who will realize the fact, that
the "apple" is not only a money crop, but the largest money
crop we can produce on our farms.

At one o'clock the meeting adjourned to the Grange Hall
nearby, where the ladies had prepared a bountiful dinner.

With the opening of the afternoon session Mr. Hoyt's paper
was discussed.

In answer to a question, Mr. Hoyt said the Wealthy apple is
valuable as an early shipping variety. The best system of prun-
ing is to cut back the top and aim to renew the bearing wood.

Mr. Whittlesey put the question, will fruit growing really
pay in these hill towns of our State? Mr. Hoyt said, we can
produce better apples than the West, and it icill pay to grow
them here. The market is ready for our fruit. We are near
to the best markets and to the shipping ports. Our people
should eat more fruit and less meat.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 211

The speaker believed that the time is coming when capital
will be invested in fruit jams rather than stocks and government
bonds.

In the absence of Mr. Butler, the speaker on plums, Chas.
I. Allen spoke on this topic, giving a short account of his
experiences in growing the Japan plums.

E. M. Ives of Meriden explained his work in spraying apple
trees for a series of years and, as an example of what can be
accomplished, exhibited specimens of apples from his 1900
crop — ^very fine in every way.

The remainder of the session was occupied with a discussion
of questions from the box in which all present participated; also
the reading by the Secretary of a paper by President N. S.
Piatt, who was detained by a business engagement. The paper,
which was well received, is given below.

Largfe or Small Agrfcoltofal Ventures in Connecticut.
Which Shall It Be>

By N. S. Piatt, New Haven.

The generations who have gone before us, and who tilled the
soil for 200 years or more, no doubt did the best thing they could
do when on each home place they planted fruit trees of all the
known desirable kinds, and planted crops of grain and vegetables
such as they expected to use themselves. They had their own
families to feed, and they fed them largely with provisions of
their own growing. Fruit, vegetables, grain and meat were
produced near by.

If their fruit failed they went without fruit ; if some of their
vegetables failed they very likely went without them. They
could not bring them from a distance, as we can. They
depended on home production, and producers could have some
chance to furnish the home market. In fact that was about the
only one to be had, and so our people grew up, from father to
son and son's son, with only the home market in view.

Those of us who have reached or passed middle life, will
recall, I think, that in our boyhood days this home-market condi-
tion was more pronounced than it is to-day. In those days each
farmer's family aimed to produce its own supply of about all that
would grow in this climate. Now we have gotten away from

2 12 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

that, permitting other localities to furnish us with such things
as they can lay down here cheaper or better than we can produce,
turning our attention to fewer products and raising more of
them, or looking" up new productions that the market demands.

The producer has found that he can grow these special crops
cheaply and well, with as great, and perhaps greater certainty
than people in other localities can, and in his own home market
he can compete with, and has an advantage over the rest of the
world.

What is to hinder, then, his growing these special crops in
quantities large enough to fully supply the home market and
perhaps some for export as well? But how seldom do we find
this to be the case. Let me mention some of the reasons which
come to my mind, as showing why he has not done it. First,
the average farmer never has worked that way, but has been
accustomed to grow small quantities, thinking that w^as the
safest for him. Second, he don't know how to do differently.
Third, his lands are not adapted to it. Fourth, doubt as to the
financial success of any other method than that which he has.
practiced. The first and second reasons are really no reasons
at all ; the third holds good in many cases, but is not by any
means prohibitive. If your land is not good for what you want
to grow, make it so, or find spme that is. I am aware that in
most cases you are already located and feel that whatever you
do must be done on that farm and no other. To such, this paper
would aim to have you enlarge on whatever crops you can grow
that will be most profitable. In most cases this can readily be
done.

The man who desires to grow a specialty, and is free to locate,,
can usually find the kind of land he w'ants. This is really the
most business-like way, and in the case of peach and apple land
has been followed lately to some extent, and is likely to be fol-
lowed further. It has not reached its limit yet. In fact, it
seems to me, it has only just begun.

Certain it is that there are plenty of good locations yet unoc-
cupied, and very often they are just the ones that are in the
market at a low price.

Elevated tillable lands in Southern and Central Connecticut,
planted with peaches ofl:er, I think, the best renumeration of
any peach-growing country in America.

ELEJ'ENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 213

Peaches, though a perishable crop, can be planted and managed
in large areas, and so can apples ; the help needed in harvesting
can be brought from the cities and lodged in cheap buildings ;
thev doing their own cooking. I am aware that this would be
an innovation to the common farmer, and not to be entered upon
in a hurry. But such things are done in other parts of our
country; they are already done here to some extent.

Will such large ventures pay?

Well, it is right in line with good business principles. You
can manage the large business cheaper proportionately than the
small one. You save in implements and in labor lost going
from one employment to another: You save in marketing.
There is a big saving in these last two items. The same labor
and time will, or should produce a greater quantity and value.
You can afford to inform yourself thoroughly on your specialty
or specialties, in fact become an expert and make your product
as good as the best, and place it on the market in the most
attractive and desirable shape. Then, too, the dealer prefers to
buy of one who has a large quantity of uniform quality to sell.
The fact that we have trouble to find buyers for our apples is
because we have such small quantities. Not enouglr in one
place to pav buyers to come and look at them. One of our
institute lecturers a year ago, made the fact very plain that the
great drawback to successful fanning was, that the production
was too small for the capital. j\Iany farms, and I presume most
farms in New England, have acres on acres of land that has to
be cared for, and fenced, and taxes paid on it, and yet it prockices
very little in the way of income. Large buildmgs, too, swiallow
up capital, and can only help on the income as they are used ;
and so it comes about that when you foot up the value of land
and buildings in a farm, and figure to pay a fair interest on that
amoimt and the running expenses and have a living profit
besides, it is pretty hard figuring. What is the trouble? Just
this, the production is not great enough to put the land and
buildings to their largest use.

]\Iany of the best lands for peaches and apples are being made
the least of, under existing condition of things. Such lands as
are suitable, could be made by means of these and perhaps other
crops, to bring an income over and over again larger than whole
farms yield now. It needs a little persistent courage or stamina,
and good judgment or common sense.

2 14 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

My plan will remedy that defect, and at the same time make
farming easier. It is certainly easier to plan for and care for
a few specialities than it is to grow a whole line of productions.
I have tried both ways and so do not speak without experience.

My twenty-seven years in the nursery business gave me a
chance to work where there was more detail and more varieties
than in any ordinary farming. Probably none of your branches
of farming equals it for complications unless it is the market
gardeners. Whoever follows these two callings must, I suppose,
continue in turmoil and bear the wear and tear of the business.

Somebody must follow such callings of course, and I would
not advise to abandon them, but my aim would be to simplify in
variety and enlarge in quantity, believing that our New^ England
people fritter away their time trying to care for too many things.
Believing that the time has fully come when choosing our pro-
ducts we may grow them in larger quantities and depend on
finding a market that will remunerate us well.

These thoughts may not impress the older heads as sound,
and even if you do believe them to be correct you may not be
able to follow them out, but there are young men growing up
whose plans for life are yet to be laid. This paper may be food
for thought to them. If so, and it proves of any value, I shall
be satisfied to have presented it.

A vote of thanks was tendered the Grange for its hospitality,
and the meeting adjourned.

It was gratifying to note the interest in fruit matters among
those present, which promises well for more extended planting
of fruits in Litchfield and neighboring towns. The presence
of many summer visitors in these beautiful hill towns of the
State insures a ready market for berries and tree fruits.

A number of growers took the opportunity afforded by this
meeting to become members of the Society.

Invitations to tlie Society to hold Institutes came in thick and
fast during the month of March. Some had to be declined,
and, in order to accommodate others, two were held during the
same week, that at Shelton following close upon the Litchfield
meeting.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 215

INSTITUTE AT SHELTON.

The Shelton Institute, on Thursday, March 21, 1901, encoun-
tered bad weather ; a very severe rain storm keeping many
visitors away, but a large enough company gathered to make the
meeting both interesting and profitable. The following well
arranged program was carried out :

PROGRAMME.

OPENING AT 10.30 A.M.

Introductory S. B. Brownson, Master of Grange.

" The Home Fruit Garden," J. H. Putnam, Litchfield.

"The Market End of Fruit Growing," Nellis H. Sherwood, Southport.

"Essential Points in Apple Orcharding,"

Prof. A. G. Gulley, Conn. Agricultural College, Storrs.

Jit'cess.

AFTERNOON SESSION AT 2.
QUESTION BOX

"Profitable Peach Growing," J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury.

" Strawberries — Best Methods of Growing and Marketing,"

J. C. Eddy, Sirasbury.
Illustrated Talk — " The Dreaded San Jose Scale."

Prof. W. E. Britton, Conn. Experiment Station.

The morning session was opened at 10.45 with Vice-Presi-
dent Eddy in the chair. First on the programme was a talk on
the home fruit garden by Mr. J. H. Putnam of Litchfield.
This was an interesting and helpful address, full of practical
suggestions as to the successful cultivation of fruits for home
use. The speaker maintained that the secret of success con-
sisted in close attention to details.

Referring to strawberry culture, Air. Putnam advised the use
of water for the growing crop. Hen manure is a valuable
fertilizer for this fruit. A list of varieties for family use should
include Bubach, Haverland, Parker Earle, Gandy and Marshall.
Among the newer sorts worth a trial are Gladstone, Nick
Ohmer, Glen Mary, McKinley and Sample. Mr. Putnam spoke
from personal experience with each of these varieties. The
famous Marshall berry outranks all the rest on his soil and
under his svstem of culture.

2i6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

In this work we should aim to grow varieties that have
superior quality and leave the matter of quantity to the market
grower. He explained his method of securing very late berries,
by covering the plants with ice late in winter and mulching
over this, removing the latter as the season advances. In this
way berries are had all through July.

Among raspberries Mr. Putnam recommended the Columbian
for a canning berry, and the Hansell, an old sort, but still a
good one, for the home garden on account of its fine flavor.
Plant the Golden Queen too, by all means.

The Older and Eureka are worthy of trial among the black
caps.

Blackberries should be heavily fertilized and will respond
with the finest of fruit. The Snyder is the most reliable kind.

A good word was spoken for the black currants, which Mr.
Putnam said are not appreciated in this country. Their best
use is in making jam. For currants plant the Red Cross, the
Wilder and the Pomona.

Both currants and gooseberries need to be sprayed with Bor-
deaux to protect them from the leaf blight.

The speaker favored the practice of girdling grapes to pro-
duce early and fine fruit and explained his method. He plants
his strawberries 2 by 3 feet, and renews his beds every two
years. Allows each plant to set 5 runners, cutting ofif the rest.
These unused runners make fine plants for next year's planting
if set in a cold frame and allowed to grow.

The entire address was a strong plea for a more liberal plant-
ing of fruits for home use, in order that all may have an abun-
dance on their table the year round.

Mr. Nellis H. Sherwood of Southport, a successful farmer
and fruit grower, was then called upon to speak of that most
important of topics : the market end of fruit growing. No one
is better qualified to discuss this side of the business, and the
points he brought out were well received. Among other things,
Mr. Sherwood said, he practiced sorting and grading his berries
before shipping, and thought it paid him to do so. He would
advise the use of a slip or tag in each basket of fruit, containing
the grower's name, etc., as a trade-mark. A loose tag is better
than a pasted one on side of package, as then no fraud can be
practiced after the package is sold. He is a firm believer in the
commission man and advised sticking to one firm for the season.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 217

The selling of peaches begins with thinning the fruit on the
tree — none of us thin our fruits enough. A label will help to
sell your fruit if the package is honestly packed. Honest
packing is the great point in successfully selling our fruit.

A vigorous discussion followed in which the matter of picking
received attention. Mr. Farnham complained of not being able
to control his berry pickers through the season. Mr. Sherwood
would aim to grow the largest berries and then the pickers
will stay with you. The pickers who remain with him the entire
season receive more per quart for their work. Mr. Innis told
of his experience in grading strawberries and the increased
price received for such uniform fruit. Many present, however,
doubted if the extra labor involved would pay.

At 12.30 a recess was taken for lunch, which was spread in
the Town Hall nearby, and served by the ladies of Farmill River
Grange. All enjoyed this pleasant feature of the meeting.

The afternoon session began with a greatly increased attend-
ance and much interest shown in the proceedings. Mr. A. C.
Innis, Vice-President for Fairfield County, was called to the
chair. The much regretted absence of Mr. Hale, who was on
the program, was announced.

The first speaker of the afternoon was J. C. Eddy of Sims-
bury, who presented an excellent paper on strawberry growing,
an abstract of which is here given.

Strawberries — Most Profitable Methods of Growing and
Marketing.

By J. C. Eddy, Sitnsbiny.

I don't feel capable of telling you how profitably to grow
strawberries, but I see I am given no alternative but to go ahead
and do the best I can. So I will give you a few points as noted
in my own experience with this crop.

There have been seasons within the memory of us all when I
should have felt compelled to treat the subject of the profitable
growing of strawberries by saying briefly, "there is no profit,"
and this would be a true statement in many cases. However, to
be profitable, strawberries' nnist have good care from start to
finish, not necessarily expensive care, but doing the right thing

2i8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

at the right time. To commence with we must have good
plants, with full vitality ; to have these, care must be exercised
in the digging of the plants, trimming and preparing them for
setting out. Plants that are dug and exposed to drying winds
ten minutes, or even less time, are often much injured by such
exposure. In digging plants on my own farm, I usually trim
them in the field where dug, keeping right up to the fresh dug
plants, covering the roots of each bunch of lo, 15 or 25, with
earth, as fast as trimmed, and then gathering them up into boxes
or baskets, with scarcely any exposure to air. After they are
properly packed they may be sent almost any distance, or kept
in a cool place a long time without injury. For the strawberry
crop there is no danger of fitting the soil too thoroughly. I
mark out the field in any way that comes handy, in order tO' have
rows the proper distance apart (say 33^ or 45^ feet), according
to whether I want narrow matted rows or wide ones. I then
take a Planet Jr. cultivator, and follow the marks, going twice
if necessary, to fine the soil, then set in the center mark. By
this method the ground is so mellow that no dibble is required
in setting the plants. Care must be taken to have the crow^n of
the plants as near the level of the surface of the ground as
possible, if set too low, they are bound to make a poor growth,
and if too high, are liable to be pulled out by cultivator. It
may be rank heresy to say so, but I do not lay any particular
stress on spreading out the roots when setting the plants, but
I do insist that they shall be set with the roots fairly deep in
the soil, and the earth well firmed around them. A good rule to
follow and insist on, is that the plant must be so firmly set that
it cannot be pulled up by one leaf, that is, that the leaf will break
before the plant will start. Another important point is to set
as early as possible in the spring; you can't set too early after
the ground is fit to work. The ground is cool at that time and
the plants will start without any check, when if set late and dry
weather comes on a poor stand of plants is sure to result.
Within a very few days after setting, the weeder, or any good
curved tooth implement, should be used, going lengthwise of the
row right over the plants ; it will seem at first that you would
ruin the plants, but if plants are properly set. not one in a lOO
will be injured. The first time over it is well to have some one
follow the weeder and set in plants where any are pulled out, or

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 219

raise any that are found covered by being set too low ; after the
first cultivation very few are lost ; if the weeder is kept going
every few days, very little hand work will be necessary until the
runners are well started.

Our greatest foes in the matter of weeds are those that live
over winter, of which there are quite a number; unless we do
thorough work v^-ith hoe and fingers, if necessary, late in the
season, we have a lot of these to start up in the spring and
surprise us by their rampant growth, just about when the plants
are blooming.

The most profitable work I have ever done on strawberries
has been in irrigating them in dry seasons. I have had cases
when putting on water three or four times has made a difference
of from $300 to $400 per acre. I don't think there is any crop
that will pay more liberally for water than strawberries. On
some soils I have no doubt water could be turned down the rows
to advantage, but most of my soil is too porous to use that way
of applying it. I have to spray the water on, to do any good ;
by spraying I don't mean as we spray our fruit trees, but apply-
ing a good lively shower of from twenty to forty gallons a
minute. Forty gallons per minute will just about cover any
acre a day if kept going; it takes 27,000 gallons to give one
inch in depth over one acre and in a dry time this ought to be
applied once in five days. I use 2 inch iron pipe and fire hose
for conveying the water where I want it, then have a large
sprinkler that can be attached to any length of hose, with a man
to attend to it and change it from place to place as wanted. To
get best results, irrigation should be commenced early, if needed
at all ; the berries will be a little later in ripening, but this will
be oft'set by the greatly increased yield.

In regard to marketing, I think Mr. Sherwood has covered
that ground pretty thoroughly. I will only say that we must
have the berries carefully picked, put in clean, new baskets, and
get them to some place where they are wanted. It is useless
to try to force them onto a glutted market. Very often when
one market is overloaded, some other place within reach would
be glad to take them at a fair price. In short, study the markets
if you would secure the profits.

Following Mr. Eddy's paper the contents of the Question
Box came up for discussion. Questions on a great variety of

2 20 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

topics relating to fruit growing were considered. One asking
for the best list of strawberries for a sandy soil was answered
by Mr. Innis, who recommended Bubach and Sharpless ; others
mentioned the Clyde, Tennessee and Nick Ohmer as being
adapted to light soils.

Mr. Sherwood thought no ironclad rule could be laid down
about varieties and soils, as strawberries differ so much in
different localities.

An interesting feature of the afternoon was a lecture by Prof.
A. G. GuUey of the Connecticut Agricultural College, on
"Essential Points in Apple Orcharding." Like all the Profes-
sor's talks, it was instructive and right to the point from begin-
ning to end. He said we were after profit in apple culture. In
driving over the State quite extensively he had seen but very
few apple orchards in first-class condition. This was because
the older orchards were not planted with the one idea of profit,
and other crops had been grown among the trees much to their
detriment.

Connecticut orchardists have keen competition to meet from
the Western grown fruit, but we have the important advantage
of being hearer good markets, and we know that our soil and
climate will produce finer varieties of apples.

Often it will cost $35 per acre to prepare and clear our lands
for orchards. Here we are at a disadvantage, still orcharding
can be made to pay. The trees may be set 18 feet apart if we
will attend to thinning out the trees when it becomes necessary.
By this plan the entire area is made to produce apples and we
are not tempted to grow some other side crop in the orchard.
Head the trees loic for they can be successfully cultivated with
our modern orchard tools. You may purchase your apple trees
when small and young and grow them several years on your
own grounds before finally setting in the permanent orchard.
By this frequent transplanting you secure better trees and ones
that will fruit earlier.

Among varieties mentioned and recommended, in addition to
the old standard apples, were Jonathan, Duchess of Oldenburg,
Sutton and Wagener.

Mr. F. L. Perry of Bridgeport, in answer to questions, spoke
of some of the new Japan plums, mentioning the October purple,

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 221

a fine late plum, and Chalco, which is an exceedingly good
keeper.

The session was brought to a close with a lecture on the
San Jose scale by Prof. W. E. Britton of New Haven. Many
lantern slides were shown and helped to make the descriptions
of this new pest very clear and interesting.

After expressing its appreciation of the hospitality of the
Shelton people,, the meeting adjourned.

It was a matter of congratulation that despite the inclement
weather the attendance was large, the interest lively, and a
substantial addition to the membership of the Society was
received.

INSTITUTE WITH CHESHIRE GRANGE
March 2j, igoi.

Responding to an urgent call, the Society held a fruit growers'
meeting in Cheshire, March 27th. This old town, which has
for years pride'd itself on the production of fine fruits, always
extends a hearty welcome to the Pomological Society, and the
present meeting was no exception. In few towns in the State
has the culture of orchard and small fruits been carried to
greater perfection, location and soil conditions combining to
make the production of these crops profitable to a high degree.

The meeting was called to order at 1 1 o'clock by President
N. S. Piatt of the Society, who spoke briefly of the value of
these fruit growers' gatherings and the general outlook for suc-
cessful fruit culture.

Mr. J. H. Merriman of Southington was the first speaker on
the program, his subject being, "Opportunities for the Connecti-
cut Fruit Grower." His address, which is here given in con-
densed form, was an enthusiastic review of the peculiar advan-
tages of Connecticut as a fruit-growing state.

"A knowledge of the requirements of any special line of busi-
ness is always essential to success. The opportunities for fruit
growing here are abundant, and open to those who have the
energy to study the business. The environments are favorable
in Connecticut. We have the right climate. The abundant
sunlight paints our fruit, especially peaches, in artistic beauty,
and gives them a flavor the world cannot equal. We have a

222 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

home market in our manufacturing centers, and are within a
few hours of Boston or New York markets. We have the hills
waiting to be planted with trees and vines. Certainly the land
of Canaan is at our very doors; we have simply to enter and
occupy.

I can seem to see, by the mind's prophetic eye, in the near
future men of wealth buying land suited to the production of
peaches, and the business much enlarged and extended ; we are
near the northern limit of peach culture, therefore the markets
of Massachusetts and states north of us are ours to supply.
I have no fear of overproduction. Hale may plant his thousand
acres in Georgia, but they do not compete with us. Maryland
and Delaware have no place in our markets, when our fruit is
ripe. I will make this prediction, which some of you may
remember in the years to come : Connecticut peach lands within
the next ten years will double in value.

In Southern California orange culture has enhanced the value
of the land $90,000,000 within the last twelve years ; the possi-
bilities lie before us to take land that can be bought for from $15
to $20 per acre and convert it into a value of more than $100
above expenses within a year's time; such opportunities will
not lie unappropriated many years. We are only on the
threshold of peach culture.

Unless some great calamity should befall the industry, like
the spread of San Jose scale, unprecedented growth will mark
the present decade.

I trust our legislature may listen to the words of warning and
of wisdom, spoken by Prof. Britton, and take such steps to keep
this pest luider control or eradicate it, and so preserve the most
valuable industry ever entered into by the farmers of our State.
This Society stands as a beacon light, to warn of dangers, dis-
pense knowledge ; to inspire hope and confidence in our work ;
and to bring us into closer touch with each other, and with
nature's God.

In the culture of apples the possibilities are not so easily
shown, and possibly the returns are not so lucrative, but the
opportunities are certainly not wanting.

The life of an apple tree in Connecticut is about 80 years, or
a man's lifetime ; in the western states 25 to 30 is the limit.
I trust we shall in the near future establish a market in Europe

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 223

that will bring us satisfactory returns, when we can place them
in cold storage steamers, and consign them to a cold storage
house on the other side, so that they need not be sold at auction
or forced sale. We have much to learn about packing our fruit
so as to gain confidence and meet the demands of their trade,
then success is assured. The world moves, and he who will not
keep pace with it, is sure to be caught under the Juggernaut
wheels of progress, and ground to atoms.

To meet the demands of progress we have to be vigilant, and
meet foes at the threshold and give them a bold fight before
their forces are too strong. Science and experience go hand in
hand, and success depends upon our alertness, and ability to
grasp and conquer the problems as they arise ; conditions change
with each year ; shall we falter or be dismayed ? I say no !

Our soil and climate are favorable and congenial for the
apple, the buds are rarely injured by frosts. Our market is the
world, since this fruit can be shipped long distances.

Orcharding may be much extended, and would at the same
time increase our opportunities to sell at a profit. The larger
the business, the more systematic it becomes, and a reputation
becomes established and the buyers' confidence in our fruit
becomes established. I fancy if we could raise ten times as many
apples as we do now, the markets would be still better. It is
the volume of business that enhances dividends ; it is so in all
lines of industry; business sagacity believes in combination of
capital. It may not be practicable for the fruit growers of
Connecticut to combine to market their fruit, but I do believe we
can hold up a standard of excellence in the sorting and packing
of our apples that will enhance their value. Of the small fruits
our opportunities are perhaps better than in many other states ;
our manufacturing population provides us with the best market
in the country. Strawberries, particularly, are our best fruit,
and will continue to please the eye, and tickle the palate, for
generations to come. I will not take your valuable time to go
into detail. It is an old story, yet improvement must keep step
with the march of time.

Brother horticulturists, I came here not to teach you, but to
inspire you with renewed confidence in your business ; to enthuse
into your lives a love for the work, with heart and hand, mind
and soul. Above all, let us carry home with us the thought

2 24 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

that we are co-workers with God. We may plant and cultivate,
but He alone can give the increase."

Many questions followed the reading of this excellent paper,
and then Prof. A. L. Winton, chemist at the State Experiment
Station, was introduced and spoke on the important topic of
"Fraud in manufactured food products and its effect on the
sale of honest fruit." The professor handled this subject in
a practical way, speaking from his experience in examining
many samples of food products in connection with his Station
work. He said that the use of preservatives in fruit foods is
not necessary. It is not a good thing for the consumer and is
a benefit to no one except the manufacturer. A good, pure
jam or jelly ought to keep well without it.

Samples of foods were shown that contained adulterants, and
the reasons for their use was explained ; with strawberries, for
instance, it is hard to retain a good color, so unhealthy dyes
are used when the fruit is canned. Soda water syrups are badly
adulterated. Most of the so-called extracts of berries are frauds,
and contain no pure juice whatever. Coal tar dyes are used
very largely. Manufacturers hide behind the excuse that
farmers color their butter, therefore they have the right to use
coloring matter in their goods. But the worst of it is, that there
is a demand in the markets for these bright-colored, adulterated
goods and their sale does interfere With the consumption of
honest fruit products.

It used to be the rule to make the family supply of jellies,
jams, catsups, etc., in the home ; now the market is flooded with
the poor, cheap factory-made goods, and, as' they are mostly put
up outside the State our fruit growers receive no benefit what-
ever from the industry ; in fact, it is really taking money from
the pockets of Connecticut growers.

This country excels in the making of imitation food products
of every sort and it is no credit to us, yet the demand for such
frauds increases and they continue to attract buyers by their
attractive package and high colors, while they contain actually
no honest fruit in their makeup. It would seem that the public
likes to be humbugged !

Dr. Winton thought there might be an opening for enter-
prising growers to put up and market honest, pure fruit juices,
jellies, etc., in this way making use of the surplus fruit that

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 225

now often goes to waste. These goods would not compete with
the factory-made, as the cost would be necessarily greater
and a different class of buyers would be interested.

The Connecticut Station is trying, said Mr. Winton, to show
the public what fraud in food is, and what the foods we buy
really contain.

At this point a recess was taken for lunch, discussion of
Prof. Winton's interesting topic being deferred until later.

During the recess the ladies of the Cheshire Grange served
a fine lunch to the visitors, in Grange hall below.

The afternoon session began at 1.45, with an increased attend-
ance.

The subject of fraud in foods was again under discussion.
Prof. Winton said further, that all American fruit products,
such as jellies, jams and fruit, butters, etc., are more or less
adulterated, and he explained the methods used by the manu-
facturers to deceive the consumer.

It would seem as if enough good fruit is grown in Connecti-
cut to allow of the market being supplied with pure jellies, etc.

A lady present told of her experience in putting up good
fruit for the market, and how she had found a ready demand
for it.

Peach butter is a product much in favor in the city market.

The Satsuma plum was spoken of as being superb for pre-
serving.

At this point a musical selection enlivened the proceedings.

The question box and its contents were next discussed. What
apples to plant in Connecticut was answered by Mr. Merriman,
who said, plant the Baldwin first, last and always. Mr. Piatt
and Mr. Sternberg supported this, as nothing can compare with
the Baldwin for a first-class red apple.

Mr. Ives said the Rome Beauty is proving quite valuable in
some sections of the State.

Mr. Moss thought some varieties succeed better in certain
parts of Connecticut than in others. President Piatt said Bald-
wins are not a success on the coast ; Greening and Peck's Pleas-
ant succeed better there.

A question on cold storage of fruit was answered by Mr.
Terrell of Cheshire, who gave an account of an apple storage
house in operation on his farm. The house was built at a

1=;

2 26 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

cost of $600, is run without ice, and has proved a success. Such
storage houses offer many advantages to the smaller growers.

"The Growing and Handling of Orchard Fruits," was the
subject of an address by Prof. A. G. Gulley of Storrs.

In opening, the speaker said, some of the present orchards in
our State are worth more for firewood than for growing fruit.
Starting with 3^oung orchards offers the best chances of success.
Competition in fruit growing is changed from that of former
years ; our methods must change, too, if we would meet this
condition of things. We must grow finer kinds of apples in
the future, even better than the Baldwin ; choice dessert varie-
ties will pay well. We should plant fruit trees for succeeding
generations to enjoy, even as we are indebted to our fathers
for what we are eating to-day. And in any case fruit trees
add very much to the value of our farms.

Spraying, so essential in all successful orcharding, is not fully
understood yet; we don't always know just what we are spray-
ing for. Study your conditions carefully and then do the work
with thoroughness.

Prof. Gulley believed in planting the entire orchard with
apples, but in the discussion following, several spoke in favor
of planting peaches between the apple trees for quickest returns.

The professor said we cannot hope to beat Western New York
growers in quality, but we are nearer best markets, and by
growing varieties suited to our section we have an advantage.

Mr. Merriman was strongly of the opinion that no apples
equal in flavor those grown here. Nova Scotia was mentioned
as figuring largely in the apple market and we must meet that
competition in the future.

A. C. Sternberg gave one of his always interesting talks on
"Peach Culture," speaking especially to the young farmers
present and urging them to embark in the business with no fears
for over-production.

With a hearty vote of thanks to Cheshire Grange, the meet-
ing closed at 4 p. m.

Summer Field Meetin§:s in 1901.

Probably no single feature of the Pomological Society's work
has contributed so much to its success as the series of field meet-
ings held during the summer months on fruit farms throughout
the State. These unique out-door gatherings were begun early
in the history of the Society, and have been a source of great
pleasure and profit to the members and their many friends who
are always made welcome.

Fig. i6.
The 1901 Strawberry Field Meeting at Bristol.

To have the opportunity of visiting a successful fruit grower
and noting his conditions, methods and results exactly as they
exist, is worth all, and much more, than the little time and
expense involved in attending these field days, to say nothing
of the social pleasures and welcome recreation ; while the
benefits derived by the host himself in the way of suggestion
and encouragement surely makes the meeting worth while.

2 28 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

STRAWBERRY FIELD DAY AT BRISTOL.
June 24, igoi.

Messrs. E. Manchester & Sons of Bristol were the first to
extend a field meeting invitation for the season of 1901, and
accordingly the annual strawberry meeting of the Society was
held at their well known "Fernhill Farm" on Monday. June 24.

Despite the oppressive weather the attendance was large, the
visitors finding restful coolness under the shade of a great oak,
which was made the headquarters for the day.

The company as gathered under the old tree just after lunch
is shown in fig. 16.

The forenoon was occupied with a tour of Mr. Manchester's
farm. The farm is fertile and well tilled ; much of it is devoted
to grass and pasture, since the dairy is one of Mr. Manchester's
specialties and his chief pride.

However, there are many fruit crops growjn also; the apple
orchard was of special interest to the visitors, for here was
grown some of the fruit that received highest awards at
the Paris Exposition. The trees are young and thrifty and
give evidence of careful handling, including spraying. Plums,
peaches, raspberries and blackberries were seen, and a good
acreage of strawberries just ripening a bountiful crop of nice
fruit. Mr. Manchester's sons give special attention to the berry
crops. A fancy market is found for the fruit in nearby Bristol,
in connection with the milk from the farm.

After all had partaken of the picnic lunch, for which the tables
were pleasantly spread under the trees, the gathering was called
to order for discussion and exchange of ideas. Mr. R. A.
Moore, Treasurer of the Society, presided very acceptably in
the absence of President Piatt. Unfortunately the host, Mr.
Elbert Manchester, was confined to the house by illness and was
unable to welcome his guests, but his son Edward filled his place
with much credit, telling of the work undertaken on the farm.

Among those who addressed the meeting were B. C. Patter-
son, Master of the State Grange; J. M. Hubbard of Middle-
town, one of the pioneers in Connecticut agriculture and fruit
growing; Dr. Cressy of the Connecticut Farmer: F. L. Perry
of Bridgeport, of the Committee on New Fruits, who spoke of

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

229

the behavior this season of some new varieties of berries and of
his work in growing seeching strawberries ; Mr. E. C. Poweh
of the Neiv England Homestead, who comphmented the good
work of the Society and gave an encouraging account of the
fruit crop outlook in New England and New York. He
dropped the hint to Connecticut fruit growers to use more zuater
in the cultivation of their fruit crops.

Vice-President A. C. Sternberg spoke of the Pan-American
Exposition now open at Buffalo, and what our State is doing

Fig. 17.

to make a horticultural exhibit there. Rev. Magee Pratt of
Hartford made a pleasant and witty address, dwelling on the
wonderful evolution of the strawberry.

Prof. W. E. Britton of the State Experiment Station spoke
of the new and improved selections in varieties of strawberries,
also gave some good advice about spraying for the San Jose
scale.

Mr. Elbert Gaylord of Bristol spoke briefly. Secretary
Miles called attention to the meeting of the American Pomolog-
ical Society at Buffalo in September, and a vote was passed
giving the Executive Committee the power to select delegates
to that meeting.

A very hearty vote of thanks was given to the Messrs. Man-
chester for their kind hospitalitv. The meeting adjourned early
16

230 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

to allow some of the visitors to make the trip to Whigville and
inspect the strawberry fields there. About 175 were present
during the day and all were loud in their praise of the excellence
of Fern Hill Farm.

The above cut shows one corner of the berry exhibit, which
was a notable feature of the strawberry meeting at Air. Man-
chester's. The fruit shown was of a high grade, several new
kinds attracting not a little attention.

Those who exhibited were : J. W. Lord, Warehouse Point,
who showed the ^Marshall and also a new seedling called "Con-
necticut," a very promising variety, dark in color, extra good
size and superb flavor.

H. P. Lowery, Whigville, 6 varieties, including Tennessee,
Nick Ohmer, Haverland, Sample and Success, the latter a new
berry that originated in Whigville and has succeeded well
wherever tried. It is an early sort, large and productive.

A. J. Hannah, Whigville, also exhibited the Success and the
Cardinal, another new variety.

Manchester Bros, showed Lovett, Brandywine, Success and
Tennessee — all fine specimens.

Thos. Callahan, Newington, had Tennessee, and Orrin Gilbert
showed a seedling berry not yet named.

FIELD MEETING AT WEST HAVEN.

J}ily _^o, 100 1.

President N. S. Piatt invited the memliers of the Society with
their friends to visit his large peach orchard at "Shingle Hill,"
West Haven, and on July 30 this was made the occasion of the
second summer meeting. Headquarters for the day were at
Waverly Grove, a pleasant spot overlooking Long Island Sound,
and barely a mile distant from the orchards. The morning being
somewhat cloudy and threatening deterred a good many from
attending, but about 150 interested fruit growers met at the grove,
whence they were taken in busses to inspect the orchard. Most
of the forenoon was thus very profitably spent in studying the
conditions and the methods followed by ]\Ir. Piatt in his
orcharding and especially in noting the behaviour of several
new extra early varieties of peaches, now fruiting in this section

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 231

for the first time. ]Mr. Piatt's successful orchard occupies a
steeply sloping elevation a few miles to the westward of New
Haven, and from the highest point a fine view of that city and
also of the Sound is had.

As the location and soil presents varied conditions in peach
culture, the visit was a most instructive one.

As the noon hour approached the company sought the tables
in the grove, where the caterer had prepared a "genuine shore
dinner." While falling somewhat short of the expected — as such
menus are quite apt to do — still the hungry fruit men and their
wives and daughters ate clams and fish with a zest, and for
once showed their preference for the "fruits of the sea" rather
than those of the tree and the vine.

The usual after-dinner exercises were included. President
Piatt, the host, presiding. Among the speakers were Treasurer
R. A. Aloore of Kensington ; Prof. Gulley of the State Agricul-
tural College, who gave an interesting report of the Pan-Ameri-
can exposition and told of the Connecticut exhibit of fruits of
which he had charge — further contributions of fruit were
asked for ; Prof. Rorer, a new member of the staff of the New
Haven Experiment Station ; Prof. W. E. Britton, State Ento-
mologist; Prof. W. G. Johnson, Associate Editor of the Ameri-
can Agriculturist, who was pleasantly welcomed by the meeting
and responded with an interesting and timely report of the fruit
crop situation of the country ; G. F. Piatt of Milford ; F. L.
Perry of Bridgeport ; Rev. Mr. McNicol of West Haven, and
Edwin Hoyt of New Canaan.

Plans were considered for further field meetin'gs and the
programme was brought to a close.

^lany of the late comers made a tour of the orchards, while
the remainder of the company were grouped under the trees
and a snap-shot was taken by Prof. Britton, a reproduction of
which adorns page 186.

232 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

THIRD FIELD MEETINCx, AT BERLIN.
Thursday, Aug. 22, iqoi.

"By invitation of Manager Molumphy of the Connecticut Valley
Orchard Company, the Societ\' will visit their Berlin orchards on Thurs-
day the 22d.

Perhaps never before has a better opportunity been offered our mem-
bers to look over such extensive fruit farms. More than 100 acres are
here devoted to peaches, plums, apples, pears, grapes, berries, etc. A
great number of varieties — some of the newest — and manj^ just ripening,
will be seen. Japan plums will be at their best.

Let every member make an effort to attend. Bring the ladies and your
friends too, who are interested in fruits.

Dinner will be strictly on the basket-lunch plan, so don't forget a well-
filled lunch-basket. Good speakers after dinner ! All come, and make it
the biggest field meeting yet !"

The above invitation to a third summer meeting was sent out
to over 400 members of the Society and others interested in
fruit growing, and, as a result, the Connecticut Valley Orchard
Co. entertained over 300 visitors on the day appointed, and
there was held the largest field meeting of the year, if not in
the history of the Society.

It was a "rousing" good meeting throughout — the tour of
the big orchards and berry fields, the dinner, the speaking and
the general sociality all being thoroughly enjoyed.

The Orchard Co., and especially the manager, 'Sir. ^lolum-
phy, received much praise for their enterprise and hard work
in establisliing so extensive an undertaking in fruit culture.

Probably nowhere else in- the State could be found so large
a variety of fruits growing successfully as on these farms.
Originally rough and neglected lands, several farms have been
thrown together and planted with apples, pears, cherries — both
sweet and sour — peaches, plums, grapes and berries and. in
some cases, vegetable crops also.

The visitors had the opportunity to see a large acreage of
apples, and, even in this "oft'-year" with apples, an excellent
crop of early summer varieties, also- Ben Davis, Fallowater,
etc. Of peaches the crop carried by the handsome trees was a
promising one. Some early sorts were just ripening. But the
interest of all centered in the splendid plum orchard, where the

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

233

Japan varieties were full to breaking, despite the severe thinning
practiced. Mr. Molumphy has nearly 23 varieties of plums in
bearing, including many new and rare ones for testing, and in
plum culture at least, he has achieved success.

For several hours the visitors roamed about the orchards, or
drove to the more distant portions of the big fruit farm. Just

Fig. li

Lunch in the Grove, BerHn Field ]\Ieeting.

across from the manager's house a pretty grove afforded an
ideal place for the lunch tables, and fig. 18 shows the company
assembled about the tables, always one of the most enjoyable
features of a field day.

After full justice had "been done to the good things provided,
President Piatt called to order and introduced Mr. J. T. Molum-
phy to the meeting. Amid applause Mr. Alolumphy came for-
ward and in a pleasant way welcomed the Society and answered

234 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

many questions about the crops and methods on the farm.
Ex-President Merriman spoke of the Pan-American Exposition
and the importance of sending a creditable exhibit of fruits.
Mr. J. H. Hale spoke on the peach crop outlook in the State.
As chairman of the Society's Committee on Markets he explained
the plans of the committee for aiding peach growers to properly
distribute the large crop soon to ripen. ^Nlr. Hale claimed there
would be at least 200,CXD0 baskets of peaches harvested within
12 miles of Hartford. Many of the growers have no market
in view for their large crop. The railroads are not ready to
handle the fruit and it is the fault of the growers that this
condition of things exists.

With only moderate crops of peaches south of us, Connecticut
growers ought to realize good prices this season. Xew York
City offers the best markets at present, but, in his opinion, it
would need judicious distribution of the fruit to avoid a glut.

John W. Clark of North Hadley, ^Nlass., was present, with
other large fruit growers from that state, and addressed the
meeting briefly. Mr. W. W. Higgins of the Rural Nezv Yorker
• was called on and responded brightly. Dr. Gurdon W. Russell
of Hartford, a veteran fruit grower and one of the oldest mem-
bers of the Society, spoke of what we should do to encourage
the intefests of horticulture. He thought the principles of hor-
ticulture should be taught in the public schools.

Secretary Miles announced regarding the fall meeting to be
held in New Britain in October.

The condition of affairs at the State Agricultural College
came up for discussion and, as a result, the Society placed itself
on record as being in favor of the development of a strong and
purely agricultural institution at Storrs.

A hearty vote of thanks to the hosts was not forgotten, and
the visitors left for home on the afternoon trains, wtiich by
courtesy of the railroad -stopped at the shipping station near the
orchards.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

235

THE FOURTH ANNUAL FRUIT EXHIBITION.

October 1st and 2d, igoi.

Class I.

Class 2

Class 3

Class 4

Class 5

Class 6

Class 7

Class 8

Schedule of Prizes Offered.

FIRST DIVISION— COLLECTIONS.

Best collection of fruits by grower, of which ist. 2d. 3d.

not more than two-thirds to be of apples $10.00 $5.00 $3.00

Best collection, 15 varieties of apples 5.00 2.50 i.oo

Best collection, 10 varieties of apples 3.00 1.50 .75

Best collection, 6 varieties of apples 2.00 i.oo .50

Best collection, 12 varieties of pears 5.00 2.50 i.oo

Best collection, 6 varieties of pears 2.00 i.oo .50

Best collection, 12 varieties of grapes, 5.00 2.50 i.oo

Best collection, 6 varieties of grapes 2.00 I.oo .50

SECOND DIVISION— SINGLE PLATES.

Class I. Best single plate of following varie-
ties of apples, each $1.50 $ .75 $ .50 $ .25

Fameuse. Gravenstein, Hiirlbut, Oldenburg, Twenty-ounce, Red
Beitigheimer, Fall Pippin, Porter, Maiden Blush, Wealthy, Talman
Sweet, Baldwin, Cogswell, Hubbardston, Jonathan, King, Northern Spy,
Red Canada, Sutton, Wagener, Lady, Westfield, York Imperial, Jacob's
Sweet, Belle et Bonne, Fallowater, Golden Russet, Roxbury Russet,
Newtown Pippin, Peck's Pleasant, R. I. Greening, and of other worthy
varieties, not to exceed fifteen.
Class 2. Best single plate of following varie-
ties of pears, each $1.50 $ .75 $ .50 $ .25

Augouleme, Bartlett, Bose, Louise, Bonne, Diel, Onondaga, Anjou,
Lucrative, Boussock, Buffum, Howell, Flemish Beauty, Alt. Vernon,
Seckel, Clairgeau, Lawrence Sheldon, Easter Beurre, Keiffer. Of other
worthy varieties, not to exceed ten.
Class 3. Best single plate of following varie-
ties of grapes, each $1.50 $ .75 $ .50 $ .25

Brighton, Concord, Eaton, Hartford, Wilder, Worden, Isabella,
Agawam, Delaware, Diana, lona, Lindley, Salem, Empire State, Alartha,
Niagara, Pocklington. Of other worthy varieties, not to exceed ten.
Class 4. Peaches and plums. Each valuable

variety $1.50 $ .75 $ .50 $ .25

Class 5. Quince, each valuable variety 1.50 .7-, .50 .25

Class 6. Grapes grown under glass, one bunch

each variety i.oo .50 .25

236 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

THIRD DIVISION— CANNED FRUITS AND JELLIES.

Class I. Best collection canned fruit, 15 or more

varieties $8.00 $4.00 $2.00

Class 2. Best collection berries, 6 or more varieties 3.00 2.00 i.oo

Class 3. Best collection peaches, 6 or more varieties 3.00 2.00 i.oo

Class 4. Best collection plums, 6 or more varieties 3.00 2.00 i.oo
Class 5. Best collection pickles, 6 or more — one

quart each 3.00 2.00 i.oo

Class 6. Best collection jellies, 6 or more 3.00 2.00 i.oo

Class 7. Best single can any of the above i.oo .50 .25

Class 8. Best sample unfermented fruit juice — each

kind I.oo .50 .25

FOURTH DIVISION— NUTS, ETC.

Class I. Best specimen any variety of cultivated nuts $1.00 $ .50 $ .25

Class 2. Best sample of native nuts, any kind .... i.oo .50 .25

Class 3. Best collection of native nuts, correctly

named, by boy or girl 2.50 1.25 .50

Class 4. Best arranged table piece of home-grown

fruits 2.00 I.oo .50

Class 5. Articles not classified for which discretion-
ary premiums may be awarded.

RULES OF THE EXHIBITION.

1. All articles entered, except in Fourth Division, must be grown or
prepared by the exhibitor.

2. All fruits shall be correctly labelled (if possible) and except grapes
and crab apples, five specimens, neither more nor less, shall make a
plate, either single or in collections.

Of crab apples ten specimens, and of grapes three bunches, shall make
a plate, except where noted. The collection also shall embrace just the
required number of plates.

3. No exhibitor shall make more than one entry for the same pre-
mium, nor enter the same plate for more than one premium.

4. In the various collections the value of the varieties shown, as well
as the conditions of the specimens, will be considered in making the
award.

5. Premiums will be awarded to members of the Society only.

6. As the object of the Society is to encourage the growth of fruits
of fine quality, wormy or diseased specimens will rank very low in
making awards.

7. No exhibit shall be removed without the consent of the committee,
until the close of the meeting.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

237

The city of New Britain was the place selected for the fourth
annual exhibition of the Society, and the event took place Octo-
ber 1st and 2d, in the Armory.

As an exhibition of a grand collection of seasonable Connec-
ticut fruits it was a pronounced success and without doubt very
creditable to the Society, especially considering the unfavorable
season for fruit crops. The number of exhibits was larger and
the quality of the fruit was, if anything, more nearly perfect than
in any of the previous exhibitions. But, unfortunately, the

Fig. 19.
A glimpse of the tables at the Society's Annual Fruit Show, 1901.

meeting failed to attract the number of visitors that such an
unusually fine show ought to call out, nor did the membership
of the Society manifest, as a whole, sufficient interest, either by
attending or contributing exhibits. The entries were mainly
from growers in the central counties of the State. But, as
pointed out by the Committee on Exhibitions, as an opportunity
to exhibit the best in Connecticut's fruit products, to enter into
friendly competition with other growers and to study and com-
pare and receive helpful instruction, the exhibition was entirely
worth while.

The whole of the first day was occupied with receiving, enter-
ing and staging the exhibits. The standing Committee on

238 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Exhibitions, of which G. S. Butler of Cromwell was chairman,
had general charge of the work. When the exhibits were finally
in place the hall presented a most attractive display. The views
at figures 19 and 20 give only a faint idea of the appearance
of the tables.

The exhibition was open to the public during the evening, and
this session was made of special interest to all who attended.
President N. S. Piatt presided and, after opening remarks,
introduced his honor, Mayor Bassett of New Britain, w^ho

Fig. 20.
The Canned Fruit Department at the Exhibition.

extended a hearty greeting to the Society, and congratulated
the growers on the fine display of fruits.

He was followed by Hon. M. C. Webster of Xew Britain
and Senator Sloper. The principal speaker of the evening was
Prof. John Craig of Cornell University, Ithaca, X. Y., who gave
an excellent address on the subject of agricultural education
and progress.- In a very interesting manner the speaker
sketched the development of education along agricultural lines,
the rapid changes in farm methods, and the wonderful prog-
ress in all rural affairs. He closed with an account of the
University Extension work as carried on in New York State,
where 27,000 farmers are at present taking the Extension course
of lessons.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 239

The professor said there are over 30,000 children enrolled in
the Nature Study Clubs in that State, and yet the movement
is only just begun.

The closing part of Prof. Craig's talk was devoted to a dis-
cussion of several orchard problems, which was of practical
interest to those present. The orcharding methods practiced
in New York State were touched upon and many valuable points
brought out. In controlling the rot of the peach the speaker
said that gathering and burning all the old decayed fruit and
dead twigs had proved a good preventive measure, while spray-
ing with the ammoniacal solution was successfully practiced
on the early varieties, even when in full foliage.

Second Day of the Exhibition.

The second day opened with a goodly number of visitors and
some members of the Society present.

During the forenoon the fruit was examined by the judges
and the awards made. The following composed the Committee
of Judges — On apples, collections and plates, Prof. John Craig
of Ithaca, N. Y. ; pears, R. A. Moore, Kensington ; grapes.
Prof. A. G. Gulley, Storrs; peaches, G. S. Butler, Cromwell;
plums and quinces, N. S. Piatt, New Haven; canned fruits,
jellies and pickles, Charles E. Steele, New Britain; nuts, E. M.
Ives, Meriden; wines, Adolph Werking, Plantsville; general
collections of fruits, N. S. Piatt; exhibits not classified, G. G.
Tillinghast, Vernon.

After very careful and systematic work on the part of the
judges, which was particularly necessary in the apple classes,
premiums amounting to $397.25 were awarded, the awards
being divided among 53 exhibitors.*

There was general satisfaction over the results of the judging.

Prof. Craig, who served as expert judge, expressed him-
self as much pleased with the quality and appearance of the
fruit shown on the tables. The apples, especially, were remark-
ably fine and as a collection of perfect specimens of fruit would
be hard to match anywhere this season.

*As the complete list of premium winners has already been published
for distribution, it seemed unnecessary to include such list in this report.

24° THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The afternoon session was called to order at 3 p. m., by Presi-
dent Piatt, and according to the programme, the announcement
of the awards was made and topics relating to the exhibits were
discussed. Before adjourning, a vote of thanks was extended
to the New Britain friends who assisted in making the meeting
a success, and especially the committee of the local grange.

Soon after, the exhibitors began the work of repacking the
fruit, and by six o'clock the beautiful pomological display,
which had cost so much time and effort to prepare, became a
thing of the past.

It was to be regretted that the exhibition could not have been
continued longer or some arrangements made whereby a still
larger number might enjoy it. However, as much of the best
fruit was turned over to Prof. Gulley for shipment to the Pan-
American Exposition in Buffalo, where it added a very credit-
able display to the Connecticut exhibit — the Fourth Annual
Fruit Show mav be said to have served a useful purpose after
all.'

LIST OF MEMBERS

OF THE

CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
. . . 1902 . . .

Abbe, Linden S., Hazardville.
Abbey, Mrs. Chas. Pelton. Portland.
Abbott, Arthur J., Middlebury.
Adler, Leon W., New York City.
Albison, Joseph, So. Manchester.
Albiston. James H.. So. Manchester.
Allen, Chas. D., Mt. Carmel Center.
Allen, Chas. L, Pequabuck.
Allen, W. F., Jr., Salisbury, Md.
Andrews, J. E., New Britain.
Andrews, Mrs. J. E., New Britain.
Ashton, Frank B.. Middletown.
Ashton, Mrs. F. B., Middletown.
Atkins, S. J., Middletown.
Atwater, Edwin B., New Haven.
Atwater, E. A., Cheshire.
Atwater. E. B., Plantsville.
Ayer, Robert E., L^nionville.
Babcock, G. P., Rockville.
Bailey, F. B., Durham.
Baldwin, Walter H., Cheshire.
Ballou, Prof. H. A., Storrs.
Barber, C. W., New Britain.
Barber, Henry A., Danbury.
Barber, Joseph, Windsorville.
Barker, N. C, Lebanon.
Barnes, A. G., New Milford.
Barnes, J. J., Southington.
Barnes, J. Norris. Yalesville.
Barnes, John R., West Cheshire.
Bassett, George E., Clintonville.
Beach, A. S., Plattsville.
Beach, Frank H., Stratford.
Beach, Prof. S. A., Geneva, N. Y.
Beach, Z. P., Wallingfcrd.
Beard, O. G.. Shelton.
Beard, Wm. T., Shelton.
Beckwith, G. C, Nepaug.
Beers, F. H., Brookfield Centre.
Beers. S. Perry, Greenfield Hill.
Benedict, F. C, West Hartford.
Benham, Leonard j\L. Highwood.
Benham, Wilbur H.. Highwood.
Bernhard. Albert. Meriden.
Birdsey, E. T., Middletown.
Blakeman, J. H., Oronoque.
Blakeslee, G. N.. Clintonville.

Bliss, Ethelbert, Wilbraham, Mass.
Boardman, F. E,, Little River.
Bolles. C. P., Wilbraham, Mass.
Bradley, F. N., Derby.
Brainerd, M. N., Southington.
Brewer, C. S., Hartford.
Bridge, H. J.. Hazardville.
Bristol, Geo. B., ^liddlebury.
Britton, Prof. W. E., New Haven.
Brockett. Hobart J.-, !Montowese.
Bronson, N. S.. New Haven.
Brown, G. F., Cannon.
Brownson, S. B.. Shelton.
Buell, H. B., Eastford.
Burr, C. R., Hartford.
Burr, W. H., Westport.
Bushnell, Huber, Berlin.
Bushnell. ]\Irs. Huber, Berlin.
Butler, George E., Meriden.
Butler, George S., Cromwell.
Callahan, Thos.. Newington.
Carnell, A. D., Bristol.
Case, G. J., Canton.
Chamberlain, L. P., Storrs. -
Chambers, Frederick, Waterbury.
Chillingworth, Felix. New Haven.
Church, F. J., Pleasant Valley.
Clark. George ^L, Higganum.
Clinton, E. B., Clintonville.
Coe, C. W., Durham Center.
Coe. Ernest F., New Haven.
Coe, Harry S., Waterbury.
Coe, W. T., Durham Center.
Coleman, M. L., Seymour.
Coleman. M. P., South Coventry.
Colton, L. F., Hartford.
Comstock. G. C. Norwalk.
Conn. Agricultural College, Storrs.
Cook, S. G., Branford.
Copley, Wm. E., Hazardville.
Craw, Alanson, Waterville.
Crowell, L. L.. Middletown.
Curtis, H. B., Cheshire.
Curtis, Mrs. H. B., Cheshire.
Curtis. Robert W.. Stratford.
Davidson. C. ^L, Cincinnati. O.
Davis, Chas. T.. Middletown.

242 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Davis, E.. Branford.
Davis. Richard, Middletown.
Dearden, Greenwood, Tolland.
De Bogart, F. Van, Bridgeport.
Deming, Chas. J., Litchfield.
Dempsey, John, Broad Brook.
Dimon, J. J., Hartford.
Dimon, Wm. B., Shelton.
Doolittle, Arthur H., Westville.
Doolittle, H. M., Meriden.
Doolittle, S. B., Wallingford.
Dow, H. L., Middletown.
Dowd, Frank C. Madison.
Downs, W. S., Derby.
Dunham, H. C, Middletown.
Eddy, J. C, Simsbury.
Eddy, John S., Unionville.
Eddy, S. W., Simsbury.
Elsworth, Frederick, Hartford.
Elwood, J. F., Green's Farms.
Eno, R. B., Weatogue.
Ensign, E. R., Silver Lane.
Ensign, F. H., Silver Lane.
Expansive Tree Protector Co.,

Rochester, N. Y.
Faber. W. A., Waterbury.
Fairchild, H. L., Nichols.
Fairclough, Mrs. Thos.. Wolcott.
Fanton, L C., Westport.
Farnham, A. N., New Haven.
Fawthrop, Walter, Cromwell.
Fenn, Dennis, ISIilford.
Fenn, Robert M., Middlebury.
Ferson, E. B., Chicago, 111.
Flagg, Chas. H., West Hartford.
Forbes, J. S., Burnside.
Ford, Chas. C, Washington Depot.
Francis, D. G., West Hartford.
Francis, J. H., Meriden.
French, W. H., Wolcott.
French, Mrs. W. H., Wolcott.
Frisbie, Martin M., Southington.
Frisbie. M. W., Southington.
Frost, Frank M.. West Cheshire.
Fugazzi, Chas. S., Cincinnati, O.
Gallagher, J. F., Waterbury.
Gardner, J. W., Cromwell.
Gardner. R. H., Cromwell.
Gates, W. F.. Willimantic.
Gaylord, E. F., Bristol.
Gaylord, E. W., Bristol.
Gilbert, Henry. IMiddletown.
Gilbert, Orrin, Middletown.
Gilbert, Mrs. Orrin, Middletown.
Gilbert, Thomas, Middletown.
Gillette, E. Samuel, Bristol.
Gold, T. S., West Cornwall.
Gold.sborough, H. H., Willimantic.
Goldsmith, H. G., Branford.

Goodwin, H. H., Cheshire.
Gordon, ^Irs. Robert, Shelton.
Gould's Mfg. Co., Seneca Falls,

N. Y.
Gridley, E. E., New Britain.
Griffith, Geo. H., Bristol.
Griswold, H. O., West Hartford.
Griswold, J. B., Newington.
Griswold, S. A., West Hartford.
Griswold, S. P., West Hartford.
Griswold, \N. F., Rocky Hill.
Groesbeck, F. O., Hartford.
Gulley, Prof. A. G., Storrs.
Gulley. Roy C, Storrs.
Hale, G. H., South Glastonbury.
Hale, J. H.. South Glastonbur}^
Hale, IMoseley, South Glastonbury.
Hale, Stancliff, South Glastonbury.
Hall, Chas. H., Cheshire.
Hall, G. D., Wallingford.
Hall, G. H., Manchester.
Hall, Linus H., Wallingford.
Hall, Wilbur H., Wallingford.
Hammond, G. S., West Goshen.
Hannah, A. J., Bristol.
Hannah, W. L., Bristol.
Hart, ^Irs. S.-A., Kensington.
Hart, Ernest W., Forestville.
Hart, G. W., Unionville.
Haskins. L. O., Scotland.
Hatch, Gilbert H., Whigville.
Hersev, G. INI., Hartford,
Hill, S. B., Waterbury.
Hilliard, H. J., Black Hall.
Hopson, F. S., Bridgeport.
Hopson. G. A., Wallingford.
Hotchkiss, B. S., Waterbury.
Hotchkiss, Chas. i\L, Cheshire.
Hotchkiss, Chas. T.. W. Cheshire.
Hotchkiss, D. B., Prospect.
Hough, E. J., Yalesville.
Hough, Eli S., Poquonock.
Hough, George E., Yalesville.
Hough, Joel R.. Wallingford.
Hoyt, Edwin, New Canaan.
Hoyt, James, New Canaan.
Hubbard, Clement S., Higganum.
Hubbard, Elmer S., Higganum.
Hubbard, J. M., Middletown.
Hubbard, Robert, IMiddletown.
Hull, James, Durham.
Hunt. W. W., Hartford.
Huss, J. F.. Hartford.
Innis, A. C, Stratford.
Ives, E. M., Meriden.
Ives, C. P., New Haven.
Jackson, George O.. Colchester.
Jeffrey, H. L.. Woodbury.
Jenkins, Dr. E. H., New Haven.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

243

Jennings. E. G.. Plattsville.
Jennings, Geo. P.. Green's Farms.
Jennison. E. F.. Hartford.
Jerome, F. M., New Britain.
Jewell, Harvey, Cromwell.
Jewell. ]\Irs. Harvey. Cromwell.
Johnson. Dr. F. E., Mansfield De-
pot.
Kelley. Edward. New Canaan.
Kelsey. Charles B.. Hartford.
Kelsey, Frederick, Higganum.
Kenney. J. P.. Hockanum.
Kilbourne, Harry N.. Litchfield.
Killam. Edward. Thompsonville.
King, Horace. Thompsonville.
King. N. N.. Thompsonville.
Kingsbury. Andrew. Coventry.
Kirkham. John S., Newington.
Knapp. ~Sl. C. Danbury.
Lane. A. N.. Wolcott.
Lapsley. Arthur B., Pomfret Center.
Lathrop, E. B.. Vernon Center.
Lee. W. S.. Hanover.
Lewis. Frederick J.. Highwood.
Liegey. Charles. Beckley.
Loomis, John. South Manchester.
Lord, J. W., Warehouse Point.
Loverin, D. P., Huntington.
Lowery, H. P., Whigville.
Lowery, L. L.. Whigville.
Lucchini. Victor E.. Meriden.
Lyman. C. E.. Middlefield.
IVIanchester. E., Bristol.
Manchester. E. F.. Bristol.
Manchester. George C. Bristol.
Manchester. Robert. Bristol.
Mansfield. Peter, West Hartford.
Mansfield. Wm. H.. W. Hartford.
Martin, J. A.. Wallingford.
Mason, W. S., Farmington.
Matthews. E. A.. Bristol.
May. W. B.. Hartford.
McCall, E. H.. Lebanon.
McCormick. Samuel. Waterbury.
Meachen. George. Stratford.
Merriman. J. H., New Britain.
Merwin. Walter L.. :\Iilford.
Mexcur, George. Bloomfield.
Miles, H. C. C. ^lilford.
Miller, F. B.. Bloomfield.
Miller, W^ H.. Bristol.
Miller. Mrs. Wallace H.. Bristol.
Mills, D. E.. Bristol.
Molumphy, J. T., Berlin.
Monson. W. B., ]\rt. Carmel.
Moore. Charles. Southington.
Moore. R. A.. Kensington.
Morgan, E. P.. Cheshire.
Morgan, Timothy J., Yalesville.
Morse, C. Z.. Shelton.

Morse, H. C. Wallingford.
Morse, J. J., East Berlin.
Morton, E. G., East Windsor.
Moses, A. A., Unionville.
Moss, Julius W., Cheshire.
Munson, W. A.. Huntington. Mass.
Nettleton, H. I.. Durham.
Newell, E. R.. Southington.
Noble, John B., East VVindsor.
Norton, A. F.. New Britain.
Norton. John. Kensington.
Orcutt. P. C, Clintonville.
Parker, G. A.. Hartford.
Parker, John B., Jr., Poquonock.
Parsons, Frank W., Hazardville.
Patterson, B. C, Torrington.
Patterson, S. A., Stratford.
Payne, Frank C, Portland.
Payne, George K., Portland.
Payne, Lyman, Portland.
Pease. B. F., Greenfield Hill.
Pease, Simeon. Greenfield Hill.
Peck, A. C, West Cheshire.
Peck, Clifton. Yantic.
Peck, F. J., Mt. Carmel.
Peck, W. N., Mt. Carmel Center.
Pero, Louis, South Glastonbury.
Perry, F. L., Bridgeport.
Petremont, Mrs. E.. Shelton.
Phelps, E. J., Enfield.
Phelps, Mrs. E. J.. Enfield.
Pierpont, A. B., Waterbury.
Pierpont, W. L.. Waterbury.
Plant, A. B., Branford.
Plant, Albert E., Branford.
Piatt, Frank N.. Milford.
Piatt, G. F., Milford.
Piatt, N. D., Milford.
Piatt. N. S.. New Haven.
Piatt, William F.. Milford.
Plumb, James. Stratford.
Porter, D. G., Waterbury.
Post, Prichard E., Essex.
Potter, H. W., Glastonbury.
Powell, E. C, Springfield, Mass.
Prior, J. E.. Moosup.
Putnam. J. H.. Litchfield.
Reinhold, R. W.. Mill Brook.
Rice. W. B., Meriden.
Rich. H. E., East Hampton.
Roberts, C. S., Riverton.
Roberts, E. J.. ]\Iiddletown.
Roberts, S. W., IMiddletown.
Robertson, L. J., Hartford.
Rogers, E., New Britain.
Rogers. F. D.. Monson, Mass.
Root, L. C. Farmington.
Root, T. H.. Farmington.
Rugg, J. H.. Stratford.
Russell, Dr. Gurdon W., Hartford.

244 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Rvder, G. B., Oronoque.
Russell, S., Jr., Middletown.
Sanford, F. D., Shelton.
Saunders. A. W.. Forestville.
Savage. Clarence H., Storrs.
Savage. H. E., East Berlin.
Schwink, J. G.. Meriden.
Scranton. Charles W.. New Haven.
Seeley, Edward, Plattsville.
Sharp, A. G., Richmond, Mass.
Shedd. G. V., Preston.
Shelton, Mrs. Dora A., Shelton.
Shepardson, W. M., Middlebury.
Shepperd. W. S., Shaker Station.
Sherwood, J. H.. Southport.
Sherwood, N. H.. Southport.
Sisson, H. B., Hamburg.
Skinner, M. G., Higganum.
Sloper, A. J., New Britain.
Smith, A. A., Middlebury.
Smith, Andrew D.. Litchfield.
Smith, F. M., Milford.
Smith, George R., Cromwell.
Smith, G. W., Hartford.
Smith, Harrv C, Vernon Center.
Smith, H. P.. North Haven.
Smith, J. B.. Berlin.
Smith, J. Elliott, Wolfville, Nova

Scotia.
Smith, Dr. L. A., Higganum.
Smith, L. P., Lebanon.
Smith, Nathan E., Woodmont.
Smith, S. A., Clintonville.
Spicer, G. W., Deep River.
Splettstoeszer, Herman. Kensington.
Squires, Chas. L., Branford.
Stadtmueller, F. H., Elmwood.
Staples. G. W., Hartford.
Sterling, S. P.. Hamburg.
Sternberg. A. C., West Hartford.
Stevens, W. W., Clintonville.
Stone, D. E.. Cheshire.
Strumpf, George, Burnside.
Sturges, W. S.. Shelton.
Sturges. Mrs. W. S., Shelton.
Sturgis, Dr. W. C, New Haven.
Sumner, J. White, Bolton.
Taylor, Edward J., Southport.
Terrell, C. L., Cheshire.
Thomas, T. L., Forestville.
Thomas, W. T., Groton.
Thompson, Chas. J.. Berlin.
Thompson, Wm. H., East Haddam.

Thomson, Paul, West Hartford.
Thrall. A. O.. Rockville.
Tillinghast. G. G., Vernon.
Tillotson, H. D., West Hartford.
Todd, E. A., Waterbury.
Townsend, W. B., Middlebury.
Townsend. Wm. W., ^Middlebury.
Trask, Abner, Silver Lane.
Trask, W. W., Silver Lane.
Tucker, F. E., Vernon.
Turkington, Frank H., East Morris.
Turnev, Oliver. Fairfield.
Tuttle" L. P., North Haven.
Tyler. W. M., Waterbury.
Valentine, H. E., Cheshire.
Van Alstyne, E., Kinderhook, N. Y.
Vibberts, L. A., New Britain.
Wadsworth, A. R.. Farmington.
Wakelee, G. M., Shelton.
Wakeman, S. B., Saugatuck.
Waller, W. E., Trumbull.
Wander, Eugene A., Hartford.
Warner, E. C., Fair Haven.
Warren, W. A., Storrs.
Watrous, J. L., Meriden.
Watson, S. S., Tracy.
Weber, Alfred. Hartford.
Webster, George, Jr.. Rockville.
Webster, ]\L C, New Britain.
Wells, Dudley, Whether sfield.
Wells, L. J., South Woodstock.
Wells. S. M., Wethersfield.
Werking, Adolph. Plantsville.
Wheeler, F. H., Middlebury.
Whitney, C. A., L^pton, Alass.
Whittlesey, H. A., Newington.
Whittlesey, J. AL. Morris.
Wilcox, R. C, & Sons. Guilford.
Wilcox, W. E., Meriden.
W^ilev. C. H., Hartford.
Willard, S. F., Wethersfield.
Williams, A. W., New Britain.
Williams, R. W., Bristol.
Wolcott, E. R., Wethersfield.
W^ood, O. S., Ellington.
Woodford, Miss Esther. Middle-
bury.
Wooding, M. N., Hamden.
Woodruff. R. H.. Guilford.
Yale, A. C, ^Meriden.
Yale, Allan R., ]Meriden.
Yale, C. E.. Yalesville.
Young, C. O.. Yalesville.