l^iBHA^inr of if. The . . (Jonnectieut i^ pOV?01912 lAgrioultuiHl porriological _3ocietv a iiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii p iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I PROCEEDINGS OF THE j TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL I MEETING /I-/ 1 f^ 1 2 Plate I. ELIJAH ROGERS, Southington President Connecticut Pomological Society, 1910-1911. REPORT OF THE Connecticut Pomological Society For the Year 1911 WITH PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING 1912 Published by The Connecticut Pomological Society 1912 6 34.^0 4 Charles F. Roberts, reporting annual meeting 76.60 J. H. Putnam, institute expenses.... 4.42 Clarence H. Ryder, printing report. 200.00 July 22. H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, account salary 50.00 The Connecticut Farmer Co., litera- ture for members 43.00 H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, office ex- penses 44.55 Aug. 9. Milford Post Office, postage, etc.... 39.37 Sept. 15. Charles L. Gold, president's expens- es, 1910 46.74 Elijah Rogers, institute expenses.... 40.70 Elijah Rogers, President's office.... 57.89 19. Clarence H. Ryder, annual report... 90.28 Kilborn Bros., stationery 3.40 Clarence H. Ryder, printing 5.00 H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, office ex- penses 4.70 The Connecticut Farmer Co., litera- ture for members 44.13 H. C. C. Miles, account salary 50.00 $1,803.16 TIVENTY.FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. PEACH EXHIBIT FUND. 15 1911. Mch. 24. To balance received from Secre- tary H. C. C. Miles, of special ac- count deposited in First National Bank, Middletown, net proceeds peach exhibit at Connecticut Fair, September, 1910 $78.00 Cr. By check to A. B. Howard & Sons, premium account special classes at annual meeting exhibit $15.00 By check to E. N. Sawyer, premium account special classes at annual meeting exhibit 8.00 By check to R. S. Griswold, prem- ium account special classes at an- nual meeting exhibit 8.00 By check to T. H. & L. C. Root, premium account special classes at annual meeting exhibit 5.00 By check to Conyers Farm, prem- ium account special classes at an- nual meeting exhibit 15.00 Sept. 1. By check to H. C. C. Miles, account peach exhibit held 1911 27.00 $78.00 $78.00 AUDITOR'S CERTIFICATE. Hartford, Conn., September 21, 1911. I have examined the checks and bills and vouchers of Orrin Gilbert, Treasurer, as sliovvn September 21st. 1911, and find them correct. GEORGE \V. STAPLES, Auditor. l6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Treasurer's Report — Part II. From September 20, 1911, to February 1, 1912. ALLEN B. COOK, Treasurer, In Account with The Connecticut Pomological Society, Dr. 1911. Sept. 30. To cash from H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, mem- bership fees $29.00 Oct. 13. H. C. C. Miles, fruit sold at annual exhibit 6.90 State appropriation 319.63 Nov. 3. Connecticut State Agricultural So- ciety 100.00 8. Agricultural fair account (1910) 10.88 27. State appropriation 405.72 Dec. 8. H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, annual membership fees 2.'>.00 1912. Jan. 15. State appropriation 223.83 22. Agricultural fair account 198.40 H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, annual membership fees 105.00 Feb. 1. H. C. C. Miles. Secretary, annual membership fees 32.00 $1,456.36 1911. Cr. Sept. 30. By cash to Adams Express Co., express for fourteenth annual exhibit $10.50 Oct. 9. S. T. Maynard, expense and services as judge, annual exhibit 16.79 13. Clarence H. Ryder, balance due on printing annual report 217.73 16. George C. Comstock, entry clerk at fourteenth annual exhibit 8.75 The Milford Post Office, stamped en- velopes 16.86 United Litho & Printing Co., adver- tising post cards 3.75 TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. ly Oct. 16. Prof. A. G. GuUey, expenses at four- teenth annual exhibit $15.85 L. C. Root, expenses at fourteenth annual exhibit 11.24 Clarence H. Ryder, printing premium lists 12.00 H. C. C. Miles, Secretary, supplies and expenses 14.55 Nov. 27. Joseph R. Clark, general printing... 52.50 Milford Post Office, postage for New- England Fruit Show 14.98 Dec. 13. The Connecticut Farmer Co., Con- necticut Farmers furnished mem- • bers to October 1, 1911 44.88 H. C. C. Miles, third payment on sal- ary • 50.00 Elijah Rogers, expenses at fourteenth annual exhibit 10.75 Prof. A. G. Gulley, "Apples of New York" and "Grapes of New York" and expenses 1 1.30 G. A. Drew, expenses 16.30 H. C. C. Miles, telephone charges, July 1 to October 1, 1911 6.70 1912. Jan. 12. premiums paid as awarded at annual meet- ing, February 1 and 2, 1911: E. E. Brown $12.75 John B. Parker 1.50 T. H. & L. C. Root 4.25 W. I. & T. M. Savage 2.25 Myron R. Gilbert 1.25 S. G. Cook 1.25 O. P. Burr 1.50 E. M. Ives 2.50 George F. Piatt 1.25 E. C. Roberts 1.00 W. A. Stocking & Sons 3.25 L. J. Robertson .50 George W. Florian .50 F. B. Bailey 50 A. J. Clark 50 E. J. Hawley 50 l8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Jan. 12. E. C. Warner S0.25 F. B. Miller 50 Thos. Griswold & Co .25 Thomas Callahan .25 19. premiums paid as awarded at annual ex- hibit held at Berlin, September 26- 29, 1911: C. L. Gold $4.75 Mrs. Huber Bushnell 1.50 Mrs. C. O. Hanford 19.00 Harvey Jewel 5.00 Thomas Callahan 1.00 H. C. C. Miles 4.75 W. B. Hubbard 1.25 N. S. Piatt 1.50 F. B. Bailey 23.75 E. E. Brown 30.75 A. B. Cook 9.50 G. A. Drew 19.65 Mrs. Harvey Jewell 16.75 Clifford L. Clark 1.50 L. J. Robertson 4.75 C. W. Atwood 3.00 S. F. Avery 3.00 Albert Bernhard 24.00 Elijah Rogers 11.25 H. B. Buel 7.10 Gulley & Bonner 18.50 Frederick B. Cook 2.00 A. J. Clark 20.00 Mrs. J. F. Chalmers 6.50 Mrs. H. B. Birdseye 18.75 E. W. Dyer 1.00 Mrs. C. J. Thompson 1.50 J. T. Molumphy 1.00 G. W. Florian 1.15 T. A. Stanley 2.25 W. Fawthrop 4.00 C. H. Savage 8.00 W. H. Baldwin 14.00 T. H. & L. C. Root 46.00 Mrs. E. W. Ellison 5.50 $36.50 TWENTY-riRST ANNUAL MEETING. 19 Ja"- ly- Mrs. F. I'.. IJailcy $7.50 H. L. Savage 1.00 C. O. Young 2.50 Jacob Beisiegel 7.00 W. B. Martin 3.65 W. I. & T. M. Savage 12.50 A. E. Rich 1.75 E. M. Ives 3.00 J. I. Ives 9.00 O. R. Clark 1.00 Lyman Payne 2.50 O. K. Driggs 1.00 R. S. GrisM^old .50 Robert Hubbard .95 H. I. Nettleton .75 W. A. Lane .50 W. F. Beaupain .25 C. J. Thompson .75 George C Comstock .10 E. Pomeroy .95 J. R. Rourke 50 E. D. Curtis .60 26. By cash to the Milford Post Office, stamps and stamped envelopes Clarence H. Ryder, printing adver- tising cards C. W. Bonner, labor at fourteenth annual exhibit 29. Elijah Rogers, cash paid Union Tea Co. for plate at annual exhibit.... T. H. & L. C. Root, fruit for four- teenth annual exhibit E. E. Brown, fruit for annual meet- ing, February, 1911 Clarence H. Ryder, printing 800 cir- culars H. C. C. Miles, office expenses, etc., July, 1911, to January. 1912 The Connecticut Farmer Co., Con- necticut Farmers furnished mem- bers to January, 1912 $402.15 13.64 11.25 2.00 5.70 8.40 8.00 9 25 69.28 46.31 20 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Jan. 29. Joseph R. Clark, printing and sup- plies, September, 1911, to January, 1912 $25.61 New England Fruit Show account, to balance that account 28.59 Balance 254.25 $1,456.36 SPECIAL NEW ENGLAND FRUIT SHOW ACCOUNT. 1911. Dr. Oct. 16. To cash from special State appropriation.... $221.95 Nov. 18. To cash from special State appropriation.... 778.05 28. To cash from C. L. Gold, fruit sold 327.00 1912. Jan. 26. To cash from E. Rogers, fruit in storage 40.00 27. To cash from C. L. Gold, premium 25.60 29. To cash from general account, to balance Fruit Show account 28.59 $1,421.09 191L Cr. Oct. 16. By check to H. C. C. Miles, expenses to date.. $25.00 19. C. L. Gold, expenses to date 103.88 Nov. 2. Thomas Griswold & Co., apples .... 8.50 Amos Bridges & Son, Inc., boxes, etc. 18.00 Howard B. Tuttle, apples 12.75 G. P. Read, packing supplies, paper, etc 47.82 C. H. Ryder, printing 6.00 27. L. C. Root, expenses to Boston 74.40 T. H. & L. C. Root, fruit 16..50 L. C. Root, supplies, labor, etc 54.43 E. E. Brown, fruit and expenses.... 13.60 E. Rogers, fruit and expenses 64.23 L. W. Kirk & Son, fruit 6.00 Dennis Fenn, fruit 27.00 N. S. Piatt, expenses 19.40 Albert Bernhard, grapes 4.00 C. O. Young, fruit 14.17 W. F. Piatt, fruit 52.00 Conyers Farm, fruit 252.00 TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 21 Nov. 27. Hartford Cold Storage Co., storage of fruit $71.18 Dec. 5. S. G. Cooke, fruit 15.00 Frederick M. Peasley, fruit 24.00 E. M. Ives, fruit and auto hire 16.00 C. L. Gold, part payment on expense account 380.00 12. C. L. Terrell, fruit 8.00 Wilbur H. Benham, fruit 4.50 1912. Jan. 29. A. E. Plant, fruit 5.00 Wiesw Bros, fruit 1.35 Waveny Farm, fruit 4.00 H. C. C. Miles, cash paid for expense 5.00 C. L. Gold, balance of expense ac- count 67.38 $1,421.09 SOCIETY'S PERMANENT INVESTED FUND. Life Membership Fund. Feb. 1, 1911. Amount on deposit in Berlin Savings Bank, as per last report $353.16 Life membership fees deposited during year 60.00 Jan. 1, 1912. Interest to Jan. 1, 1912 19.08 $432.24 AVAILABLE RESOURCES. Feb. 1, 1912. Invested in Berlin Savings Bank $432.24 Due on account state appropriation for year ending Sept. 30, 1912 550.82 Balance in treasury 254.25 AUDITORS' CERTIFICATE. Hartford, Conn., Feb. 6, 1912. We have examined the books, checks and vouchers of the Treasurer, Allen B. Cook, to February 1st, 1912, and fine the same correct. GEORGE W. STAPLES, J. C. EDDY. Auditors. 22 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Reports of Standing Committees. President Rogers: The next is the reports of standing committees ; first we will call for the report of the Member- ship Committee, Mr. J. H. Putnam, chairman. Mr. Putnam : Wr. President and Members : I have no written report to make. The Secretary has already told you that we have 717 members all paid up, and that is a gain of 106 over last year. I want to say that this increased mem- bership represents the hard work of our Secretarv. He is entitled to a great deal of credit for what he has done. Per- haps sometimes you feel that this membership business is be- ing overdone, but at the same time if we are going to accom- plish anything for the fruit interests of Connecticut we have got to have a large membership. It seems to me that you must understand that it is not the dollar that we are after so much as it is your own salvation in the fruit business. If this Society is worth anything to the fruit growers of Con- necticut, it is worth a dollar to every man who grows fruit in the state. It is not so mucli the value of the dollar as it is the value of the Society to you, and by the use of your dollar we can accomplish a great deal niiore than we can without it. It is the enthusiasm, the power and influence which the Society can have by a large membership that make it abso- lutely necessary that we shoidd have a large membership. So I hope that you will all feel that it is up to you to pass in your dollar, and see to it that your friends aid in the work of booming fruit growing in Connecticut, and booming this association. President Rogers: The committee's report will be ac- cepted. I will next call for the report of the Committee on Legislation. Mr. C. L. (lold, Chairman. Mr. Gold: Mr. Chairman, I have no written report. The committee asked for no new legislation at the last ses- sion of the legislature. They simply appeared with others and asked for an appropriation to carry on the state exhibit TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 23 at the \ew l{noland l""ruit Show. At the ijrcvious legisla- ture our Society's ap])ropriati()n was made an annual affair, so we do not have to appear before the le.e^islature and ask for our annual appropriation. It is made now as a reg-ular ap- propriation. \\"e appeared before tlie appropriations com- mittee a couple of times and secured an appropriation of $1,000 for the New England Fruit Show. Otherwise the committee have done no other work. That is all I have to report. A M|':mi'.er: Move that the report be accepted and placed on file. Motion seconded and passed. Presil>ext Roger.s: Next I will call on the Exhibitions Committee, Mr. L. C. Root of Farmins?ton, Chairman. Report of Exhibition Committee. 1911 has truly been a banner year for fruit exhibitions by this Society. Starting with the annual meeting- in Febru- ary, the exhibition by the Society was extremely satisfactory. This exhibit was confined to niembers growing fruit within the state and they saved some very choice fruit for this occa- sion. When our members do this, we need have no fear for the credit of the state, so far as fruit exhibitions go. The classes of this exhibition, open to all New England, were well filled, and the large number of market packages of fine fruit exhibited by Mr. George A. Drew, Alessrs. Hale and Coleman, and the large number of smaller, exhibits shows us that this New England department of our mid-winter show might add greatly to the interest and instructiveness of our annual meet- ing. We must not forget to give the highest praise to Messrs. Barnes Brothers for their exhibition of the large quantity of Baldwin apples ; although not entered for competition they were very fine and called forth many complimentary remarks. 24 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Next came the peach show at the Connecticut Fair at Charter Oak Park early in Xovember. After assisting in the preparation, your committee was obhged to turn the matter over to other and more skilled hands to arrange. That the exhibit was a success was proved by the expression of entire satisfaction on the part of the Fair management and the praises sung by the visitors. The earlier varieties were put in cold storage, but Champions, Elbertas and Reeves, with a few other varieties, came fresh from the orchard and surely were fine. A little later came our annual Fall Exhibition, again with the Berlin Agricultural Society. The floods of rain on the opening day made it slow and difficult to get under way, but finally more tables were required to spread the much larger displav of fruit than this Society has displayed at any previ- ous meeting. The managers of the Fair persuaded us to hold over one day, while they should complete their program, de- layed by the rain, and this we warn our successors not to do under any circumstances. The exhibitors usually plan to take their fruit away on the day set, and it is hard to keep the exhibits in shape beyond that time. The fruit at Berlin was largely donated to the Society for use at Danbury, where your secretary and committee had early arranged to make a display of Connecticut's finest fruit. Our Danbury exhibition was along the same lines as our peach show at Charter Oak. The managers were very nice to us, giving us every assistance they could, and we were able to set up a fine display of apples and peaches. We congratulate this Society on being able to get together such displays of fine fruit, making these exhibitions what they certainly are — very instructive. One has only to listen to the many questions asked of those in charge and to note how each year brings a marked improvement in the individual exhibits, to see the great strides being made in growing, caring for and selecting show fruit. Even the best growers of long experience have to spend hours to select a single plate of apples, if they wish to be among the prize winners. TIVENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING 25 We want to thank the members, who have furnished the fruit for these exhibitions during the past season, for we are aware that the crop was short, injured by the heat, and other- wise making it hard to select perfect fniit. We especially want to thank our President, Mr. Rogers, for the quantities of fine fruit furnished and his untiring efforts to make our exhibitions a credit to the Pomological Society. Your exhibition committee were very much interested and also active in the Connecticut exhibit at the New Eng- land Fruit Show in Boston, which was a decided success, but a report of this will be given by the special committee who had this in charge. Respectfullv submitted, L. C. ROOT, A. G. GULLEY. H. R. REED, Committee. Mr. Root : Just a word further, Mr. President, your committee has prepared a resolution which I should like to present for the consideration of the Society. President Rogers: Will you please read it, Mr. Root? Mr. Root: Resolved, That is the sense of this meet- ing that where premiums of silver are offered at exhibitions of this Society they should be sterling silver and. if possible, to be of a useful nature rather than ornamental. The Committtee on Exhibitions has had that in mind for some time, Mr. Chairman. The premiums that we offer ought to be of good quality. Be it ever so small, the Society would like to have, I am sure, whatever premiums are of- fered of the best, and therefore we present this resolution. President Rogers: What is your pleasure in regard to this resolution? ]\Ir. Gold : I would second that resolution, Mr. Presi- dent, and most earnestly urge the acceptance of it by the So- ciety. I think Mr. Root is riglu in liis remarks that our pre- 26 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. miums should be of the best. I think it is hig-hly desirable that we put out premiums of sterling- standard and merit, something that will stay b}- us. We want to send out ])remi- ums that we can hand down to our children, and something" that we need not be ashamed to show to our friends ; some- thing that has intrinsic merit and value to it. I, for one, would earnestly desire the passage of this resolution. President Rogers : You have heard the resolution which has been read b\' Mr. Root. Would you like to re- mark on this resolution further? If not, all those in favor of this resolution signify by saying "Aye." Contrary minds, "X^o." The "Ayes" have it and it is a vote. I think at this time it would be well to hear from our \'ice-President in regard to the New England Fruit Show. It comes right along in line with what we have heard. I believe that Mr. Gold was our representative at the Fruit Show. I will call on Mr. Gold for a report. Report on the New England Fruit Show. Mr. C. L. CioLD: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: The committee in charge of this show began last spring to urge the fruit growers of the state to bear the show in mind, and take a special interest in their fruit, and try to produce something which would be worthy of sending to the show, and assist the state in putting up a creditable exhibition at Boston. The committee met with a very fair response, and a good many growers took a decided interest in their fruit, in spraying, and thinning and caring for it. Later on we called on some of the different growers to O'ffer fruit for ex- hibition at Boston. It was the endeavor of the committee to co'llect fruit from as many growers as possible, for several reasons. — one was to have all parts of the state represented, also to get a large variety of fruit, and to interest the grow- ers about the state in the exhibit. We considered that a TIVENTV. FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 27 lar^e part of the value of the exhiliit in lio-stmi was in the increased interest among growers in this state in growin.tj^ and offering- grades of fruit suitable for that exhibit. There is no other way in which growers can become more interest- ed in the work than by furnisliing fruit for these exhibits, either in Boston or elsewhere. Just as soon as a grower brings forth fruit fit for exhibition he takes a much greater interest in the exhibit. He goes to see it as a member, finds out where he is lame, and where he is ahead, and he will learn a great deal more in that way than in any other. If any of you gentlemen do net believe that, just bring forward some fruit for that exhibit, and I will guarantee that you will learn a whole lot more than \ou ever knew aliout fruit growing before. Lots of vou may think that you ma\ know about all there is to learn, but I think that most everybody who has exhibited fruit at the show has foimd out that it is a great deal better to bring out the fruit and set it up alongside of the other fellow's, and see what you have got and what the judges say about it. Those grc-wers who have furnished us with fruit I am sure have been well repaid. As chairman of the committee, 1 wish at this time to thank all the growers who furnished fruit for that exhibit. I also would especially like to thank Mr. Root and Mr. N. S. Piatt, our President, and Secretary, and others, who assisted very materially in getting up that exhibit for Boston. Of course, you all know what the result was. Connecticut did not win the first prize, and she did not do as well as we intended she should do, but she did the best she could, and we hope to do better another time. President Rogers : The next refxirt is on Markets and Transportation. Mr. J. Norris Barnes is Chairman of this committee. THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Report of Committee on Markets and Transportation. Mr. Choirmaii and Members of the Connecticut Poniological Society : In presenting this report for the year 1*^^U1 we would say that good progress in the right direction has been made, but much that will be beneficial to fruit growing- interests here in Connecticut, will ultimately come out of the past year's experience. The first thing that an individual or com- mittee looking up transportation or marketing matters must be prepared to answer is : How much have }ou got tlrat you want moved, and to what points, and when ? The smooth working of the transportation plan, as ar- ranged for in a general way some years ago through the members of this committee and which has had here and there from time to time the re-adjusting touches applied, has had much to do with the present quite satisfactory handling of our crops of fruit. The committee wishes to say right here that we found the officials in authority of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company willing to do all reasonable things for us that we might successfully reach mar- kets that we believed we had to have for our fruit. Connecti- cut peaches v/ere quite well distributed over New England, and considerable quantities of peaches went to points in New Jer- sey and Pennsylvania. For some years it has been felt that soon New York City must be had to place a portion of our peach crop of Connecticut, and this year an arrangement was made, through the efforts of Mr. J. H. Hale, whereby the en- trance into the New York market could be made successfully and easily, a condition not heretofore attending a shipment to this market from Connecticut. The other members of this committee feel that much credit is due Mr. Hale for the successful perfection of the scheme into a good workable plan, which only lacked a sufficient quantity O'f fruit to have been of much use to shippers of fruit to that market. The arrangement made necessitated the making up of a train load TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 29 every day, with a guarantee of a certain mininiuni sum as compensation for such service. The perfecting and carrying out of the plan to trial proved that our Connecticut growers can get together when necessary to acconiphsh a purpose and therefore is a vakiable pointer in that direction, meaning much to fruit growing in- terests ; the part of the matter to be regretted being that there was not enough fruit available to carry out the arrange- ment fully as planned, which, had it been done, would have much lessened the supply to other markets well acquainted with the good qualities of the Connecticut peach. This knowledge no doubt helped to strengthen values and thus re- tain the supply of fruit wanted in these markets. Notwith- standing some disappointmenit in the matter, I believe there is much in the arrangement as made and so far as it was carried, that is nice to think about, especially in attempting to look ahead into the future, and I hope Mr. Hale, as the one to whom credit is due in the matter, will tell you about it from his own standpoint and experience. Little has been said in this report about the marketing of other fruits tlran peaches, for the reason that fruit production (perhaps straw- berries excepted) has not been more than suf^cient for Con- necticut's own markets. Contrary to the expectations of -• some of our older peach growers, from their point of view of ten years ago, the selling price of good fruit has not de- creased, but is rather better than then, due, as the speaker believes, to the very su])erior and better known qualities of Connecticut peaches coming to market, as they do, at just the right time, and also to the very great improvement in trans- portation conditions, which we no doubt benefit from, which allows us to ]:)ermit our fruit to get well matured before pick- ing and yet reach the selected market in good condition. Judging- from the present large plantings of orchard fruits going on through the country, the day cannot be far distant when it will be absolutely necessary to get together for all the market advantages to he had, in order to get wider markets for our best fruit^ and dispose of close by or put 30 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY into otlier forms the poorer grades of fruit which we may unavoidably have. For this greater fruit production which doubtless Con- necticut will have in the not distant future, we have this past year made the first move in preparing for it by learning bet- ter the meaning of the word CO-OPERATION. This idea successfully carried out will give us wider markets and tend to take care of increased fruit production for some time to come. As some of the problems that have come to the business of the fruit grower in the recent past, reach their solution and so are passed by, there appear to be other matters calling for attention that have an important bearing on our business and which it appears must soon be taken hold of in earnest in order to maintain an advantageous position in necessary marketing processes. One of these T wall mention at this time, for it is important enough to think about. It is how best to economize in the trade process of placing the products of our fruit farms in the possession of the consumer, thereby lessening the last cost and so tending to increase tlie use of fruits. With a great increase in production must come a reduc- tion in price and margin above cost, except as wider and better distribution is found and excessive expense cut out. It ap- pears that the successful fruit grower is well onto his job of economical production now. The increasing expense of over- coming insect and fungus depredations tends to prevent the lowering of costs of production that would otherwise come from better methods of tillage, fertilization, and handling. Where else can the slack in the line be taken up better than by getting together in the business side? Co-operation all along the line, backed up by honesty and ability. Suppose we think about these matters and prepare to get in line. Respect fullv submitted, J. NORRIS BARNES, Chairman for the Committee. 'nVENTY-I'lRST ANNUAL MEETING. 31 I'residknt Rogers: Tlie next report is that of our I'ub- lioitv Committee, Mr. K. 1). Curtis, Chairman. Report of Publicity Committee. Your Committee cannot report that it has acconiphshed very much of importance during the past year. In conform- it\- with the resohition of the Society at its hist meeting, the Chairman of the Committee went to Washington last Febru- ary and attempted to get the Department of Agriculture to take up immediately a soil survey of the wdiole state. It was found that, owing to the efforts of the Congressman from that part of the state, the field work for a survey of New London County had just been completed, and it is believed that the report should soon appear. Owing to the great de- mand for such work from all parts of the country, and the limited appropriation for the Bureau of Soils, it can appar- ently not be expected that we shall get one county surveyed each year, but your Committee will keep in touch \\ith the situation and use its best eft'orts to accomplish as much as possible. The Committee still has copies of its first and second bulletins, which it will be glad to supply to all who are will- ing to undertake their distribution. It is not the business of the Society, hriwever, to advertise the state at large. The proper sphere of the Publicity Cmimittee must be in assist- ing in the sale oi Connecticut fruits and in reducing the cost of this production. Your Committee has given much consideration to the question of advertising Connecticut fruit, but it has reached the conclusion that no form of advertising which it could undertake would be of value in the absence of a selling agency or some similar body, to which inquiries for fruit could be referred. In view of the low prices for apples which have prevailed this winter, and the enormous crop which was harvested, it must be evident that some better 32 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. methods of marketing" the crop will soon be essential. It is believed that these methods should consist first, in systema- tizing the distribution of the crop so that all the state mar- kets shall be supplied with state fruit before either import- ing or exporting takes place, and secondly, that, in case sat- isfactory terms cannot be made with dealers, co-operative selling agencies be started in some of the cities. Such an un- dertaking would be a serious one, but it must be remembered that this year's crop of apples is estimated at 30,000,000 barrels, and it is said by some persons to be the largest since 1896, the record crop in the history of the country. With the rapid development of orcharding, some systematic and energetic methods must be used to secure continued finan- cial success. Not only must waste in distribution be elim- inated, but increased consumption must be encouraged. The latter result can only be brought about by advertising at con- siderable expense. But the expense must, and eventually will, be shared by the fruit growers of the whole country. And in this connection it must be remembered that the farm- er alone, of all producers, spends not a penny in advertising. Almost any branch of manufacturing must to-day spend ten per cent of its gross sales in advertising its goods, and twen- ty-five per cent is undoubtedly often reached. The value of the apple crop in the United States this year is probably con- siderable more than the value of our automobile manufac- tures, yet we have hardly spent a dollar on advertising our apples, where the automobile manufacturer has spent mil- lions. Your Committee think it proper to call your attention to the foregoing facts, for they will soon become of serious importance to every member of the Society. It may be somewhat too early to attempt to put them into practical efl""ect. Rut it is by no means too early to start co-operative buying. It was only two years ago that the Secretary of the Fruit Growers' Association of St. Catherine's, Ontario, in an address before our Society, stated that his association had sa\ed the growers three or four dollars a ton through co-op- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 33 erative buying- of fertilizers. In England, as long ago as 1895, there were over 1,000 co-operative societies who were members of a co-operative wholesale society, which in tliat year sold over $275,000,000 worth of goods. Such societies will eventually do much to reduce the cost of living to the consumer. Your Committee suggests that it be empowered to arrange for the co-operative purchasing of fertilizers and other materials for the season of 1912-13. if it finds that it is assured of sufficient support from the members of the So- ciety to insure success. ELLICOTT D. CURTIS, C. L. GOLD, STANCLIFF HALE, • Committee. Mr. Curtis : "I think, Mr. President, that every mem- ber of the Society who is engaged in raising fruit for sale ought to consider the question of over-production, which, to my mind, is one which is rapidly becoming serious. I do not know just how soon it will be necessary for us to do some- thing definite in the line of decreasing our regular supply, but it seems to me that the subject ought to be taken up before we begin to lose money on our crops. I think that most producers of agricultural products wait until they have lost money for three or four years before they begin to co-operate in planning and for the saving of money. It seems tome that if we can get together in the first place we will save money. We ought to get together in some co-operative way Avhich Vv^ill prevent loss, and not wait until the loss has occurred, and then try to avoid its repetition. President Rogers: There is certainly a whole lot of truth in what this comuiittee has said in regard to co-opera- tion in buying supplies, and also in the selling of fruit. I am in hopes that in the future this Society will work more along on those lines than it has in the past. I will now call for the report of the Committee on New Fruits, of which Mr. George W. Smith is Chairman. 34 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Secretary ]\Iiles : Mr. President, Mr. Smith is una- ble to be here this morning, but his report is here and is as follows : Report of Committee on New Fruits. Your committee, in preparing its annual report, again labors under the embarrassment of having received no vol- untary assistance in its work from other members of the Society, some of whom have come to fixed conclusions re- garding new and little-known varieties of fruit, and who might, therefore, have imparted valuable information to this committee, and thus have rendered jts labor more easy and its report more compendious. From personal experimenta- tion, and from what the committee has learned by inquiry of others, the following few suggestions are offered, but with the feeling that they are predicated upon too little an amount of comprehensive information. Delicious. An apple to which all our orchardists are looking with watchfulness was recently introduced here from the southwest. As far as your committee can ascertain, from the few that are testing this variety, it is holding its own as a new aspirant for popular market favor. All agree that it is appropriatelv named ; but some think it is too sweet to sell well ; and complaint comes that it shows bruises too easily to stand marketing well. Doubtless more careful handling, un- der modern methods, will measurably overcome the latter fault, if it be found to be the fact. Missouri (Pippin) likewise continues to be promising in this state, especially as a filler to plant between rows of permanent trees. It is of second c}uality flavor, however, and can never become a standard market fruit here. It is short- lived in the tree, particularly in the West, but will doubtless live longer here. Its good color and attractive appearance have helped to popularize it. It bears young and abundantly, but is inclined to overbear with age, when its fruit becomes TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 35 smaller and less desirable. It is recommended only as a filler, and will not probably supersede Wealthy, Wagener, and similar varieties, for that purpose. It keeps till April in cold storage, and to January in common storage. The tree is up- right, roundish, becoming spreading. Numerous new peaches are being offered in the nurseries, especially from the south and southwest. One of these is Mayflozvcr, which promises to become a valuable market variety, especially on account of its season of ripening, which is before that of Alexander. It is red all over, and hence very attractive. It was introduced by J. Van Lindley. of North Carolina, the originator of the Greensboro. It is of poor quality, with rather coarse flesh, and is a semi-cling. It needs a rich, sandy, loamy soil for its best development. It can be recommended only for trial in this state, at present. Arp Beauty is a popular variety in the region of Texas, and is being planted experimentally in the North. It is yel- low-fleshed, sweet, and of good size, and attractive in appear- ance. It reaches its perfection in the northern Pacific states, and ripens between Greensboro and Carman. It is a free- stone. Captain Ede resembles Elberta in flavor and color, an4 is thought to be hardier in tree, and to bear when Elberta fails. It is worthy of trial by commercial planters. Frances is a handsome yellow peach, washed with crim- son, and a heavy bearer, and it is believed to be hardy in bud and wood. It ripens just after Elberta, and is about of the same quality. Juicy plum, a seedling of Robinson crossed with Botan (Prunus angustifolia x Primus triflora), which came from Burbank in 1893, has been carefully tested by one of your committee for several }-ears. The tree is a strong, rapid grower ; and the bright, large, yellow plums are borne in pro- fusion, almost annually, afl^ording pleasant and acceptable home fruit to eat out of hand. It is entirely free from cur- culio stings, like most of the Japanese hybrids ; but its qual- ity is only fair to good, and the flesh is soft and watery, ren- 36 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. dering it short-lived as a market fruit. In fact, it could never become a market fruit; for if picked early enough to endure handling, it would be almost inedible. All orchardists will black-ball it, except for agreeable, transient, home use. Newman plum is the leading commercial variety of the Chicasaw type. It is firm, meaty, and a clingstone. It was introduced from Kentucky. The skin is thin but tough, at first yellow, but afterwards becoming a bright red. It ripens over a considerable season, nearly a month, but is not very acceptable to eat until fully ripe. It is doubtless a valuable market variety of its class, but not where the better European plums are known and appreciated. It should be grown com- mercially, if at all, only on a very small scale. One fruit that did not come to us with a sound of trum- pets from any "wizard of horticulture," but that has long modestly asked for recognition, and received little of it, is the Japanese Wineherry (Rtibus Phoenicolasius), a species of raspberry. While it is not unqualifiedly recommended by your committee as a profitable market fruit, until better known, it is believed to be worthy of more consideration than it ordinarily receives. Its salient feature is that it comes after all other red raspberries are gone. While not equal to the Cuthbert in quality, it has a sprightly, vinous flavor all its own. The fruit is of scarlet wine color. Its canes sometimes make 10 to 14 feet in a summer, and are covered with crimson hairs ; and it has silver reverses to its leaves. Each berry is enveloped in a purplish red calyx, re- sembling a Moss rose bud ; and this calyx greatly protects the berry, and finally pops open. The late T. J. Dwyer, of Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, almost a Connecticut resident, grew it with much success as a fancy market fruit, doubt- less in private trade. It is believed to be well worthy of trial and cultivation, and it undoubtedly makes an agreeable addition to the w^ell-supplied family fruit garden. J. Cheal, the noted English pomologist, deems it "a most refreshing and delicious fruit." TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 37 Your committee again feels it necessary to emphasize to the members of the Society the indispensabihty of their vol- untarily furnishing" information to the Committee on New- Fruits ; for if the experimental work in that direction, that the committee is expected to publish, be confined entirely to the individual members of the committee, no report can be presented, that is, of practical usefulness and of authorita- tive value to the pomologists of Connecticut. Respectfully submitted, GEORGE W. SMITH, JOHN R. BARNES, HARVEY JEWELL, Committee. President Rogers: I will call on the next committee, the Committee on Injurious Insects, Dr. W. E. Britton, Chairman. Report of Committee on Injurious Insects. The chief entomological feature of the season of 1911 in Connecticut was the appearance of Brood II of the periodical cicada or seventeen-year locust, Tibicen septendecim Linn., The adults emerged from the ground beginning the last week in May, and were present until about the first of July, oc- curring in twenty-one towns in the southern central part of the state, in parts of Hartford, New Haven and Middlesex counties. They were most abundant in the wooded areas of the high trap rock ridges, and the song or rattling noise of the males made a perfect din while they lasted. As a rule the insects did not occur on low ground. Considerable damage to fruit trees, and especially young peach orchards situated near these infested areas, resulted from ovipositing in the small branches. The weight of the fruit and foliage, especially in wind storms, caused the branches to break and the leaves and fruit to wither. Some 38 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. trees were brown as if scorched by fire, and not. only fruit trees, but also woodland trees, were injured in this way. The eg'gs hatch in six or seven weeks after being- de- posited, and the }oung cicadas drop to the ground and bur- row in it to a depth of between twelve and eighteen inches, where they live for seventeen years by sucking- the sap from the small roots of various trees. They have appeared in Connecticut regularly every seventeen years since 1724. The peach sawfly, Pamphilius persicum MacG., has in- creased sufficiently since \^>07 to warrant the spraying in 1911 of 20,000 trees in the Barnes orchard at Durham, and nearly 10,000 in the Martin orchard at Wallingford. For this purpose lead arsenate was used, three pounds per barrel at Durham and two pounds per barrel at Wallingford. Mr. Martin also used commercial lime-sulphur for a fungicide, with the lead arsenate, at the rate of 1-166 and 1-100, and regards it as a good investment. He had no injury from the spray, and the sawfly caused no damage except on a few isolated trees, which were not sprayed. Some injury resulted from the lead arsenate in Barnes Brothers' Durham orchard. Excellent progress has been made in controlling the gypsy moth. No caterpillars were found at Stonington last summer, and the scouts were unable to find any egg masses there this winter, and it is believed that the colony has been eradicated, x^t WalHngford about 1,550 caterpillars were destroyed in 1911. and the infested region has just been ex- amined for egg masses, and only five were found — showing that the careful work done there by Mr. Caffrey and his men is eft'ectivelv holding the pest in check. The brown-tail moth is present in the northeast corner of the state, and is distributed over at least five towns, namely, Thompson, Putnam, Woodstock, Pomfret and Kil- lingly. Over 7,000 nests were destroyed there last winter, and men are now going over the territorv to destroy the nests TWENTY-riRST ANNUAL MEETING. 39 and to see how far the pest has spread in a year. It is onl\ •a question of time when the brpwn-tail moth will extend over the whole state, but we are trying- to put oif that day as long" as possible. For the protection of the state, all nursery stock imported from Europe is now being examined for insect pests. In 1909 and 1910 many brown-tail moth nests were found in ■certain shipments from France, but none were found in 1911, thoug-h 854 boxes, bales and parcels of such stock were in- spected. The legislative committee of the National Xurserymen's Association, the Official Horticultural Inspectors and the rep- resentatives of the United States Department of Agriculture have at last agreed upon a measure which we hope Congress may soon pass, providing for a system of permits and no- tices, and for quarantine of imported stock in emergency ■cases. At present it is impossible to trace some of the ship- ments entering the state, but if this bill passes, there should be no further trouble in this direction. It provides that the inspection shall be done by the states, as some states are now doing, but the proposed measure will help in many ways. In spite of the fact that the San Jose scale is considered to be on the wane, Mr. Bartlett observed its rapid spread in some parts of the state, the season apparently being favora- ble to it. The Connecticut nurseries, on the whole, were more nearly free from it than in any year since it became estab- lished here. Canker worms were very abundant in certain localities, and apparently must continue their destructiveness for many years yet before propertv owners generallv will take proper care of their apple trees and spray them with ar- senical poisons. The bud moth, Tnietocera ocellana Schiff., was also abundant in some orchards, and the codling moth, Carpocap- sa poiiionella Linn., was fairly common everywhere, but on account of the heavy crop, the percentage of fruit attacked was less than in 1910. 40 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The injury caused by tree crickets in laying their eggs was reported as being very abundant at Storrs in the fall. The round-headed apple borer, Saperda Candida Fabr., is a serious pest in many orchards, and a careful examination and cutting out is the only certain remedy. In the Station experimental orchard at Mount Carmel part of the trees have been treated with various substances and mechanical devices to ascertain their value in preventing injury by this insect, Aphids, both the green aphis and the rosy aphis, were more abundant than in 1910, and the latter caused considera- ble injury by stinging the young fruit. Apparently the sum- mer sprays of lime and sulphur do not control the rosy apple aphis, as we had hoped, though they may check it to some ex- tent. W. E. BRITTON, New Haven, Chairman, C. D. JARVIS, Storrs, F. A. BARTLETT, Stamford, Committee on Injurious Insects. President Rogers: We come now to the last of the reports, that of "Demonstration Orchard Work of the Past Year," and the report will be given by Dr. C. D. Jarvis. Report of Demonstration Orchard Work of the Past Year. By Dr. C. D. Jarvis. Mr. President and Gentlemen : Two years ago the Pomological Society asked the col- lege to co-operate with them in some orchard demonstration work. As a result of this request the writer, representing both the Society and College, undertook to demonstrate the methods of orchard renovation in two sections of the state — Cheshire and Pomfret. The Cheshire orchard is on the farm of S. A. Smith & Son, and the one at Pomfret on the farm of Joseph E. Stoddard. A report of the first season's TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 41 work in these orchards will be found in the proceedin.g^s of the Society for last year. rXirino: the last season the work has been continued in much the same way as in the previous season. One field meet- ing was held at each of these places. At these meetings the second year's treatment of renovated trees was the chief sub- ject under discussion and demonstration. The trees during the growing season had produced an abundance of water sprouts, and the work of selecting and training these sprouts was sometimes a perplexing problem. In the Cheshire orchard, which is located on low land, the trees made an enormous growth there, and it was often very hard to see how to take care of the new growth. I think it would have been better to have gone in there and taken out half of those new sprouts, in order to have checked this rapid growth and set the trees in proper balance again. In the Cheshire orchard there was some trouble in the nature of bark splitting. The real cause of the trouble has not been accoumted for, but the wounds produced by split- ting healed up very well before the close of the growing sea- son, and no ill effects have been observed. At first the trou- ble was attributed to either feeding or spraying, but when a similar condition was observed on trees that were not treated in this respect we were forced to abandon that belief. Really, that is rather of a peculiar thing, and I would like to know if any of the other orchardists have had any experi- ence along that line. In some cases th'e bark opened up five or six inches, and in other cases it is simply a line down through, just a split in the bark with a slight parting on the two sides. It is rather hard to account for it. and I would like to know at this meeting if the other orchardists have had any experience with it. I haven't noticed it only in that par- ticular orchard. I haven't noticed it particularly otherwise. In this particular orchard it seemed to me it must have some- thing to do with the treatment. Perhaps it was due to se- vere pruning, but that did not seem likely, because some of 42 THE CONNECTICUT POMOEOGICAL SOCIETY. the trees which were not pruned severely were affected to the same extent. The trees in both orchards have made a satisfactory growth, and it is beheved that it will be unnecessary to con- tinue the work in these orchards after the present season. The Pomfret orchard during the past season bore the largest crop in its history, and the Cheshire orchard shows signs of becoming a very profitable orchard in the near future. A late spring frost injured the blo'ssoms considerably, and therefore the yield for the past season was not as it should have been. The owners, however, are well satisfied, and have renovated the whole orchard in the same way as was suggested for the first two rows. I must modify that some- what, because we do not now intend to discontinue the work in these orchards until we have demonstrated to the owners and the neighbors in that vicinity that this work of renovat- ing old orchards is a paying proposition. Both the Pomfret orchard and the Cheshire orchard show signs of beconting very profitable in the near future. Many of you know that we only undertook to renovate two rows in the first place in that orchard. The owner got a little afraid, I think, that we were going too far. But I think the owners of both those orchards are now convinced of the usefulness of the work we have been doing, and they are now taking up the work themselves, particularly in the Cheshire orchard, and alsoon the opposite side of the street. Other farmers in the vicinity of these orchards are now realizing the possibilities of im- proving their orchards, and it is believed that these demon- strations have bad some influence in bringing about this change of attitude. During the past season one-day demonstrations were held in nine different places, in addition to those at Cheshire and Pomfret. The dates and locations of these are as fol- lows : March 20, on farm of D. L. Ives, South Windham. March 24, on farm of F. O. Jackson, Middletown. March 28, on farm of P. G. Seeley, Washington. rWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 43 March 30, on farm of H. N. Eaton, Aleriden. March 30, on farm of M. Ratner, Colchester. April 3, on farm of Ci. G. Tillinghast, Vernon. April 10, on farm of \V. M. Chandler, Saybrook. April 12, on farm of Mrs. John Bunnell, Fairfield. April 14, on farm of F. M. Hollister, North Stonington. In these temporary demonstrations we assume no re- sponsibility for the successful termination of the undertaK- ing. The proposition consists simply in calling pubhc 'atten- tion to the orchard where the work of pruning and spraying will be performed on a certain day. The representative of the College and Society goes there at the appointed time, and with an assistant and the necessary equipment. The work is done in the presence of the visitors and the various opera- tions are explained. Whether the work is followed up pro- perly will depend upon the owner. That is a rather unfor-- tunate thing about this type of demonstration work. In a great many of these orchards where we have demonstrated, the method of work has not been followed up as it should have been. Of course, these temporary demonstrations dif- fer from the permanent demonstrations where the work is followed up year after year, and where we bear the respon- sibility for the successful termination of it. The chief value of the temporary type of demonstration work is that a larger number of people may be influenced with a given outlay. Its greatest defect lies in the fact that many such undertakings are not likely to be followed up in such a way as to be a credit to the institutions responsible for them. It is the intention during the present season to estalilish one more permanent demonstration orchard and alsi> to give a few temporary demonstrations in various parts of the State. In succeeding years it is the intention to establish more orchards of the permanent type. Eventually we hope to have at least one in every county of the state. The writer at this time wishes to thank those who have so cheerfully co-operated in this work. He also wishes to 44 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. express his thanks to those who have been patiently request- ing demonstrations on their farms and in their vicinities. At the same time he begs for continued patience and forbearance. The work will be extended as rapidly as possible, and in the selection of the locations the relative needs of the people and the accessibility of the orchards will be considered. There are a great many people calling for this demon- stration work right along, and it is very hard to say where we s'll^ll go next. In our work we try to consider the needs of the people of that vicinity, and the accessibility of the or- chard, accessibility both from the standpoint of the neigh- bors and that of location for other reasons. I hope if any of the people are here who have made application they will kindly remember that we cannot be in every place at once, and we are going to cover the state just as quickly as we can consistent with our money supply and our time. The work will necessarily have to go slowly. The season is very short. We could go out on a good many days in the winter time and give a demonstration if we knew what the weather was going to be, but we cannot count on that much before the middle of March, and last year we were unsuccessful in hitting our dates right. Some of you were present at some of those mieetings. It was not very pleasant to stand around in the chill air while the work was going on. In previous seasons when we did demonstration work at about tlie same dates we had very nice weather. We cannot count on more than a few demonstrations during the season at the most, because we must count on having a good deal of bad weather, and oftentimes we could crowd two or three demonstrations in on the same day, but if we do that then they begin to overlap, especially if we get too many in the same week. I do not believe there is anything more to say. I could say a whole lot about methods of taking care of this work, but I do not believe I ought to take the time just now. I will stop right here. I thank you. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETLNG. 45 Secretary Miles : Mr. President, I would like to make just a brief announcement. I would like to say to those who have sent in by mail orders for banquet tickets, and have not received them, if they will call for them at the desk in the rear of the hall they can be obtained. Those who have bought railroad tickets and have had g-iven to them railroad certificates should understand that they are to turn in those certificates at the railroad station, and the stub will be returned, to be brought to this meet- ing, to be countersigned. We are required to deposit two hundred before we can get the reduced return rates. Will those who have paid their membership dues for this year please put on their badges. Then we will not be troubling you as we pass through the audience to-day and to-morrow in the collection of dues. President Rogers : It has been our custom to appoint the Committee on Nominations on the second day of the meeting, but it has been suggested to the chair that this committee be appointed to-day. You know that this committee is raised for the purpose of presenting nominations for the officers of the Society for the next year and that the list submitted by the committee is to be voted on at the election of officers to-morrow, so you see that this committee is a pretty important one. What is your pleasure in the matter, gentlemen? A motion was then made and carried that Stanclifif Hale, of South Glastonbury, be appointed a member of the Nominating Committee, from Hartford County. In like manner, A. N. Farnham, of New Haven, was appointed from New Haven County. E. A. Jones, of New Canaan, from Fairfield County. J. H. Putnam, of Litchfield, from Litchfield Count}-. William I. Allyn. of Ledyard, from New London County. Everett E. Brown, of Pomfret, from Windham County. 46 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Charles E. Lyman, of ^Iiddlefield, from Middlesex County. H. R. Howard, of Union, from Tolland County. President Rogers : That conipletes the committee, and if there is nothing more regarding this matter we will proceed with our program. We are to listen now to a gentleman from one of our nearby states, Professor Sears, pomologist of the Massachu- setts Agricultural College. It gives me very great pleasure to introduce to you Professor Sears of Amherst, who will give us a paper on "Fruit Exhibitions and Exhibition Fruit." Professor Sears : Mr. President and Fellow Fruit Growers : I am glad to be here, and was particularly glad to notice that most everybody else that has been called up on this platform this morning has read a paper, because, con- trary to my usual custom, I am going to read a paper. I was afraid I should fall down if I restricted myself simply to notes. Of course, a paper has one distinct advantage, and that is the speaker knows when he gets through and the audience are especially interested in that a good many times. ( Laughter. ) While, as a rule, I like to talk to people rather than read to them, I thought it best to put down on paper what I had to say this morning. Fruit Exhibitions and Exhibition Fruit. By Prof. F. C. Sears, Pomologist, Massachusetts Agricultural College. Amherst. A fruit show to be a success ought to be educational; and' it ought to educate both the grozver and the consumer. The old type of show, consisting wholly of plates of fruit, was interesting and beautiful, and educated a man so far as recog- nizing varieties is concerned, but it did very little for him so far as value of varieties is concerned, and nothing at all as to the growing and marketing of his fruit. A man might TWENTY -FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. A7 .e^et a prize on a plate of Red Biegtiheinier apples, when he had only one graft of it growing on a tree of Baldwins up in one corner of his garden and knew nothing tvhatever of its value. The fact that he shozved it gave no clue as to his opinion of it, yet a visitor to the show might be led to plant it by seeing what a handsome apple it was and that it got a prize, and not knowing what a worthless thing it was to eat! We have certainly made a notable advance in our ex- hibitions during the past few years by the greater promi- nence we have given to fruit packed in boxes and barrels. And I believe that the recent marked improvement in our meth- od of packing can, in large measure, be traced directly tO' this change in the attitude of our exhibitions toward this matter of packing. The man who sat up nights trying to win that $75.00 prize for the best packed box of apples at the New England Fruit Show has taken more interest in the subject of packing apples ever since. There is no question about it ! Nor is there any question that this side of the fruit sbow oi the future needs to be still further enlarged and perfected. But important as this matter of packing fruit is, and much as it has done and tvill do in the future for the fruit business, I believe that fully as important a step remains to be taken. And this is to recognize and educate the coitsunier at our fruit exhibitions. We have certainly a vast amount to learn in this respect from the manufacturers! Go to any "food show," so called, and you are deluged with samples of everything to eat and drink from corn flakes to rye whiskey, and many a person has acquired a taste for some new break- fast food or dinner drink by this means. Not content with this, these enterprising manufacturers will send some woman to your local grocery store to "demonstrate" the use of their product; to teach the women of the neighborhood how to cook it so that it shall be at once attractive to look at and delightful to eat. Why don't our fruit growers, who manu- facture the finest of food products, imitate the person who has corn flakes or rolled oats or baled-hay for sale, by getting 48 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. next to the consumer at our shows? If the time ever comes, which is predicted by cnr good friend Hale, when the man with a crop of apples is as over-supplied as the man who prayed for a barrel of pippins, nothing could help to alleviate our condition more than a systematic and consistent cam- paign, begun right noi^', to capture the consumer. And now having said so much by way of introduction, may I suggest that I beHeve the fruit exhibition of the future ought to be like? First: To begin with the least important section, I would certainly retain the plate exhibit, but I would modify it so as to make collections more important, and I would re- quire more information from the exhibitor. If I examine a plate exhibit and find that George Drew has taken first prize on Ben Davis it doesn't teach me much, except that George grozvs that varietx- and has somehow beaten the Maine crowd on their own ground. But if a prize is ofifered for the best five conmiercial apples and I find that George Drew has entered Mclntcsh, Baldwin, Rhode Island Green- ing, Wealthy and Northern Spy, then, having great respect for Mr. Drew's opinion, I have learned something, for I know that he considers these are at least among the best commercial varieties. I also think that the plate (and still more the box or barrel) ought to give) more information to the patron of the show. It ought to give him at least the following points in regard to the fruit : 1. Locality where grown. 2. Soil. 3. Age of trees. 4. Fertilizers used. 5. Culture. Some of these might be given on the label card (as many as possible ought to be). Others might be reserved for the official report, to be printed after the show, (another reform). The man who sees that George Knapp, of Groton, took the $100 prize for the best barrel of apples at the New TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 49 England Fruit Show wants to know how Mr. Knapp grew theni. And the fellow who failed to get that prize with his harrel of Baldwins or Spies is certainly entitled to know how Knapp grew them. For the second section of the show I would enlarge and perfect the present plan of packed fruits. One greatly needed addition to our present prizes is some recognition of the small retail package ; the paste-board or corrugated box, that wnll hold anywhere from a half dozen to twO' dozen apples. Mark my word, this is a package that is coming to the front, and our first show ought to help it along by liberal prizes. And thirdly, as I have already suggested, there ought to be a well-developed and systematic plan of educating the pub- lic in the art of cooking and eating fruit. There should be a larger exhibit of fruit, cooked in every conceivable style. Most people's list of cooked apples, for example, would end with baked apples, apple pie and apple jelly. If they were once introduced to apple tapioca, apple pan-dowdy, boiled apples, apple porcupine, apple snow, Dutch apple cake, apple salad, and a dozen others that might be mentioned we wouldn't be able to supply the market for years to come. There ought also to be a "constant performance" in the way of demonstrations of cooking fruit. 'Most people are closely enough related to the Missourians so that tbey need to be "shown," and once you ha7'e shown the average house- keeper how to make Dutch apple cake or apple porcupine yon have increased the market for fruit by a very appreciable quantity. And lastly, in this campaign to increase consump- tion, we ought to give away more sample apples. Doubtless this would have tO' be handled with a great deal of judgment as to who received them and when. Probably a parting gift would be safest, but it ought to be done. Just a word now on the management of the show and I am done with the first section of my subject. First: All judging ought to be done by score card and these cards ought to be accessible to the exhibitors after the 50 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. awards have been made. There is no question' in my mind that the score-card is a great advance over the "guesging-" method. It compels the judge to concentrate his judgmnt on some one definite point and renders a decision on that alone. 'And it brings to his attention in turn each of the important points to be considered in waking up his award. The following score cards are submitted as samples : SCORE CARD FOR BARREL PACKING. FRUIT. Texture and flavor 10 Size 10 Color 15 Uniformity IS Freedom from blemishes 15 — 65 BARREL. Staves 1 Hoops 1 Heads 1 Nailing *. 2 Marking 2 — 7 PACKING. Facing 7 Tailing 6 Pressing 7 Racking 8 — 28 100 SCORE CARD FOR BOXES. Newell, National. Pres't Oregon Sears. • Apple Show, Board of Mass. Agl. Spokane. Horticulture. College. Quality 20 10 1.5 Color 20 20 15 Size 10 10 10 Uniformity • 10 10 10 Condition 20 20 20 Pack 20 30 30 Total 100 100 100 PACK (Box). Bulge 4 9 10 Alignment 4 4 3 Height of end 4 4 5 Firmness 4 9 8 Attractiveness 4 4 4 Total 20 30 30 5t Uni- Freedom from Size. Color. formity. blemishes. Quality. Total. 15 15 15 20 25 100 10 20 20 25 15 15 25 25 20 TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. PLATE SCORE CARD. Organization. I'orm. Nat'l Apple Show 10 N. E. Fruit Show 10 Ontario 15 Mass. Dept. of Pomology .... 10 10 20 15 20 25 Second: The judge ought to be allozved and required to discuss his awards with the exhibitors. I am aware that this would be a difficult sug'gestion to carry out (and I know from experience that a judge would catch the first train out of tOAv), hut I am sure that nothing would do more to recon- cile the exhibitors to their fates and to educate them for the next show than this very plan. Third : Exhibits ought to be better labeled. The visitor is entitled to know that a certain box of apples is the Wagen- er variety and was raised at Turner Hill Farm, or that a cer- tain exhibit of Baldwin apples is shown by C. E. Hardy, of Hollis, New Hampshire, in competition for Governor Foss' cup. Fourth : The present plan for demonstration is pack- ing ought to be continued and enlarged. We ought to give instruction in packing both barrels and boxes, for the former will long continue to be our most important package, and many of us still need to know how much to press them, how to lay a proper fan and how to keep the little! apples out of the middle of the barrel. Fifth : In our large shows, at least, lectures by trained men // z^'ell advertised will be a valuable feature. Sixth : And lastly, after the show has closed there ought to be a full report made, giving the Hst of exhibitors, the prize-winners in the different classes, and the information suggested a moment ago as to how and when the fruit was raised. A question which I am still in doubt upon is as to pol- ishing! Shall we polish or shall we not? Personally the un- polished apple looks better to me than the ]:)olished, but I believe that to the general public, the polished apple, particu- 52 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. laiiy wlien packed in boxes, is much more attractive. I am inclined to vote for polishing our packed fruit, at least for the present. And now just a word on the second section of my sub- ject, "Exhibition Fruit." No man who has never exhibited fruit has any adequate idea of the immense amount of work involved in selecting real prize-winning fruit. As a judge, I have often said to myself, as I examined some plate of apples: "Why didn't this man get a fifth apple as good as those four? He would have had a plate then that couldn't be beaten !" But as one who has done a small amount of exhibiting I know why he didn't ! The exhibitor is therefore entitled to all the information he can get before hand. Now, while he is tO' a certain extent at the mercy of the judge, yet I believe that if the score-card method is used, and particularly if we discuss and define some of its points more fully, the exhibit can know fairly accurately what to expect in the judging. And I want to urge this point, that the score-card be based on commercial considerations. We include in it, or tr\ to include in it. all those factors which inrtuence the apple buyer in making his purchases, and we try to give these points the relative importance which the buyer gives them. In the score-card suggested we have first "form," which means the normal shape or form of the vari- ety. It simplv recognizes that the buyer does not like ill- shaped apples. Second, we have size. Good size indicates care and skill in growing the fruit ; but, in my opinion, many judges give too much weight to size. I not only believe that a plate or box of apples should not receive the first place merely be- cause the apples are large, but I believe that large size above a certain point, is detrimental, and ought to he scorea against. For example, in the Baldwin, I believe that the ideal size is about ten inches in circumference or three and one-quarter inches in diameter and that above that size TJi'BNTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 53 should be scored ai^ainst. I know this will seem rank heresy to most of you. but I am sure it is not. For the medium- sized apple is the best in quahty and when our consumers are educated, as they ought to be, you will no longer see. as you do now, the price increase just in proportion as the size does. If anyone doubts the inferiority of the over-grown apples, let him select some very large and some medium-sized speci- mens of any variety and test the matter. He will find the big apple invariably coarser in texture and usually poorer in quality. The third item in- our score is cohr, which ought to be clear, bright and attractive and cliaracteristic of the variety! As a rtile, the most highly colored specimen should get the prize, other things being equal. But I believe that it is pos- sible to overdo this matter of color and get too dark a spec- imen. A Wealthy, for example, which is so highly colored as to obscure altogether the characteristic stripes of that variety I believe should be scored down. And in such varieties as Rhode Island Greening, where there are two distinct types called for by the market. I believe that we ought either to make two sections in our prize list or else have it distinctly understood that color is not to be considered in making the awards. Our fourth point is uniformit}' and the importance of this rests merely on the fact that a lot of fruit which is uni- form in size, color, shape and ripeness is more attractive than one which lacks a uniformity. I believe that this is an- other point which is frequently over-emphasized. The fifth point, freedom from blemishes, includes ev- erything that damages the appearance or value of the fruit. Blemishes which indicate neglect in the orchard, such as San Jose Scale, or which really damages the fruit, as a worm- hole or bruise, ought to be scored more severely than a blemish like spray injury, which is due to over-care. And sixth, we have quality. This is sometimes omit- ted from the score-card, on the ground that it is not deter- mined by the judges. But I believe that here in New Eng- 54 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. land, where we are making a campaign on quality, it ought to be emphasised in our score-card and insisted on in our judging. And to this end I beHeve that every plate should have an extra apple on it for the use of the judge to deter- mine quality. If it were nearer time for selecting fruit for exhibition I should like to sa)- something as to the choosing of such' fruit. It ought to be taken directly from the trees and about four times as many specimens selected as will ever be used. Gather it with a "picker" and handle it like eggs. And then, in the final "heat," stick as closely as possible to the score- card requirements ! Let me say in closing that I believe in the Fruit Ex- hibition. I 'believe that it has a mission to perform which no other agency can accomplish. As a means of education, as a method of advertising, and especially as an instrument to inspire and enthuse our orchard men it deserves a prom- inent place in the orchard campaign of New England ! At this point Vice-President Drew took the chair. The Vice-President: We have still a few moments which we can devote to a discussion of this excellent paper before we adjourn for lunch. It will be a good opportunity to question PrO'fessor Sears, and I am sure he will be glad to answer any questions that may be given to him. A Member: I would like to ask Professor Sears if he does not think that apples which are of a medium size are better for packing instead of trying to pack them as we find them here on the stage? Professor Sears : I think there is no doubt about that. The nearer you can come to uniformity, why, of course, the better the packing appears, but what I meant in bringing that point out was, we cannot be quite so critical in the larg- er package as we are in the single specimens. I think there is no question but that boxes and barrels where the speci- mens run uniform in size are much more attractive than where you have various colors, sizes and shapes. TWENTY-FIRST ANHUAL MEETING. 55 The Vice-P'resident : Any more questions? We want to work Professor Sears for all he is worth. This is a very vital matter to the fruit growers of Connecticut. A Membkr : What difference does it make in the profit between the large size and the small size as you show it there ? Professor Sears : You mean this, that I suggested as the ideal size? This one? A Member: Yes sir. Professor Sears : I am not sure, but I think, as a matter of fact, that this one (indicating a medium-size, well-colored apple ) will bring more money than the other, (indicating a big apple). And that is one of the things to taJce into consideration. Of course, when it comes to the matter of fixing the price, you get all you can for either one. Mr. Hollister: I would like to ask a question about the judging of Greenings. It may put Professor Sears in a somewhat embarrassing position, but we all know when we go to a local fair we see some high colored Greenings and some green Greenings, and the judge has got to decide which one he shall give the prize to. There has been some discussion about that difference of color in Greenings, and T would like to ask Professor Sears to touch upon that. Professor Sears : My idea about that rs that the rules of judging ought to be announced beforehand. Either you oiight to say you will pay no attention to color, and if one variety of Greening is highly colored and the other is per- fectly green, then you better let that matter of color rest al- together. Of course, you knew what the public taste as to that differs in different localities. For instance, you take two sections. Here is one section for Boston which likes a little blush on the apple, and the New York Greening is just a green Greening. Of course, it is difficult sometimes to decide, to know just what to exhibit. You have got to know your judge to a certain extent, because a judge who likes a greenish Greening is going to be prejudiced against the liigher color, and it seems to me that that ought to be 56 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. distinctly stated if we have g-ot those two things to deal with, or else color should be ignored altogether. A Member : The real Rhode Island Greening has a sort of yellowish tinge or blush to it, while the common run of Greening is simply green throughout. I think there are two varieties of Greenings, and that should be noted whether you are going to- call for all of one kind, for all of Rhode Island Greenings, with reddish cheeks, and that pe- culiar yellow tinge, — O'f course, it is not yellow, but a yel- lowish tinge, but it is that that distinguishes it from the other. Professor Sears : I think that should be known in advance, so as to give every one a fair opportunity. Of course, there are some three or four different grades or types in Greenings. There is a- very well established dif- ference. In the case of the Rhode Island Greening there is this well-established difference that has been spoken of in the marking and coloTing- of the fruit. And in that case it seems to me you ought tO' recognize that any exhibitor is at the mercy of the judge, who goes along through, looks the fruit over, and throws out some which is undoubtedly very fine fruit, but condemns it because it has not any of this coloring which the judge likes to find on that variety. That is not at all fair to the exhibitor. It ought to be definitely understood in advance. The Vice-President: There is time for one more question. A Member : I would like to ask Professor Sears a question. Can apples be kept under ordinary farm storage methods and have them come out in as good condition as these apples that we have here on the stage? Professor Sears : I think you had better ask that question of someone who knows where these apples came from. I do not know what kind of storage they were kept in. I will say. however, that I have seen ordinary farm storage apples fully as good as these, and which have been kept fully as late. TWENTY-FIRST A^fNUAL MEETING. 57 A Member: Is cold storage necessary? That is the real point. • . - Professor Sears : I do not think it is. Not in the sense in which I understand you use the term. I do not know where these apples came from. The Vice-President: Mr. Root, a gentleman here wants to know how these apples that are shown here are kept. I was wondering whether you would say a few words on that subject, as to whether these apples were kept in ordinary storag'e or in cold storage. Mr. Root : I think those were not kept in cold stor- age. If they had been in cold storage, I think there is very little doubt but what they would have been scalded. Of course, it depends on the storage, and how careful you are to take care of them. The Vice-President: I think that is the great trou- ble with Greenings. Where Greenings have been held over until January and February they have usually begun to scald. A Member : My experience has been that my apples have kept pretty well, and I keep them in bins. The\- are both Greenings of the colors that have been spoken of here. Neither one is scalded. If they are' not picked early they will scald no matter whether vou have them m cold storage or outside. Mr. Forbes : I have in my cellar to-day. which is an ordinary house cellar, Greenings which have kept Just as bright and fine as they were when taken from the tree, and they are in barrels. The Vice-President: And you say that they are be- ing kept in ordinary cellar storage? Mr. Forbes : Yes sir. The Vice-President : The trouble with scalding. T think, has been more in cold storage than in the other. Some people have called my attention to the fact that Greenings that have not been barreled up have not scalded as badly as where they have been barreled up. 58 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Kelsey : Gentlemen, there is a principle here which you seem to overlook. It is nature's law that anything shall first mature and then decay. If you will pick your Greenings a little earlier, before the ripening process has become complete, and then keep them> cold, not as cold as in the case of some other apples, but cold enough to prevent that ripening process from going on, you will not have any trouble. Greenings will not stand cold storage as well as the ordinary varieties of red apples. We have tO' retard this ripening process. You can take anv fruit or vegetable and after a certain length of time it will mature its growth and mature its seed, following nature's law. for the ripening oi the fruit or vegetable and then decay. So it is with any of these things, either fruit or vegetables, if you wish to keep them you must retard that process. Take a squash, and when it is picked before, that process is completed, you can retard its decay by keeping it froui becoming ripe. Now in the case of Greenings, you should begin sometime in August. The Greening is sometimes a fall apple. This year it was a fall apple, whether up into New York state or in Connecti- cut. A Member : I noticed that the gentleman said that his information was that a Greening required a higher tempera- ture to maintain it in the best condition, at least that is what I understood him to say, that a Greening would not stand as low a temperature as some of the red apple varieties. I would like to ask if that is based upon any demonstration or test in cold storage and is known as an absolute fact. Has that been shown by any cold storage test under careful su- pervision ? Mr. Kelsey : That is a fact that I gathered from ex- perience with cold storage in the state of Ohio, and I pre- sume it is as good in New England. Mr. Robertson: Might I say, Mr. Chairman, that there is more trouble with scald down in the eastern part of the state than there is in some other sections. Then, too, there is more scald this year than in anv other recent vear. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 59 The dry season, especially in the early part of the season, and then the excessive rain which we had undoubtedly had something to do witli it. T find more scald down in that part of the state. Mr. Ells\\'orth : A number of years ago I was told by a gentleman down in Providence, Rhode Island, that Greenings should be picked in September. I followed that in picking from my trees of that variety and I have never had such good ones before or since. The Vice-President : I think it is a fact that Green- ings are sometimes left too long on the tree. Greenings should be picked before r)aldwins, or some of the other vari- eties. Now is there anything further to bring up at this time? Secretary Mile.s : I would like to announce that Mr. Castner has been brought on here at considerable expense by this Society from Hood River, Oregon, that famous apple region that we have all heard so much about, and he is giv- ing a demonstration of apple packing down in the hall below. We want to work him for all he is worth. At one o'clock he is going to start on a further demonstration in packing. The A'ice-Presidext : The meeting will be continued in this hall at half-past one, and at that time the apple-pack- ing demonstration will cease. We would like to have ev- erybody here at half-past one this afternoon. At twelve-thirty the meeting adjourned until the af- ternoon session. 6o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. AFTERNOON SESSION. The convention came to order for the afternoon ses- sion at one-thirty, President Rogers in the chair. The at- tendance was a record-breaker, every seat in the main floor being filled and the crowd overflowing into the galler>'. The large audience was an interested one and gave close attention to the many splendid addresses and discus- sions. The stage presented a fine appearance, the decoration^ having been completed during the noon recess. The front of the stage was banked with a grand display of apples, in boxes, baskets and mounds, and with a background of palms and flowering plants made a picture not soon forgotten. President Rogers : Gentlemen, please come to order and we will beg'in our program. We will take up some of these questions which are printed on the program until the people get together a little moTe. Question No. 1 : "What fertilizer, if any, will assist in giving a high color to apples ?'' Perhaps some of us apple growers would say at the present time that slag was the best thing to use, but we have only used it for a few years and I am not ready to say that slag is the only thing that will add color. The last few, years we have had dry, sunny weather in ripening up apples, and that has helped in getting the good ruddy color on them. I believe in using the slag in some places, because I think you can produce a better colored fruit than you can if you do not use that particular fertilizer. If there is anyone here who would like to have any par- ticular questions brought up we would like to hear from them. The next question which follows is No. 2: "Which is better as a fertilizer for fruit, basic slag or ground bone and lime ?'' TWENTY-riRST ANNUAL MEETING. 61 I guess all of us have been using some lime. 1 have been using it for about fifteen years. A Member: What do you use, the lime rock? President Rogers : I first got common skiked lime from mason builders. When I first began to use it I could get it for practically nothing. Take a team and they would load vou up with a load of lime ; but you cannot do it to-day. Question No. 3: "After Baldwin and Spy what is the best red winter apples to plant in Connecticut?" A jMember : I have one tree that has got one limb on of Spies. That is all the Spies! have, but if I could get a crop equal to what I had this year I would grow more Spies. President Rogers: In Vermont, — I Avas there last year — I saw some of the nicest Spy apples I ever inspected. The people there told me they could grow them fully as good as Baldwins. If they will grow and produce as well as Baldwins, I think I should grow more Spies. It is cer- tainly a fine apple, to use in most any way. Question No. 4: "What caused Greenings to ripen and scald so early the past season?" Mr. Kelsey, can you answer that question ? Mr. Kelsey : I tried to answer that this morning. President Rogers : Before we go any further on this program we would like it very much if when a gentleman arises to answer a question, or to ask a question, if he would give us his full name. We have a reporter here w^ho^ is tak- ing the proceedings for our annual report, and we would like to get in each man's name, if possible. These questions and answers are not much good for our report unless we have the gentleman's name to enter in the record. So please give us your name when you arise. Mr. Kelsey : The natural time of the ripening of the Greening when left on the tree, or on the ground, as nature would have it, would be in October. The Greening, which matures its size and seed about the first of November, would then be past its commercial value. Those sixty days may be lengthened into six months bv the process of cooling and 62 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. keeping it cold. Last summer was exceptional, because it was excessively hot during a portion of the season, so that Greenings that ordinarily would have matured about the fif- teenth of September were ready for picking along the last of August. We did not begin to pick in many cases soon enough, and perhaps in other cases we let the sun shine on them a time after they were picked. They should be picked and then put in a cool place, and the earlier you pick after they begin to be straw-colored the longer you can retard the ripening process. That was the trouble with the Greenings this last year. President Rogers : We would be glad to hear from some one else in regard to this. But if there are no others, we will take up the next question. Question No. 7 : What can be done with the neighbors who do not spray and leave the ground covered with rotting fruit full of worms?" Mr. Forbes : I would like to ask, Mr. President, if there is any law which would apply ? Is there a law which would comipel him to clean up his orchard? President Rogers : Not that I know of. Mr. Forbes : Then there ought to be. President Rogers : There oug-ht to be some way of getting at that. Question No. 8: "What is the experience of members in using peaches as fillers for apples?" I suppose that refers to setting out peach trees between apples. Mr. Piatt, can you say a word on that? Mr. Platt: Some years ago, Mr. Chairman, w^e plant- ed an orchard, an apple orchard with peach fillers. That was some eighteen years ago. It did very well, and we got very good crops of peaches for six or eight years. When the peaches were eight years old we took them out, and we have had a very fine apple orchard ever since. The trees are about forty feet apart. It has been a good orchard and we have had good results. Before we had some very good crops of peaches on tbe land. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 63 Prof. Gulley : Mr. President, I do not agree with the opinion that it is desirable to plant peaches among apple trees. I am giving up that idea. It may have been success- ful a number of years ag'o, but to-day it is out of the ques- tion, it seems to me, when we depend so much on spraying and the use of fertilizers for the good success of either crop. Further than that, we all know that the peach tree re- quires different spraying and it requires entirely different fertilizer. We have got to give peach trees the treatment they require to get the best results. How are you going to give apple trees the best cultivation, and how are you going to handle peach trees tq thef best advantage under that meth- od ? I do not see it. President Rogers : We would like to hear further on this subject in regard to planting peaches and apples to- gether. Mr. Kelsey : I would hke to inquire of the last speak- er what particular apple he would recommend. Prof. Gulley : I am putting in some Wagner and Jonathan, but if I was going to use more fillers I think Wealthy and Dutchess would do well. President Rogers: It seems to me that in some places in the state, where we can g-row peaches to good ad- vantage on our high hills, we cannot afford to set our or- chards wholly to apples. That is the way I figure it out at the present time. I believe in some sections where it is not as good for peach growing I would set out apples in pre- ference to the peaches. Where I am located I am ready to give up some good peach land to apples wholly. I believe the two can be grown together successfully. In fact, the only way I have made my success is by growing both to- gether. Up to the present time I have depended on my peaches for my money crop. Of course, now we have got quite a lut of peach land set to old trees, so we haven't any more availaible peach land. Of course, this year, as you all know, we are not going to have a great many peaches in the state of Connecticut, for, if the indications prove right. 64 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the way it looks at the present time, the buds have been pretty much' all destroyed by the cold weather, but I think the good old apple will still come through in the state of Con- necticut all right. Now is there anv other question on this list that you would like to call up? If not. we will take up the first ad- dress of the afternoon. A Member : Number 22, Mr. President. President Rogers : "Is the dry form of arsenate of lead equal to the paste form as an insecticide ?" Who can answer that question in regard to the ad- vantages of the dry form over the paste form? Prof. Gulley : I should advise the paste form by all means, regardless of some of the advantages that are claimed for the powdered. I do not get any effect at all from the dry form. We did not discover it until later when we tried it, so we practically lost the benefit of our first spray- ing. It is much easier to handle. I would not use the other at all until we can use it to better advantage than we do now. I know there is some of the dry arsenate used, but we prefer the paste. A Member : The third question. Mr. Giairman. President Rogers : "After Baldwin and Spy, what is the best red winter apple to plant in Connecticut?" We had that up once. It is a good question. Professor Gulley, can you answer that? Prof. Gulley : I do not know. Tliat is a hard ques- tion to answer. Either one of them is a mighty good apple, under the right conditions. I do not believe I should plant any other. I do not see any reason to change. President Rogers: Just leave the Spy out of it. and vou are all right. Plant Baldwins. I will agree with you there. President Rogers : I do not know as we ought to de- vote anv more time just now to these questions. We will take up the program and listen to the first address of the af- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 65 ternoon on "New York Methods of Growing- and Marketing: Apples.'' ^^'e have a gentleman here from the g-reat fniit growing state of New York. A great many of you have seen him and met him. I have the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. Lloyd S. Tenny of Hilton, New York, who will speak on this subject. New York Methods of Growing and Marketing Apples. By Lloyd S. Tenny, Hilton, N. Y. Mr. Chairman and Members 'of the Connecticut Pomolooical Society : I esteem it quite a privilege and pleasure to be with you to-day, and while I think it is asking a good deal of a New York man to come to Connecticut and try to tell you any- thing new regarding orcharding, yet I am here, and I shall attempt to give you something of our methods. Some of them are good and some of them are bad. While I shall talk about both, I feel safe in saying that you will all say that as to the good methods they are just the ones that you are all using, while as to the bad, you absolutely never heard of them before. (Laughter). I hope that is true. It would be very interesting indeed for us this after- noon if we could spend some little time in studying the de- velopment and liistory of the apple industry in the great Em- pire State, but we cannot go into that to any great extent. Suffice it to say, that our home garden orchards date back to a very early period in our history. We have an account of these little home gardens being planted around the home places back in the 1700's, and we have a very good account of a variety of seedlings which developed, or which came from those i:)lantings very early in the history of our state, and that indicates one thing, namely, that in New York state certain localities were especially favored as to their fruit growing possibilities. Very early these little home gardens 66 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. and orchards developed varieties of fruit and develo])ed the character of fruit, developed color and quality m fruit, not alone in the apple, but in the peach, pear, grape and cherry, which very soon indicated that New York state was g"oing to 'be a great commercial fruit growing state, and commer- cial apple growing did not oome in until along in the last century, when we find that there were some rather large plantings. That was further developed in the early half of the nineteenth century, but it was not until about 1850 to 1860, just following the Civil War, that we find any of our great commercial orchards put out. Possibly the farmers did not depend upon those orchards for their money returns at tliat time as much as we depend on them to-day. We hear it said that the codling moth and the various other insect pests that we hear so much about now were not so prevalent in those days. Pos- sibly they were not, but I am rather of the opinion that the farmers of that time did not observe conditions with suffi- cient care. They were not dependent upon fruit for their bread and butter to as great an extent as they were on wheat, corn, and the other staples of life. We were making our money in those days and paying our interest and taxes from those crops, and our fruit was more of a side issue, but the time came when those great commercial plantings of 1850 to 1860 came into bearing. A great many of them, planted a Httle later, came into bearing along in 1880, and then the farmers began to see that they were getting a fine crop, that they were making lots of money from it, and then they be- gan to wake up. But here was the trouble, — they began to find that it was impossible to depend upon the apple orchard as a steady income producer. It was erratic. They foimd that their orchards bore one year and not the next, and, in consequence, they began to depend less and less upon their apple crop, and so we find that from 1880 to 1885 and 1890 there came in a period which we may well call a period of depression in the fruit industry. These large orchards had come into bearing and should have been giving good returns, but they were not depended upon just at that time, and the TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 67 farmers had discovered, as I have ah^eady indicated, that there were a great many apple pests which had got to be fought and overcome if the crop was to be relied upon. Now what happened? There were hundreds of those fine old Bald- win orchards planted from 1880 to 1890 which fell under the axe, and which were converted into stove wood. Just at that time, however, a great discovery was made, and that was the discovery of spraying, and we have all witnessed the devel- opment of our methods leading to the control of insects and our methods of control of fungus diseases. That was a re- markaible period in the history of the apple industry, because our fungicides and insecticides had their greatest develop- ment about that time. We are not ashamed of the place that our scientific men in Xew York have had, or of the place that our farmers have had in the development of scientific spray- ing. New York state, — and I feel sure that none of you will contradict me in this — has been a leader, and is still in the lead, in what we might call progressive fruit growing. Up to 1890 we were going backward, but then we foimd those things that we thought were necessary evils were really things that w^ere within our control. We found that we could save our apple crop, and that we could increase the percentage of yield of marketable fruit to a ver\^ great ex- tent. In fact, that we could make it or that we could spoil it, that we could do just about as we wanted to do, and when we came to that conclusion then a great change came over the fruit industry. When we got that feeling widespread among the cotmtry people, when this feeling of confidence was scattered abroad to a great extent, then we began to find our apple business on a firm foundation. There it re- mains until the present time. The Location of the Apple Industry in New York. A few words here about the location of the apple in- dustry and the varieties in bearing in New York. The home orchard, at least, is found pretty much in all portions of the state. There are large commerical plantings along lx)th 68 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. sides of the Hudson River, in the Lake Champlain district, and in various sections all through Northern New York. A few also through the central portion of the state, and last, but not least, in western New York, especially in those coun- tries bordering on Lake Ontario from Oswego on the east to the Niagara RiA-er on the west. In this narrow section is produced the great bulk of the apples grown in the state. Here, too, will be found the largest plantings of young stock, although much has been done in this way in many other sections. As to the varieties in our bearing orchards ; Baldwin leads by far. Professor Beach, in his book "The Apples of New York," says : "Probably more Baldwin apples are put upon the mar- ket than all other kinds in the state together. Rhode Is- land Greening ranks next in importance. It is doubtless speaking within bounds to say that these two varieties sup- ply at least two-thirds of the apple growers for market in New York. Next in general importance comes Northern Spy. Among other important kinds, beside the three just named, are Tompkins' King, Roxbury, Golden Russet, Hub- bardston, Esopus Spitzenburg, Black Gilliflower, Ben Davis, Tolman Sweet, and Twenty Ounce — " This list was made up nearly ten years ago and the less important varieties, at least, would need some re-arranging. Cultural Conditions of the Present. We come now to the practical side of our subject. What are we farmers doing in New York state in the way of growing apples? Naturally, in a large measure, what I have to say will apply chiefly to the work on the farms of the more progressive fruit men. Unfortunately, this standard is not reached by all. Yet it is surprising what advances have been made during recent years until now there are entire lo- calities where practically every farmer is an up-to-date pro- gressive fruit grower. TWENT\ -.FIRS T A NN UA I. MEE TING. 69 Handling a Young Fruit Orchard. As already stated, there is scarcely a section in New York state, where there has not been some sort of a move- ment toward larger fruit planting's during the past few years. This lias proibably reached its height in the Lake Ontario district, where, from surveys made by students from Cornell University, it is found that out of a total of over ninety-nine thousand apple trees in one township over twenty-one thousand of these had been set in the five years from 1904 to 1908. This rate has not diminisihed in this sec- tion since 1908. One may well inquire — in all these acres of young or- chard, w^hat are the varieties which are being set in largest number, and what ground have we for making our decision. Until very recently, at least, the desire to get quick returns has been of prime importance, hence large numbers of ear- ly bearing varieties have been put out. Duchess, Alexander, Wagener and Hubbardston have all been planted extensive- ly. In some sections the Twenty Ounce has ^lore thani held its ow^n, but the districts where the Twenty Ounce is grown are very limited. A large number of Spy trees have been set, but the majority of them were used with the intention of top working to soine other variety. The Rhode Island Greening has also been used largely. Comparatively few Kings have been set, as far as I know personally. Baldwin has been planted, but usually not in large blocks. The move- ment, now, however, is more and more toward using the^e old-time money-making varieties rather than the newer un- tried ones. Baldwin is to-day being set ver\^ extensively. Probably a good many Spy trees put out, originally with the intention of top working, will be left as they are, or possi- bly grafted to Baldwin or King. ]\IcIntO!sh is another ap- ple which is demanding considerable attention at the present time. yo THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. To]' Working Young Trees. ^^'ith regard to top working young trees, most New -York growers are not over enthusiastic at the present time. In theory it seems to be a g-ood idea, but when it comes to practice, it has not worked well in many cases. A single il- lustration will suffice to show one of many things which may happen. The orchard was set in the spring of 1907. Most varieties were set as ultimately desired, but in one small block Spy stock was used, the owner intending to top work. 'He did so by body grafting the following spring. Bud moths were very plentiftil. Result — Less than one quarter of the graft made a good stand. The process of top working was continued from time to time, until in the spring of 1911 — one-third of tlie trees in the block were pulled out and re- placed witli new trees of the variety desired. In tbe mean- time, other trees set at the time of the original planting and not top worked have become splendid specimens, and pro- duced in many cases in 1910 and 1911 from thirty to forty apples each. Whip grafting was not employed in this or- chard. Some growers are meeting with good success by us- ing this method. The writer secured over ninety-five suc- cessful stands in one orchard b\' budding two hundred northwestern Greenings, inserting the bud high in the trunk. Where the bud failed to succeed, the trees were in no way injured and can be grafted in the branches at any time now. Pretty much all the young orchards are being set with fillers. In the peach growing sections, peach trees are used extensively, and with splendid success, notwithstanding the advice of many good men. In the Hilton district, where peach fillers are used very extensi^■ely, there are man}- young orchards four, five and six years of age, with the apple trees in the very best condition, already beginning to put on fruit in commercial fjuantities, while the peach trees have been carrying the expense of the orchard since the third or fourth years, and after that making good profit for the owner. In one block of two and one-half acres, where the owner has TWENTY -FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 71 kept prett\- careful records, the sales from the peach orchard during- the fourth year amounted to about two liundred dol- lars. In the fifth year the sum reached seven hundred and fiftv dollars, while at the close of the next year, the owner had a net sum of oiie thousand and ninety dollars to the cred- it of the block, making a total net sale of over two thousand dollars at the end of the sixth year. While these fine sales were being made from the peach fillers, he was also g-ro'wing a young- apple orchard, which slicws indications of putting oil a fine bloom another spring, even with such varieties as Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, and King. In the entire state the system more g-enerally employed is to use other apples for fillers, especially those so-called early bearing varieties. At the present time Wealthy and Mcintosh probably lead. Four or five years ago Duchess was heavily planted. In some sections it still continues to hold its own. Kings are employed frequently chiefly because of the small size of an old tree. If apples are used for fillers, the plantings are seldom, if ever, closer than twenty by twenty. More frequently the distance is twenty-five by twenty-five, in which case the diagonal system of planting is used, espe- cially in all cases where the trees are of medium or small size. One-half the trees under this system will ultimately be cut out, solid rows being- cut diagonally across the field. This system gives a distance between the permanent trees of be- tween thirty-five and thirty-six feet. Another point in favor of this system of planting, which carries weight with the New York farmer, is that it is not necessary to determine which of the two varieties planted together will ultimately be left. This gives the owner an opportunity of planting one of the old time varieties and also one of the newer varieties, but it does not require him to determine now which he will want in his permanent orchard. If peaches are used for fillers, the distance apart will be not over twenty feet, more often it is eighteen. The rect- angular method of planting is used, where every other tree on one row is a permanent, and each alternating one a filler 72 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. while the next row is composed of all fillers. Out of four trees, three of them are peaches and one is an apple. More two-year-old trees by far have been set out than one-year-old. The younger tree is gaining in favor, how- ever, and large blocks of one-year-old apples are being put out. The trees are headed medium low, about thirty inches on an average. In nnost instances, both roots and tops are being trimmed, at time of setting. From that time on, how- ever, the young trees are left pretty much alone, as far as pruning goes, until they begin to come into bearing. Branch- es which cross are taken out and there is some thinning, but almost no cutting back of the new growth. Farm Crops in Young Orchards. Most farmers are growing some crops between the trees for a few years at least. Potatoes, beans, cabbage, and com are used extensively. The tree rows are kept thoroughly cul- tivated. It is not uncommon to see a hay crop between the rows, but it is an unusual sight at the present time to see a young orchard planted and kept for any time within the sod. A good many of the more progressive fruit men, who have kept record of expenses and sales on these various crops in- terplanted, have come to doubt the advisability of growing field crops in an orchard, and unless it is necessary for finan- cial reasons, a considerable number are giving up the prac- tice and simply keep all the soil between the rows thorough- ly cultivated, except while cover crops are growing. Tlie question of cover cropsi for New York orchards will be dis- cussed in detail somewhat later in this paper. The writer de- sires, however, to mention here a practice of cover cropping which is used quite extensively in some sections for growing orchards, especially where they have been placed on light and poor soil. The ground is plowed in the spring and kept thor- oughly cultivated until late spring, when corn is drilled in. A coating of manure may have been used in order to produce a good stand of corn. In the late summer when the corn has reached a rank growth, but before showing any signs of ri- TWENTY.FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 73 pening, it is plowed under — a heavy chain being needed to pull the corn under. Immediately a cover crop is sown. This may be simply rye or turnips, or some of the mixtures recom- mended where a leguminous plant is included. Personally, I am not ver\' familiar with this method of procedure, but it was my pleasure to examine several young orchards this fall where the system had been used, and better cover crops on a young orchard I never saw before. Returns From Young Orchards. Before leaving the subjects of planting and caring for young orchards, some of you might like tO' know what re- turns New York fruit growers are getting from their young apple orchards. We are not making independent fortunes from apples set four and five years. Neither is it necessary for us to wait fifteen years for our first commiercial crop. We are getting apples from three-year-old trees — sometimes as man}- as thirty or forty. At five years a few have report- ed a crop equal to a barrel. At seven years it is not uncom- mon to have trees producing a barrel of fruit, even a barrel of Baldv/ins. But the average gro-wer is ncvt doing that. At nine years, however, our trees may be considered as being to a bearing age. Some of our New York men may think, and doubtless will, that I am placing this age too high. There are exceptions, but for the rank and file, commercial crops need not be looked for much before the trees have been out nine years. This is for the average varieties, Wagener, Ren Davis, Yellow Transparent, and some others will bear sooner. The following is taken from a letter from Mr. Samuel Fraser and gives very definitely some interesting facts con- cerning the production of apples from young trees: 'Tn regard to early bearing. I can give you individual trees if they will help. One Mcintosh four years old bore fifty apples in 1911. It was a top-worked tree, too. having been budded. A Baldwin four years planted, not top- worked, bore seventy, and other trees bore twenty to thirty. At Avon, Mr. M. E. Ross, agent of Mr. Herbert Wads- 74 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. worth's estate, had Hiibbardston trees four years planted which bore a bushel, one hundred and twenty-six apples, and almost all the Baldwin trees in the orchard, which is a small one, had from three to thirty apples on. In 1911 this same orchard had trees in it, five years planted, in which a Baldwin bore half a barrel ; that is, one barrel was picked from two trees, and all the Baldwins had some on. The Hubbardston all bore some fruit, bearinc^ quantities up to a bushel per tree. The Boiken, four years planted, at the Fall Brook farms bore a sprinkling of apples, from three to ten to a tree, four years planted. Wagener had three to six apples on. three years after planting. I have had Wealthy trees, three years planted, bear forty-five good apples. Yellow Trans- parent, four years planted, practically every tree of two hun- dred, had two or three apples on, some of them would have a dozen. Some Greening trees, three years planted, would have one on. Now I do not want to infer that our four-year- olds have borne a crop; it would not look like a crop, but certainly in the orchard at Avon, the trees bore a crop which was worth consideration, because they were a financial suc- cess. Mr. J. J. Barden, of Stanley, had trees of Ben Davis, seven years planted, which had two barrels on." Handling a Bearing Orchard. We have spent a lot of time before getting to that por- tion of our subject which will doubtless be of greatest inter- est to many of voii, namely, the care of a bearing orchard. Fortunately, we have some very definite information on many points taken from fruit surveys of dififerent counties, made and published by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell University. I have read these reports for much in- formation, supplementing it by what I have gained first hand from our own section and through observation in other lo- calities. New York has many neglected orchards — not as many, by far, as there were six or eight years ago, but still too many. These orchards may as well be omitted from our discussions, for a neglected orchard in New York is just like TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 75 one in Illinois or anywhere else. Tt is a sad thing to see. When you look at it and consider the possibilities wrapped up therein, a sorrow, deep indeed, wells up within you ; that any man could own, in the day of progressive fruit growing, a field on which there had been growing for all these years such possibilities and yet he willingly neglected them. Tillage. The question of tillage is of prime importance. The best growers in New York, in general, are believers in thorough cultivation. There are a few strong exceptions, and in some instances, at least, these men have good grounds for their belief in the sod mulch practice. It is necessary to get clear- ly in mind for what we cultivate — primarily with us it is for the purpose of conserving the moisture in the soil and also to prepare the soil for root activity. If an orchard is located •on soil which is naturally very fertile and where there is therefore an abundance of plant food, cultivation may then not be needed for that purpose. If the orchard has also the advantage of being on a soil naturally moist, it may not be necessary to cultivate at all : cultivation, in fact, may be under these conditions a distinct disadvantage. But most of our farmers have not these conditions, and in order to get crops, and to secure size, it is necessary to cultivate, and do it thor- oughly. In Monroe County, practically one-third of all the apple orchards are cultivated every year. Nearly another third is' cultivated at least three years out of five. Beginning with a fall when there is no cover crop upon the ground, the orchard is either plowed that fall or early the next spring. Some of our best orchardists practice regularly fall plowing. This process aids considerably in the rush of spring work, for when the orchard has been plowed before winter, then a disk harrow is put on as early in the spring as possible. Thorough cultivation is then practiced until mid- summer. The spring-tooth harrow is used extensively. When the soil is very fine and the rains are not heavy, a spike-tooth drag, or even a weeder, may be used. All the 76 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ground is plowed and cultivated, even up to the tree trunks, and these are hoed about. After cultivation stops, many farmers simply allows the weeds to form a cover crop, either sow buckwheat, cow- horned turnips, rye, etc. The practice of sowing a legumi- nous cover crop is preached more than it is practiced. Fruit men have become discouraged largely because of the failure to get a good stand of clover when it is put in after the mid- dle of summer. A few men have tried putting in their cover crops earlier in the summer — in fact, soon after the orchards were plowed and at the time when the trees were putting on their rankest growth. As far as I can learn, the method has met with success. A good stand has been secured, which was plowed under early the following spring. When the cover crop is sown late in the summer, then it is not plowed under until late the following spring, or it may be left over that entire summer. A cover crop made up of cow-horned turnips, oats, and clover or vetch is coming into popularity of late. Comniercial fertilizers are being used somewhat, es- pecially in certain sections of the state, but many good grow- ers are meeting with success without the use of any commer- cial fertilizers. Stable manure is always used when availa- ble. A good many cars of this are shipped into Hilton each year from Buffalo. The manure costs from eighteen to twenty-four dollars a car of from fifteen to twent}- large loads, the freight is twelve dollars per car. At these figures we consider it well worth buying. It is difficult to secure, hewever, and has to be ordered a long time in advance. Spraying. We try to spray thoroughly. Practically every fruit grower has a gasoline power outfit. The San Jose scale is quite generally scattered over the state, so there is first the dormant spray, using lime-sulphur one to nine or ten. The commercial brands are used quite generally, but some boil their own. The second spraying comes just as soon before blossoming as possible. The cluster buds are beginning to TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 77 break apart before the spraying is finished. The hnie-sulphur solution is applied about l-v30 this time. Growers differ some- what in their practice at the third application. Some employ the poison spray, using enough to thoroughly cover the clos- ing buds. Other men add the lime-sulphur at 1-35-40, or even 50, and try to spray light enough so that the leaves will not drip at any time. A fourth spraying is made when the ap- ples are about the size of hickory nuts, and many make a fifth application. Some growers are still using Bordeaux, but lime- sulphur has come to be pretty generally adopted. Arsenate •of lead is used for the insecticide, taking from two and one- half to four pounds per fifty gallons. The poison, at greater or less strength, is used at each spraying. Growers had con- siderable difficulty in controlling the codling moth this past season, even with so-called thoroug-h method of spraying. Thinning Fruit. Only a few of our better growers are beginning to practice the custom of thinning their apples. Those who are are satisfied beyond measure. The thinning is done in July and August, ladders are used, and the entire tree is gone over. Such varieties as Northern Spy and Twent}- Ounce are trimmed to one apple in a cluster. There are never more than two apples of an}- variety left in a cluster. All poor apples, from whatever cause, are taken off. Harvesting the Crop. The labor for harvesting consists largely of outside help. With us this is the so-called "hobo." He is the fellow who works in a factory, mine, etc., and who gravitates year after year to that section in order to pick apples. He treats it as his vacation. Many of them make good laborers, others are useless. Some growers pay by the barrel, at the rate of a shill- ing or fifteen cents per barrel. A good many growers pay one dollar and fifty cents per day, and board the men. Many farm- ers are now equipped with cheap boarding or lodging houses. 78 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The apples are, for the most part, packed in the orchard, although some are using a central packinghouse, and they find it successful. The fruit is packed immediately after picking. After packing it is drawn to the cold storage or car, in gener- al, the pack of one day being in storage the following day, at least. Methods of Selling. If the market is strong, much of the fruit is sold by the farmers before harvest. The sales are based either on a packed barrel or on a barrel of tree run fruit. Under the fruit method the grower packs his own fruit ; under the sec- ond the grower picks the fruit and puts it on the sorting ta- ble, but the buyer does the work of sorting and packing. This last method has grown in favor during recent years. In some sections fruit is still sold in bulk for everything on the trees. Other growers dispose of their apples at so much per one hundred pounds. Very few attempts have been made yet to do any co-op- erative selling. Buyers have been too plentiful and compe- tition too keen to stimulate any movement looking toward co-operation. As a result, all kinds and grades of packing will be found. As long as the farmer is not ultimately con- cerned with the selling, the grades of packing will be unev- en, irregular, and will average poor. I am glad to say that there are some fine exceptions to this rule. Practically no fruit picked is packed in boxes. The barrel is still our standard package and will continue to be for some time to come. And thus I come to the end of my subject. I reaHze how imperfectly the matter has been treated. No doubt many points have been omitted with which you are vitally concerned. But briefly we have considered a little of the historv of the apple industry in the Empire State. The methods of planting and caring for a young orchard were also discussed, and in the last place we have called your at- tention to the care of a bearing orchard. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 79 Conclusion. And what of the results : Are the New York fruit growers successful? What shall be our measure of success? Will it all be measured in terms of dollars and cents alone? Even with this very selfish and earthl)^ end in view, we are meting- out a g-ood measure of success. Our groiwers are in- dependent, their farms are free from debt, and they possess many of the real luxuries of life. In common with other sections, better farm conditions have developed. But better than the increase of gold and silver alone, there has come an increased development of mental power. Fruit growing has taken the farmer out of the rut of years — has made him a living, thinking being, one who must be ever alive to the conditions about him, else these conditions overtake him and destroy his work of a season. With this broader outlook of success. New York fruit growers are sat- isfied. Their homes are happy and they are living in a fuller and more complete way, getting closer to nature and to God. Dean Bailey, in one of his choice little verses, expressed the thought beautifully in this : Weather and wind and waning moon, Plain and hilltop under the sky, Ev'ning, morning and blazing noon, Brother of all the world am I. The pine-tree, linden, and the maize, The insect, squirrel and the kine, Ail-natively they live their days As they live theirs, so I live mine. I know not where, I know not what: — Believing none and doubting none Whate'er befalls it counteth not, Nature and Time and I are one. Discussion. Vice-President Drew in the chair. Vice-President Drew : We still have a few moments before we go on with the next subject. ATr. Tenny is still 8o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. with us, and I am sure will be glad to answer any questions. The time is short, so let them come quickly. Mr. Fenn: I would like to ask what the trouble is with our spraying? Can the speaker tell us why it is we get so much rusty fruit? Mr. Tenny: We are up against two difficulties m spraying. One is, if we spray heavily we rust our fruit. If we dO' not spray heavily then we are pretty apt to have wormy apples. Now last year and the year before we had a tre- mendous amount of rusted fruit. Last spring we were very careful to institute a thorough system of spraying, but spray- ing lightly with mist spray, forcing it into the blossoms as much as possible. Do not spray until the bloom begins to drop. Well, the result was that we had more codling moths than we needed, and yet many of our best orchards were sprayed three or four times. Mr. Fenn: What do you use? Do you use the ar- senate alone? Mr. Tenny : Yes, that is practically universally used. A Member : I would like to ask the speaker if he would recommend us in Connecticut to mix our varieties more? Mr. Tenny : Well, of course, I do not know to what extent you have done that. A Member: How do you do about that in New York? Mr. Tenny: The majority of our growers are mix- ing their varieties. I think very few of our growers plant over two hundred trees of any one variety together. By planting not too many of each variety together, we are getting good pollenization. The\- are doing it, however, not altogether with that special thing in mind. Vice-President Drew : Mr. Tenny, you spoke of co- operation. How would you work it out? What would be your plan — would you start it as a state-wide proposition or as a county proposition? Mr. Tenny : I would start co-operation at the right end, the end that has alwavs been successful, viz. : with TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEE TING. 8 1 the growers. I would in)t promote co-operation on a wide scale at first, but I would have the little town of A, for in- stance, first have co-operation among the fruit growers. I would have them establish a standard pack for their locality, and I would have them get together and get maybe fifty cars, or twenty-five cars of fruit put up after the standard pack. Then if an adjoining town or some other town wanted to come in let them come in and do the same thing. Let several towns come in and do the same thing. In that way you will get them united, and then they can come together for the formation of a larger organization, which might ultimately grow to include the whole state. I do not believe it is possible in general, and the results as I have observed them over the country show that it is not usually successful to attempt to get the whole industry or the whole state to co-operate at one time. The attempts that have failed, according to my way of thinking, have started at the wrong end, A Member : What has been done in your section, yir. Tenny, to get rid of this lower grade of fruit, the three of four kinds of lower grade fruit which you referred to? Mr. Tenny : There has been no effort, so far as I know\ Of course, we have developed very extensively the practice of drying the fruit. A Member : Is that all done by individuals, or is that practiced on a co-operative basis? Mr. Tenny : No, that is by individuals wholly. A Member: What does that bring in the market? Mr. Tenny : That stuff usually brings from fifty to seventy cents. It includes the wormy apples, and the poor stuff generally. These sales in an average year will run from fifty to seventy cents a hundred. Vice-President Drew : Is that wh'at it retails for in the market or is it what the farmers get? Mr. Tenny : That is what the farmers get for it when they sell it. I think the price varies, and usually runs from fiftv to seventv cents a hundred. 82 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. A Member: I find in my experience that I can sell fruit for $1.50 per barrel quicker than I can for $3.00. Of course, I am close to a market, but I find my customers will take seconds at $1.50 quicker than thev will take the best ones. Vice-President Drew : Do you believe that a system of co-operation would really tend to higher prices or to maintain good prices? Mr. Tenny : I surely do. Then in our own localities in- stead O'f selling small lots, or instead of selling to one man, and our neighbors selling to another man, and the next man selling to still another man, and all selling at as many dif- ferent prices, if twelve, or fifteen, or twenty could get to- gether and agree on a standard of pack, and in that wa\- get from twenty-five to thirty cars of good fruit packed uniformly and honestly, with the brand on the packages of that pack, so as to show just where it came froiu, we could go into a mar- ket and we could get more for our fruit because it would be packed uniformly. I know that we could get a little more on the average than the farmers are getting at the present time. If a certain body of farmers got the reputation of packing good year after year, I think that the average price would be pretty sure to be raised. Vice-President Drew : Mr. Tenny, in connectio'n with the subject of pruning of your apple trees, are the growers up in your section practicing summer pruning to .any extent? Mr. Tenny : They are not doing any summer pruning so far as I know. Vice-President Drew : Do the}- do any thinning of the fruit? Mr. Tenny : Yes. I think I mentioned that. You will get what I said on thinning in your report. We are finding this very successful. We are going over our entire trees. Some of our best growers are taking a pretty good propor- tion oif the fruit in thinning. Where there are two or three ap- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. ^t^ pies ill clusters, we usually thin down to one apple. We are trying to have the apples not closer than four inches apart. Sometimes we take off all the cluster. I do not want to have you get the idea that the state of New York is doing tliat generally, because I do not think it is. I do not think the state in general is doing much thinning, especially thinning to the extent that I have spoken of. It is not. But there are individuals who are following along that line, and everyibody who has tried it I think has found that it pays. So I look to see a good deal more of that being done. \'ice-President Drew : When would you begin to thin ? Mr. Tenny: Just as quick as what we call the June drop is over. It would be later if I could thin then. We find on our place that we have not been able to thin as we want because it is not suitable to our labor condition. Along the middle of July our labor is idle, and then we can put the men at it. It is rather late, but it is better to do it then than not at all. Mr. Ives : Is thinning practiced as to all of your varie- ties? Mr. Tenny: Well, there are certain trees like the Northern Spy and Twenty Ounce which it is almost impera- tive to thin. Baldwins are improved by thinning, but it does not always seems so necessary as with Twenty Ounce and Northern Spy and Wagner. It is imperative to thin them, or you will be pretty apt to have your trees broken down. Mr. Ives : The President suggested a question about summer pruning that I would like to hear a little something more about. Would he suggest about what time that ought to be done? Should it be in June, the same as you do with peaches? I speak of this in connection with what you said about summer pruning of the apple. What time would be proper for our conditions here? Vice-President Drew: Well, I was speaking particu- larly of pruning apple trees. As to the time, I was asking for information mvself. \'erv shortlv we will have Mr. 84 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Castner here, and perhaps we can get something out of him on that point. I would like to ask one more question on that thinning proposition. What effect do you notice on the bearing of the next crop? Can you get your Baldwins to bear annually by thinning ? Mr. Tenny : We have, I know, in our locality quite a lot of Baldwins, several acres which, under our present bear- ing conditions, bear just about the same number of barrels per year, but the crop does not come from the same fruit sprouts. Perhaps a half of the tree, or the top of the tree, or certain limbs on the tree will bear one year and the re- mainder of the tree will bear the next year. I have not seen that thinning has a tendency to make more fruit sprouts. Mr. Fenn: What is the expense of doing that? Mr. Tenny : Why, a man can thin, on our 1)ig trees that will bear from eight to ten to fifteen barrels of fruit. about four trees a day. That would make it run up to some- where in the neighborhood of fifty cents a tree. That is about five cents a barrel, assuming that there are ten barrels. Mr. Platt: What proportion of your men will thin well enough when you send them in there? (Laughter.) Mr. Tenny: You mean of the laborers? Mr. Platt: Yes. Mr. Tenny : Well, I don't know as they would thin any more than that if they were closely watched. They will not do anything very good anyway unless you are there to look after it. If you lay down certains laws for them to fol- low, it is up to them to do it. If you wish them to thin to one apple to a cluster it is up to them to do it. That is a very simple rule that you can lay down. A Member: In thinning do you break the apples off or cut them off? Mr. Tenny : We break them with a sharp turn of the hand or twist like that. Vice-President Drew : Isn't there danger of breaking the fruit buds doing it by hand? TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 85 Mr. Tenny: I do not think so. A Member: Wouldn't it be better to use thinning shears ? Mr. Tenny : It might. I never tried it. We never have used any tool of that kind. Always do it by hand. A Member : I think it is vastly better to use shears. We never think of using our hands for it. Mr. Tenny: It does not do any damage to use the hands, if you do it right. We have ne^'er had any trouble with that. Mr. J. H. Hale : Mr. Chairman, if you will bear with me foT a moment. I did not get up to ask any question, but I wanted to just speak for a moment for the purpose of em- phasizing the importance of some of these points which I believe have been brought out by this discussion this after- noon, and they have been among some of the most practical and useful that have ever been presented to this Society. The talk that we have had from Mr. Tenny this after- noon has been a very practical talk, and I want to emphasize just one point in connection with it. From a boy who had an education at Cornell, he took up the scientific side of the subject for further development at Washington, and has done some splendid work for this government of ours — some most useful work. He gave this up. He gave up this posi- tion and has gone back to the farm, and is making a greater success in farming and in orcharding than he ever did in the scientific field. I just wanted this point brought out because I think it is worth remembering, that a man who has had such a broad experience along these lines in every way has gone back to farming, and is making one of the best suc- cesses and has made one of the best addresses the Connecticut Pomological Society ever heard. The Vice-President: Are there any further questions? Mr. N. S. Plait : Mr. President, I have no question to ask any more than I wanted to say just a word or two more about the thinning of fruit. It is one of the difficult things 86 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. to do and do it right. We have got a man here in our state that is something of an adept at it, and I have heard him tell how many thousand peaches he took off a peach tree. You would not believe it. But even then he did not get enough. One other little thing in that line. I heard an elderly man say in a discussion aibout changing the bearing year, — the question was asked of him what would it do if you were to pick the blossoms off. He said that he had tried it. I asked him how he came out, and he said first rate. "I had a good crop, I left just enough to make a nice crop." That is about the way it will come out in thinning. Even if you take off a good many yoii will be pretty sure to leave enough for a nice crop. (Laughter.) Vice-President Drew : The next number on our pro- gram is a paper by ]\Ir. Repp of New Jersey. Mr. Repp needs no introduction to a Connecticut audience. He asked me to say that it was by his express wish that he should not be put down for a regular address, but he is willing to an- swer any questions that we shall put to him. As most of you know, he is amply able to give an address, but he pre- ferred to appear in this way. T have a great deal of pleasure in introducing Mr. Repp. Some Factors in the Successful Production of Apples, Pears and Grapes. By Albert T. Repp, Glassboro, N. J. Mr. President and Gentlemen : I am not going to make any speech to you. I will tell you some of our methods in growing fruit in New Jersey, such as apples, pears, grapes, etc. I have told you this before, but I will be glad to repeat it. In the spring we use crude oil for the scale. After the crude oil we use pyrox for the first spray, and aftev the blooms drop we use pyrox again ; for the third spraying we use pyrox again, and for the fourth spraying we use crude TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 87 oil and pvrox. For fertilizer we are using basic slag before we plow, and carbonate of lime after we plow. We plow all our orchards in the spring, and cultivate up until about the middle of July. We do not sow any cover crop, but allow the weeds to grow as a mulch, and plow them down in the following spring. For pears we spray with crude oil, and after the blooms drop we spray with pyrox, and about four weeks later again with pyrox. We use basic slag and carbonate of lime on pears, the same as we do on apples. On the grapes we spray early— that is, just as soon as the buds start we begin to spray with pyrox. We put it on about twice after that. We fertilize the same for the grapes as we do for the pears. That is about all I have to say. I told your Society that I did not want to come here and make an address, but if there are any questions that any of you want to ask, I will be glad to answer them. Discussion. President Rogers : The matter is open for discussion. Mr. Repp is well known as a very practical man, and he has some peculiar ideas. We should make the most of his infor- mation while he is here. Professor Gulley : I would like to ask a question about the use of that crude oil for the scale. Have you been using that long? ]\Ir. Repp : We have been using it for about twelve years. Professor Gulley : Tell us just exactly how you use it and what it costs. Mr. Repp: In using it as an insecticide, we use that which tests 42^ gravity. It costs 9^ cents f.o.b. Philadelphia. We take the oil and test it when it arrives, to see if it is of the proper gravity. After we test the gravity, we put it into a tank, turn live steam into it, and heat it up to about one hundred degrees, so 88 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. it is warm and very pliable. Then we take it out and put on with a one-man pump, and put it on at just as high a pres- sure as we can, just as hard as a man can pump. President Rogers: Do you use a tank or barrel? Mr. Repp: We use a tank that holds two barrels, mounted on two wheels, and draw that through with one horse. The pump sets on the tank. It is an ordinary barrel pump. Mr. Drew: I would like to ask Mr. Repp to tell us something about summer spraying, and the amount of pres- sure that he puts on in the summer spray work; and a little more in detail as to how he goes at it in the summer time. Mr. Repp : We use a pressure nozzle of about two to three hundred pounds. We use two lines of hose. It takes two men to run them. One man drives and one runs the engine. Then we have three nozzles on each hose. Each of them is a very fine mist nozzle. We do not use any of the coarse nozzles at all. Mr. Drew: How many times do you spray? Mr. Repp: We commence with the Red Astrachan ap- ples. Those are early apples and we take them first. Some- times we do not spray as much for the other varieties. Alto- gether we sometimes spray four times. Mr. Drew : Do you find it makes any difference what material you use? Mr. Repp: Not in the matter of ripening, no sir. Mr. Platt: Mr. Repp, do you have any trouble with the pear psylla on your pears? Mr. Repp : We have had them for several years, but when this pear psylla began to bother us we scraped the bark the next month, and then sprayed the trees with the crude oil, and it knocked out the pear psylla completely. If we did not use the crude oil and scrape off the rough bark, we would be pretty sure to have the pest another year. We scrape off the bark of the pear tree, and the rough bark on the apple. The pear psylla would hide under that bark. You must scrape TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 89 the bark off the tree, and experiment with the spraying treat- ment until you find out how to handle it right. Mr. Drew: I would like to get your opinion as to whether it is safe for all fruit growers to spray with crude oil. Mr. Repp : I do not advise anybody to do it until he learns to use it. We had to find out for ourselves, and that is what everybody else has to do. We experimented. We took some trees to begin with, on the roadside, and then we tried it on some trees that belonged to our neighbor. We asked him if he cared if we sprayed those trees. We experi- mented on them, and in that way we learned how to use it. That is the way we began with crude oil. We did not go through our best orchard and spray with it until we were satisfied what it would do and what we could do with it. Mr. Drew : Would you spray with the oil now or later ? Mr. Repp: My rule is to spray after the sap begins to start. That is usually about the first of March with us. Then keep on spraying as long as the buds have not opened. Mr. Ives: Did you injure any of those wild trees? You spoke about experimenting with some trees that stood along the road. Did you injure any of those? Mr. Repp: No sir. The first tree we ever killed was the first one that we ever sprayed. My father discovered that it was covered with scale, and so he went out and sprayed it, and then I came home afterwards and found out about it and went out and sprayed it again, and that tree died. A Member : I would like to ask what is the matter with Scalecide. Mr. Repp: I have never used any Scalecide. I have used lime and sulphur. I tried that when the farm journals first commenced to recommend it. That was back six or eight years ago, — and we almost lost our orchard. We quit using it and went back to crude oil. A Member : You think there is absolutely no danger in using the ordinary commercial soluble oil? 90 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Repp : Well, I never had an}- experience with that, either. But I know that we almost lost one of our orchards with lime and sulphur. That is what made me go back to crude oil, and we have stayed there ever since. I never tried it only that one year. Of course, we use crude oil on peaches, too. One of my neighbors has got 140 acres, and he has been spraying his peach orchard for ten years. Mr. Ives: Leaving the question of the benefit to be de- rived from the destruction of the San Jose scale out of it al- together, what other advantages are there in using the oil? I suppose the original intent was that }0u used it for the San Jose scale. Mr. Repp: Then I would not use it. You have got to keep the scale down if you are going to do anything with your fruit. I use it for that. Of course, if you have got the pear psylla, then you better use it. President Rogers : We have heard from Mr. Repp on his methods, and it is certainly very much appreciated. He has spoken of certain results which he obtains from the use of crude oil and also pyrox. I will give a few minutes now for anyone to tell us the advantages of lime and sulphur as a summer spra}' or winter spray, as opposed to his miethod, if they would like to. A ]\Iember : Mr. Repp says that the crude oil will not injure the trees if it is put on in the right way. Can he give us any standard so we will know what quantity to put on ? Mr. Repp : The main idea in using the crude oil is to see how little you can put on and still have enough to do the business. That is how I believe a good many have killed their orchards. They put on too much. Just a flash of the oil is enough. It does not need to be put on until it drops ofif the trees. j\Iost people want to see it drop ofif the tree, or they think they haven't got any on. You just want a flash of the oil. You can spray a tree five years old by just throw- ing that misty cloud of oil into the foliage as you go by. Most growers will stand there and spray the tree until it is all cov- TIVENTY.FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 91 ered. That is a mistake. The secret of the whole thino- is to see how little you can put on and not how much. Mr. Ives: Will it kill all the scale? ]\Ir. Repp: Yes sir, but you better let it take half the scale off than kill the tree. You see, the way we spray we carry it along with' the wind. The wand blows rig^ht ahead of you, and the oil is so thin and the spray is so fine that the wind blows it ahead of you. It is light. I have seen it blown as much as two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet. We do not have to stand there long, because the tree is greased over almost before we get there to it. The breeze will carry a lot of it into trees ahead of you. I have seen some men put twice as much oil as they ought to into a tree. jMr. Rogers: Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask Mr. Repp how much pressure he has on the pump when he puts on this oil. Mr. Repp : We have a good strong pump man, and he keeps on all he can get. AIr. Rogers : How much is that, — ten pounds or a hun- dred pounds? Mr. Repp : I should say it would be a hundred and fifty. You want to shove it right up so that you can hardly move the handle, keep the pressure on, and then as you go along to the next tree you just spray it a couple of times; just let that thin cloud of greasy oil float into the tree. yiR. Kelsey : Do you have a pressure gauge on your pump ? Mr. Repp : No. If I did the men would look at the gauge all the time instead of pumping. Dr. Stewart of Penn : I do not want to say anything to detract from the speaker's credit for what he has just said, but I do not think I ought to sit here without saying just a word on this question. I would like to have this audience know that there is but one Repp, and a great deal of his suc- cess with crude oil lies in the way he uses it down in N.ew Jersey. A ,lot of people would not have as much success as he has had. He also makes one statement that mav leave 92 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. things in rather of a bad hght, namely, that he tried hme and sulphur a number of years ago and gave it up. At that tmie the lime and sulphur mixture was tried by quite a number of people who gave it up because they did not know how to make the lime and sulphur, but I can see no reason at all at the present day why any man should even think of giving up lime and sulphur as spraying material for the San Jose scale. No one can want anything that is any more efficient for that purpose than that preparation, because in the last two sum- mers we have not simply controlled the scale, but we have eradicated it. We have carried on a great many experiments with it at the Pennsylvania station, and the lime and sulphur mixture has been brought to a state of perfection where in the last two years growers have practically not only con- trolled the scale, but have eradicated it with two applications. We have made three applications, the first one beginning at the time when the young scale begins to emerge, and the next two at intervals of ten days, when the young re-appear. We have done that for two summers, and it has been very success- ful. I do not see how it is possible that it would fail to do so another summer. There have been whole classes in en- tomology that have examined those trees for the scale, and there has been none found. ' When we commenced our experi- ments on those trees in the first place they were badly in- crusted. I just speak of this because I did not want the im- pression to go out that the lime and sulphur mixture was in- efficient. Mr. Ives: How did the mixture that you used test? ZZ, I believe, is the commercial test mixture. De. Stewart: The strength that we used was 2Z Centi- grade. It is most remarkable how efficient it was. When I first put it on, I expected to kill the young scale, but found that where it had run down and struck the old incrustations on the bark it had cleaned the tree by the first application, killing not only all of the young scale, but over ninety per cent of the old at that time, with that strength. This material that I am speaking of now, the lime and sulphur is one that you TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 93 cannot hurt the trees very well with. You do not have to take all of the precautions that my friend Repp takes with the crude oil. and it has that great advantage. There is no dan- ger of killing the tree, and you certainly kill the scale if you put it on right. We used nothing but the plain lime and sul- phur. Mr. Ives: Was the strength one to thirty? Dr. Stewart: That was the strength that we used it at. Mr. Ives : I think the gentleman ought to make some explanation of that. We would not think of using it in the summer at such a strength as that. He must be careful or he will set us all wrong. Dr. Stewart : I want to say one word here, and that is that I am not recommending spraying for scale in the summer time. I am merely giving these illustrations in order to show that the lime and sulphur mixture is efficient for killing the San Jose scale without any possibility of doubt. We believe in a dormant application of one to ten ; and this summer spray of one to thirty is about the outside limit. I have, however, used it twice that strength in the summer time without the trees suffering any injury. We are recommending one to forty for summer spraying. It is the poison that is added to the lime sulphur, I think, that does the damage. We shall be able to prove that beyond any possibility of doubt, I be- lieve. For example, in one peach orchard of that section this year w^here lime-sulphur was used at one-third strength, and in some orchards at another place, the whole orchard was ruined. The lime and sulphur was all right, but the grower had the wrong proportion of arsenical mixture, Mr. Wheeler : What is the nature of the soil that you plant your pears on? Mr. Repp: It is a gravelly soil, not a heavy soil, a little inclined to be sandy. It is a gravelly soil, but not very loose — sometimes rather hard to work. Mr. Ives: What varieties do you raise? 94 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Repp: Well, we are not planting any more pears, but we have planted a good many Bartletts, Sickels, Lawrence and Kieffer. Mr. Platt: Do you have anv trouble with the pear blight? Mr. Repp : We had it very bad about three years ago, but for the last two years we have had very little O'f it. I think it is the basic slag that has helped to keep it off. That is the only explanation I can give of it. I think it is due to the use of basic slag. I have been using a fertilizer that con- tains about eight per cent of phosphoric acid, but since I have been using basic slag with it the blight has stopped. I cannot say whether it is the basic slag or what it is, that is, to speak with certainty, but the only explanation I can give is that it is the slag. A Member : In using this one-man pump under high pressure do you have any difficulty in operating the pump ? Mr. Repp : Not a bit. I put a man on that can do it. Mr. Ives : What are the advantages of using pyrox ? I wish the speaker would tell us more about that. Tell us the difference in the cost, and what is the satisfaction or par- ticular advantage of using pyrox ? Mr. Repp: I can put it on so much more readily. Put it on with less trouble, and the result is far ahead of anything I ever used. Mr. Ives : Is there any trouble with its spoiling the fruit ? Mr. Repp : Well, I think most of you have trouble with most anything you use. Two years ago we had some rusting, but we found it was just as bad on fruit which was not sprayed at all, so we laid it to climatic conditions. In the spraying we used great care. We try to get over our or- chard about ten days after the Wooms drop, and then we wait for two or three weeks. Mr. Curtiss : Plow do you fertilize your young or- chards ? Mr. Repp: We use basic slag. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 95 Mr. CuRTiss: You do not use any nitrogen? Mr. Repp: No. Mr. CuRTiss: You use a cover crop? Mr. Repp: No cover crop except weeds and leaves. Prof. Gulley : How long have you followed this sys- tem of fertilizing crops? Mr. Repp : Twenty years. You mean using basic slag and carbonate of lime? Prof. Gulley: Yes. Mr. Repp: We commenced about four years ago. Mr. Ives : Do you find any excess of wood produced by this method ? I would like to know what your experience has been with that. The point I am trying to draw out is whether your wood grows as well as under other methods. Mr. Repp : More. It is more with the use of carbonate of lime than it was before. Mr. Ives : It seems to me that it is very essential to maintain a balance there, and I was wondering what the re- sult was unless he was using some potash. Mr. Repp : I do not know. I haven't used it. The oth- er fellow worries about that. I put potash on my orchards, but we could not get any results. A Member: What is the best fertilizer to use on an or- chard forty years old. Mr. Repp : I would use basic slag and lime, and spray with pyrox. That is my treatment. A Member : How much lime do you put on to the acre ? Mr. Repp: About two tons. A Member: Is that fresh burned? Mr. Repp : Carbonate. A Member: Is that better than the burned? Mr. Repp : It is for me. I do not want any burned lime on my farm. Prof. Gulley: What is the reason? Mr. Repp : On account of my soil. You do not want any burned lime on gravelly or clay soil. Prof. Gulley: How deep is your soil? 96 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Repp : Some of our clay soils go down four or five feet. If you are ever in Jersey come and look at it yourself, Mr. Ives : How much of that basic slag- do you put on to the acre? Mr. Repp : From one-half a ton to a ton. A Member : Your cover crop is interesting to me. How do you manage with it? Mr. Repp : After we stop cultivation then the weeds grow. You know that. After the cultivation is stopped we let the weeds come up, and that makes a good mulch. A Member : Do you use lime in your peach orchard also? Mr. Repp : I do. You get more growth. I think a good deal healthier condition comes from the use of lime. It helps the health of the orchard. You get better foliage. Mr. Ives : What is the effect ? Mr. Repp : Well, you get a darker foliage and healthier trees under all conditions. President Rogers: Do you use lime every year? Mr. Repp: Yes sir. President Rogers : Do you mix your lime and slag be- fore you put it on? Mr. Repp: I plow the basic slag in, and then, put the carbonate of lime on top of the soil. That helps to hold the moisture, especially in case of a dry season. A Member : You said to me this morning that you thought it helped the peach yellows also. Mr. Repp: Well, I said that, but I don't want that to go out publicly. One of my neighbors has got 140 acres in a peach orchard, which is very close to twelve years old. He has used lime, and i never saw a tree on his fann with the yellows. His father up to the present time has used lots of lime, and I never saw a tree on his farm with the yellows yet. I don't believe he knows what it looks like. A Member : How much do you spend on the average per acre for fertilizer? TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 97 Mr. Reim' : Well, the basic slas:^- al)out fifteen dollars, and carbonate of lime delivered at cur station costs about' three dollars per ton. A Member : Is there any difference in the grades of the basic slag? I understand that there is both a high and lov.' grade? Mr. Repp : There is some difference in the analysis, of course. I would rather have the high grade for results. It pays to get it. I have tried both. The high grade gives the best results. Mr. Wheeler : What system do you use in pruning your grapes? Mr. Repp : I am using a new system. I am trying to put them up on double wires. Our first system was to run them up on a single wire, but now we are taking them up on double wires. They come up like this (indicating). That is, one wire here and another one up there like that. This one up here is for the two-year-old, and let the one come up that is one year old. That is a good system. I have increased from three tons to the acre up to seven or eight tons to the acre. It is the system they are using in the West. President Rogers: We will have to draw this discus- sion to a close now, as the time has arrived for the next sub- ject on the program. Dr. Jenkins, Director of the Connecti- cut Experiment Station is with us and will speak to us on "Fertilizers for Fruits." Fertilizers for Fruits. Bjf Dr. E. H. Jenkins, New Haven, Director, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. A better title to this paper would be "The Feeding of Orchard Trees." How and when to use commercial fertiliz- ers in orchards is only a part of our question. What we want to know is, how and when to give orchard trees all the material which they need to make them grow and keep them 98 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. healthy, vigorous, productive and profitable for as long- a time as can be. The question involves more than just a matter of three elements of plant food and the best forms in which to use them. It concerns the use of what is in the soil already, the supply of water and of soil bacteria, and the aeration of the roots as well. I shall therefore have to discuss other things besides what chemicals we sow under our trees. In the first place, what do we take out of the soil of our orchards every year in leaves, wood and fruit? We have data from three states on that point. The follov/ing table the result of work done at the New York Station^ shows the quality of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, lime and magnesia taken in one year by the leaves, fruit and new wood of apple, peach, pear, plum, and. quince trees in full bearing. What more went into the mature wood could not be determined, but probably it is not large, for the New Jer- sey Station- found that on the basis of dry matter the new twigs of the peach trees have from three to five times as much plant food in them as the mature wood, and we may, I think, infer the same proportion in other orchard trees. TABLE I. Pounds of Nitrogen, Etc., Used Per Acre by Different Parts of Tree in One Year. (New York Station Bulletin 265.) Phosphoric Variety of fruit tree. Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Lime. Magnesia. IN THE FRUIT: Apple 20.0 8.5 45.0 3.9 6.4 Peach 17.5 8.6 36.0 2.2 4.1 Pear 9.0 3.2 20.2 2.2 2.6 Plum 13.3 4.7 18.5 4.4 3.0 Quince 22.0 10.0 44.4 3.4 6.0 Average 16.4 7.0 32.8 3.2 4.4 IN THE LEAVES: Apple 30.3 4.8 9.5 49.7 16.3 Peach 50.4 8.0 32.9 94.6 28.5 Pear 18.5 3.0 10.7 30.7 7.2 Plum 13.2 2.9 17.6 26.8 8.5 Quince 20.4 4.1 9.8 46.1 11.0 Average 26.6 4.6 16.1 49.6 14.3 * New York State Station Bulletin 265. = New Jersey Station Report 1906, p. 200. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 99 1.1 0.4 0.6 3.0 0.6 6.6 1.6 3.4 17.4 2.6 2.2 0.8 2.0 5.4 1.1 3.0 1.0 1.8 10.0 1.5 3.1 1.2 2.6 16.1 1.9 3.2 1.0 2.1 10.4 1.5 51.4 13.7 55.1 56.6 23.3 74.5 18.2 72.3 114.2 35.2 29.7 7.0 32.9 38.3 10.9 29.5 8.6 37.9 41.2 13.0 IN THE NEW WOOD: Apple Peach Pear Plum Quince Average TOTAL: Apple Peach Pear Plum Quince 45.5 15.3 56.8 65.6 18.9 The New Jersey Station^ found that an acre of peach trees set 14x15 feet, about 207 to the acre, took from the soil in leaves, wood and crop: Phosphoric Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Yearly average of first four years 32.9 7.5 18.2 Yearly average of last six years 64.1 18.0 39.5 Yearly average for ten years 51.6 13.8 31.0 And of this it took about 1/40 in the first year, 1/4 " " second year, 2/3 '' " third year, full amount " " fourth year. The quantity of lime taken each year from an acre is* 42.4 pounds. The figures are proliably quite low, because the orchard was unfertilized and the yield of peaches small. The Cornell Station^ found these amounts removed each year by an apple orchard per acre : Phosphoric Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. In 300 bushels apples 19.50 1.50 28.50 In leaves 33.60 12.95 46.20 In wood 6.29 2.39 5.87 59.39 16.84 80.57 According to the calculations of Roberts. Shutt and Browne*', 300 bushels of apples will take from the orchard 'New Jersey Station Report 1906, p. 192. * New Jersey Station Bulletin 107. " Cornell University Station Bulletin 226. 'Office of Experiment Stations Report 1903. p. 558. lOO THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. about 10.6 pounds of nitrogen, 3.0 pounds of phosphoric acid and 24.4 pounds of potash, figures somewhat different from those just given. Four hundred baskets of peaches alone will take from the orchard about thirteen pounds of nitrogen, seven of phosphoric acid, eighteen of potash, one of lime, and two of magnesia. These figures are enough for our purpose. Those who study this first table in detail will wonder, as I do, at the very- high figures on peach leaves as compared with other leaves, and will note that bearing peach trees take more of the named elements than other fruits (a short life and a merry- one for them) ; quinces come next, and then apple trees, fol- lowed by plums and pears. We have now two sets of data for apple and peach trees in bearing. • Phosphoric Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Apples, New York Station 51.4 13.7 5.S.1 Apples, Cornell Station 59.4 16.Q 80.6 Peaches. New York Station 74.5 18.2 72.3 Peaches, New Jersey Station 64.1 18.0 39.5 Noting that peach orchards seem to take rather more ni- trogen and phosphoric acid than apple orchards and that the New Jersey Station figures for peach trees are probably low, as already explained, it is fully accurate enough for any prac- tical purpose to say that either an apple or a peach orchard in full bearing may take from each acre of land every year 62 pounds of nitrogen. 17 of phosphoric acid, 70 of potash, and 30 to 40 of lime. At once the old unanswerable questions turn up again : How much of these things can the roots get from the soil and get so readily as not to lower the yield of fruit, and how much must be put on every year in fertilizers? Suppose the trees are at present getting all they need ; will it pay in the long run to let them do it or ought we in any case to put back in some shape what we take off? Let us see in the first place what careful, long-continued experiments have shown in dififerent orchards and find out what its teaching is. Take first the ad- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. loi mirable work of Hedrick. described in Bulletin 289 of the New York Station. The orchard was on upland, sloping to the south, a heav>% clay loam 12 to 18 inches thick, on a heavier compact clay subsoil. The trees (Baldwins, Greenings, Roxburys, Northern Spy and Pippin) were thirteen years old, on sod land, and had made g^ood growth and fruitage, but the fruit was small, color defective, and often did not properly mature. Then the test began. During the twelve years of experiment the whole had clean culture with cover crops. It was divided into eight plots, four of which had no fertiHzer, while the other four had a yearly dressing of 100 pounds of wood ashes per tree for the whole eleven years, and eight and one-half pounds of acid phosphate per tree during the last seven years of the test, which together supplied 129 pounds of phosphoric acid and 169 pounds of potash per acre. Now let me read the conclusions, which, it seems to me, might well serve as the last word on the fertilization of or- chards. ^"The returns obtained in this twelve-year experiment are negative from a practical standpoint. This experiment shows that it is not profitable to apply potash, phosphoric acid, or lime to the soil of the station orchard. Fifty-seven years of orchard cropping has not reduced this soil to the condi- tion where it needs a 'complete fertilizer,' yet the leguminous cover crops plowed under in the orchard have usually pro- duced beneficial efifects the same or the next season. This seems to show that the orchard is having a one-sided wear. It needs nitrogen, or humus, or the physical condition to be obtained by plowing under organic matter. It would be an assumption to say whether it is the food, or the condition of the soil brought about by the organic matter, or both, that has proved beneficial when cover crops are plowed under 'Tt must not be concluded, because the efifects from the fertilizers applied were scarcely apparent in the Station or- chard, that they would be ineffectual in all orchards, or neces- sarily for all time in this orchard. Plants require food, and ^ New York State Station Report 1907, p. 320. I02 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the fact that certain nutrients added to this soil gave no re- sults must mean that this particular soil contained an abun- dance of the elements added when the experiment begun. "The practical application of the information obtained by this experiment is, that the apple grower should not apply manures in quantity until he has obtained some evidence as to what food elements, if any, are needed in his soil. Good evidence in this direction is furnished by the trees themselves. So long as the trees are growing well, adding a fair amount of new wood each year, and producing goods crops of well- colored fruit, it may be taken for granted that they need no additional food from fertilizers. "The most important lessons taug'ht by the experiment here recorded are : That an orchard soil may not need pot- ash, phosphoric acid, nor lime, even though the soil may have been cropped a half century ; that in a soil which produces apples of poor color, potash and phosphoric acid may not improve the color; and that the apple does not seem to be as exhaustive of soil fertility as farm crops. The experiment suggests, as well, that to assume without definite knowledge that a tree needs this or that plant food often leads to the waste of fertilizing material ; and that in the matter of fer- tilizing an orchard a fruit grower should experiment for him- self, since an orchard's need of fertilizer can be determined only by the behavior of the trees when supplied with the sev- eral plant foods." Another thing I would add, that in this experiment following the use of the fertilizers named. Northern Spy and Roxbury varieties gave an annual increased yield of over 120 bushels per acre, while Baldwins and Greenings were not ma- terially helped. This suggests that different varieties may differ greatly in their power to gather the plant food of the soil and therefore may have very different fertilizer require- ments. About this Ave know nothing. In a word, the net result of the work was that on a sod orchard cropped 57 years, phosphates and potash did not TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 103 profitably increase the yield, while thorough tillage and cover crops did. Please note particularly that eleven years of very care- ful oljservation and very decisive results do not lead a care- ful man to say : "Fertilizing an orchard is money thrown away; I've tried it and I know. Don't you do it." That is easy advice. It sounds like "hard sense." There are none of those "ifs" and "huts" which plague a man who is looking for a sure way or a sure thing. "But on my orchard," says the writ- er, "it does not pay at present to use ashes and phosphate. It needs tillage or nitrogen, or both, and I cannot decide which it needs or needs more. But I think there may be many or- chards like mine and that it will pay growers, before using phosphates and potash every year on the whole orchard T to prove themselves whether these things are necessary." He suggests a way to do this which is worth our while to con- sider. Take for each test at least five trees of the same variety and age, broadcasting the fertilizers under each tree and a little further than the spread of the branches. To each tree of the first block apply 400 pounds stable manure. To each tree of the second block apply thirteen pounds acid phosphate. To each tree of the third block apply 8 pounds muriate of potash. To each tree of the fourth block apply the combined ap- plications of two and three. To each tree of the fifth block apply the combined appli- cations of 1.2 and 3, or what I should prefer, substitute for the manure, 3.67 pounds nitrate of soda. To each tree of the sixth block apply nothing. To each tree of the seventh block apply 25 pounds of quick lime per tree. In this way you compare dressings of 50 pounds of ni- trogen per acre, 50 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 100 pounds of potash, and various combinations of these. I04 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The sound fruit and windfalls of each plot or block should be measured and the color compared. The test should run for a number of years. Nothing- decisive will probably be determined under three years, for the fertilizers must af- fect at least one year's wood before making much change in yield or quality. At the end of five years you will know something positive about your land and your trees and will have a better guide to the use of fertilizers on orchards than any book or farm institute enthusiast can give you. This experiment leaves it uncertain whether the nitrogen of the cover crop was or was not a benefit to the trees. In a later bulletin,^ Hedrick reports the results of an ex- periment with fertilizers in an apple orchard continued for 15 "years. The several fertilizers, stable manure, acid phos- phate, acid phosphate and potash, and a complete fertilizer containing abundance of nitrogen were put on yearly in "tre- mendous" doses, underneath the branches of the trees, rather than broadcast over the whole orchard. There were three plots for comparison which received no fertilizer. The soil was a heavy clay loam, overlying a still heavier clay. The variety was the Rome, top-worked on Ben Davis. Each year the whole orchard was tilled till late in July and then sown to a non-leguminous cover crop. The conclu- sion of fifteen years' work and observation is that there is no difiference between the several plots, whether fertil- ized or not. Growth of trees, yield of fruit, as well as its color, flavor, and keeping- quality are all alike. The money spent for fertilizers in this orchard has been wasted, as far as the profit from the trees is concerned. An experiment in Pennsylvania'' begun in 1907 in eleven orchards having altogether two thousand two hundred trees, ranging from ten to thirty-seven years old on nearly as many types of soil, with twelve varieties of apples. Whether tillage was used in the experi- ments with fertilizers is not evident from the account. The s New York State Station Bulletin 339. * Pennsylvania Station Bulletin 100 TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 105 results of three years are not, of course, decisive, but the straig"ht fertilizer tests made on three farms, taken tog^ether, show marked increased production from nitrogen, soluble phosphates and potash salts, used either singly or together, and no increase, but rather a depressed yield, from raw phos- phate and from lime. In this test, 50 pounds nitrogen, 100 pounds phosphoric acid and 150 pounds potash per acre were used. Of the single elements, nitrogen showed the most marked effect, while the trees dressed with stable manure (12 tons per acre) surpassed all others in yield. Here, you see, we have in the first three years a marked effect of all three fertilizer ingredients, nitrogen being preeminent. In most cases, however, the increased yield, of fruit went along with inferior color. The Massachusetts Station^'^' reports the results of twen- ty years' experiment work in an apple orchard in sod after it was five years old. The soil is well suited for apples, a strong, retentive, gravelly loam with fairly compact subsoil, on a moderate slope, and is underdrained. The experiment covers five plots, each one-third of an acre. Each plot has tv/elve trees, three each of Gravenstein, Baldwin, Roxbury Russet and Rhode Island Greening, set in 1890. The plots have had broadcast each spring: (1) ten tons barnyard manure, (2j one ton wood ashes, (3) nothing, (4) 600 pounds bone meal and 200 pounds of muriate, (5) 600 pounds of bone meal and 400 pounds of low-grade sulphate of potash. For five years the whole was cultivated with hoed crops. Since then it has been in sod, grasses and clover, except that for the first few years a small circle around each tree was kept clear of weeds. The grass was cut and removed each year until 1902, when the first large crop of apples was taken. Since then the first crop of grass has been removed, but the second left on the land. The trees made normal, healthy growth. Plot 1, having manure, had the largest yield, which, for comparison, we will call 100. The relative yields are then : " Massachusetts Station Report 1910. Pt. II. p. 10. Io6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. (1) Manure 100.0 (5) Bone and Low-Grade Sulphate 87.7 (4) Bone and Muriate 58.0 (2) Wood Ashes 51.5 (3) Nothing 15.8 The effect of manure, which gave the largest yield, is not due alone to the plant food, but also to the humus and its effect on the water in the soil. The complete fertilizers on 4 and 5 yielded more fruit than wood ashes, which supplied potash and phosphoric acid with lime, and the very large gain over unfertilized soil is clear. The higher yield from low- grade sulphate as compared with muriate is also quite marked. Regarding quality. Director Brooks says : "There has been no doubt as to the fact that on the whole the product of plot 5 (bone and sulphate of potash) has been considerably superior in color and general attractiveness as well as in firmness of flesh to the product of plot 4 (bone and muriate), while the product from plot 1 (stable manure) ranks below either of the others in the qualities just mentioned." He also notes that the trees on 5 (bone ineal and low- grade sulphate) are much larger than on 4 (bone and muri- ate)-— or, indeed, than any except those which had manure. To what this apparent superiority of the low-grade sulphate is due the writer does not offer any decided opinion, but is experimenting further to find out. As to cost, he finds that the hoed crops and hay up to 1902 more than paid for the fertilizers applied and that the increased yield? have much more than paid for the cost of the fertilizers. The experiments of the Maine Station, summarized by Munson^^, were continued for ten years on an orchard of the Tolman variety, eight to ten years old, on virgin pasture on a high, rocky, sandy hillside. The whole was dressed at the start with 500 pounds per acre of steamed bone. Half the orchard (40 trees) was plowed and harrowed, the other half mulched partly with sawdust and partly with manure. On each half 12 trees were not further fertilized, 28 trees were " Maine Station Bulletin 155. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 107 dressed with manure (one-tenth of a cord per tree) and the same number with a complete fertilizer (5 pounds 10 ounces per tree, or at the rate of 800 pounds per acre). The fertilizer contained about 2 1/2 per cent of nitrogen, 10 per cent of phosphoric acid and two per cent of potash. The experiment showed that unfertilized trees made less growth than fertil- ized trees, and the untilled portion less growtli than the tilled. On this land fertilizers were absolutely essential for growth. The yields show great differences in individual trees un- der the same treatment. Thus, in the four years for which yields are given, single cultivated trees yielded from 4.7 to 20.1 bushels and the range of the mulched trees 2.5 to 23.8 bushels. The Tolmans, in the four years for which yields are given, certainly yielded more per tree when mulched than when cultivated, 166.4 bushels against 125.7 bushels. Stable manure gave higher yields than commercial fer- tilizers, but not enough to meet the extra expense. No doubt a considerable part of its effect was due to humus, which could be more cheaply supplied in straw or hay, or in tilled orchards by cover crops. Munson states, regarding an experiment with potash salts in a Baldwin orchard about fifteen years old, continuing ten years, that "in behavior of trees and gross character of fruit no specific effect of any particular potash salt can be observed." Now let us notice a ten-year experiment in fertilizing a peach orchard in New Jersey^-. Without going much into details, the experiment consisted in putting the three fer- tilizer ingredients each by itself and in various combinations yearly on plots of peach trees, and also testing plaster, yard manure alone and with lime. The soil was a decomposed trap of average fertility and seven crops were taken from this orchard before it was par- tially destroyed by a wind storm. Every single application — excepting nitrate by itself — " New Jersey Station Report 1894, p. 125. Io8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. increased the yield at a profit. Averaging all the plots, the manure or fertilizer cost of each basket of increased yield was nine cents. The fertilizers increased the profitable life of the orchard by at least three years. A complete fertilizer was more profitable than a partial one. Chemical fertilizers paid better than stable manure. The cost of manure per basket of increased yield was 11.6 cents and the cost of chemicals per basket was only 4.4 cents. These experiments wdiich I have cited seem to me the most decisive and instructive in recent times and I think we are justified in these conclusions regarding the use of com-, rnercial fertilizers and manure in orchards: 1. A peach or apple orchard in bearing takes from the soil somewhere about 62 pounds of nitrogen, 17 of phosphor- ic acid, 70 of potash and 30 to 40 of lime. 2. Trees are not as dependent on an annual dressing of fertilizers as most other farm crops, because they have a much larger root surface and can draw on the less soluble part of the soil for a much longer period each year than the latter. 3. There are soils, probably many of them, which are able to supply enough food for an orchard for fifty years or more without any use of phosphates or potash. It is quite likely, however, that even these will be helped, occasionally at least, by a supply of nitrogen, whether in fomi of direct fertilizers or green manuring with legumes. 4. There are many other soils where annual dressings with commercial fertilizers will pay abundantly. 5. It is quite likely that one or more mgredients are already in the soil of many orchards in quantity sufficient for the orchard's needs, and money is lost by using complete fer- tilizers on such orchards. 6. There is no way of finding out what or how much plant food a particular orchard needs except by testing it in the way I have described, though where orchards are on soils which seem quite alike in their character and position the results in one will probably have a good deal of value for the others. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 109 7. I believe our light, sand\- loams, as a rule, are more likely to yield a profit from yearly dressings of fertilizers in one form or another than the heavy loams of some other apple-growing- regions. "But," objects the orchardist, "what is it wise for me to do for my orchard before I can learn by observation and experiment the best methods to follow? I want to do some- thing now, at the start." The Pennsylvania Station suggests for apple orchards of medium age a yearly dressing of 30 pounds of nitrogen, 60 to 70 pounds of phosphoric acid and 50 pounds of potash per acre, supplemented with a legimie cover crop, which may make the nitrogen fertilizer unnecessary. This dressing would be contained in 500 pounds of a 6-12-10 formula, or in a mixture of 100 pounds nitrate of soda, 100 pounds dried blood ( 12 1/2 per cent nitrogen), 250 to 300 pounds steamed bone meal (24 per cent phosphoric acid and 1 per cent nitrogen), and 100 pounds high-grade sulphate of potash ; or you can add 20 pounds more of blood and use 400 to 500 of acid phosphate in place of the steamed bone. The Pennsylvania station finds in two-year tests a slightly better color where sulphate of potash was used rath- er than muriate, but Mr. Stewart tells me to-day that after- 5 years' observation this difference does not appear. It recommends less for younger trees, more for older ones, and says that this is offered as a beginning, under av- erage conditions, expecting to change it as experience indi- cates. Annual applications of this sort with stable manure ( 10 tons to the acre) every third or fourth year will probably give the best results. Brooks recommends for orchard top-dressing, presuma- bly chiefly for orchards which are in sod, the following for- mulas : Bone Meal 600-800 lbs. (N 21-28 lbs.) (PoOg No. 1. 132-175). no THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Low-grade Sulphate of Potash 350-400 lbs. (K 90-105). This is for lighter orchard soils which contain but little nitrogen and have little capacity for holding it. 1500-2000 pounds of lime when the trees are set and 600-800 pounds once in 5 or 6 years. Under sod-culture, clover will gradu- ally come in, while legumes will thrive and supply nitrogen if tillage is practiced. Basic Slag Meal 800-100 lbs. (P2O5 144-180). No. 2. Low-Grade Sulphate of Potash 350-400 lbs. (K90-105). This for medium or heavy soils. It supplies no nitro- gen, but creates soil conditions favorable for clover on sod or nitrogen-g"atliering crops in tilled orchards. 100-125 pounds of nitrate of soda may be added if the orchard growth is not satisfactory. If manure is used in the orchard, which Brooks believes should not exceed 1^ cords per acre, it may be supplement- ed with Basic Slag Meal 600-800 lbs. (P2O5 108-144). Low-Grade Sulphate of Potash 300-350 lbs. (K78- 90). To peach trees the New Jersey Station in the report above cited applied 150 pounds of nitrate of soda, 350 pounds of super-phosphate and 150 pounds of muriate of potash ev- ery year and found it increased the yield largely over unfer- tilized plots or over those which had one or two of the three ingredients and was commercially profitable. (N23. P2O5 50, K2O 75). So far I have spoken only of the plant food which we may supply in commercial chemicals or fertilizers. But these things are only a part, a small part, and not pre-eminently the important part of what apple or peach orchards take yearly from the land and for which we have to take thought. If I figure correctly ^^, in fruit, leaves and new wood an acre of peach trees seven to nine years old yearly make about 5,400 " New York State Station Bulletin 265. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. m pounds of dry matter and an acre of apple trees 30 years old 8,200 pounds. If we take Hall's statement" that a crop evap- orates about 300 pounds of water for every pound of dry matter, it would appear that apple and peach trees may take from the soil 800 to 1,200 tons of water per year. This, at best, is only a rough approximation, of course, and the actual quantity may be considerably less. The point I wish ,to put as clearly as I can is that vast quantities of water, as well as small quantities of mineral matters are essential to the crop^ — one is not more needed than the other — and therefore in talking about fertilizers we are not treating the matter fairly if we only look at what we carry to our orchard in bags and spread from the tail of a cart. The more I see of our Connecticut soil and climate, the surer I am that soil water, oftener than so-called plant food, determines the size of our crops. We come pretty near being a semi-arid region in a cycle of dry years such as we have had to begin a new century. Our "summer pasture'' is usual- ly almost a myth because of drought. The crops on fields which have become stripped of humus because of bad rota- tions or no rotations are almost a failure, even when "well fertilized," and all for lack of water; while fields where clover comes in rotation and manure is freely used, and be- cause of their use the soil has abundant humus, yield fairly satisfactory returns, even in dry summers, and heavy crops increased by using commercial fertilizers in summers when rain is fairly abundant and fairly frequent. It is futile to object that we have to depend on the Lord for a water supply in any other sense than we depend on Him for our daily bread. We have got to get out' and hustle for either of them. Protracted drought, of course, will shorten crops on an)- farm, but green manuring, proper rotation and thorough tillage will very greatly reduce the damage from severe drought and increase crops even in those years which only have an occasional "dry spell" ; for even a temporary " Hall. The Soil, p. 108. 112 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGIC-IL SOCIETY. lack of water will diminish crop production more or less. Till- age "ponds" water within the soil and so considerably offset the effect of summer drought. I don't need to enlarge here on the uses of tillage, the value of humus, or the nitrogen-gathering properties of cover- crops. You all know about these things in a general way. What I want to do is to give the results of some careful or- chard tests of these things, considering themi together as or- chard fertilizers, i.e., things which provide humus in the soil and water and nitrogen for the orchard crop. The first one I shall mention is reported by the New York State Station^^. The trees were Baldwins, standing 40 feet apart each way on a fertile Dunkirk loam, ten inches deep, with a sandy subsoil, with slight variations in the soil. These trees, 239 in number, were set in 1877, and up to 1903 had been tilled every year and had a cover crop. In 1903 one-half of the orchard was laid down to grass, which in the five fol- lowing years yielded about two tons a year per acre. This was mowed and left where it fell as mulch. The other plot was tilled in the spring and had mammoth clover three years and oats two years sown as cover crop. Both plots were fertilized alike, in strips across each, with phosphates and potash, nei- ther of which had any visible effect. In the five years the yearly yield of apples from the tilled plot was much larger than from the sod, 109.2 barrels, as against 72.9 from sod. The tilled fruit was larger, 309 apples to the barrel, against 434 from the sod. The fruit from tilled land had a much higher color and matured one to three weeks earlier. In common storage it kept four weeks longer and its eating quality was better. The tilled trees made better growth, the color of the foliage was brighter, coming out three or four days earlier in spring and holding on a week or ten days later in the fall. The average year's cost of management was $17.92 per acre for sod, $24.47 for tillage. The average income $71.52 from sod, $110.43 from tillage. 15 New York State Station Bulletin 314. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 113 The writer of the report ascribes the result to two things : First ; the tilled trees were better watered. Frequent tests of soil moisture during- the growing months showed that the tilled land had in the first six inches 10,500 gfallons of water to the acre jnorc than the sod land, and in the first twelve inches 16,300 gallons more. In the year following the figures were 8,500 and 13,800 respectively more of water in the tilled than in the sod land. His figures show that what is true of other crops is also true in orchards, i.e., the seasonal rainfall is not enough to meet the full need of an apple or- chard. If the soil, by proper handling, is not made a storage reservoir of water the fruit crop will generally sufifer. If this rainfall, small as it is, is divided between two crops, one or the other, or both, are likely to sufl:"er. It is quite likely, too, that insufficient water means in- sufficient food, for water is the means of dissolving and car- rying the mineral plant food. That there was sufficient food on both plots to meet the crop requirements when there was enough water, the fertilizer test indicates. But on sod land there was not enough water. Second : As further tests proved, the land which was tilled and had a cover crop each year contained somewhat more humus than the sod land and had all the advantages which the extra quantity of humus brings with it. The whole account of this experiment, which I cannot fully sum- marize here, is worth careful study by orohardists. I must quote the closing paragraph : **To manage the soil of an orchard properly requires nice adjustments and delicate balancing for each particular case. Soils vary much and all are complex, quite diverse chemical, physical and biological changes take place in di- verse soils. Everv apple-grower, therefore, has a problem of his own. But the individual problem can be best solved bv the rational application of the ordinary laws of nutrition and growth — those which apply to cultivated plants in gen- eral. The apple is most unique among plants." 114 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. An experiment in Pennsylvania" compares clean tillage, tillage and cover crop, sod mulch and sod. On the sod mulch plot all the herbage remains, the first cutting being raked about the trees and an additional mulch of straw, swamp hay, or buckwheat straw (about three tons to the acre) being added, making a covering three or four inches deep. On the sod plot the first cutting is removed, the sec- ond left where it falls. The tilled plots were cultivated till July first. In three young orchards the mulch system ranked first in yield and size of fruit, second to sod in color and sec- ond to clean tillage in growth. It beat the cover crop method at all points. The inimulched sod gave the smallest yield, smallest growth, but best-colored fruit. This is the result of three years' crops. In a mature orchard, on the other hand, tillage with cover crop was far ahead of the sod mulch in yield (1 1/2 times as much) and had double the growth. In color, how- ever, the mulched fruit was superior. The discrepancy between results in the two orchards, the author says, is due to the fact that the mulch held suf- ficient water for the small young trees, but not enough for those which were larger. It seems to me that the results show that a good nuilch of trash all over the orchard may be in some cases more ef- fective than tillage, but it is impracticable under most con- ditions. Sod culture, the author states, hastens bearing in young trees. This is a common observation and suggests this as a possible explanation : The sod method divides the water and mineral food supply between two crops. The growth of the wood is therefore less rapid, and because of that the tree turns to fruiting earlier than one which grew unhindered. Deficient food or water supply, generally, I be- lieve, induces earlier fruiting. The Cornell Station^", concluding an orchard survey of Niagara County, New York, says : s Pennsylvania Station Bulletin 100. " Cornell University Station Bulletin 262. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 115 "The conclusion of the whole matter is this: Certain sod orchards under special conditions, such as heavy manure mulching, together with some pasturing to keep the grass down, give good results — perhaps as good as clean cultiva- tion. But the skillful fruit grower can expect more than the law of averages will give. And even the general grower should note that thorough tillage is the most profitable meth- od of soil management." In a survey of Orleans County^', the report is that the young trees in sod usually make a very poor growth, as com- pared with those in tilled orchards. Probably more damage is done by sod than by all other causes. Excluding all neglected orchards and counting only those fairly well cared for, those wdiich have been tilled for ten years gave a larger yield by 45 per cent than those which were in sod for the same period. Frequently the apples from sod orchards are more highly colored, but this is apparently more than compensated for by the larger size of fruit from tilled orchards. At any rate, the average price of fruit from tilled orchards is a little higher per barrel. Sod orchards pastured give a better yield than unpas- tured. If there is a method of sod culture as good as tillage it is not yet found by the average farmer. But tillage must stop early in July. The same station, reporting on conditions in \\'ayne County, New York^^, states that about one-half of the or- chards have been in sod for five or ten years or longer ; and one-half have been tilled more or less. Orchards which have been tilled for five years or more have yielded 35 per cent more fruit than sod orchards which have been well treated, and in other respects are like the tilled orchards. One more quotation from this Bulletin — for you see now " Cornell University Station Bulletin 229. " Cornell University Station Bulletin 226. Il6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. we are seeking the experience of other states where com- mercial apple growing has been a very important branch of farming for many years. "Does tillage pay? These tables do not show that every sod orchard should be tilled, but they do show that it would pay to till the average one. If a sod orchard is giving good yields, and if the trees are making sufficient growth to keep up their vitality, it may be desirable to keep it in sod. By the liberal use of barnyard manure or straw mulch, an or- chard may be kept in good condition without tillage. The trouble is that so many do not receive enough of either. The same results may be accomplished with much less manure if the orchard is tilled. If the orchard is in sod and is not yielding well, or if the trees are losing their vitality, even if the yield is good .still, it will probably pay to till. "There are some marked advantages of sod. It requires less work to leave trees in sod. If the land is very stony, tillage brings stones to the surface and makes a bad place for the apples to fall. Sod is also better to haul spray rigs over. Perhaps the greatest advantage is in having a sod for the apples to fall on. This is particularly desirable when the en- tire crop is to be shaken off for evaporating. Cover-crops will, to some extent, take the place of sod, but it is difficult to get a good cover-crop under large trees. Apples usually color better on sod and are said to keep better, but are not so large. Some experiments are now being conducted on these points. "Tillage, fertilization, pruning and spraying are the chief factors that enter into good care of an orchard. One or more of these may sometimes be omitted without seriously affect- ing the trees. Tillage may lessen the need of fertilization. Fertilization may help to make up for lack of tillage. Some years few insects or fungi attack the trees, so that spraying is not much needed. Very frequently a grower becomes im- pressed with the importance of one of these factors and makes a hobby of it, to the exclusion of all the others ; but the most successful man is the one who keeps a proper bal- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. iiy ance between all four, and who does not expect spraying to replace manure, tillage or pruning, or vice versa."' I have tried in this paper to give you the results of a rather careful reading of what has been done of late years in the way of accurate experiment and observation of the eft'ects of mineral fertilizers, tillage, cover-crops, sod and sod mulch on the thrift and production of orchards. I have not noted everything, of course, but enough, I think, to touch on all the important points. You practical orchardists can apply these facts to your own special conditions better than I. But in closing I may hazard some expression of my own views on the matter, not claiming any special weight for them : Success in fertilizing orchards cannot be got by hard and fast rules which apply to all cases. There is no receipt book for it. As a sensible dairyman knows that balanced rations and proper choice oi feeds are important but cannot take th'e place of watchfulness and study of his own cows, so, while the orchardist may profit much by the suggestion and experi- ence of others, yet his own land, his own trees, his own re- sources make his case different from any other and call for thought and study in management and very likely for changes in handHng his orchard to suit the varying seasons. The cost of fertihzers, the differences in cost and eflfi- ciency of farm help, as well as the scarcity of help, are things which often determine the profit of this or that treatment. What is best for the trees or yields the largest crops of fruit may be unwise practice because, under the orchardist's special circumstances it is not as profitable as another treatment which yields less fruit, to be sure, but of greatly reduced cost. On the other hand, present profit may be made by permanent injury to the orchard and loss of future profits. The first and most important element of growth for which we are responsible is water. Piut though it overshad- ows all the rest in importance, it is generally too little re- garded. The spring and summer rains will not supply enough Il8 THE CONNECTICUT PO.MOLOGICAL SOCIETY. water for the orchard in summer. The soil must make up the difference from what is stored up in it during the fall and winter. It will do this to some extent, whether the land is in sod or tilled. But we have seen that tilled land holds and supplies to the trees much more water than the sod land. In sod orchards the g"rass starts early, makes its .qreat- est o^rowth, and so takes most water from the soil just at the time when growth should be most rapid in the trees. If there is plenty for both, all right, but there seldom is. As a result, and as I have explained before, trees in sod are early bearers, but are not, other things being equal, as thrifty growers, and will not, in the long run, be as productive. Hogs pastured in sod orchards keep down the grass and so conserve soil moisture and roughly till the land. Mulching is, of course, a great help in such orchards, and top dress- ings of fertilizers. Is then sod in orchards to be con- demned? I think not always. On very stony lands, especial- ly steep hillsides, it may pa\- better than tillage which, in such places, would be difficult and expensive and might make the soil gully or wash badly. But the careful observations we have, indicate that only in exceptional cases can the greatest profit be got by th'e sod system; and I am; discuss- ing now orcharding for profit, not for fun. Beautiful, high- colored, abundant fruit is sometimes gathered from sod or- chards. But I believe the weight of testimony shows the best profits are from tilled or occasionally tilled orchards. I say occasionally tilled, for there are orchards on such moist soils that yearly tillage produces excessive wood growth, and a smaller yield of fruit as a result. This can be changed by seeding to grass and keeping in sod until the skilled orchard- ist sees that they need tillage again. As to cover crops : A thrifty cover crop tempts us to wait too long before turning it under. Everv day adds a good deal to its bulk, but every day adds also to the water which it draws from the soil, and also, it seems to me. adds a day to the time of ripening off of the wood in the fall. For it is this legume crop, plowed under, from which the trees TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 119 will gather their nitrogen supply, after it has decayed and nitrified in the soil. The longer the plowing, decay and ni- trification are postponed, the later will be the growth. Now the first plowing breaks up the surface soil, which has been packed by the winter, and makes a six-inch mulch over the great soil reservoir below, and light surface tillage following makes a fine mulch over the four or five inches of tilth. Gradually the tilth gets firm again, and so becomes a better carrier of water, but the dust mulch up to the first of July or later protects from excessive loss of water by soil evaporation. By this time an abundant water supply be- comes less needed in ordinary years, but here again there is no cook-book receipt. In a very dry summer I have seen a peach orchard tilled constantly until the middle of August. As a result it kept green and yielded a full peach crop, wbile neighboring orchards turned yellow and fruit shriveled on the trees. No serious winter injury followed. Up to this point, the work has been to keep soil water from loss by evaporation. Then follows a leguminous cover - crop, which has at least four uses. It diminishes the solu- ble plant food in the soil and so slackens the growth of the trees, giving them time to mature their new wood ; it gath- ers nitrogen from the air for the next year's apple or peach growth ; it makes a mass of easily rotting vegetable matter to be changed hereafter into humus, and so increases the power of the soil to hold water; and it holds the soil from washing. When the soil has been well filled with humus, and in a wet season, an early sowing of rye or oats may an- swer quite as well as a legume, because it will draw more heavily on the water and surface plant food of the soil, and prevents too much late growth and seasoning of the new wood. Now as to chemical fertilizers in orchards. While sta- ble manure has shown its great value both as a fertilizer and conserver of moisture, its cost and the cost of putting it on will prevent its extensive use by orohardists, and commercial fertilizers and cover crops will have to be our main depend- I20 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ence. An orchard yearly takes from the land as much nitro- gen, phosphoric acid and potash as a crop of wheat. There is this diiiference, however, between tree fruits and wheat or other farm crops. Wheat should be grown in rotation with other crops whose demands on soil fertility may be less and surely will be quite different in the proportion of plant food taken from the soil. But the apple orchard makes exactly the same call on the soil from thirty, fifty, or one hundred years running". Suppose that you have a soil in which, let us say, phosphoric acid is rather slowly given up to crops. A crop in a rotation which makes small demand of soluble phosphates we can imagine will make it easier for that soil to meet the heavier demand of a different crop next year. But an orchard soil must be ready with a spot cash payment of the same plant food in the same amount every year. This, I think, makes a yearly dressing with soluble fer- tilizers seem very desirable in orchards, unless careful ob- servation of trees tested in the way already suggested in this paper or the judgment of an experienced grower indicates that the land does not need for a time one or another of the fertilizer ingredients. Thus scanty leafage and deficient growth, if the soil water is sufficient, will suggest the use of more nitrogen ; overgrowth or late growth in normal sea- sons will suggest cutting down or omitting fertilizer nitro- gen or, it may be, cutting out the cover crop, or even seeding down for a few years. Peaches need more quickly available fertilizers than apples. They must make a full growth in a very few years ; they must pay for themselves within ten or twelve years, and the loss or lessened yield of a single crop, for lack of fer- tility, makes a much greater difference in the total pro-fit of the venture than it does in an apple orchard. The New Jersey experience that generous fertilizing each year count- eracts considerably the loss of fruit in poor years and lengthens considerabh' the bearing life of the tree is very conclusive. One thousand pounds of a 2.5-6-7.5 formula of solu- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 121 ble plant food, put on ever\' year, proved very profitable as long as the orchard lasted. Whether, all things considered, it pays best to buy this ready to put it on or to buy the ingredients singly and mix, will depend on local conditions and the state of the market. One hundred and fifty pounds of nitrate of soda and of muriate of potash and 350 pounds of bone-black superphos- phate were used in the New Jersey tests. Four hundred pounds of acid phosphate, of course, could be substituted for the dissolved bone black. One of the most profitable orchards in New Jersey ( 10 acres) twelve years old and showing no sign of lost vitality, has had annually since its third year 200 pounds each of ni- trate of soda, ground bone, acid phosphate and muriate of potash. This is equivalent to 1,000 pounds of a 3.8-7.0-10 formula. It has yielded eight profitable crops, one of them giving a net profit of $200 per acre, with an average "net profit" yearly for the twelve years of over $50 per acre. Such heavy dressings of apple orchards every year, even after trees come into bearing, would not be profitable. My idea would be to get the land well stocked with phosphates and potash .before the trees begin to bear, using enough ni- trogen to keep them growing vigorously, but not pushed. A newly-set tree needs time to develop a large root sys- tem. In a very rich soil it will not grow as rapidly nor as far, as in one only moderately fertile, and a dry season may find the roots not sufficiently developed to gather the water which is needed, while the other things it needs are abun- dant. When the orchard begins to bear, of course, the fertiliz- ers should be increased. Suggested formulas for apple orchards I have already given. One other thing I want to mention is lime. Stone fruits especially require it and 30-40 pounds each year go oflf in the leaves, wood and fruit in apple orchards. But lime is also quite as important to the cover crop. The clovers and 122 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. most of the legumes thrive better for it, and every orchard should be able to bear clover. I believe a ton of lime to the acre on land where peaches are to be set, and from 300 to 600 pounds a year after the trees begin bearing, will be a fair amount to try, and on apple orchards occasional liming is desirable when the cover crop is not thrifty. As to the forms of plant food to be used : Brooks, in Massachusetts, found that the double sulphate of potash and magnesia gave him larger yields and better color and qual- ity of fruit than the muriate of potash. Munsbn, in Maine, as a result of ten years' test, found no specific effect due to the form of potash. The Pennsylvania report finds some- what better results from the use of high-grade sulphate. The question, you see, is not settled. There is no question in my mind but that in peach or- chards acid phosphates or a mixture of that with some bone is preferable to any other forms ; though if anyone pre- fers basic slag meal at prices which will make it but little more expensive than the other, I can have no quarrel with him. I do quarrel with the statement that Connecticut farm- ers should use ground Tennessee phosphate rock instead of basic slag meal or acid phosphates for supplying phosphates. Phosphoric acid costs us here, as nearly as I can learn, about 1^ cents a pound in carloads of ground rock, and a little more than twice as much as acid phosphate. The acid phos- phate has an immediate effect, that of ground rock is very slow. Thorne, whose fertilizer tests are certainly the most valuable contribution we have on the subject, in a ten-year test on corn, wheat, and clover in rotation, where the floats or fine ground rock was given the very best chance to work the land found a larger net value of increase in crop from being well mixed with the yard manure before putting it on acid phosphate than from floats On our soils, at present poor in humus, I do not believe that floats can be as economical as acid phosphate or basic slag meal. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 123 It may be that in time a heavy dressins,- of floats on a young orchard tilled with cover crops will supply enough phosphoric acid yearly for the orchard's need. Possibly that is the cheapest way to provide for the future. To supply pres- ent need soluble phosphates are required, and floats do not take their place. Even a moderate dressing of acid phos- phate will supply more pih'osphoric acid than the annual crop removes and leave a residue each year as .available as floats, for the future. As to nitrogen, nitrate of soda is quickest in its effects on the trees and least lasting, and is thus particularly adapt- ed to some of the needs of the orchard. Bone, tankage and cotton-seed meal are more valuable for lasting effects where thev are desired. Discussion. Dr. Jenkins: There is one other thing I would liketo^ say. In experimenting with one orchard we tried a certain plan, and the year following there was an increase. I think the crux of the whole matter is that no man can give a cook- book receipt for the use of fertilizers. No one can give a rule that will be a sure guide in all of the different orchards of the state. That is one of the things that makes up the joy of farming; a fellow has got to learn what is best to use on his own trees and his own farm, and under his own conditions as he finds them to exist, and he cannot be taught out of any book or from the single experience of any one man. One thing that I would like to say is that it seems to me in the settlement of some of these questions, such a thing, for instance, as the effect of the dift"erent potashes, that the pomologist of this state might well undertake an experiment of that sort in one or more orchards of the state, and get some information on that subject that would be more val- uable than any we have now. I should be very glad to co- 124 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. operate in starting such experiments and to get such infor- mation. President Rogers : The time is going fast, and we want to question Dr. Jenkins while we have a chance. There is still time for a few questions. I am sure he would be glad to answer anybody, so I hope }0U will not hesitate abc-ut it. Mr. Platt : I wish the Doctor would tell me and the rest what are the ingredients of basic slag? What is there in it? Dr. Jenkins: It contains phosphate of lime in its com- position, but the stuff is somewhat different from what we call plain phosphate of lime. It also' has a high percentage of iron, and it also has a large excess of lime, probably uncom- bined. That we are not certain about, but in the basic slag that you are putting on, if you can get the right quality, you are putting on from fifteen to eighteen per cent of phosphoric acid and about thirty-five per cent of lime. What seems to be settled with regard to basic slag is that this phosphate of lime does not turn into insoluble forms of phosphate, and practically you are liming your land with about thirty-five per cent of lime and from sixteen to eighteen per cent of a phos- phate of lime. ]\Ir. Ives : What is the need of using magnesia in our soil ? Is that one of the agencies working to liberate plant food ? Dr. Jenkins: It has that effect, but not, I think, any more than lime. A certain amount of magnesia is just as necessary as lime, but the crops take up a relatively small part of it. Just what its particular function is we are uncertain. Brooks suggested that the color oi fruit might be in some way connected with the lime, but we are not satisfied as yet about that. A Member: I would like to ask if it is necessary to use this, and if we do, if it would do away with liming the soil, and get rid of the acid in the soil? Dr. Jenkins: If it is necessary to get rid of the acid? A Member: Yes sir. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 125 Dr. Jenkins : Well, I do not know of any experiment that has demcnistrated that. I believe strongly that acidity of the soil would be injurious, and while it might not be so much so in the case of one crop as another, 1 do not think that the root filaments would develop in an acid soil. A Member : Wlnat is }-our opinion of pasturing sheep in a well fertilized orchard ? Dr. Jenkins: Why, it will da some good. It will keep doAvn the grass, and will probably help to conserve the water supply. I think in New York state, the experience has been that hog culture is better than any other. I do not re- member, but I think that sheep came next, and cows and dairy stock last. A Member: Does it take the place of a tillage system? Dr. Jenkins: It will not perfectly take the place of it, because it will not me so effective. A A^ember: I should like to ask if there is any relation between the acidity of the soil, and the use of commercial fertilizers? I find there are a good many who are against muriate of potash, because they claim it will increase the acid- ity of the soil. Dr. Jenkins : Yes, some objection can be made to mu- riate and sulphate of potash. If you put either of them on the soil the crop will take up much more potash than it will oi the acid of the soil, and in that way leave the acid in the soil to be neutralized. So that the use of most chemical salts will, to some extent, increase the acidity oi the soil, and that should be corrected, but I do not think it is any argument against their use. In ten years of experiments en a line which evi- dently needed nitrogen, they drove out all the grass by put- ting on sulphate of ammonia, which contained nitrogen which the crop needed, the reason being that the crop took up the nitrogen, and left the acid, and it simply ran out the grass, and they had nothing but sorrel. Then they limed it, and within two years the grass came back again. Mr. Kelsey : I would like to ask the Doctor if an ex- cess of lime in the soil has any influence in giving flavor? 126 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Dr. Jenkins: I do not think there is anything- to that, any more than that stable manure will do the same thing. A Member: That question came up in New York with- in a couple of years. I had some apple trees of the yellow Bell Flower and I had one tree that was very nice indeed in its flavor, entirely different from the rest, and it was a curiosity to me foT a g:reat man}- x'ears to know why that was. When that question came up I rememhered that on the spjt of ground wbere that tree was, when I was a little child, there was a house there, and the house was torn down, and the sug- gestion was made, or came to my mind, that that ]3articular apple tree was aft'ected favorably by the excess of lime which came into the soil from the pulling down of that old house. Dr. Jenkins : The thrift of the trees and the produc- tion of the fruit undoubtedly was aft'ected by it, and that may have acted on the .flavor, on botj-i the thrift and flavor of the tree. Other things being equal, I should expect that it would have a better flavor. A ^Member : It gave a spicy taste to the apple. It was a very nice flavor, and I have always been curious to know whether that came from the lime. Vice-President Drew : I am sorry to draw this discus- sion to a close. The President has appointed the following committee to judge the fruit exhibit downstairs : Mr. L. S. Tenny, oi New York; Mr. N. S. Piatt, of Connecticut, and ^Ir. Wilfred Wheeler, of Massachusetts. They will please meet down- stairs to-morrow rnorning at nine o'clock. There is another business matter to come before the meet- ing. This morning Mr. Lyman was appointed as a member of the Nominating Committee. We find he is not here. So it will be necessary to nominate someone else from Middlesex County. I will call for that nomination now. A Member: I nominate Mr. Robert Hubbard of Alid- dletown. The Vice-President: Mr. Hubbard is placed in nom- ination. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 127 Nomination seconded, and Mr. Hubbard was then ap- pointed by vote of the meeting. Vice-President Dt^ew : Something over a year ago Pro- fessor Sears and myself had the pleasure of making a trip into the apple regions of the West. It was a most interesting trip. We met man\- prominent fruit growers, and of all the people, at least of all these people we met, there was not one from whom we got more useful information than the gentle- man whom we have with us to-day. I am pleased to intro- duce to you Mr. John B. Castner, of Hood River, Oregon. Mr. Castner is on our program to give us an address on "New England Fruit Growing Conditions as Observed by a West- erner." New England Fruit Growing Conditions as Observed by a Westerner. By J. B. Castner, Hood River, Oregon. Mr. President and Members of the Connecticut Pomological Society : It is certainly a great pleasure to be with you during the meeting of your Society. As a general rule at all such meet- ings as this it is customary to pick out the best things that exist in your particular locality and discuss only those. I know this is true with us in Hood River, Oregon, and I be- lieve it is true with all other sectio'US, but I am going to break away from this custom to-day and point out some of the faults as well as the good qualities in the eastern fruit business. Apple conditions in New England as observed by a western grower, or I might make it a comparison of the in- dustry in New England and in the Pacific Northwest. Last fall I had the pleasure of coming to New England as sort of a missionary. The trip East was for the purpose of de- monstrating box packing and grading. It was an experiment thought of by some of the progressive growers who have 128 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGJCAL SOCIETY. staid by their own part of the country and have not had to go to Oregon, Washington, Colorado, or Idaho to raise apples. I was very much surprised to find such fruit as I did on my arrival here, as I had heard it. quoted so many times that tlie East could not raise good apples, that I had almost begun to believe it myself, although I knew we used to raise good apples in Michigan and Ohio. You will also hear this same remark from people from your own section of the countr}^ who have not been residents of Hood River, Ore- gon, long. I certainl}' had to admit a good many things I did not think I would when I left home. I was glad to find some conditions as I did. as it proved to me that there are some live ones in the apple business in New England, as well as the West. I may make some statements here that may hurt the feelings of some who do not think there is anything in the up-to-date methods of raising and marketing apples, but nevertheless I am going to give you the facts as I ob- served them myself and what the possibilities are for im- proving. The box proposition is going to be an experiment for you, and I believe a very good one for your extra fancy grades, as that grade of fruit from the West, especially Hood River, is selling in the eastern, as well as the foreign, markets for a high price. Before leaving for home in No- vember I went on the Boston market and learned from two wholesale firms that Hood River apples of the extra fancy grades were selling from $3.25 to $4.50 per box, according to the variety. Now if those apples are shipped thirty-three hundred mliles across the country and bring that price why can't you do it here? You are right at your own market. The manager of one of these firms told me that last year he handled thirty-five cars of apples from Hood River and never had a complaint from one box. In talking with a number of growers about what the trouble was, their answer was "We can't.'' The trouble is they won't or have never tried. There is no can't to it; you can if you will. It was proven to me while at Boston, Massachusetts, Portland, and Augusta, Maine, and at the Madison Square fruit shows that you can TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 129 grow just as good apples as can be grown anywhere in the world. Now where does the trouble lie ; with you or the fruit? In Hood River we used to hear this same "I can't," and "it does not pay.'' and "the prices will not stay up," but those people did not last long. Eastern people who had seen the fruit in the market and saw the possibilities of raising good fruit came in and bought out the dead ones, and have made the country what it is. Had the possibilities here been shown them you would probably have the most of them here now, and you may yet when they find out what they have left behind. I had to answer a good many inquiries from eastern people when I got back to Hood River. An editor of one of our papers refused to publish an article I wrote in regard to the good qualities of the eastern apples. He is going to make himself believe that Hood River is the only spot in the world that will grow apples. The secret of the success of the apple industry in Hood River is organization of the growers. The Hood River Apple Growers' Union has as its members at least ninety per cent of the growers of the vallew The association handles the packing and shipping of the fruit. No grower is allowed to pack his own fruit, so by using these methods the grade of fruit put out by the Union is the same. We also have laws requiring the grow- ers to spray their trees, also not allowing any wormy or dis- eased fruit being offered for sale, so one reason that the fruit is what it is is simply because the grower is forced to take care of his orchard and fruit whether he wants to or not. Then another is that the price of orchard land is so high that a grower if he makes a success of the business and makes any money on his investment has got to use all the methods used in apple culture in order to pay out on his in- vestment. Here in Xew England apple growing is sort of a side issue with most growers. The trees are planted, and that is about all that is done with them, except to harvest the crop when the trees come into bearing. You ask a grower if he sprays his trees and fruit. He says no, as he doesn't believe there is anything in it. He figures what the I30 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. cost of spray material and labor will be, not figuring that there will be any increased profit to him. A good many growers sell their crop to buyers and packers, who buy the fruit on the trees and barrel it themselves. While in Boston in November, I had permission tO' open a number of barrels of eastern apples put up in this way, and I want to say that they were a disgrace to the whole New Eng- land country. The apples were not fit to make intO' vinegar. Is it any wonder then why apples put up in an honest way bring a high price? You ask the grower about these condi- dions ; he waives all responsibilit}- and lays it to th'e packers, but the grower himself is to blame for letting the fruit leave his place in the condition it does, for he is the one who gets the credit for the poor stuff that goes out, and that fruit be- ing on the market is what gives the people the idea that the East cannot grow good apples. Some of your buyers here in New England told me that there was good fruit grown here, but»they could not depend on the way it was put up, so in order to suppl}' a trade that demanded fancy fruit they had to look to the western sections, that would guarantee their fruit to be as it is represented. The barrel apples I opened in Boston were selling for two dollars a barrel, while on the same day and at the same place Hood River box apples and also box apples from Mr. A. A. Mar- shall of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, were selling for from $3.25 to $4.50 per box. The question is, does it pay to take care of your fruit as it should be and put up an honest pack- age, whether it be box or barrel, or go on in the same old rut and let the western grower continue to ship his fruit into your own market and get the money? You have been asleep in this respect for a number of years, and are just be- ginning to wake u]). I had the pleasure of staying with Mr. Marshall on my arrival east last fall and helping him har- vest his crop of apples, and I wish to say that his crop packed the largest per cent of extra fancy grade that I ever packed or know of. The crop packed at least ninety-five per cent extra fancy. It was an experiment with Mr. Marshall and TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 131 one well worth trying, for in a recent letter from him he stated to me that his entire crop was sold and that $2.50 per box was the least he had received, and I know he received as high as $3.50 for a large per cent of them. This price was net to him. He, as well as some others in New England, have spoiled the idea that an apple tree here will not come into bearing until froin ten to fifteen years of age. The oldest trees that Mr. Marshall has are seven years of age. 1 myself saw one tree picked that packed ten boxes. There were a number that bore from five to eight boxes. You have a natural apple soil here in New England; the old trees prove it. Some of them are from fifty to seventy-five years old, and perhaps older, and although you have tried every known means to kill them, they are still bearing fruit. Another thing I found that looked odd to me was to see how secret- ive the growers are. They seem to be afraid to let their neighbors know what the}" have got or what they are getting for their products, for fear the other fellow might steal his market. How much better it would be if they v/ould all get together and stop this glut of poor fruit on the market, and in some way give the consumer a square deal. It would be better for every one concerned, besides making more money for the grower. Another example of putting up poor fruit came to my attention on my way home. I stopped at Law- ton, Michigan, which is in the grape belt of southern Michi- gan. The growers were just beginning to receive returns for their grape crop and the price they were receiving was very unsatisfactory. The grapes were not bringing much more than enough to pay for the harvesting. By making a few inquiries, T found that each grower packed his own fruit and nobody had any culls. It was all shipped out as first class. It seems they were all, or most of them, very adept at putting the poor fruit in the bottom of the baskets and the good ones on top. Consequently the buyers were sending to New York and Ohio for their grapes and the Michigan fruit was finding a slow market and low price. It was simply a case of not being able to put their conscience in 132 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the basket. I will leave it to you if the same migiht not be said of the eastern apple shipper? It was with us, and is yet in some respects. The question of overproduction often arises ; I myself have my doubts if this ever comes true, for a number of reasons. There are and will be laws made where we do not already have them requiring people to spray and take care of their orchards. What will then hap- pen? Take, for instance, here in New England you have trees that are almost impossible to spray and are so infected with other diseases that it will not pay to w-ork them over, so the only remedy would be to dig them out and start a new orchard, from which you would probably get quicker returns than you would by doctoring tlie sick ones. Again, new markets are being opened every year. I satisfied my- self while here that it was not the good fruit that was hurt- ing the market, but the inferior grade that was doing the business. Again, the large acreage of apples being planted in this country does not signify so much, for I might safely say from personal experience that not one-half, or I might go farther and make it one-third, will ever produce fruit, or be brought to a paying basis, for the simple reason that it is not apple land. You yourselves know that this condition exists here as well as I know it exists in the West. On my former trip here a good many people asked my advice about going West to start in the apple business. They would like to have and are sending out inducements to you every year. It is a large country and there is plenty of room for those who have to go there to start in the business, but my advice was, and is yet, stay at home and go into it here. I doubt if one person in a thousand who goes west to grow apples knows what he is up against. The miost of them get the idea that all they have to do is to go to any of those western fruit districts, plant the trees, and in five or six years pick twent\--dollar gold pieces from them. That is a mistaken idea, for a person who makes a success of the business has got tO' work and work hard. Uncleared land in any of those districts costs from two to four hundred dollars TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 133 per acre, according to the distance from town; most of this land is covered with large stumps or a heavj- growth of scrub oak and will cost from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars per acre to clear it for orchard, so the person who makes the start will, by the time he is ready to plant his trees, have land that cost him from three himdred and fifty to six hundred and fifty dollars per acre, and then he has to wait from six to seven years before he gets any returns for his labor. A bearing orchard will cost according to age, say from eight to fifteen years, from one thousand to two thousajid dollars per acre, so no matter whether a man buys the unimproved land or the bearing or- chard it will cost him a large amount of money. I do not want it understood that the western growers are not making any profit from their orchards, because a good many of them are making good interest on their investments. You can do the same here. Your land, or a large part, is good and will raise just as good apples as those western districts. It is not high priced and does not take a fortune to make the start. I believe if there were a few more young orchards being planted here and taken care of properly and put in a high state of cultivation and prove to the people that you have the goods, you will stop this steady outgo of people going West and have them take up some of the abandoned farms you have in New England. For years the general trend has been from the countr}- to the city, but of late years it has been the opposite, especially among the younger class. A person planning to go into apple growing should be sure that his soil is suitable for apples. Besides this, the land must have good air and soil drainage, exposure and eleva- tion. Our best locations in Hood River are on a northeast or an east slope. Trees planted on these slopes are less apt to make an early start in the spring and then be caught by a late frost. I have known of orchards planted on a south- ern slope being entirely killed on this account. It requires a good depth of soil with plenty of drainage, so that your tree roots are not standing in water during the winter, for 134 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. a tree that does is not entirely dormant durinq- the winter and is in a weakened condition, the first to start in the spring and will undoubtedly be caught by frost. In conclusion, I will say that I honestly believe the apple industry will be one of the best paying propositions in the East if the growers will get together for the purpose of growing and marketing better fruit. Discussion. A'ice-President Drew : We have Mr. Castner here. He has come a very long distance. He has given us a very fine address. Now we want to use him to the utmost. There is no better authorit}- on the proper methods oi grading fruit and packing it, and he can also talk to us on co-operation from a practical experience. He can talk on so many differ- ent sides of the question that I hope you will ask him many questions. Mr. Castner: ]Many people ask me for information about diflferent things, and before you start in I want to cor- rect one wrong impression. Tlie literature that comes from Hood River does not always back up what we say. That lit- erature that goes out is all right, but it does not go far enough. Vice-President Drew : Now I hope you will take full advantage of the time while Mr. Castner is here, and ask him all the questions that you wish to. A Member : I would like to ask Mr. Castner about what^ percentage of the Hood River apples will do to market ? Mr. Castner: From 90% to 95% are marketable ap- ples. Question : How do they run in grades in general, that is, about what percentage to each? Question : Why, the fancy grades will take from 60% to 70%, the choice probably 25% to 30%, and the balance will be fair. We have get the extra fancy, fancy, and choice. We make three grades. We never had anything but the fancy choice before, but the liigh class extra fancy goods will run about 60% to 70%. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 135 A Me^iber: I would like to ask the g-entleman abut the value of the apple lands out there, and as to whether you have to use irrigation to make them productive? Mr. Castner : In some sections of the country we do, but in Hood River you do not need an\- irrigation. Some sec- tions require water and some do not. You take in Yakima, and there they irrigate heavily. There is only one time of the year when we have to irrigate. As you all know, there comes a time in the summer when the trees take up moisture faster than at other times, and that is the time from the tenth to the fifeenth of July. That is the time that the core of the apples, together with the seeds, is farmed. Then if it is dry with us, we run the water on three or four times, and stir the soil with the cultivators and harrows. That is all the irriga- tion w^e give. I have been in Yakima, and they have got some very fine apple land there, but that land brings from $1,000 to $1,500 per acre. They figure that they can keep it in ap- ples for from twelve to fifteen years, and get their money out of it. A Member: Is there much of a rainfall there? Mr. Castner: There is at the regular time of the year for it. We do not get any rain to amount to anything from April to September. In some sections of the valley they will get a little during that time, but not much of anything". In some sections it will require a little irrigation, and in other sections it won't require any at all. A Member: Do you thin your fruit? Mr. Castner : Yes sir, we do. Now about this thin- ning proposition, I think we were the first to take it up. Ev- er}- man that can ought to thin his own apples. I have never found \et the hired man that could do it. We thin so that they are not closer together than every six or seven inches. W'e do not allow them to be cjoser than eight inches if we can •help it. A Member : How many times do you go over the trees? Mr. Castner : Twice. The first time is right after the first dropping, and then we wait until we know which is the 136 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. perfect fruit. We wait until the drop is over, and then go through carefully again. A Member : Do you use any artificial means to bring about color ? Mr. Castner : We use some potash. On some parts of O'ur soil out there you need a little potash, but there are other parts of the valley where it does not need it at all. A Member : What is the cost of handling the crop, that is, after the picking? Mr. Castner : We have a regular schedule. Five cents for sorting and five for packing. A Member : That means the same man does the same work ? Mr. Castner : That is in the majority of cases. One object in packing is to avoid the necessity of handling over, but v/hen they do it in the apple orchard they put the differ- ent grades in the boxes. Every handling over of them saves another handling in the apple house, and every time you han- dle the apples over you lose. B}' grading in the orchard you save an extra handling. A Member : I would like to ask what the trouble is with the fruit that goes to New York. When the apples are packed like that don't you have a good many bruised ones in the package? Mr. Castner : I don't know as we get so many bruised apples. Are you sure they are from Hood River. I myself, opened a number of boxes and we failed to find any poor apples, OT bruised apples. The conditions were good. They are packed and shipped by experts. The apples are packed and loaded in a car, and they do not receive any rough han- dling until they get here. They are handled just like eggs. A A^Iember : What is the difference between the fancy grade and the extra fancy grade? AIr. Castner : Well, the extra fancy grade of apples is what you might call show apples. The fancy grade will take an apple that has some little speck on it, and perhaps a worm-kile that it not too large. A choice apple is a good ap- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 1.37 pie with one or two worm-holes. That is not much better than a cider apple. Where the owner picks his own fruit perhaps he doesn't grade it properly. You get some apples that are worm-stung. You have got to be positively sure that the hole is not an open hole. We once had a fancy grade that allowed that worm-sting, but it is a bad precedent. So now w^e have made an extra fancy and a fancy grade, and that takes in some pretty high grade stuff. A Member : How much does color enter into your cal- culations ? Mr. Castner : With some varieties it takes 70% of red color. With the Spitzenberg, on the high-priced boxes, at least 75%. A Member : Do you get four dollars a box for those fancy "cider apples?" Mr. Castner : The extra fancy grades are bringing that high price. A Member : What do you get for those "fancy cider" apples ? That is a new grade in Connecticut. Mr. Castner: Well, out with us, they bring from $1.25 to $1.50. That grade of goods is all shipped to the middle west. It does not pay to ship it east. You have got enough of that here already, sio it does not pay tO' ship it here. Last fall while in Boston, a young man from Maine purchased in the Boston market wholesale a barrel of extra fanc}- Maine Red Baldwins. We took it to the exhibition, and we had a table made to show that barrel of apples on. They told us lots of stories about the good qualities of those Maine apples, and w^hat it would prove I didn't know. We opened the bar- rel, and put it on the table, and I found fifty-two good apples in that barrel, and of five different varieties, — and that was labeled "Extra Maine Baldwins.'' Is there any reason why 3'ou cannot get anything for apples in the East when you put them up like that? As long as you continue to dt) tliat. we are going to continue to ship our stuff in here and get a big price for it. We are going to do that just as long as you pack in that way. 138 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. A AIember: Now in regard to boxes; do you find in your experience that the box is a better package than the bar- rel ? Mr. Castner : Yes sir. You take that box of apples which you see there on the stage. There is no reason why any of those apples should be bruised. You take a box with the cover off like that, and you have got to handle it carefully and keep it right side up. If }OU were to handle that as you would a barrel, and roll the fruit around, it is going to be hurt. You would find that two-thirds of your apples were ruined before they were packed. And then they will decay as soon as you put them up. They may look well, but they won't stand up. The secret of the whole business is in the handling. You have spent some time in raising them. Why not spend some time in taking care of them ? A Member : What kind of packages do you use in picking apples? Mr. Castner : Well, we use a half-bushel basket or a pail. There are a good many patented devices that have been invented for picking. Some of them have a canvas that you can open up. As a rule, they will open up and let them go. Rut you might as well use a half-bushel basket as to place them in a basket, or a device with a canvas like that, and then take them out again. You do not want to handle your fruit any more than you can help, and in picking it off the tree and putting it in the basket carefully you can prevent it from being bruised. You do not want a package where you have got to drop it in. You have got to handle apples carefully. It is the only safe way to handle them. A good many growers use an ordinary water pail. A Member : I was reading where some of your peo- ple take a pail and pick them in water. Mr. Castner : I don't know about that. You will have to get that from somebody that knows more about it than I do. The idea is that we have found from the aver- age crop ever\- year that it pays to pick carefully, and it pays to thin, and thin well. A man starting in will often- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 139 times tliink that he is getting them thinned pretty close, or that he is cutting- out too many, and will think he is not go- ing to have any crop. He does not stop to think that he should g"o further and thin his orchard. Even then the trees will sometimes look, wihen the fruit comes to ripen, as though they had not been thinned. I will tell you one experience I had myself with thinning. I had two trees. I took seven thousand apples off from one of them, and eight off the other, and at picking time we took sixteen boxes off one and eighteen the other,^ — all first class fruit. Of course, those were old trees. Tliose trees were fif- teen or sixteen years old. A ?\Iember: You spoke of a second thinning soon af- ter the first. AIr. Castxer : Yes sir. That is all done to catch what imperfect fruit you missed the first time. At the sec- ond thinning they have grown larger, and you can see what }ou ought to take out better. A Member : How do you get your standard for the different grades? How do the different packers know? Mr. Castner: No one is allowed to pack until they have been instructed. They are all instructed in the pack- ers' school and they know how each box should be put up, and they know the different grades, and how they should be packed. So, by doing that, we can send out packers all over the valley, and they will all pack just the same. That fruit will all run pretty nearly uniform when it gets into New York or into your other eastern cities where we send it. A Member: The growers don't pack their own fruit? ]\'Ir. Castner : A few do, but there is not very nuich of those goods shipped out of the state. Most of the grow- ers prefer to have their crops packed by expert packers. The only way to learn the orchard business is to go at it and find out for yourself. These stories that you read in the newspapers about the Hood River apple district do not amount to much. I40 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. NoiW you take that package there (Speaker refers to a package on the stage). We take pains in packing, so that the bulge is supposed to be on the top or bottom, and not on the side. That is where that comes here. A Member: What proportion of your apples are mar- keted soon after packing? Mr. Castner : We start to ship just as soon as we commence to pack. We start to pack right away, and get them into the New York market as quickly as w^e can, and into cold storage. It does not do to keep them in a warm place. A Member : In shipping these apples you pack them on the side? Mr. Castner : That shows just how it is done. Yes sir, everything on the side like that. A Member: You do any summer pruning? Mr. Castner: We are doing now exclusively summer pruning. We have given up the idea of this heavy winter butchery. Now we do some pruning along the later part of July, and the first of August. We came to the conclusion that you don't get apples from young wood. The main ob- ject of summer pruning is that it does away with the woody grow^th and makes fruit growth. That is the principal ob- ject. I took ofif about half of this year's growth. Question : Do you thin in the same way. Mr. Castner: Well, I don't know as I know what you are driving at. We thin the head in some. In thinning we go to the main body of the tree. A Member : Will you tell us exactly how the people out there handle the fruit from the time it is ripe, that is, fruit like the Macintosh, from the time it is picked until it is put in the car? Mr. Castner : Well, as I said before, in picking and packing fruit one of the principal objects to avoid is a re- petition of handling. Of course, it has got to be handled at the time it is picked and then again when it is sorted and packed. If I was handling the Macintosh I should avoid TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 141 handling as much as I could. I do my sorting and packing in the orchard. The picking, and sorting and packing, would be two handlings, loading the box on the rack would be three, hauling to town and loading on the cars, four, and the unloading at the warehouse of the wholesaler would be five. That represents about the amount of handling that a box of apples gets from the tree to the wholesaler. A Member: I would like to ask Air. Castner a ques- tion. We hear a great deal about co-operation, or a great deal about the theory of co-operation, at least. We hear a lot of talk about it one way and another. Mr. Castner knows how it works in the West, and I would like to ask if he thinks it can be worked successfully where our markets are right by us, as they are here? Mr. Castner : It can be. A ]\Iember : How might it be worked? Mr. Castner: It is just a case of the growers getting together amongst themselves, and laying plans for the rais- ing' of these better crops of fruit and handling the crops ac- cording to approved methods. If one man can do it, why cannot a body collectively do it? An organization of that kind made up in that way can guarantee their fruit, and un- doubtedly could find a ready sale for it. An organization of that kind can do it better than an individual, because the or- ganization can put up a better grade, and a grade which will run more uniform, and guarantee it to the wholesaler. The individual cannot do that. The Hood River organization has a standing offer to make every box of apples, shipped by them good. Each grower is required to put his name on every box of apples he sends out. I think mysdf that you have got to do a little work among individuals first, and then you can get them together in an association. I tell you that a man buying a large amount of apples will go where he knows he can buy the best. If a man knows that he is getting the right kind of goods, and gets an honest pack, he will take his chances in shipping the stuff east. That is where you people fall down. 142 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. You do not pack your apples so that they will run uniform, and the buyer has not an}- confidence in the goods. A Member : You think it would be advisable all over the east to have associations of some description to market the fruit? Mr. Castner: I think it would. We tried individual packing in the Hood River country, but we found it did not pay. There were a number of growers who would not join the association. They got together and talked of forming an asso'oiation among themselves, but nothing came of it then. They tried it for five or six years, and found it did not pay. A Member: I would hke to ask the speaker if when you pick your fruit you pick or grade it at that time for color ? Mr. Castner: We make two pickings. We pick for color and size, too. We do not pick so much for color as for size and general appearance. Take it on the Spitzen- berg, and the first picking is for color, and for size, too. A Member: Will an apple color up after it is picked? Mr. Castner : To some extent, it will. Mr. Ives : I was interested in what Mr. Castner said about summer pruning, but it seems to me that summer pruning would be impracticable here where we have trees that are thirty years old, and lots of them twenty and twen- ty-five feet up in the air. I would like to ask him how it would work under such conditions. Mr. Castner: Well, with us none of our trees are more than twelve or fifteen feet high. Mr. Ives : Yon do not tear off much fruit in doing yoiir summer pruning then? Mr. Castner: No, we do not. 'I think it would be a good thing if a good deal of the fruit was knocked off. 1>ut there is no need of knocking off much of it b\' the prac- tice of summer pruning. Mr. Ives : You recommend that after we have done TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 143 the thinning of the fruit thoroughl\ that we should go to pruning ? Mr. Castner: I think it would be a good idea. I do not believe tliat you can ever prune a tree too much, that is, of course, I mean to l>e reasonable abimt it. Never be scared of getting off too much. Mr. Platt: What, in your opinion, are our best ap- ples here to be used for box apples? Mr, Castner: Well, if I was in the business here in New England, I would take many of your g-ood varieties and put them up in boxes. You would get a better sale for the goods. Of course, the culls and other low-grade fruit fit only to send to the cider factor}- ought not to be put up in boxes. People do not want them. A Member: Could you give us an idea of the ratio of the amount of spraying that you do there compared with the amount which is done here? Mr. Castner: Well, I think from what I have heard we spray a little more than you do. We spray five or six times. Our first spraying with lime and sulphur comes early. We use it for the San Jose scale. The lime and sulphur mix- ture has done the business for us. We spray for San Jose scale just as the color is beginning to show in the buds. Then is the time we use the 1 to 10 mixture. Next we put on arsenate cf lead, 1 to 30. Ten to fifteen days later we give another dose of arsenate of lead, and use lime and sulphur for the scab and scale. Fifteen days afterwards we give the trees another spraying, and then one each month for three different months. Of course, we get more codling moths than you do. We have two broods of worms, eispecially if the fall comes on warm. We have a brood which comes out the first of September, so we have to do a little more spraying than you do. A Member : Isn't that pretty late for the codling moth ? Mr. Castner: Well, we get it, but the spraying kills them. 144 ^-^^ CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. A Member : What do you spray with the last three times ? Mr. Castner : Arsenate of lead, which is for the worms. A Member : After the second time you do not use anything but lead? Mr. Castner : In the first spray we use one to thirty of lime and sulphur, with one to three of arsenate of lead. We use arsenate of lead right along and find it does the work. We find that the lead, works with the lime and sul- phur better than any other mixture we have tried. A Member : Do you use any Bordeaux or Bordeaux combination ? Mr. Castner : Xo sir, they have given up almost en- tirely using Bordeaux, for the simple reason of the rusting of the fruit. We found that if we used Bordeaux we were pretty apt to get the burn and scalding. With lime and sul- phur we get some, but it does not amount to much. Take it on a hot afternoon, and on apples on the south and south- west side of the trees where they are exposed to the sun, and sprayed at that time, you will get it even with water. We have tried that experiment ourselves. So all of the burning you get is not due entirely to the spray used. A Member : How many pounds of arsenate of lead do vou use to fifty gallons of water? Mr. Castner : Three pounds. A Member : You use the neutral lead, so-called ? Mr. Castner : It has always been said that we used the neutral lead. I do not know exactly about that. We have used it now for six or seven years, and have been suc- cessful with it. A Member : Do you ever hear of any talk of over- production out there? Mr. Castner : Some, but net very much. There is land there that will never produce apples except for the pur- pose of catching suckers, and they are biting every day. (Laughter.) But you put that land up to six or seven hun- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 145 dred dollars an acre, and see how people will grab it. If they think the land is bringing a high price they will all want it. When it is twenty-five and thirty dollars an acre nobody wants it. It may not be worth more than that for the apple business, but after it gets up to a thousand dollars an acre it is going quick. You have got the same conditions here. You take the greatest orchard lands you have got, and you once let the people know that that land is held at a high valuation and they begin to think there is big money in the business. You can sell your land all right. A Member : Do you have the apple aphis out with you ? Mr. Castner : Yes, but the lime and sulphur is g'ood for the aphis. We use tobacco, too. A ]\Iember : I understand that ycu are troubled more with the codling mioth? Mr. Castner: Well, I do not know about that. I think, however, we have more fungus troubles in the West than you do here. We have to spray more to keep the worms down, too. A Member: How do you have more fungus troubles when you have no rain? Mr. Castner : With us the damage from fungus is done in the fall and in the early spring. If we do not spray for it then we might as well leave it alone. Questiqin : You control your fungus by spraying the dormant trees? Mr. Castner: Yes sir, and by doing it early. We spray for the fungus after the leaves have dropped. That fungus is there and will get into the apple. You see, often- times, apple scab right in the calyx end of the fruit. A Member : Didn't you say that you don't have rainy weather from the time the apples set? Mr. Castner: It is rainy weather up to about the first of April, but we do occasionally have some rain in May. Here is the proposition. You wonder where the •f unguis exists. The leaves drop. Those leaves are covered 146 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLQGICAL SOCIETY. with fungus. The best advice to-day is just before the leaves drop to go over the trees with lime-sulphur or Bordeaux, and then you are pretty sure to kill it out. If you let the leaves go on the ground the fungus breeds all winter. That is one of the first things that we have been up against in the Oregon apple region. We have orchards in Oregon Wihere they have had a lot of tro'uble from that source. I do not believe you have got an apple tree in New England which is in worse condition than some of them were out there. A Member: Do you have bitter rot? Mr. Castner : Yes. A Member: What do you use for that? Mr. Castner : There is no remedy that I know of for the bitter rot in the Baldwin or Northern Spy. That has been experimented with. A Member: Do you buy your lime and sulphur, or Bordeaux, or is it the custom to buy the material out there and make it yourselves? Mr. Castner : No, we get the materials and make it right there. The growers make it themselves for the most part. We do not use the manufactured lime and sulphiir. The first lime-sulphur that was ever used there we made ourselves. We experimented with it first, and found out how to use it, and then made it up. Mr. Drew : On this orchard where you used lime- sulphur at 1 to 30, was that without any injury? Mr. Castner : Under certain conditions, yes. Mr. Drew : What are those conditions ? Mr. Castner : When the weather is cool we can use it early in the morning. A good deal of our spray burning is done by using the lime-sulphur in toO' hot weather. Lime, you know, will burn of itself. Now you put it onto an apple which is heated hot, and let the sun heat it more, and you are apt to get the burn. Mr. Drew : That is a point which T wanted brought out. We have been using lime and sulphur for the last two years. A year ago we got injury from it — a very small TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. i^y quantity. The lime and sulphur contained three pounds of arsenate of lead to fifty gallons of water. The next day we could go out and find the injury. Mr. Castner : No doubt you might have put it on too heavy. A Member : Do you think it is safe in a locality like this? Isn't it better before the buds open to put on the lime and sulphur? Mr. Castner: Well, not knowing your conditions, I should say yes. A Member: A^Ty experience is that you can use it just before the buds open without any injury. Mr. Castner: I never used it in the spring stronger than 1 to 9. A Member : That is a great deal stronger than 1 ta 30, but if you use it just before the buds open, then you are perfectly safe with arsenate of lead. A Member : Can we use it 1 to 30 before the buds open ? President Rogers: Yes, Mr. Castner : A good many people in spraying go on the principle that if a little is good a whole lot is better. Therefore they put on too much. Last year every apple tree on my place was sprayed just before blooming time. I wanted to get it done before they opened. They were sprayed with 1 to 9 of lime of sulphur. After the petals dropped I went over it with 1 to 30. A Member : I tried the lime and sulphur and also tried the Bordeaux. I had a tree where I used the lime and sulphur on one side and on the other Bordeaux, and I got the same burn on both. Mr. Castner : We could say much more about Bor- deaux. We have given it up entirely. A Member: That is all you use then, simply lime and sulphur and arsenate of lead? Mr. Castner : Yes sir. Question: Would you advocate spraying after the apples are picked ? 148 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Castner : Just as soon as the apple crop is picked go in and spray your trees and kill what fungus you can. Spraying them with Bordeaux or lime and sulphur prevents fungus. A Member : What strength of lime and sulphur do you use for that? Mr. Castner : One to nine, or one to ten, I should think would be all right. I do not know much about the conditions anywhere except in Oregon, but I should think that would be about right. I believe that is a good idea to go right in after the apples are harvested. There is no bet- ter way to keep the fungus down. President Rogers : This has been a most interesting and valuable discussion and I feel that we have gotten a great deal of help from Mr. Castner, and he is certainly en- titled to our thanks. The Secretary has an announcement to make. Secretary IMiles : I want to announce that there are about a dozen banquet tickets which have been ordered, but which have not been taken. Mr. Eddy has them. If any of }-ou have written or spoken for them, please get them. Oth- erwise we shall feel justified in selling them. I want to say that already the entire capacity of the dining room at the hotel has been sold out. The committee on our banquet has arranged for the Governor to meet our members from 6:30 to 7:00. If you will be at the hotel at that hour you will all have an opportunity to meet Governor Baldwin, and then we will go directly to the banquet room. President Rogers : I would like to thank you all for your attendance this afternoon. We certainly had a fine meeting. Now we will adjourn, to come together again to- morrow morning at half-past nine. We would be glad to have you all with us. We shall have an equally good pro- gram to-morrow as we have had to-day. At 5:15 the meeting in Unity Hall adjourned until Wed- nesday morning at 9 :30. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 149 The Society's Fourth Banquet. Evening Session is Devoted to this Function at the Garde Hotel. Three Hundred Attend, v.ith Governor Guest of Honor. Again the annual banquet of the Connecticut Pomologic- al Society was an occasion of great enjoyment for the mem- bers and their friends. This year the Garde Hotel was se- lected as the place for holding the banquet, and with most sat- isfactory results. The fruit growers and their wives and invited guests to the number of nearly three hundred began to gather in the spacious parlors of the hotel as early as six-thirty o'clock. Governor Simeon E. Baldwin, who was the guest of the So- ciety, received for an hour in the west parlor, the members' being introduced by former President C. L. Gold, assisted by Secretary Miles and the other officers. This was a very pleasant feature of the evening. At seven-forty-five the company marched to the dining room, which had been handsomely decorated for the occasion with flags, flowers and palms and Connecticut-grown fruit. The head table was on the east side of the room and the remainder of the room was completely filled with tables to accommodate the large number of diners. On the head table were many baskets of handsome red apples and in front of the governor's place was an especially fine basket of "Bald- wins." In the center of each of the other tables was a basket of apples also. With President Rogers at the head table were fprmer President Charles L. Gold, the toastmaster; Governor Bald- win, Mayor Edward L. Smith, President Flavel S. Luther, of Trinity College; Vice-President George A. Drew, of Green- wich ; Secretary Harry C. C. Miles, of Milford ; Treasurer Allen B. Cook, of Farmington ; and former President Joseph H. Putnam, of the Society, of Litchfield ; Wilson H. Lee, of Orange, former president of the Connecticut Dairymen's As- ISO THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY sociation ; Secretary J. G. Schwink, of Meriden, of the Con- necticut Dairymen's Association ; Leonard H. Healey, of Woodstock, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture; Herbert W. CoHingwood, editor of the Rural New Yorker; Robert E. Ireton, of New York, editor of The Financial American ; F. A. Smith, of Ipswich. Massachusetts ; Lloyd S. Tenny of Hilton, New York ; Professor J. B. Stewart, of the State College, Pennsylvania ; Dr. E. H. Jenkins, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Ha- ven; Albert T. Repp, of Glassboro, New Jersey; Wilfrid Wheeler, of Concord, Massachusetts ; C. C. Hulsart, of Mat- cawan. New Jersey ; Professor F. A. Sears, of the Massachu- setts Agricultural College, Amherst, Massachusetts. President Rogers called on the audience to sing the dox- ology, "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,'' and then began the serving of the excellent menu, which was un- der the personal direction of Landlord Walter S. Garde. A handsome red apple adorned the front page of the menu cards, which were furnished with the compliments of The Sanderson Fertilizer and Chemical Company, of New Haven. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. i^l The Menu. BLUE POINTS, COCKTAIL SAUCE CELERY CREAM OF VELOUTINE OLIVES CHOW CHOW SALTED NUTS SOUTHERN SHAD. CLUB STYLE CUCUMBERS SARATOGA CHIPS SWEETBREADS WITH MUSHROOMS SIRLOIN OF BEEF, DYJONAISE STUFFED EGG PLANT GREEN SALAD ICE CREAM ASSORTED CAKES COFFEE CONNECTICUT APPLES CRACKERS ROOLTEFORT Speakers. His Honor, Mayor Smith of Hartford. His Excellency, Governor Simeon E. Baldwin. President Flavel S. Luther, of Trinity College. AIr. Herbert W. Colling wood. Editor, The Rural New Yorker. Mr. Robert E. Ireton. of The I'^inancial American. 152 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. It was nearly ten o'clock when the diners reached the last course and President Rogers arose and rapped for si- lence. Introducing- Mr. Gold, as the toastmaster of the even- ing, the President said : "Ladies and Gentlemen : God put the tree in the Gar- den of Eden, where the first garden was planted. There, we are told, the apple was raised. Next we read about the prod- igal son going away. The prodigal returned, and when he returned he found plenty at his father's house. Now we have had a plentiful dinner, and we are about to have plenty of another kind of a feast. Without further delay I am go- ing to call on our Toastmaster, Mr. Gold, to take charge at this point. Toastmaster Gold: Mr. President, Ladies and Gen- tlemen : Do not think this is any choice of mine that I stand here in this capacity. Owing to the urgency of the railroad trains, whatever remarks I might have for you' I will defer until a later time, and immediately call upon His Excellency, the Governor, Simeon E. Baldwin, who will now address us. (Applause). Governor Baldwin : Mr. Toastmaster and Ladies and Gentlemen : I was at West Point one day last week, and in talking with one of the officers I found that he had recently returned from the Philippines. He stated that he had been there twice in a year's time, and that the only thing an Amer- ican needed to be particular about when he went there was to eat no fruit. He said that if they did that they were safe. I have never, myself, taken very much to the idea of nursing the Philippines along year after year at the cost of the na- tion, and if you cannot eat fruit there, I have still less use for them. Fruit, I think, is one of the good thincis of life, and I am glad that the use and consumption of fruit in New England, and in the country at large, has become so general. When I was a boy the common yellow banana was not so very com- mon. I can remember when bananas were indeed a good deal of a rarity, and in my father's day oranges were also. In TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 153 fact, I have heard my father say that they Seldom had an orange or a pineapple in New Haven unless a West Indian brig happened to come into port with a cargo, and then there would be plenty in the market for a few days. Now, of course, we are one of the great fruit-eating countries in the world, and southern fruits are one of the thing's that make our northern winters tolerable. We are happier, and we are healthier for it. I do not believe that any state raises fruit which is any better than that which is raised on Echo Farm, and on a good many of our farms here in Connecticut by our own pomologists. When I pick up an apple which comes from the Pacific coast I find it looks handsomer, even better than those which come from the local growers, but it has not got the flavor of an eastern apple, even before it goes into cold storage, and still less when it comes out of it. This Society, I think, has done a useful work in teaching our people that fruit culture pays now better than it ever did. It pays to raise good fruit in Connecticut. It pays because we have got the market for it. There are lots of farms in Connecticut that are within easy riding distance of good mar:- kets, and where you can sell good fruit, and be pretty sure to sell it at a fair price. Fruit raising is, I think, going to be more and more a Connecticut industry. Raising fruit and selling it at home is a business which will probably increase, for the number of people, particularly in the larger places, who are finding the use of fruit at the table once a day a necessity rather than a luxury, is increasing all the time. We have a great many orchards in Connecticut that are run-down and half cared for, or not cared for at all, and I think this assembly demonstrates that there is going to be a change in that respect, because it will tend to show the people of the state where the money from one of the branches of farming comes from. It comes very largely, I think, from fruit and the dairy. I do not believe that Connecticut is surpassed bv the Pacific states in • her capacity to raise good fruit at a profit, because one of the necessities to the fruit business is a good market, and we have ini])ortant markets on all sides 154 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. of us. (Applause). The southern CaHfornia farmer is at the mercy of the raih'oads. He has got to ship his fruit a long distance, and the railroad gets a large proportion of what is realized from the sale. Mr. Chairman, Connecticut is certainly a state where it pays to raise good fruit, and Avhere it can be done better than in California or Oregon. (Applause.) The Toastmaster : Before introducing the next speak- er, I wish to say just a word, and to take you into my confi- dence perhaps for a moment and explain somewhat as to the reason why I shold be inflicted upon you as toastmaster dur- ing this part of our program. It was planned and expected that our enthusiastic Vice-President would take the chair this evening, but it seems to turn out otherwise. If you will bear with me a moment, I would like to repeat that old story of the father who gave his boy a pair of horses and a wagon and a lot of chickens, and told him to start out and call at the first house and find out whether the husband or the wife seemed in control, and if the wife, not to leave the chickens, and if the husband not to leave the horses. He could leave the chickens and still have the pair of horses to drive with. You may draw your owai conclusions. It is not necessary for me to say any more. After some discussion the other evening when we were trying to settle this matter of a toast- master, one of our friends remarked to me, "Well, Gold, you are appointed, you know you are the last choice." Now Connecticut for years has been noted for its institu- tions of learning. It has not been willing to take a back seat from any state in that respect. It has its Yale and Wesleyan and Trinity, and our Connecticut Agricultural College at Storrs. And I believe there is another one in embryo down in New London, for the women. We have not only had these institutions, or these colleges, but we have had men at the head of them who have been able to maintain them, — able, capable men. Connecticut has had them and these institutions have had them in the past, and they have them now. We have here in Hartford a gentleman at the head of one of TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 155 these colleges whom we have asked to be with us to-ni^ht, and I have the honor to introduce to you President Luther of Trinity. Dr. Luther: Air. Toastmaster and Ladies and Gentle- men : I was considerably at a loss to know what I could have to say to a pomological society, that has to do with fruit. I knew that I myself was a lemon, and I see that you have our peach of a mayor here. (Laughter). If the Governor had not gone out I should not even have ventured to make a remark or two about His Excellency further than to say that we can well understand and congratulate him that his political friends are pretty well determined that his term of Governor shall be a "pair." (Laughter). I have been interested in fruit ever since the first time when one day I got caught in a tree that belonged to a man not my father, and when the Governor was talking about fruit raising in this state I did not know how it happened, but for some reason my mind went back to a very humble fruit thai is rather in disgrace now, and which indeed is getting rather hard to find, and yet I had in mind the gatherings we used to have in the old country town when we went after the hum- ble and unostentatious huckleberry. I wonder whether it is true that the boys and girls are now forbidden to hunt after the succulent huckleberry. It is one of the things, or one of the joys that I have looked back to in my boyhood, a good while ago, for there is no greater happiness than to take a tin pail, with a cup to stick them in, and go off to the hill- sides and wrest the festive fruit from the bushes. It is one of the pleasures of life that I can look back upon. I would like to go huckleberrying again to see if the berries are real- ly as large as they seem to be in my imagination. I hope that your children will know the pleasures of such a trip, and I plead with you to give the boys and girls at least a chance in that direction. You can tell them to put up the bars. They won't do it, but you can tell them. (Laughter.) And you can avoid making a scene about it until after they get through. That may look to you as though it was a crime, 156 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETV. but yon can kt the boys and 'girls have a show at huckleber- rying. Now these other fruits, of which such fine specimens are scattered about these tables, are the result of skill, train- ing and of learning. The huckleberry is a gift of nature, coming when we do not expect to find it, and where you do not oftentimes want it, but it is nevertheless an awful good berry. I do not know of anything better in the farmers' menu than the huckleberry. You can see how this early re- collection of my youth has impressed itself upon my mind. I do not know of any way by which a boy can disgrace him- self quicker than by being obliged to own that he has never been huckleberrying. Of course, there are certain things, such as huckleberry pie and pumpkin pie, which cannot be made by everybody. They have to be made by mother, or better still by grandmother. Then they will be indisputably all right. When those delectable articles are made by the proper parties, they constitute, as I have already intimated, a most delectable part of the menu of the farmer's wife. Now when I was asked to come here and speak, your President, I think, asked me to talk about education. Per- haps I will before I sit down, just to please him, but this sub- ject of huckleberries rather diverts my mind at present. Per- haps, however, I have exhausted that sufficiently for the pur- pose of this occasion, and I want to say just a word or two about another topic connected with fruit raising, and that is grafting. (Laughter.) It is a most interesting occupation. In fact, from early years, and long before I went into poli- tics (laughter) I learned a good deal about grafting. It seems to me now, after having had kind of a scientific edu- cation— it seems to me one of the most remarkable things on earth, that no matter what kind of an apple seed you plant, the result is, by the process of grafting, the production of something good. You can take a little twig, and by putting it into a sort of a pit on another twig, years and years after, pick another variety of fruit altogether from the tree in which the graft is made. It is an application of graft which TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 157 is unusual, considering- the use which is ordinarily made of that term. It is one of the most mysterious things in nature. My father used to try to bring- me up in the right way, and he used to send me out into the pasture to dig up the little small seedling apple tree. I used to get them,— used to dig up the little trees with a stalk about as big around as my thumb cut off the top, and then father would graft them to some nice tree. That is the wa\' we used to do. and we got some very fair apples. But I suppose you are expecting me to lead up to this matter of education. Let me say that you cannot make a success in any business, and particularly on a large scale, un- less you know your business, and for a man to know how is an extremely essential thing for the people of Connecti- cut. Therefore, this education question is one of the big- gest with which we have to deal. You could not raise many apples like some of these that I see on the table before me without the men who raise such fruit knowing just how to go about it. Knowledge is always power. Knowledge shows the way to get rid of things in the fruit business that you do not want there. It has taught you how to hunt through the branches and on the bark of your trees to find things that you do not want there. A great many things that you get rid of very easily in these days seemed to be a good deal more subtle and elusive a half century ago. In my time I presume that my father would have set us about this time to looking for nests in the trees of the tent caterpillar. That was one of the chief enemies that we had to fight. Since then other enemies to the success of raising good fruit have come in. Now I understand that you have to fight many subtle and obscure enemies, and that they have to be fought by the aid of the chemist and of the mechanical engineer. You could not get apples like these without the help of an expert in a scientific line, and that is just an illustration, for, if you are going to be a pomologist, and successful in pomology, you must have the latest information in relation to these matters. The schools then are the places where 158 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. your children are going to acquire the principles of pomol- ogy sa necessary nowadays to be applied in your business. The school is the place where Connecticut citizens are going to be clothed with a much greater power than was enjoyed by their fathers or grandfathers, or by anybody who was an inhabitant of this state at that time. This is only an il- lustration. It is a tremendously broad question. I do not mind saying, however, tlial in spite of the fact that His Ex- cellency has just left the room, compared with the question of educating your children the question of who shall be the next President of the United States is relatively unimpor- tant. I may feel differently about it alont^ next October. I presume we all get heated up pretty well when the political spirit becomes strong, and we are apt to think that the desti- nies of the nation depend upon the election of a particular set of electors on that day in November that is coming pretty fast. But, after all, whoever he is, he cannot do half as much harm to the country, if he is bad, as poor schools, and he cannot do half as much good for the country as good schools. So I will venture to say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that the question of whether your schools in this commonwealth are good, whether the teachers are competent, and whether they are paid enough to command their best services, whether the equipment is such as to put into the training of the children of the twentieth century just what they should have, — those questions are about the most important ones that can come before you. If I was to try to advise the people what to do I know what I would say, and while I feel perfectly confi- dent at this moment that that advice would be the best that could possibly be given, I am not going to do it, because those things that a man realizes because of his experience are seldom the things which he is able to attain. A man who sits down and works out a scheme or plan for the advance- ment of society, according to his way of thinking, very sel- dom' does the work, and it is hardly to be expected that he would. It is not because of the opinion of one man that such things come to pass, or because of the agitation of one TWENTY-FIRST ANXVAL MEETING. 159 man. The thing is a growth. It is the conimon sense of the masses that produce it. It is the co-operation of the people that is going to make good schools and not the dictum of some man or woman who has thought a good deal about it, and who, perhaps, has a lot of new ideas that he or she would like to see adopted. It is people like you through the states that have got to determine how the schools shall be administered, and how they shall work in order to attain the best results in the future. I think the most serious dif- ficulty with the schools today, and particularly those in the smaller towns, is the fact that they are so uneven. The schools in the less thickly populated districts are adminis- tered by teachers, who, as a rule, are not paid as much as those in the larger places, and, therefore, do not, presuma- bly, give as thorough attention to their preparation and to their work as given by the teachers in the larger centers of population. Now there is just one answer to that, I venture to say, and that is the establishment of a state system of schools. We are rather handicapped in our attempts to bring about that by that instinctive opposition which seems to be so strongly established in the breasts of many Connecti- cut citizens. We like to do things in our own way. We like to be our own boss. We want our particular corner of the village to be absolutely independent. We want to do things in small units. I think that is the local feeling that is holding us back. I will tell you frankly that I should like to see a state system of schools, schools just as good in the little small villages as in the cities, and where the teachers are paid just as much, and where the boys and girls are get- ting as good a chance. I think it is true that there has been some drift over the country in that direction, and the ten- dency has rather been, especially on the part of young par- ents, who are anxious that their children should have the best advantages, and the tendency upon their part is to go where the schools are better. I believe you know that. Now I do not expect to see the next session of the General As- sembly pass laws which would compel the towns to put their l6o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. schools in the hands of the state authorities, and I do not expect to see the next General Assembly establish a school system for Connecticut which shall pay the teachers of like grade the same amount, no matter whether they are teach- ing in small places or in large. I do not expect the next General Assembly will force the consolidation of schools so that these little ones shall be grouped together, but that does not change the fact, nevertheless, that it is impossible to get as good results in these little schools attended by a very few pupils as can be obtained in schools ranging from twenty- five to thirty. So that while I say that the answer to that problem is the establishment of a state system of schools, I do not expect to see the next General Assembly establish it, nor the one after that, and perhaps no General Assembly will do so during the years which I can reasonably expect to live. I do believe, however, that we are drifting in that di- rection. Many things indicate that. If the members of the Pomological Society will raise better fruit, and will lead good lives, that is all in the line of progress, and the children will have a better chance and Connecticut be a better state. I realize that before any very substantial progress is made along the line of the improvement of our school system we have got to drop some of our local prejudices. When we learn to co-operate in the large imits of the commonwealth, and say that this school business, and these school authori- ties, and the children, belong properly to the state to take care of and not to the parents, or to our smaller local com- munities, when public sentiment is educated to that point, the state can step in and take charge of it. It should pay the teachers according to the grade of work they do. The state can decide whether they are fit to be teachers or not better than our small communities, and the state should pay them, and the state property should be taxed to raise the money that is necessary to pay them, outside of the school fund, and the whole thing should be managed on a large scale. When that time comes, our boys and our girls will have the inestimable blessing of first-class school surround- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. i6l ings, and shall not be deprived of that even greater blessing', greater even- than it is to be taught to know the things that every child needs to know, and should be taught to know, viz., to be taught how to be the men and women that this state greatly needs, and is going to need more and more as life becomes more complicated. You gentlement, as fruit grow- ers, realize that in these days you must have the benefit of new devices and new machinery, new kinds of treatment, to produce good fruit, and so mtist you also realize at some time that we must devise new methods and new school pro- cesses and new systems of administration to develop the chil- dren of our state and fit them for the great work of the fu- ture which is to be placed in their hands. (Applause.) Now I regret to say, Mr. Chairman, that I am obliged to leave, and if I step out now I trust }0U will excuse me. The reason is one that is important. I thank you for letting me come here. I thank yott for letting me take part in your de- liberations, and I will thank you if you will not notice when I steal one of these fine apples. (Applause.) The Toastmaster : One day many years ago. perhaps about 1607, a vessel set sail from England and landed some- where on the \ irginia coast. That vessel had on board a gentleman by the name of Smith. He brought his little com- pany to land and maintained his crovernment in supremacy in pretty good shape. Now whatever relationship John Smith of Mrginia may have had to His Honor, the Mayor, I will not try to elucidate or illustrate, but I will say that the citv of Hartford has just as good a head in the person of another Smith as that little Alrginia town down there on the coast many years ago. I have the honor to introduce to you Mayor Smith of Hartford. Mr. Smith: Mr. Toastmaster. Ladies and Gentlemen: This is rather of a proud night for me. I have, for the first time, occupied the Governor's chair for about fifteen min- utes, and in the second place, have been pointed out by the well-known president of a well-known college as a peach of a mayor. (Laughter.) It was rather careless of him. and l62 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. I think he has done it merely because he has been making an after-dinner speech. I allow only one person to call me a peach, and that is my wife, and then only under certain circumstances. ( Laughter. ) President Luther has de- scribed himself as a lemon. Of course, he knows more about himself than I do. (Laughter.) I have never heard him de- scribed before by anybody else as a lemon. He says he is an optimist. Well, an optimist is a man who makes lemon- ade out of the lemons that are handed to him. He has talked a great deal to-night about it, and I guess he has had ex- perience. He is something of a fruit raiser himself. He runs Trinity College, and b}' looking over the college bodies I have decided that there are some fruits raised there. (Laughter.) He says he is conducting the mid-year exam- inations. In other words, he is l^usy picking over the fruit at the college, and casting aside the things he does not care to keep. (Laughter.) He may call me a peach to-night. I do not think he would ever stop to call me that on election day. He has got himself into politics by talking the way he did. Last night he was in New Haven, and he described himself as a sort of an original kind of politician. He said that he was not the kind of a politician whose political hap- piness depended upon a desire to run all the time for ofBce, but he said that his political friends never seemed to think that he had that desire; that they were always restraining him, and that they wanted him to stay out of politics, but so far as the Democrats were concerned that they were per- fectly willing to have ^Ir. Luther run for anything he wished to. (Laughter.) We had an accident in Hartford tonight. We had it since you ladies and gentlemen sat down to this table. A thirty-six-inch water main in front of the Union Station broke, and the streets are flooded outside. I turned to Pres- ident Luther when the police report o'f the accident reached me, and told him what had happened, and he thought for a moment, and then he said : "Isn't it curious that the Dem- ocrats do not seem to run things right ?" ( Laughter. ) TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 163 Then he thought a httle while long"er and delivered himself of this : "Well, Smith," he says, "no Democrat ever did understand the water question thoroug^hly." (Laughter.) That was pretty hard, but coming- from the president of Trinity colleg"e I took it and put it in my notebook. I had the pleasure last year of addressing this Associa- tion, and I think I can save a great deal of time and some of your nerves if I merely refer to what I said on that occasion in the nature of a greeting to you, so that I need not repeat what I said at that time, that you were welcome to the city of Hartford, because a welcome by repetition is not made any more emphatic. You are ver}- welcome to Hartford, I assure you. The city is glad that you chose it as a place for your meeting. I, as Mayor, grow very conscious that I talk, many times, too often, and many times too much. But the invitations to the Mayor to attend these gatherings come easily, and they are always very pleasant to receive. A great many of them, such as this, are very pleasant to accept, but the Mayor is driven into a position where I am afraid he of- ten talks too much. It reminds me of the old story of Ole and Mary. Once upon a time there were two sweethearts, and Mary thought that Ole had been rather slow about coming to time. Ole and Mary were in love. Once Ole wanted to take Mary for a drive, and so he hired a team and took Mary for a drive, and they drove along in the summer evening, and the big moon was shining over the streets, and overcome by the romance of the situation, Ole turned to Mary and he said: "Mary, will you marry me?" Mars' said: "Yes, Ole, I will." Then Ole drove along in silence. Not a w^ord was said. Thev drove until the silence became rather op- pressive. Mary said : "Ole, why don't you say some- thing?" "Well," says he, "Mary, there has been too much said already." (Laughter.) Now I have no particular subject to talk upon tonight. That is not much of a calamity. I was not even asked by the Secretary to talk on education or anything else. T might talk on the Sherman law, but I won't. The Sherman law l64 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. has been attacked until it is sore. I might talk about it, pro- vided you would allow me to proceed along the lines adopted by two men in the campaign of '96, when the silver question was to the front. These two men were discussing that ques- tion and one said to the other: "You do not know any- thing about silver and neither do I, so let me explain it to you." (Laughter.) I find it is the easiest not to have a subject in an after-dinner speech. I have been Mayor of Hartford almost two years, and in that time I have developed a profound respect for the city of Hartford. I always had a profound respect for it, but my respect for the city has greatly increased since I have had almost two years' experience in the Mayor's office. I have gotten an experience that I could not have gotten in any col- lege or any school in the country, and something which has been very valuable to me, especially so in view of the fact that I am a comparatively young man in spite of my gray hair. I have developed an equally profound respect for as- sociations such as this. Year in and year out during my term I have had the opportunity of meeting groups of peo- ple such as this who have happened for the time being to be in Hartford. Groups of people who were united to study, devise and work out different ways of meeting what they have happened to have a common interest in, and what im- pressed me, to a very considerable extent, is the vastness of the field, and the number of such associations. A great deal of good for the advancement of useful industries is un- doubtedly done by such associations as this, and T think any man ought to have a profound respect for them for that rea- son. Within the jurisdiction that you have taken as the ju- risdiction of your common interest, as the Connecticut Po- mological Society, }ou, are, so far as Connecticut is con- cerned, first of all, the makers of public opinion on that sub- ject. The best and most quickly expressed public opinion on that subject that you have a common interest in can be initiated by your body, and the rest of Connecticut will look to you for the initiation of it. If that is true, your position TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. i'65 is a very, very important one, and your responsibility be- comes greatly increased by tbe importance of your position in that matter. If your voice is going- to be the first voice on the subject, you have got to take a great deal of care to see to it that your voice, and your cultivation of public opin- ion, is well founded and authoritative. It must be trust- worthy. Otherwise there will be trouble ahead. When you reduce any ordinary system of government that we have had any experience with, either national, state or city, to its last terms, you will discover that it depends almost entirely upon public opinion, and in that public opinion you have your due share in building up. Public opinion is a curious thing. So long as just government depends upon the consent of the governed, it is a fundamental thing in the mind of the gov- ernment which we enjoy. It is curious, therefore, I say, and is a very difficult thing to define. Public opinion is com- posed of the emotions, the secrets, the ambitions, and the desires of all the people that live in a given community. When in your town, or when in Hartford, or the state of Connecticut, the public opinion is built up by some such kind of composite ; it is composed of a moral and intellectual col- lection of individual views and opinions, right or wrong, of all the ambitions of individuals composing the community, whether they are worthy or unworthy, and it rises and falls like the tide under every popular fancy. Some very brave men have been overwhelmed because they have tried for a time to be guided by it. Every man who lives in a com- munity has a life to lead, work to do, and troubles of his own. He has but one life to lead, and that life you can re- gard as a sort of thread in the woof of the whole, and when you weave together all the different lives in the different communities, you get what may be called community life, though every man and woman will have but one thread to spin and must take care of that thread that it be not weak, but strong, because if a weak thread gets into the web it will mar the strength and beauty of the fabric that you call community life. That idea of individual responsibility has l66 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. been one that has imipressed itself very much upon me. In a city government like ours, which is founded upon ideas of democracy, the responsibility, private responsibility of every man for his share of public opinion, is almost overwhelm- ing. Public opinion is a good deal stronger than the law. You cannot enforce the law successfully very long unless it is acceptable to public opinion. It is at the very bottom of it. If every one in the city of Hartford decides to break the law, the law will be broken, and the jury will prevent any prosecutor from getting a conviction under the law. You cannot indict a population if public opinion does not support law. You cannot implant a high standard of conduct or morals by legislation. If we could, our troubles would be easy of solution, because all we would have to do would be to get the General Assembly to pass a general enactment and the millenium would be attained. It will not come that way. It will come in the old-fashioned way of each man appre- ciating his individual responsibility and working out the sal- vation of himself and his community at one and the same time. Now I did not come here to preach. Air. Chairman. Dr. Luther is a preacher. But I could not discuss fruit and there did not seem anything else for me to say. I came here to represent the city of Hartford, and to tell you what I have told you in the name of the city, and to express the deep in- terest of Hartford in the work which you are doing. In closing, therefore, let me express once more the pleasure, not only of myself as representing the cit}', but I know of a great many of our citizens at the honor of your visit, and to further express to you a very, very cordial welcome with- in the city gates of Hartford. I thank you. (Applause.) The Toastmaster : The state of New York is a large state, and adjoins the state of Connecticut. Whether we ad- mit it or not, it is a great state, the Empire State. It also has some prominent men. It has some newspaper men, and we of Connecticut give credit for the size of these newspa- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 167 per men in consequence of the circulation of their pubHca- tions. We all know "The Rural New Yorker," and I take great pleasure in introducing to you its editor, whom you all know and love, ]\Ir. Collingwood of "The Rural New Yorker." I\Ir. H. W. Collingwood : Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen : I have been coming over here for nine- teen years, I think. I think the Society is twenty-one years old, and I have been coming here for nineteen years, skip- ping one or two years here and there. I have seen you grow from a handful to a houseful. I have seen your young men grow up to be grandfathers. So I think I may be classed as an old friend of your Society, and you will probably take things from me that you would not take from a new friend. I hope so, at least, because you will have to. (Applause.) When a man starts in to preach, as a rule, he does two things. He brings out the old ideal from the closet, shakes the dust out of his coat, and holds it up to view. He also talks about the truth. Those are the two standards for the man who wants to preach. Hence, what about this ideal? I do not know whether there is a clergyman here or not, but let us suppose there was a preacher here. He has his ideals. He will stand up in his pulpit and tell you exactly how you should live. Follow that man home. Let him find his wife with a headache the children all crying, and no fire in the stove. I want to see how the preacher under those circum- stances will practice what he preaches. That is the test. Is there a doctor here? If there is I want to see him. I want to see the physician stand up and say that he will take the dose of medicine that he mixes for somebody else. Is there a dentist here? If so, I want to know if he will take his for- ceps and pull one of his own teeth just as gladly as he would take hold of one of mine. We have all got our ideals, and I think the state of Connecticut has worked up to that pretty well, because the Baldwin apple is a prime article here, and you have even gone so far as to put a Baldwin into the Gov- ernor's chair. (Laughter.) The fact is, my friends, if one l68 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. of us, in all seriousness, was to meet our ideal on the road I am afraid a good many times we should be ashamed of it. \\'e would either be frightened at the looks of it or would not recognize it. Talk about our ideals ! It is a good thing to do. I sent my children out to write an essay on a house. ^Mlen they had gotten back I found that the girl had gone around the house and written the essay on the back door, while the boy had gone in front. They were both true, but they were entirely different. They tell me that there was a county in Georgia that went dry, unhappily for a part of the county that did go dry. There were a lot of the citizens who were not satisfied with what they could get at a Georgia picnic. They held a church picnic over in a grove one day. and these gentlemen were not satisfied with the menu, and with what was served to them. Along at noon they were very much pleased to see a man with great, big, saddle-bags, bulging away out, coming along the road. The man got be- hind a tree and held up about a dozen bottles, and he says : "Any of you gentlemen like a bottle of cold tea? I have got some cold tea that is cold tea. Xo question about it. You understand I have to be a little careful about what I am do- ing and saying here, but I have got this cold tea here. A dollar a bottle. Cold tea is high, gentlemen." He had bottles that would hold, well, perhaps as much as that, and he read- ily sold a dozen or more bottles at a dollar apiece. Then he said: 'T have got to get out of here." He put the spurs to his horse and was gone. Those gentlemen took the bot- tles and they opened them carefull}-. You know how they do. "Happv days, come again. Here we are. Here is one on me." What did they discover? Why, it was cold tea and nothing else. That is all it was. There was not a thing in any of those bottles except what that man had said there was. He had told the exact truth. Now I am going to tell you a few truths which perhaps may not be any more palatable for you, but they are, nevertheless, what I believe. New England is headquarters for the sentiment of education and power in. this country. There was a man TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 169 sick in Arizona, and obliged to live there. He could not come back. He was born in Connecticut. He was stricken with a disease which made it necessary for him to live in that climate. He was very lonesome for his own home state. He was homesick. To cure hini of his homesickness they told him about the gold that was in the hills, and of all the wealth that was in the sand, if they could only put the water on it. 'T kuow it. I know it. but I would give all of your confounded state for one green New England hill in June." He meant it. It is just that sentiment and just that power my friends, that is ever giving Xew England its strength and its power in the nation. Unless you can keep up that sentiment, unless you can make those hills and the people who live on those hills what they have been in the past, you cannot keep up that strength, and you cannot keep up that sentiment. I know it and you know it. I know what that means. I know what that man thought in his heart, I know- just exactly what he meant. Out in ^Michigan last year there was a man who said he was an organ builder. He said it was his business to go around and put up organs in church- es. He said he went out one day with the deacon of a Luth- eran church to talk about an organ. He secured a contract; he had a signed contract. He went off and borrowed the money, bought the organ, and they put it in the church and tried it. \\'hen he got back he found they had had some trouble, the church had been given up. the deacons elected had gone out of power, and would not keep their contract. There he had the contract, but it was comparatively worth- less to him. He took a paper and went around to different members and asked them to subscribe. He got to the sexton of the church, and he said: "Mr. Smith, how much will you give?" 'T gives nothing."' "Why not?'' "Because, says he. "the church has buncoed me." "Why. the idea of a man being buncoed by the church." "Well, I will tell you," he says. "Those fellows, they come to me, and they say, 'Will you be sexton ?' And I sa\ . 'How much I get,' because I have got a good job. Well, they tell me. they say, 170 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. I get five dollars for every grave I dig, and there probably would be fifty deaths every year. So in three years I make four hundred and fifty dollars. That looked pretty good. I take the job, and in that three years only one man died. This country is too healthy for an honest man." We sometimes get into a country that is too healthy for an honest man, and I want to ask you if your system of farm education is really doing what it ought to for those old hillsides which the man in Arizona longed for? Your college, and your experiment station, your board of agriculture, your dairymen's associa- tion, and your pomological society, your grange and all the rest. Are these people trying to draw from the top of the pile or are they starting as they should, down at the bot- tom? Now you see what I am getting at, and you will tell me that the lame, the halt and the blind of agriculture are incurable. I have had men tell me that these men, these prejudiced, backward, narrow men, cannot be reached, that they cannot be taught and cannot be brought up, and they have told me actually that they must die and let younger men take their places. I have also been told that our pro- gress must be through the survival of the fittest. How often we hear that. Kill off the weaker and let only the strong survive. Let only the strong men and great men live. Now, my friends, in our system of farm education we have been building on this theory of life to the strong and destruction to the weak. I cannot agree with any such theory, for it would have thrown me out of the race. It would have thrown others who would have been unable to keep their places in the conflict, the lame, the blind, the dull and the stubborn. If you carry out the theory of the survival of the fittest, what would have been left in life for us if there were no sympathy and no men left to secure sacrifices for the dull and the unfortunate? Shall those who are dull, un- interesting and stubborn be condemned and denied their share of farm education? In truth, I think the wisest of our teachers and best men should be put into your little hill schoolhouses. I think the most eloquent, and most divine, TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 171 and most humane of your preachers should go away from your cities and out to the httle country churches where they are most needed. You ask me why ? You say, why does not Hartford, with its hundred thousand people, representing greater wealth, higher culture and higher civilization de- mand more consideration than the hill men that we talk about ? Does not this Pomological Society exert a greater power and influence and amount to more than the fifty thousand men who will not join it? I will grant it. But have you stopped to think where the power and culture of Hartford came from, and where the strength of this society will lead to unless in some way it is fed and sustained in the future by this rugged strength of your hill men and from your hill farms. Do you not know, my friends, that all history shows that the growth of the rest of the state is at the ex- pense of the country? The wealth of the world poured into Rome, Athens and Carthage out of the farming districts, from the country, out of every conquered province, and with that wealth came culture and education following it, but it was in the hands of a comparative few. The brilliant and flaming civilization was built up, but its roots were never deeply imbedded in the soil, and it fell. And who was it who pulled it down? I ask you that. It was the men who came from the desert, the men who came out of the civiliza- tion of the northern forests, where for centuries they had brooded over the monopoly of wealth, and monopoly of pow- er, and the monopoly of education in the towns and cities. They felt that they had been denied those things, and al- though they were uneducated barbarians, many of them, it was their strength which pulled down the Roman civiliza- tion, and it is always strength which in the last analysis is the dominant power, and which rules the world. I simply do not want our farm education to go that way. A method must be found of reaching and building up the district schools of our farming regions. Let us suppose that Rome and Athens had given those conquered provinces a square deal. Suppose instead of exploiting them, conquering the 172 THF. CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. people and making them slaves, they had g-iven them fair opportunities. Do you know, my friends, if that had been done your life and the lives of your children would have been better and sweeter for it. Society would have been safer, for out of those hard and g'rinding centuries that fearful heritage which later came to the civilization, to the wealth, and the splendor of Rome and Athens never would have come. Let me give }OU just a little illustration. When I was a boy there was a picture that made an impression upon my mind that I never, to save my life, can wipe out, and I think you men and women, in all seriousness, have had similar events in your lives which have impressed you in the same way. Many of you have seen pictures which in like manner no doubt have had the same influence upon your minds, but this particular picture of which I speak was a picture of an old feudal castle. Night was coming on. The lights were blinking and you knew what was going on inside. Before the gate of the castle stood a man, a farmer of that day, a poor, little, twisted figure of a man. He held in his hand a rock which might have weighed eight or ten pounds. There he stood, an impudent wretch, holding back his hand as though to throw the rock against that gate. I shall nev- er forget looking upon that man's face. It was so fearfully impudent, for what could a man do by attempting to throw a rock of that kind against ten thousand tons of the same material? But let us suppose that the man had held in his hand a ten-pound dynamite cartridge, and in an instant the whole thing would have been changed. The old lord inside of the castle would have been down upon his knees, white and trembling, at the fearful power that lay within that man's hand. What was that power? Simply the concen- tration of power which God packed away in the earth until the time came for its use, and that power God gave to man. and in His own good time opened to him the way to use it. Now, thank God, the time has come, or is coming, when men do not need to use -dynamite to gain their rights, but they have a force which is equally effective. I am speaking TU'ENTV-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 173 of that mental and moral dynamite which we call education, and which is the right and the duty of every man to have. I am speaking of that moral power, and that mental power, the intellectual power which should be within the reach of every child, every boy and girl with which to blaze their way in the world, and with which to rise to positions of hon- or, force and influence. You ask me how it is to be attained. How can you do it? You have got to do it my friends. You have got to bring your farm education down deeper and closer to the common people. You have got to do it. It has got to be done. If you would save your state, and your hillsides, if you would save your towns, if you would save society, it has got to be done. (Applause.) I know a man who is a prosperous farmer. He had no children. He started a hired man. He had gained a home, and he thought the time had come when he could leave off hard work and take life easy. There was a place on his home for children. He took a child to bring up. Its parents had died. The child was put in that man's home to bring up. It was one of those hate- ful, ugly characters which you meet with now and then among children. A most hateful, abnormal and unlovely na- ture. Well, the farmer took him. He wondered what he could do. One night the struggling man sat down before an open fire to think it over. If a man wants to get close to a thing let him sit down in the comfort and quiet of his home before a grate. The old man sat there and watched the wood burn slowly. It slowly passed away into flame like the end of a human life. The man sat there wondering what he could do with that unlovely and that hateful child. He was not a religious man. He was not a Bible student, but as he sat there, out of the shadows liehind him there came over his mind an old text which in former years he had heard a preacher use. "Who had sinned? This man or his parents?" It gave him a new thought. This child may not be responsi- ble for his hateful character. Perhaps I have not been pa- tient with him. He got up and lighted a candle, hunted up 174 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. his Bible and searched for that old text. I am a very unworthy man to say this, but let me tell you what he found. This is what he got, and I tell you this because this is what I have got in my heart. My sympathy goes out to these people who need farm education. If I was one of these people back upon the hill, vv^ho have to fight their way up, I should know how to look at it better from their point of view, but I know what it is to be denied and to be misjudged by those who think they are not worthy of their care. Rut this is what the old man found when he opened the book : "Jesus walked by the seaside, and he saw a man that was blind from his birth, and the disciples asked him, saying, 'Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' And the Master answered them, saying, 'Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the work of God should be made mani- fest in him.' " And like a flash the thing came to that man's mind that he was working upon, that that hateful child was a part of his life, a part of his home, and that the man's character and patience were at stake, that with patience and strength he might finally win the child and make him worthy in a larger way. And friends, therein lies the real problem and the real opportunity of farm education. By untiring strength, by patience and ambition to succeed in this mighty work which lies before us, the fight can be won. You who have been helped, you who have won in a large way in the struggle, it is up to you to do your share with tliose who look forward, that the works of God may be made manifest in them. I thank you. The Toastmaster : We all of us like a dollar. We like the feeling of it, and we like to hear them jingle in our pock- etc. Most of us have got enough Yankee blood in us perhaps to be able to get some dollars to travel along with, but the trou- ble with the most of us is to know how to keep them. We have with us to-night a gentleman who is going to talk to us about fifteen minutes and tell us what the trouble is, why we cannot keep our money when we get it. We have with us TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 173 the editor of "The Financial American." I have the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. Robert C. Ireton. Mr. Ireton, who was the last speaker of the evening, gave an instructive address on the subject of our currency. It was a strong plea for greater interest on the part of fruit growers and agriculturists in the reform of our national cur- rency by the establishment of a central banking institution, which should not make loans upon notes and other negotiable paper in the same way as an ordinary bank, but which should have a large capital and be used as a central institution by banking houses and trust companies in which they could hy- pothecate the paper on which they had made loans, and in that way secure a large amount of extra currency to be used in times of stringency and panic. In other words, he advocat- ed the establishment of a reserve bank, very much upon the same general lines as indicated in the report of the Mone- tary Commission appointed by Congress some years ago, and the conclusions of which were embodied in the bill for the re- formation of our national currency known as the Aldrich bill and now pending in Washington. Mr. Ireton claimed that the effect of the establishment of such a system of reserve banks or of one great central institution w^ould be to secure greater stability and save the country from trouble, loss, and inconvenience, which arises in times of panic by the inability of merchants to secure loans. The currency is the poor man's question as much as the millionaire's. The Toastmaster: The hour is late, and we have fin- ished our program. I will say, however, before you go that the apples upon the table were put there to eat, and if any of you want an apple take it with you now. Good night. 176 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY SECOND DAY. Wednesday, February 7th, 1912. MORNING SESSION. The second day of the Society's 21st Annual Meeting started off with another big attendance and unabated inter- est. President Rogers called the morning session to order at 9 :40 o'clock. The audience, however, was slow in assem- bling, so much of the members' attention being centered in the exhibits in the town hall, as well as the demonstrations in apple packing. President Rogers : Ladies and Gentlemen, this meet- ing was called for half-past nine this morning, and it is a few minutes past that time now. If you will be seated we will begin in a few minutes on our questions, so that we may have something interesting going on. Now there are a good many questions on this program wihich you can have called up and we will try to find somebody in the audience who will answer them. We also have a Question Box here, and if any of you have any questions that you want answered please send them up. We will not agree to answer all of them, but we will try. This question has been sent in : "What is the cause and how shall we prevent scald on the Rhode Island Greening apple ?" Now is there some gentleman in the audience who will undertake to answer that? So far as we can, we would like to get the name cf each person who answers, so that our report will have it when it is published. Also the name of the person who asks the question. So' please, when you arise, give your name first. Dr. Clinton : Mr. President, there has been a good deal of complaint of that scald trouble this past year, more TWENTY-riRST ANNUAL MEETING. 177 than ordinary years. Of course, that type of injury may come from one of three thing-s. We may have it in the form of sun scald, which I take it is not the case with most of our apples this year. Then we may have cold storage scald, which' happens when the apples have not l;een stored under quite favorable conditions. I take it that that is not entirely responsible for the trouble this year, since apples which have not been in cold storage show it the same as those which have been. So far as I can fig^tre it out, I think it is due to the unusual weather conditions that we had this last summer, when we had, during- June and July, very hot, dry periods, and then later in August we had some very un- usual wet weather. These conditions. I think, have affected the ripening of the apple. You know that after an apple gets up to a certain point it is continually changing its chem- ical nature. There is a process of softening up going on. I think that was brought on by the weather conditions a little prematurely this year, and I think it is largely due to these unusual weather conditions that we had during the summer, and I am borne out in this idea because this trouble seems to have been rather general all over the country. There has been a good deal of complaint most everywhere of sim- ilar trouble. President Rogers : Will some gentleman here tell us how to prevent it. We have got the cause of it from Dr. Clinton. Perhaps Dr. Clinton can ansv»'er that part of the question, and tell us how to prevent it. Dr. Clinton : T think when we have weather condi- tions of a little different type the effect will be to cut a great deal of that out. The type of weather that we had this past year is naturally going to occur only at rare intervals, but the conditions where the apples are stored and heated up af- ford opportunity- for trouble of that kind. So that if we take good care of the crops to prevent the cold storage scald. I think that we need not be so afraid of it in years to come. I do not think it is likely to amount to anything very serious or cause the growers very much loss, unless we hap- 178 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. pen to have a year when the weather conditions are very un- usual, as they were last year. President Rogers : Are we not more hable to find this trouble where the apples have been in a place where it was very cold and then have been brought cut? Will not this trouble develop more rapidly under such conditions? Has anybody seen it that way, where the scald has developed very rapidly after the fruit has been brought out of cold storage? I have seen it where they looked very nice when first brought out, but when you got them into the store and on the mar- ket they have looked altogether different. The cheek of the apple has developed those scald spots very rapidly, and seems to have undergone a constant change. Dr. Clinton : That is, whether cold storage apples go down rapidly? President Rogers : Yes. Dr. Clinton : I had not noticed that particularly, but I suppose the}' are apt to after coming out and becoming ex- posed to another temperature. President Rogers : Here is another question : "Will commercial lime and sulphur be hurt by freezing?" Mr. Henry, can you give us any information about that? ]\Ir. a. T. Henry : Well, in the first place, Mr. Chair- man, commercial lime and sulphur will not freeze at the temperature at which water will freeze. I have had some left over and it has been frozen several times, and when it thaws out it is practically the same as the commercial lime and sulphur. There will a slight scum form on the top, but that little scum that forms does not seem to make any dif- ference with it. No, I think it will not hurt lime and sulphur to freeze. President Rogers : Here is another one : "What is the matter with the fruit market?'' No name is signed to it. Anybody care to answer that question ? Perhaps T had better answer that to the best of my abil- ity. I do not think there is anything the matter with the market at the present time. Take it back sixteen or eight- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAl MEETING. 179 €en years ag^o, and that time you could buy apples for a dollar and a dollar and a half a barrel, while to-day you can ^et from four to five dollars a barrel right here in the city of Hartford. Last year, of course, we got six or seven dol- lars a barrel. We did not have so big a crop. We have got a big crop this year, but there are a lot of poor apples. Of course, they have got to be worked ofif. There have been a great many apples stored on account of the high prices, which are being brought forward at this time. I think we will continue to have a good market. j\1r. Ives : You think people will eat apples a little faster if we crowd the market? President Rogers : ]\Ir. Ives, isn't it true that if you give the people a pretty good thing to eat they are liable to eat a little more? If you get a g^ood mince pie. and get the taste of it in your mouth, and then you get a poor one, you don't want it. It is just so with the people buying apples. After they have had a taste of some good ones they have no use for the other kind. Now we will take up some of the questions on the pro- gram list. There are quite a number which were brought up yesterda}-, but which I suppose might be brought up again, because some new and useful points may be brought out. Mr. Gray : Mr. President, would you mind taking up Question 12: "Is orchard heating practical in the East?" Can that be answered please? President Rogers : I do not know of anybody who has ever tried that here. Is there any gentleman here who can an- swer that question? I do not know anything about that my- self, and I do not know of any member of this Society that has ever tried it. I should like to hear from someone who has had experience in the matter. Here is another question that I will put to you: "What fertilizer, if any, will assist in giving a high color tO' apples?" Air. Henry, can you answer that? Mr. Henry: Mr. Chairman. I think it has all been l8o THE CONNECTICUT POMOEOGICAL SOCIETY. brought out here that basic slag has some effect. We use basic slag exclusively on peaches. Basic slag and potash. President Rogers : Do you find that it gives more color ? Mr. Henry: Yes. President Rogers : How much do you put on to the acre? AIr. Henry : About a thousand pounds to the acre. President Rogers : That is on the old trees ? Mr. Henry : Yes, on trees three years old and up. President Rogers : Would you recommend putting that on such a year as this, when we are not likely to have any peaches? Would you recommend putting on slag when }-ou do not have a crop? Mr. Henry : Well, I don't know about that. I don't know why we shouldn't. You have got to feed a horse whether you work him or not. I should put on the slag, but I do not think I should put on any nitrogen. I should put on slag and potash just the same. AIr. Burton: Could we have Question 11 answered? President Rogers : "Is the heavy winter pruning of old apple trees to be recommended ?" Brother Hale, how about that? Mr. J. H. Hale : Why, Mr. President, I should want to see the trees first. President Rogers : You don't always have to do that. Mr. Hale : Well, the question is what you mean by heavy pruning. If you mean the sort of butchery that some people go in for then I should not recommend it. But rea- sonable pruning in the proper season is always to be recom- mended. Well. I shculd say, Mr. President, that I should want to see the trees before giving any opinion as to how thor- oughly the trees should be pruned. I would not want to go in for heavy pruning unless it is absolutely necessary. I have got some old trees that if you were to go out there and give TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. i8i them a heavy winter pruning- now there would not be any- thing left. I would not want to sav in answer to that ques- tion until I saw the condition of the trees. Something was said here a few moments ago about basic slag, and its use. I want to know if there is anyone here present who has made any orchard tests, and who knows whether the phosphate of lime that is in basic slag is of any particular benefit. Has there been any test to prove that? Anybody here who has had any experience along that line? I would not want to recommend it to the other fellow to use yet, because I do not know, and I am anxious to find out, what the experience of others has been. President Rogers: ^Ir. Henry, can you answer that? Mr. Henry: No, Air. Chairman. There has been no experiment that I know of. We are going to try that. We are going to put lime on five acres, and slag on another five, and see how" it works cut. There has been no experi- ment along the line that Air. Hale indicates that I know of. Mr. Drew : Air. President, I do not know of any care- fully conducted experiment on that line, and I do not believe there has been any undertaken. I think it would be most in- teresting if some experiment of that kind was undertaken. I do not know if any of the Experiment Station people are here or not, but if they are, perhaps they can give us a pointer on that. I think it is a thing which should be under- taken b}- the Experiment Station. I think, as a usual thing, that most of the large fruit growers in New England, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are using basic slag, and are using it in large quantities. They are using it because they think it is good, but so far as actual experiments are concerned, I do not know of anybody who has tried that out for any length of time and kept careful data to find out just what the actual results Avere. I should be glad to hear of anybody that had. AIr. J. H. Hale: I know there are a good man\- using it, but most of them have never used any lime on their land, and they are getting some splendid results, but I have been wondering whether their results came from that forty per l82 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. cent of lime which is in the slag". I had a tract of land, some thirty acres, and half of it was fertilized with basic slag, and the other with acid phosphate and lime. I am* getting just as good a growth of trees and just as fine, where I used the lime and acid phosphate as where I used the basic slag. President Rogers : Did you get just as good where you left everything off? Mr. Hale: The two are pretty nearly equal. I would not want that to go on record though. A Member: Could I ask Mr. Hale if he does not get more for his money by using the slag than by using acid phosphate and lime, since the slag contains lime? Mr. Hale: That may be true, but I have not figured that out. Dr. Clinton : The Experiment Station has instituted an experiment that does not cover tliat altogether, but tends to look at the lime side of it. They have taken a plot of ground and divided this up into different lots, where we give them' one, two or three different essential fertilizers. Then on three of those strips we are placing lime, and on the lower end of all those strips we are giving blood fertili- zer. I am interested in that because we are measuring every tree in that plot, and we intend to keep account of the fruit, and we are keeping a record of the troubles which come up from time to time, in order to see if there is any relation between the fertilizer, the yellows, or any of the other trou- bles. This experiment is only two- years old, so we cannot say anything of a definite character about it yet. It is on a peach orchard, and the orchard will come into bearing this year. President Rogers : A gentleman here wanted me to call up Question No. 10: "Who has tried subsoiling an old apple orchard with dynamite?" That is a pretty good ques- tion. According to the Chairman's idea, there are a whole lot of them that ought to be subsoiled with dynamite right under the roots. A Member : Question No. 5, Mr. President. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 183 President Rogers : "What is the best treatment for a fairly producing Baldwin orchard, forty years old, that has been in sod and pasture for the past thirty years?" Can you answer that question, Mr. Drew? Mr. Dkew : Mr. President. I think perhaps I could answer that question, but it would take half an hour to do it. That. is a big- subject, and to answer it thorougfliiy would take a little time. In a general way, I should say that the first thing to do would probably be to prune the trees and get them in shape, break up the soil by using a plow, unless the roots were near the surface. That would break up the sod. The sod has got to be broken up anyway. Then I would culti- vate that orchard, and if I had the scale in it I would eradi- cate the scale and do the best I could to give it the benefit of all modern methods. To go into details here would take too much time. I would be glad to answer it if I could. Mr. Kelsey : There are two points that will bear em- phasis right here. With most an}- tree the roots are near the surface unless that surface has been continually stirred with tools. The natural tendency is for the tree roots to come up and compete for the plant food. If you plow deeply first, or put on a sharp tooth harrow, you are very apt to cut off a good many of those little roots lying very close to the sur- face, and you will undoubtedly shock the tree very much and put it back, if not kill it. Secondly, if you want to renew the top of the trees, do not begin to prune until after the middle of June. If you prune between the first of March and the first of May, the top wall renew itself with the least possible shock to the tree, but if you prune, if you cut off that growth after that time, you give the tree a shock from which it will not recover so as to do as well as in the other case. President Rogers : Here is a question : "What is the best cover crop for a peach orchard?" Mr. Henry : To answer that, Mr. President, I think I should want to know the age of the orchard. President Rogers : Well, beginning with the yearling and go up to four years old. l84 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Henry : With a ycung orchard we Hke a mixture of turnips, clover and vetch, but in an older orchard where there is not as much sunlight we have not been able to get any satisfactory growth of vetch. It seems to me that the vetch is as good a crop as you can find, particularly in an or- chard where you can let it stand over, then it has made a very satisfactory growth. In a young orchard, we like to grow turnips, because I think they liberate the phosphoric acid and help the trees. In a young orchard I should say use Russian vetch, and in an older orchard, clover, rye, or wheat. Anything that will grow. We never have been able to get any satisfactory growth in an orchard over five years old. President Rogers : What do you do with your tur- nips ? AIr. Henry: Pull them and sell them. President Rogers : We would like to hear from oth- ers on this question, No. 23 : "What should the individual grower or locality do to prepare for the marked increase in the production of apples in the near future?" Of course, there are a great many who think that by continually setting out apple trees there will be an over-production by-and-bye. That was suggested to the peach growers some twenty-five years ago, that in a few years they would have so many trees that there would not be any market for the fruit, but we have not got to that point yet. although last year's crop was a hun- dred thousand baskets or more ahead. Is that right. Brother Hale, a hundred thousand baskets more than we have ever had before? Mr. Hale: I should say, Mr. Chairman, that it was probabl}' more than that. President Rogers: That was a big increase, and I think we have bad on the average for the last ten years fully as good a price. Now we would like to hear from others re- garding that. Mr. Hale, can you answer that question? Mr. J. H. H.\le : Mr. President and Gentlemen : Any man who attempts to project himself very far into the future, so far as the fruit business is concerned, is liable to disap- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 185 point himself and everybjdy else. Two months a.q;o my son and myself predicted for 1912 the biggest peach crop that we ever produced, but now we estimate that the probabihty is that we are going to have the smallest one we ever had. That change has taken place in two months, and, in fact, was wrought in one single night. One single cold night made that change. Of course, that relates to the peach crop. Now about the prospect of over-production of apples in the future", those who have known me in the horticultural line here for the last thirty-five or forty years know that I have always been an optimist. I am to-day, and hope to remain so to the end of my days. At" the same time, it is always well to state the facts as they are. Just at the present time, starting back a few vears ago, there was a tremendous craze for apple plant- ing, and it has been going on at such a pace, that if one- fourth of the trees that are planted live and produce half a crop, you must not expect, in ten or fifteen years from now, wdien those trees come into bearing that apples can be sold at the present prices. On the other hand, the growers can- live and continue in the business at much of a reduction of present prices. Those who have been in it an}- length of time know the expense of cultivation, spraying, pruning, and caring for an orchard of trees. Of course, that expense varies according to the size of the orchard, and runs up from hundreds, in the case of a small orchard, to thousands of dol- lars, according to the size of the plantation. There is no question about it, — there has been a tremendous planting of apple trees. I was at Baltimore in December, at a meeting of the Maryland Horticultural Society. At one of the ses- sions the Governor presided over the afternoon meeting, and in glorifying Maryland and its products he stated to us that in one section of one county in- western Maryland they had planted during the last year over three hundred thousand apple trees; that there was one company in western Maryland that had or would plant eight hundred thousand apple trees on, I do not know how many thousands of acres of land. So it went in stories of large plantings of ten, twenty, thirty, i86 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. and fifty thousand apple trees in that section, not only in Maryland, but in West Virginia and Virg-inia. Virginia is doing the same, and Pennsylvania is doing the same. New York state has not had quite such a delirium for apple plant- ing as we have had in New England, and as they have had in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and all through that section. But the fact remains that there have been planted probably within the past five years, and at present in contemplation, more apple trees than were planted in the pre- vious fifty years combined. That means some apples very soon. It means an enormoais cjuantity of apples, and it means the production of some good fruit, because the gen- eral practice of those scientific methods not only in caring for and producing the fruit, but in polishing up the fruit and preparing it for market, which have been taught us will play no small part in this prodnction. We have learned to make so much more of the apple than ever before, and with the benefit of the experiments in the careful grading and pack- ing that our western friends have been so successful at, we have made our apples so much more attractive that people are buying them more. If we keep up this grading and sort- ing, and fancy packing of apples in attractive packages, we are going to enormously increase the sale for them. The people are going to buy more, but with the enormous crops that seem almost sure to come upon the market in the near future they cannot possibly consume them at the present prices. They must be cheaper. Our worthy chairman spoke about the peach business. We used to talk about the over-production of peaches, but that over-production has never hit Connecticut. Let me tell you something about that. Some of us began planting in the South about twenty or more years ago for the June and July market, and we got splendid prices, and we made some mon- ey. That made a lot of men want to get in. and they got in. The craze for planting peaches spread over all the peach growing sections of the country. In the South, merchants and mechanics left the towns and went out and planted TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 187 abandoned cotton plantations with peaches. A good deal of that plantinq- has taken place in the last few years. In the last two years they have planted a good many in Texas, Ar- kansas, and a little in Alabama. They began to get the first good crop all around about two years ago. What was the result? Why, there were eleven thousand carloads of peaches put upon the American market in five weeks. The laborers got hundreds of thousands of dollars for their work. The railroads got fully paid for the transportation, and for the use of refrigerator cars. Alillions of dollars went into circulation in that way. The jobbers handled them. The re- tailers put them out to the people, and the people consumed them at just about two-thirds of the old prices. Of that two- thirds of the old prices it did not return a dollar to the pro- ducer, and of those eleven thousand carloads there was only a very small proportion of which returned a fair profit to the producer. Some men made a profit, and some men met with actual losses, but taking the whole thing together the growers of those eleven thousand cars of peaches did not get a dollar for the cost of production. Whether that will hap^ pen to the growers of these apples who are planting ten, twenty, thirty, fifty and one hundred and eiglit hundred thousand trees remains to be seen. At the present time I should not be alarmed. I see that that question is numbered twenty-three. The best thing to do with that is to say "skidoo!" But we have got to prepare for a marked increase in the quantity of apples placed upon the market in the fu- ture, and what the actual result is going to be the Lord only knows, for I don't. (Laughter and xA.pplause.) President Rogers: I think we will have to draw the discu'ssiion of these questions to a close at this time. We have got quite a program to carry out, and I will now call for the first address of the morning, on the "Results of Spraying Ex- periments in 1911 on Apples and Peaches." Tt certainly gives me pleasure to introduce to you Dr. G. P. Clinton of the New Haven Experiment Station. r88 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Results of Spraying Experiments in 1911, on Apples and Peaches. By Dr. G. P. Clinton, Botanist, Connecticut Experiment Station, New Haven. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: •You will find this a very conservative report. I feel safe, because I believe that Connecticut is a conservative state, and more especially since 1 have heard Mr. Hale speak to-day. He is becoming" more conservative. He would not even predict the future of the apple crop in Con- necticut. A man who makes bold predictions, however, frequently overlooks the exceptions, and sometimes the exceptions are greater than those that follow the rule. Nature of Experiments. This paper is a report of ex- periments by the writer and Dr. Britton, with the help of their assistants, during the past two years, in various apple and peach orchards in different parts of Connecticut. We can give in this place only a general idea of the experiments and the results obtained. The Connecticut Experiment Station, however, expects to issue soon a report giving a more detailed account. The chief aims of the investigation were : First, to find, if possible, some fungicide for apples less likely to produce russeting of the fruit than Bordeaux as ordinarily used; and second, to determine the most feas- ible methods of spraying peaches for the prevention of scab and rot. If the results have any claim for merit, this does not rest upon originality of methods or a desire to advocate a spray of our own or others' devising, but rather upon a detailed examination of the action of a considerable number of sprays of difTerent types under varying conditions. Experiments were conducted in seven apple orchards in 1910, and in nine in 1911. Three peach orchards were used each year; and miscellaneous spraying experiments TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 189 were made on a number of pears, quinces, cherries, plums, currants and muskmelons. The apples included twenty- one varieties, of which by far the most were Baldwins, and then came Greenings, while the peach tests included eight varieties, of which those on the Champions were the most extensive. The sprayings varied from two to four in number, and the time of these was varied, according to the general knowledge at hand, to determine how few applications could be used to obtain favorable results. The apparatus employed was in most cases that in general use in the or- chards where the experiments were conducted, and varied from the several types of hand pumps to gasolene engines. In most cases the Station furnished most or all of the spray materials, and part of the labor in spraying. We are certainly under obligations to the various orchardists who so kindly placed their trees, apparatus and time at our dis- posal, since experimental work means not only these requi- sites, but also more or less bother, and sometimes even injury to the trees sprayed. We tried our best, however, to keep the injury down to the minimum consistent with a fair test of the sprays used. In fact, we had a small Sta- tion orchard of very old and very young trees, where, m the words of Dr. Jenkins, we "tried it on the dog" first as far as possible. Sprays Used. The following are the general types of fungicides used: (1) Bordeaux mixture, strong and weak; (2) commercial lime-sulphurs, seven brands, as follows : Blanchard's, Grasselli's, Niagara, Sherwin-Williams'. Ster- ling, Thomsen's and Vreeland's; (3) self-boiled lime-sul- phur; (4) miscellaneous sulphur sprays, such as Potassium sulphide, Sulfocide, Bogart's Sulphur compound, and One for All ; (5) Atomic sulphur ; and (6) sulphur and arsenate of lead. For insecticides alone, or in combination with the preceding fungicides, there were used five of the paste brands of arsenate of lead (Ansbacher's, Grasselli's, Sher- I90 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. win-Williams', Swift's and Vreeland's), two of the powder form (Vreeland's and Devoe & Raynold's), Ortho-arsenite of zinc, and Paris green. Determination of Results. In determining the results ■of spraying the apples and peaches, certain of the sprayed and unsprayed trees of each variety were selected, and all or part of the fruit was examined for any spray, fungous or insect injury, and the kinds noted. In this way, during the two years we examined in detail, recording our observa- tions, 153,000 apples and 49,000 peaches. A general exam- ination was also made of the trees from time to time to note any injury or benefit to the foliage, though no statis- tics were gathered along this line. Cost of the Sprays. We have compiled data as to the cost of the materials used in spraying. These are based on prices such as the grower would have to pay for the mate- rial in barrel or 100 pound lots, f. o. b., and do not include railroad transportation, cartage, cost of mixing and apply- ing. Bordeaux mixture of the 4-4-50 strength costs 32 cents per barrel, of the 1-4-50 strength, 11 cents per barrel, mak- ing the average cost, for one spraying of the former and two of the latter strength, 18 cents per barrel. The com- mercial lime-sulphur sprays used at a strength of 1^ gal- lons per barrel cost from 17^ to 25 cents, according to the brand used. The self-boiled lime-sulphur, 8-8-50 formula, costs 28 cents per barrel. The miscellaneous sprays having sulphur as an ingredient cost from 16| to 30 cents, accord- ing to the brands and their strength. Atomic sulphur at the strength recommended by the manufacturers, and used in our experiments, costs far more than any other spray tried. Sulphur and arsenate of lead, 3-6-50 formula, costs 45 cents per barrel, but, of course, this includes the cost of the insecticide as well. Arsenate of lead of the paste type costs from 21 to 28-| cents, when used at the rate of 3 pounds per barrel, and in the dry form, 33 cents, when used at the rate of 1| pounds. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 191 As a barrel of spray mixture will cover from five to eighteen apple trees, it makes the cost of material alone for three sprayings with good fungicide, like Bordeaux or commer- cial lime-sulphur, two of which include arsenate of lead as an insecticide, from 6 to 24 cents per tree, according to the size of the tree. Half of this cost is for the fungicide and half for the insecticide. Spray Injury. There are three types of injury, especial- ly on apples, that may result from spraying, namely, leaf- burn, scorch and russeting of the fruit. Leaf-burn usually shows in the form of specks or small round spots of a red- dish-brown color that appear suddenly or gradually in the tissues. Often these spots run together into irregular and larger areas. Sometimes the injury is so severe as to amount to a scorch, and the whole, or the greater part, of the tissues are killed. AA'^ith Bordeaux mixture this injury is rather gradual in its development, and some of the leaves which turn yel- low and drop ofif show little burn. We have seen trees where one-third to two-thirds of the leaves w^ere shed. Ap- parently more injury occurs when the leaves are fully grown than when they are immature, as the rapidly expand- ing tissues stretch out the spray coating with their growth. Hence, we believe the first spraying, at 4-4-50, and the oth- ers, at 1-4-50, are not likely to cause serious injury except under unusual conditions. Bordeaux injury to the foliage was much more prominent in 1910 than in 1911. This was partly due to the difference in the season, and partly to the use of weaker Bordeaux in the latter year. The commercial lime-sulphur sprays have given, on the whole, considerable less leaf injury on apples than Bor- deaux, this being limited usually to a slight burn on scat- tered leaves or on one side of the tree. Thomsen's lime and sulphur, however, in 1911. gave more than the normal amount of leaf-burn. 192 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. On peaches, the commercial lime-sulphur sprays have given somewhat variable results. We are not sure whether this was partly a question of the brand used. Some brands gave injury, while others, even at a higher strength, did not; but they were not tested in the same orchard under conditions otherwise the same. Comparatively little injury was observed on apple foli- age from the use of Atomic sulphur, but on peach and cur- rant leaves there was more than was anticipated. In one case the young twigs of peaches were quite severely spot- ted. Whether or not less injury would occur on the peach without the arsenate of lead present, was not determined. The self-boiled spray mixtures have given compara- tively little injury to the foliage of either apples or peaches. The same is true of sulphur and arsenate of lead, and of arsenate of lead used alone. However, we have had called to our attention two cases where Grasselli's arsenate of lead caused injury to apple and peach foliage. Ortho-arsenite of zinc used alone caused similar injury for one grower. We are not quite sure of the explanation of these cases. With the miscellaneous commercial sprays containing sulphur in some form we have had the most trouble from leaf injury. Some of these sprays have to be used rather weak to avoid injury, and with all it seems to be largely a question of a chemical change, when combined with an in- secticide, especially arsenate of lead, whereby an injurious soluble arsenate is formed. With these sprays, as in the case of potassium sulphide and Sulfocide, when used in combination with arsenate of lead, we have had serious in- jury to peaches, not only to the foliage, but to the young twigs as well. With such a combination trees can even be killed. This year the Sulfocide used as weak as 1-300 and only one-quarter pound Paris green per barrel, with the addition of lime, gave no serious injury on apples. These strengths are rather weak to have the best fungicidal and TWENTY-FIRST AXXUAL MEETING. 193 insecticidal values, but the Sulfocide apparently can be in- creased up to 1-200 without injury to the foliage. Scald is a type of injury in which the fruit, usually on the exposed side or at the blossom end, shows a continuous injury of the skin, often causing it to roughen and crack. This injury may extend to the deeper tissues, which become darkened, and sometimes rot follows as a result of the injury. Scald was seen only rarely in 1910, but was quite evident in 1911. Average years will probably not show much of this trouble. — -»^»»f.: Some sprays were worse than others in producing scald, but Atomic sulphur was as bad as any. We also found some scald on apples sprayed with Bordeaux, self- boiled lime and sulphur, and commercial lime-sulphur. On peaches we had more scald on the whole from Atomic sul- phur than from the self-boiled and the commercial lime-sul- phurs. The peach apparently does not scald as readily as the apple. Russeting is a type of skin injury that develops on the young fruit and is still evident on the mature fruit as an unnatural roughness much like the natural "russet" of the Russet varieties. It is not so uniform or extended usually as the natural russet, but is quite a blemish on otherwise first-class fruit. When very severe, the apples are some- what smaller, somewhat deformed, and more or less cracked open. It was because of this injury. Avhich is especially characteristic of Bordeaux mixture, that orchardists were anxious for relief. We have found no spray that produces russeting so generally as Bordeaux. The self-boiled and commercial lime-sulphur and Atomic sulphur develop it somewhat. There is a great difference in varieties, Baldwins on the whole being the worst, though we have had cases where Pound Sweet, Early Harvest, and Yellow Transparent were bad, and Greening, Jonathan and Spitzenberg, somewhat injured. We believe that with the Bordeaux used only of 194 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the 1-4-50 strength on the fruit, this trouble will be greatly lessened, but, of course, it will be much more prominent some years than others. Influence of Weather. We know that rainy weather develops a greater variety and abundance of fungous in- juries than dry weather. A wet, cold spring increases peach leaf-curl, apple scab and apple rust. Wet weather in July and August multiplies brown rot of peach and sooty blotch of apples. In 1910 there was considerable apple rust and peach leaf-curl, and in 1911 sooty blotch was much more abundant. Neither year, on the whole, was exceptional for developing an unusual amount of fungous injury, hence the various sprays did not have a very severe test as to their fungicidal value. It is, however, more particularly of weather in relation to spray injury that we wish to speak. The year 1910 pro- duced a great deal more russeting of apples than 1911. As considerable russeting appeared on apples that were not sprayed at all, it appears that some other factor enters into this injury. Most investigators have noticed more spray injury, especially russeting, in weather unusually wet, rath- er than dry, during the spraying season. Other writers have called attention to frost injury of apples similar to that described here under russeting. We have no doubt in our own mind that much of the russeting in 1910 was due to late frosts that came after the apples were set. In 1911 there was some frost injury at the beginning of the blos- soming period, but not later to our knowledge. In 1911 far more scald developed than in 1910. In fact, this was an unusual year in that respect. It was also an unusual year as regards the hot, dry weather in June and July, when the scorch first began to show. That the weath- er had much to do with the trouble was shown by its ap- pearance on apples that had not been sprayed at all. Always, however, it was worse on the sprayed trees, and so was really a combined spray-weather injury. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 195 Results of Spraying. Of the more evident of the re- sults in controlling- apple fungi the following may be men- tioned. Rust apparently is the most difficult to prevent of the apple fungi. Evidently it requires a continuous coat- ing of the fungicide on the leaves from the time they begin to expand in late April or early May until the middle of July, when all danger of infection from the "cedar apples" is over. With the two or three summer sprayings in our experiments we were not able to see much difference, as re- gards this fungus, between the trees sprayed with any fun- gicide and the unsprayed trees. Scab, rot, and fruit speck were all kept in check by the better fungicides. Rot and fruit speck often start through insect injury, and so arsenate of lead alone seemed to decrease these troubles to a considerable extent. Sooty blotch was far more prominent in 1911 than any other fun- gus, and so offered the best test during the two years of the fungicidal value of the different sprays. Judged from its all-around tests, Bordeaux mixture, even when used in the weaker strength, in the second and third sprayings, proved to have the best fungicidal value on apples of any of these sprays. This was especially true when judged by its control of sooty blotch in 1911. Atomic sulphur also seemed to possess very good fungicidal quali- ties, but it was not tested so severely and extensively as the Bordeaux. The self-boiled lime and sulphur also gave good results as a rule. The commercial lime and sulphur did not do quite as well, especially some brands used against the sooty blotch in 1911, The commercial brands containing some form of sulphur did not have so extensive tests, because of their liability to injure foliage. Sulphur and arsenate of lead, and arsenate of lead alone possess some fungicidal value, but not enough to recommend them as such. The various fungicides with arsenate of lead added did not always give a higher percentage of perfect fruit 196 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. than where arsenate of lead alone was used, due to the fact that part or all of the percent gained by lessening fungous attack was lost by spray injury. A moderate spray in- jury, however, is not on the whole so serious as a similar fungous injury. Comparing all the apples sprayed in 1911 with either a fungicide or an insecticide with all the un- sprayed fruit, the percent perfect in the former was 75, as against 51 in the latter case. The diiTerence in individual cases was often much more striking, as for instance, 77 per cent perfect on Baldwins sprayed in the Andrews or- chard in 1911 against 28 per cent on the unsprayed Bald- wins. With peaches, it was found that the leaf-curl could be controlled by the use of commercial lime-sulphur sprays on the dormant trees just as the buds were beginning to swell. Used at the strength of 1-8 at this time, it will not only take care of this trouble, but of the San Jose scale as well. Ordinarily, however, it does not pay to spray for leaf-curl alone. This treatment on the dormant trees at this time is of little or no value in preventing scab and rot of the fruit. Peach scab and brown rot are fairl}^ well controlled by three summer sprayings with either self-boiled lime-sul- phur. Atomic sulphur, or commercial lime-sulphur. Con- sidering effectiveness, cost, and freedom from spray injury, self-boiled lime-sulphur is the only one that at present we can fully recommend. Arsenate of lead added to these sprays did not appreciably lessen insect injury to the fruit, so we do not recommend its use except in those cases where there is likelihood of serious damage to the foliage from the sawfly. Self-boiled lime-sulphur should never be used on peaches after the middle of July, as the hairs on the fruit retain too much of the sediment, especially if there are no rains between that time and the ripening period. Peaches sprayed with this fungicide keep longer than sound peach- A Part of the Day's Picking. The Auto Truck is Becoming a Factor in Connecticut Peach Shipping. Loading Peaches at Middlefield Station. SCENES DURING THE PEACH HARVEST, BARNES BROS.' ORCHARDS. DURHAM, CONN. TWENTY-I'IRST ANNUAL MEETING. 197 es not sprayed at all. In 1911 the per cent of perfect fruit for all of the sprayed peaches was 85, as compared with 63 for the unsprayed. Summary. To sum up the results of our experiments, we make the following recommendations for summer spraying of apples and peaches in this state. For Apples. 1. As a rule, three summer treatments with a fungi- cide are necessary to control the fungous diseases, and the last two of these should contain an insecticide. These sprayings should be made as follows: First, just before the blossoms open, on the young unfolding leaves (April 27th to May 10th, according to season and variety) ; sec- ond, just after all the blossoms have fallen (May 10th to May 25th) ; third, about one month later (usually June 15th to June 25th). 2. Where fungi are not serious, especially scab, the first treatment mentioned above may be omitted. Occa- sionally, perhaps in alternate years, where fungi are quite inconspicuous, and the trees have been thoroughly sprayed the previous year, the fungicide may even be entirely omit- ted, and only the two sprayings for insects given. 3. For fungicides, we recommend Bordeaux mixture of the 4-4-50 strength for the first spraying, and of the 1-4-50 strength for the second and third sprayings ; or com- mercial lime and sulphur, used at a strength of 1^ gallons to 50 gallons of water, for all three sprayings. The former has better fungicidal value and the latter is less liable to cause spray injury, especially russeting of the fruit. Where fungi are bad, the former might be used, at least in alter- nate years ; while with varieties russeting badly, such as Baldwin, the latter is apt to prove on the whole more valu- able. 4. For the insecticide in the above we recommend ar- senate of lead. If used in the paste form, at the rate of 3 198 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. pounds to 50 gallons of mixture, or if in the dry state, 1-J pounds per 50 gallons. For Peaches. 1. For the prevention of scab and rot of peaches it is as a rule desirable to give three sprayings, as follows: First, shortly after the blossoms have fallen (May 10th to May 25th) ; second, about three or four weeks later (June 5th to June 15th) ; and third, about one month later (July 5th to July 15th). If only two sprayings can be given, omit the first. 2. On the whole, self-boiled lime and sulphur of the 8-8-50 formula seems to be the safest and most reliable peach spray, and this is recommended. Good results have been obtained with some of the commercial lime-sulphurs, and they are much more easily handled. There is, how- ever, some danger of spray injury, especially with certain brands. If commercial lime-sulphur is used, a strength of 1-150, without poison, is recommended. 3. As little good in preventing curculio seems to come from the addition of poison, and as this seems to increase the danger of spray injury, we advise leaving out arsenate of lead unless there is considerable risk of sawfly injury, when it can be added in the second spraying, the same as for apples. Discussion, President Rogers: I am sure that Dr. Clinton will be glad to answer any questions. Of course, spraying is one of the most vital subjects that the fruit grower has to do with. We have a few moments now. Please let the ques- tions come rapidly. Professor Jarvis: Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask Professor Clinton if he has any information on the influ- ence of the insecticide on the lime and sulphur when they are combined? TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 199 Dr. Clinton : No chemical formation. I have not studied it from that point of view. There seems to be a general belief that the arsenites of lead combine with the lime and sulphur and form a combination that is injurious to the foliage, but that either of these alone would not pro- duce injury. We have always used the poison in our lime and sulphur. As we have not carried on spraying with the lime and sulphur alone, we have not had any data to show that one would be more injurious than the other. The impression is. that the arsenate of lead when added causes a great deal of injury. President Rogers : There is still time for more ques- tions. A Member: I would like to ask if spraying with Scale- cide will kill the scale. Dr. Clinton : Yes sir, it will kill the scale if you use it in the right proportions. If you know that the trees are infested you can use either Scalecide or lime and sulphur. President Rogers : I would like to ask if the home- made lime-sulphur mixtures are generally preferable to these commercial mixtures that are made up and put on the market? Dr. Clinton : I think for the ordinary grower that it is better to bu}- the commercial lime and sulphur rather than to make it up. If he is a big grower, he can make it up cheaper than he can buy it. The ordinary grower wants to get along with as little difficulty as he can, and that is one of the reasons why it is best and easiest for him to buy it and put it on his trees. It hardly pays the small grower to buy the ingredients and make up the mixture him- self. For the Bordeaux mixture I prefer the home-made to any of the commercial kinds. A Member : Which do they consider the most effectual, the commercial lime-sulphur or the Scalecide in comljatting scale on dormant trees? 200 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Dr. Clinton : They are both equally effective. It is simply a question of condition. I prefer the lime and sul- phur, one to eight, on peach trees. It is all right to use it on any of the young trees, apples, or any other kind, that have a smooth bark, but if you have some old trees that have got rough bark, then I think it is preferable to use the Scalecide. I have trees in my back yard, and for a tree in such a location, I w^ould use the Scalecide, because the lime and sulphur will make black spots on your white paint every time. They will disappear, but it ruins the paint work, and makes it unsightly for a few weeks. I should always use lime and sulphur in the peach orchard. President Rogers : The second address of the morn- ing will be given by Dr. J. P. Stewart of Pennsylvania, on the important subject of "Spray Injury : Its Cause and Pre- vention." I take great pleasure in introducing Dr. Stew- art to you at this time. Dr. Stewart : It goes without saying, Mr. Chairman, that it is a pleasure and a privilege for me to be here to-day. We occasionally get some of your citizens, who have been interested in fruit growing, down to tell us how to do things, and if I can even partly repay that I will feel that I have accomplished something. You know yesterday in Mr. Tenny's speech he referred to one thing which was very important, and that was that just now, in New York, they feel that they are more at a loss to know just how to spray their trees than they were before. I shall try to show you this morning how that loss may be avoided. I believe we know pretty well at the present time just how to eliminate a good deal of the difficulty that they are now having in New York, and also in Ohio and through Pennsylvania. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING 201 Sulphur-Arsenical Spray Injury and Its Prevention. By Dr. J. P. Stewart, Experimental Pomologist, State College, Pennsylvania. The recent extensive use of lime-sulphur solutions in ■combination with the ordinary lead arsenates as a summer spray has placed an unusual strain on the materials and has resulted in extensive and apparently increasing complaints of injury. During the past season such complaints have been heard or the injuries observed by the writer in several states, and in some important fruit sections, the growers now seem more at a loss as to how to spray their trees than -ever before. In each of the past two years, certain cases amounting to practical ruination of apple or peach crops have come to our attention, and in some instances even the trees have been killed. In spite of these striking cases, however, the total injury from lime-sulphur is probably much less than that from an equal amount of spraying with Bordeaux. But is is quite important that the danger be appreciated and guarded against by such precautions as we are now able to ofter. These precautions are based primarily on the results of tests and experiments conducted at the Pennsylvania sta- tion for the past three years. During the first year we tried to determine what dilutions of lime-sulphur alone could be safely used on the foliage of various fruits. Dur- ing the past two years we have studied the effects of com- bining lime-sulphur with various kinds of arsenicals. The latter experiments were confined almost entirely to the peach, largely because of its greater sensitiveness to spray injury. Contrary to certain results reported elsewhere, our combined sprays have resulted practically uniformly in g'iving more injury than was obtained from applications of lime-sulphur alone. The lime-sulphur used was made by the method advised in our bulletins and hence was known 202 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. to contain nothing but the necessary ingredients, and the di- lutions were made with rain water obtained from a cistern. General Factors Influencing Spray Injury. Without going further into details, it appears at pres- ent that the chief factors concerned in sulphur-arsenical spray injury are: (1) the character of the arsenical; (2) the purity of the sulphur solution; (3) the soundness of the epidermis on foliage and fruit, i.e., its freedom from punc- tures and breaks due to insect or fungous attacks or to previous applications of Bordeaux or lime-sulphur; (4) den- sity and abundance of the application; (5) the size of the drops that collect and the time required for their evapora- tion, suggesting the advisability of moderate applications and avoidance of humid days; (6) differing resistance of varieties ; (7) an apparent seasonal and also locality differ- ence in the resistance of the same varieties; (8) excessive temperatures, — such as resulted in so much scalding of fruit the past season in connection with various sprays applied during the excessive heat, of late June and early July; (9) unknown causes usually attributed to weather conditions. Any one of these factors may be the important one in any given case. In general, however, they are probably stated somewhat in order of frequency of importance, at least for the more severe cases. The Sulphur-Arsenical Factors. In connection with the first two factors, our peach-spray- ing experiments of the past two years have shown : (1) that when used at proper dilutions, most of the injury from the combined sulphur-arsenical spray is due directly to the arsen- ical, but indirectly to a solvent action of the fungicide; (2) that this solvent action is greatly increased by the pres- ence of caustic substances, such as soda or potash in the spray mixture — a fact which makes it especially dangerous to use either spray water or concentrates that contain ap- preciable quantities of these salts; (3) that certain proprie- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 203 tary sulphur sprays are entirely unusable with present ar- senicals, since they are compounds of sulphur with soda or potash ; (4) that the solvent action of a normal lime-sul- phur solution in combination with arsenicals can be practi- cally eliminated in three ways — either by properly putting the sulphur out of solution or by using an arsenical of the highest grade or apparently by adding lead in a proper form to the ordinary lead arsenates before combining them with soluble lime-sulphur sprays. The basis for the first three of these deductions is par- tially shown in Table I, and that for the fourth is shown later in Table II. TABLE I. Spray Injury on Fruit, Foliage and Twigs of Peaches in 1910. Per ct Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. Fruits in Fruit Fruit Twig Leaf Plot. Treatment. Sample.^ Injured. Drop. Injury. Drop. I. Check= 549 0 5-10 0 0 III. Self-boiled L-S & Lead Shot- Arsenate (2-8-8-50) ... 430 0 0 0 holes IV. L-S (1.003) and Arsen- ate of Lead 424 0 5 5 5 V. L-S (1.003) and Arsen- ite of Lime 487 2.26 5 5 10 VI. L-S (1.003) and Arsen- ate applied with CO- Gas 453 10.8 50 20 50 VII. Sulfocide and Arsenate 245 6.94 90 70 90 VIII. Sulfocide and Arsenite 359 10.58 40 30 50 IX. Pyrox (5-50) 377 47.2 50 50 65 X. Bordeaux (^-6-50) and Shot- Arsenate 515 10.7 1 0 holes XI. Bordeaux (14-6-50) and Shot- Arsenate 459 9.8 5 0 holes XIIL Check 495 0 5-10 0 0 * In this and following table, the effect of the various treatments on the picked fruit was determined by the random-sample method. In obtaining these samples, all the fruit on the data trees of a given plot was picked and weighed. From each basket of this fruit a sample was taken at random and placed with other similar samples, enough being taken from each basket to make a total of one or two bushels in the total sample from each plot. This fruit was carefully examined for spray injury, and the per cent found in the sample was considered to be a correct representation of the fruit conditions of the plot. ^ Plots 2 and 12 were "buffers." The applications w^ere made at the usual times for controlling rot and curculio. A complete discussion of these treatments and results is given in the 1911 Reports of the American Pomological Society and the Pennsylvania State Horticultural Association, under the heading of "Summer Spraying of Peaches." Also see our paper on "Spray Injury" given at the New Jersey State Horticultural Society meeting, December 13, 1911. 204 ^^^ CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The injury shown in several of these plots is evidently so great as to exclude their treatments from serious consid- eration as summer sprays for peaches at least. But it is the nature of the injury that is most important in our pres- ent discussion. This was apparently identical throughout the experiment. On plots 6, 7, 9 and 10, however, we have four different fungicides and only one common material, viz., the ordinary arsenate of lead. We conclude, there- fore, that the common injury was directly caused by the common material, or in other words we reach our first deduction stated above. The general appearance of the injury on the fruit is shown in Figure I. Figure I. — Typical injured peaches from plots 6 to 11, in 1910. The injury is apparently due to the arsenical directly, with the fungicide aiding indirectly. Methods of Eliminating the Injury. From our results the past season, the precipitation method of eliminating sidphur-arsenical injury seems to be least desirable. The precipitation can be accomplished readily enough without loss of sulphur, by means of iron TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEET INC. 205 sulfate or "copperas" added at the rate of 34 pounds per 50 gallons of 1.01 solution. The process also was entirely ef- fective in eliminating spray injury with each of the three arsenicals this past year, as seen in Table II, by coiu paring plots 7 to 9 with the similar unprecipitated plots, 4 to 6. The resulting materials, howe^"er, are very disagreeable to handle on account of their extremely tenacious and black- ening qualities. They also seriously discolor the fruit, and in our experiments they apparently reduced somewhat the effectiveness of the arsenicals. Thus where the check showed 13.2% curculio injury, three precipitated plots aver- aged 7.6%, while the similar unprecipitated plots averaged only 5.1%. The influence of precipitation and of form of arsenical is shown in detail in Table II. TABLE II. Spray Injury on Fruit and Foliage of Peaches, 1911. (Maximum Injuries Observed in Our Experiment of 1911). Per ct. Per ct. Corrected Fruit Leaf Fruits in Per cent Per cent Drop, Drop, Plot. Treatment. Sample. Injured. Injured. Est'd. Est'd. 1. Check 409 5.87' 0 0 0 2(a). Self-boiled, arsenate and Shot- L-S (1.003) 412 8.01 2.14 0 holes 3. Self-boiled and arsenate 453 8.39 2.52 .7 2-2> 4. L-S (1.003) and arsenate 428 18.22 12.35 4. 3-5 5. L-S (1.003) and arsenite 509 24.36 18.49 15. 50 6. L-S (1.003) and ortho- arsenate of lead 429 6.06 .19 .8 1 7. L-S (1.01), iron sulphate and arsenate 431 5.57 0 0 0 8. Same as 7 exc. arsenite. 473 5.92 .05 0 0 9. Same as 7 except ortho- arsenate 416 6.02 1.15 0 0 10. Atomic sulphur and ar- senate 488 8.61 2.74 0 5-6 11. Bordeaux (^-6-50) and arsenate 475 24.42 18.55 17. 2-3 13. Check 398 7.79' 1.92 8. 1-2 ^ The spray injury shown in check plots 1 and 13 of this column is due to the fact that the whole experiment was inadvertently sprayed by workmen during our absence, with a combination of lime-sulphur and lead-arsenate that proved very harmful, although the fungicide in their spray was used at about one-third the strength that we were applying with comparative safety. The etTect of this out- side application is corrected so far as possible in column 3, by subtracting from all the plots the per cent of injury shown in plot 1. The remaining injury in plot 13 is due to a second slight interference that affected only this plot. ,2o5 THE CONNECTICUT POM O LOGICAL SOCIETY. These results, together with our other field observa- tions, indicate that the second method of eliminating spray injury — the one involving a stable arsenical of the highest grade — is probably best. On present evidence, this arsenical is the neutral ortho- arsenate of lead. As shown in plot 6 and column 3 of Table II, this material in combination with lime-sulphur solution gave practically no injury on peaches, when the ordinary lead arsenate and arsenite of lime under similar conditions were giving injuries of 12% and 18% respectively, besides causing very distinct amounts of fruit and foliage drop. The work of the single season, of course, does not warrant one's advising even this combination as yet on peaches, but it does indicate very strongly that much of the serious injury on apples may be eliminated by the use of ortho- arsenate. Chemically, the ortho-arsenate of lead differs from the ordinary commercial lead arsenates in the fact that it con- tains nothing but the tri-plumbic arsenate, Pb3(As04)2, while the latter, as made in the East up to the present time, generally contain in addition, more or less of the pyro and acid arsenates, Pb2As207 and PbHAs04, respectively.*. The importance of this lies in the fact that these lat- ter arsenates are only stable under acid conditions and they are gradually transposed into the stable compound, the ortho-arsenate, under neutral and alkalin conditions, such as occur in most of our spray solutions. This transposi- tion involves the liberation of arsenic acid, which must cause injury, unless enough extra lead or other satisfac- tory bases are present to re-precipitate it into forms that are insoluble under the conditions involved. The above fact doubtless explains why more injury does not occur from the sulphur-arsenical combination, and it also suggests the third method of guarding against it. This is to add extra lead, in a soluble form, to the * See article by Volck in Science, June 2, 1911, pp. S66-S70. Besides these forms, some water soluble arsenic usually occurs. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 207 ordinary mixed lead arsenates before combining them with the lime-sulphur solution. The best form of lead for this purpose is probably the acetate or "sugar of lead," as the nitrate has been known to cause some injury itself. The amount of extra lead actually required for safety depends on the per cent of soluble arsenic and acid arsen- ates present in the given sample and also on the amount of free lead already present. In general, however, four to six ounces of the acetate should be sufficient to render safe two pounds of ordinary lead arsenate paste or its equiv- alent in the powdered form. The effect of this addition is really to form the ortho- arsenate in the spray tank from the arsenic acid referred to above, although probably some calcium arsenate is also formed.* The latter is less desirable, as is also the arsen- ite of lime, even when made with the lower amount of soda recommended in our Bulletin 99. If one does not wish to make this addition of lead to present Eastern com- mercial lead arsenates, then he should insist on getting the ortho-arsenate. It has been made for a number of years on the Pacific Coast^ for use especially in the trying conditions of the Pajaro Valley in California, and certain firms are now contemplating its manufacture in the East. It also is not especially difficult to make locally and to prove its nature, though it requires some chemical training and proper laboratory facilities. Its preparation is de- scribed later. Its insecticidal value is at least not inferior to that of the ordinary lead arsenates, since our two "ortho" plots averaged only 6.6% of curculio injury as compared with 8.2% on the latter. Tt takes about two and one-half pounds, however, to carry the same amount of arsenic as two pounds of the ordinary mixed lead arsenates. * The firm making it on the Coast is the California Spray-Chemical Co., Wat- sonville, Cal. The material used by us was made and tested in the Pennsylvania State College laboratories by Mr. F. P. Weaver, of the Agricultural Chemistry Department, largely after the directions given in the article referred to in foot- ■note 1. 2o8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The Chemistry of Sulphur-Arsenical Injury and Its Prevention. The so-called practical facts have largely been stated above. The chemical basis for some of the preceding statements is very instructive, however, and not particu- larly difficult to comprehend. Hence, we have worked it out for presentation here. The chemistry of the injury^ or of the production of arsenic acid from either pyro or acid arsenates, is shown in the two following reactions : Pyro-arsenate+^^'ater=Acid Arsenate (1) FbaAssO^ + H„0 = 2 PbHAsO.i „ Alkalin Ortho-arsenate+Arsenic acid (2) ^PbHAsU4+Soi^^tiQj,g= pb3(As04)o + H3ASO4 As noted above, this arsenic acid is soluble and will injure vegetation severely unless immediately re-precipi- tated into harmless forms by satisfactory bases. Of these, the most satisfactory is doubtless lead itself, and if an ex- cess of it is maintained in the solution, any arsenic acid that may be formed would at once be converted into the desirable ortho-arsenate, so long as alkalin conditions were maintained. This reaction, using lead acetate (or sugar of lead) as the carrier of soluble lead, is as follows: Arsenic acid -{- Lead acetate^ortho-arsenate-|-acetic acid (3) 2H3As04+3Pb(CoH,jOo),= Vh,{hsO,)._-^6nC^Yi^0.2 The acetic acid, in turn, attacks the lime-sulphur in solution, forming hydrogen sulphide, free sulphur and cal- cium acetate, as indicated by the following reaction : (4) 2 HC2H302+CaS4=:H,S-f 3 S+CaCC.HgOJo- The practical bearing of all this appears in the fact that the danger of injury from mixed commercial lead arsenates in alkalin spray solutions can at least be greatly reduced by the simple addition of a small amount of solu- ble lead, preferably in the form of lead acetate, before add- ing them to the fungicidal solutions. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 209 The Preparation of Lead Ortho-arsenate. While this is essentially the work of a chemist and hardly to be undertaken by the average fruit grower, yet with fair laboratory facilities, it is not so very difficult, and hence a brief statement of the method is included here. The method used by us, both in making and test- ing our ortho-arsenate for experimental use was essen- tially as described by Volck in the article referred to in footnote 1. With slight modifications, his method is as follows : Solutions of lead acetate or lead nitrate and solutions of arsenic acid or of ammonium, sodium or potassium ar- senate containing the correct weights of the oxids (1 part of AS2O3 to 2.9 parts PbO) are poured together. The water should be sufficient to dilute the precipitate and keep it from forming too thick a mass. To this mixture ammonia is added to strong alkalinity, and care is taken to keep the solution alkalin throughout the reaction, as upon this point depends the real success of the process. The mixture is then heated gently for an hour or more, allowed to settle, and the clear liquid tested for arsenic oxid, by the ammonia test described below. If a precipitate forms, a little more lead solution is added and the procedure re- peated until no precipitate appears. It is well to wash the finished product, preferably by decantation, and again apply the ammonia test. If any arsen- ic oxid appears in the filtrate, more lead solution should be added. Finally wash to the complete removal of water- soluble salts. In accordance with well-known principles of chemistry, the retention of the arsenic oxid will not be complete until there is an excess of the precipitant, that is, lead oxid. For this reason, true ortho samples will show less than the theoretical percentage of arsenic oxid (25.59). With commercial samples, where allowance has to be made for impurities, this percentage is still further re- duced. 2IO THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. In this connection, attention has been called to the fact that the "Federal Insecticide Act of 1910,'' by requir- ing a minimum of 12^% arsenic oxid, rules out the com- mercial preparation of neutral lead ortho-arsenate on a 50%- water basis. The manufacturers may still comply with this law, however, by reducing the water. The latter reduction seems entirely practicable, judging from the increasing use of the powdered forms of lead arsenate, in which the water has been eliminated almost entirely. The Ammonia Te.st for Lead Ortho-arsenate. If one wishes to use the ortho-arsenate, as appears desirable from our field tests noted above, it is highly im- portant that he should know when he has it. Already the term acid arsenates — which refers especially to the PbHAs04 and the PboAs207 compounds contained as a mixture in most if not all of our Eastern lead arsenates — has been interpreted commercially to mean an acid reaction in the ordinary lead arsenate paste. Hence a litmus test is being offered to show that such a reaction does not exist in certain materials, and therefore they are considered to be neutral and free of the undesirable forms. Other lead arsenates are being oft'ered as neutral and containing 12^% arsenic oxid. None of these tests or descriptions is sufficient to make certain that a given material contains nothing but a strictly neutral ortho-arsenate of lead, Pbs (As04)2. At present this latter fact can be determined only by the so- called "ammonia test" or by a reliable guarantee that con- tains no substitution nor modification of terms. The ammonia test is based essentially on the fact that the acid arsenates are soluble in alkalin and not in acid solutions. This test is made as follows : A fair sample (10 to 20 grams) is mixed with water (25 to 50 cc.) and an equal volume of strong ammonia (26° Be.) is added. This is heated gently, agitated and TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 211 finally heated to boiling. It is then allowed to cool and settle, and the clear solution decanted through a filter. The ammonia is then dri\en out of the filtrate by boiling, and the remaining solution made distinctly acid with acet- ic acid, after which a concentrated solution of lead acetate with free acetic acid is added. If a considerable precipitate forms at this stage of the test, it is evident that the original sample contained con- siderable quantities of arsenic in other forms than the neu- tral ortho-arsenate and hence would probably prove inju- rious if applied to foliage in combination with lime-sulphur solutions. If no precipitate forms at first, there may possi- blv still be some objectionable arsenates present. Their presence may be determined by adding the lead acetate solu- tion in large excess and allow to stand, whereupon a pre- cipitate may form in a few minutes or an hour. If no precipitate forms under any of these conditions, the origin- al sample contained nothing but true neutral ortho-arsen- ate of lead. Dr. Stewart gave an interesting and important paper, illustrating his subject with a large number of lantern slides. The cause of spray injury and its possible elimination has never been more forcibly brought out. Discussion. Dr. Brittox : This has been a very interesting lecture, and I only wish that we in Connecticut knew as much about the chemistry of these spray mixtures as does Pro- fessor Stewart. We have not gone deeply into it. One point has been brought out here this morning that I am afraid may be a trifle misleading. Professor Stewart's figures show^ us the eflfect obtained from the use of arsenate of lead with various mixtures, including Pyrox and Bordeaux, and he stated that the injury was due to the arsenate of lead. Now, some may get the idea that it was due to the arsenate of lead alone, notwithstanding 212 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the fact that 30,000 peach trees were sprayed with com- mon brands of lead arsenate in Connecticut in 1911. When lead arsenate is added to a lime-sulphur mixture, we know that some chemical action takes place, and the injury is probably due to the result of this action rather than to the lead arsenate itself. Moreover, Dr. Jenkins a few years ago showed that when lead arsenate is added to Bordeaux mixture, it be- comes even more insoluble than when placed in water. Dr. Stewart's table does not show that he tried either the Bordeaux mixture or the lead arsenate alone on peach trees. Dr. Stewart: We tried those in our first application, and there was no appreciable injury. We used rainwater to cut out anv possibility of getting in any foreign materials from the soil. There was no burnino' when we used only lead arsenate and rainwater for our applications. Dr. BrittO'N : We frequently get injury from the Bor- deaux mixture alone in Connecticut. Dr. Stewart : Of course, we will get some burning from it on peaches, and that is one of the facts brought out in my paper, as you undoubtedly noticed. Dk. Britton : How do you account for the fact that the arsenical causes injury when used in Bordeaux, if it is more insoluble there than in water alone? Dr. Stewart: In the Bordeaux mixture, while I have not gone into that fully, we would find it alkaline, and I would not wonder if we found that the same chemical situation oc- curs, or that a reaction occurs which sets free the arsenic. Dr. Britton : When Dr. Jenkins made the test, he found that the lead arsenate was more insoluble in Bordeaux mixture than in water alone. Dr. Stewart: The only answer I can give to that is this, that in our field results the nature of the injury seems absolutely the same on the fruit, no matter with which of these fungicides we get it. Consequently, it seems to me it TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 213 is undeniable that it must be the uniform arsenical that was doing it. Dr. Clinton : Did you try the different sprays as many times without the poison as you did with the poison? Dr. Stewart: No. Dr. Clinton: Weather conditions have a great deal to do with spray injury. You stated that the injury on the checks was due to the accidental treatment. Was it a winter treatment? Dr. Stewart: No, it was summer treatment, but it got on there before we got ours well started. Dr. Clinton: Probably your weather conditions there had something to do with it. It seems to me that what Dr. Stewart has brought out is largely true, but at the same time you can get some injury from lime and sul- phur without the arsenate of lead in it, and this past year there was even a little scald injury in Connecticut on trees that had not been sprayed at all. Dr. Stewart : My whole contention is based on this proposition, that we get an injury of the same character when we use a certain arsenical with four different fungi- cides. That is the important thing. The injury was the same. The ordinary mixed lead arsenate was the only com- mon material, and that common material produced the com- mon injury. Dr. Clinton : I think you are correct, or largely so. I have gotten injury w^ithout any arsenate of lead at all, but it has been much less conspicuous. Dr. Stewart: We are agreed perfectly about that. Dr. Clinton: With arsenate of lead used alone, did you get any injury? Dr. Stewart: We did not get the injury with arsenate of lead except in that last plot I showed you. That is the only opportunity that we have had to test that point. We 214 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. got in that last plot this year perhaps two per cent, where we used the arsenate alone, but down at Washins^on the Bureau of Chemistry reports a very conspicuous injury from the use of lead arsenate alone on peaches. Dr. Clinton : We have data from orchards in this state where arsenate of lead was used, not the true ortho-arsen- ate of lead, showing that the spraying of the night before produced no injury, but that of the next morning produced serious injury. Dr. Stewart: I presume it was this mixed arsenate of lead. Dr. Clinton : Yes, but the sanie brand each time. Dr. Stewart: There is no reason, so far as I know, why this mixed arsenate of lead should not be causing regularly more injury than we have obtained from it. In fact, it has been a surprise to me that we have been get- ting so little injury from it. Whether these cases which have been cited where it has produced injury were under similar conditions or not, of course, I do not know. Dr. Clinton : We think it was uniformly mixed. There is another factor that comes in there evidently. Did not the weather conditions have something to do with it? Dr. Stewart: Well, we are agreed there that we do not know. We have had two unusual years, each giving different types of results, and it is a question whether we can always depend upon anything as being absolutely safe, for the conditions one year which seem to make it relia- ble seem unreliable another year, or in an exceptional year. A ]\Iember: Dr. Stewart says that the proper amount of arsenical application he thinks has an effect upon the color of our fruit, but he thinks, as I understood him in his paper, that they have not been able to increase that through applications of plant food. Certain growers in Connecticut are using basic slag, and are claiming that they are getting some good results. I would like to know TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 215 what form of plant food they have tried out in Pennsyl- vania and whether they are getting any increase of color through the application of that plant food? President Rogers: That is a little out of the line of this discussion. Dr. Stewart : I am willing to try and answer that. We are using all of the essential forms of plant food. We are using nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, and besides this, lime and other chemicals suitable to the purpose in various combinations. We have not used basic slag for that pur- pose, but we have used acid phosphate as a carrier, and in neither of these forms has the phosphoric acid shown any effect upon color. We have made one or two experiments, which seem to show some improvement, but that is when it is merged in with the other results, and it has practically disappeared. I am not at all certain that you can mate- rially improve color with any of those forms. An im- proved condition in that line depends primarily on maturity and sunlight. Maturity or sunlight will improve color, and logically anything that detracts from the influence of those elements on the development of the fruit is opposed to the development of color. Sod culture, open pruning, or late picking, and such things, increase color. Opposite conditions decrease it. Mr. Pratt: I would like to ask the Doctor whether he has noticed any difference in the size of the fruit when different kinds of sprays have been used. That question was brought up, and I am very much interested in that point, as to whether different kinds of sprays have a ten- dency to decrease the size of the apple. I am a little puzzled on this summer spraying question. It has been intimated that that has a tendency to decrease the size. This year our commercial orchards, as a rule, had very small fruit, and it was not altogether due to the dry weather. 2i6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Dr. Stewart: I imagine that a very large proportion of it was attributable to the dry weather. You know we occasionally get to attributing everything to spraying. There are a whole lot of other factors in fruit growing besides spraying. These plots where we got 860 bushels increase were sprayed exactly the same as the others. Mr. Pratt : On the other hand, as bearing on this par- ticular point, I have noticed this year, in one case where we tried to control this fruit spot on apples by applica- tions along from the first of July that the size of the fruit was very appreciably diminished by the spraying applica- tions. It didn't make any difference whether it was lime- sulphur or Bordeaux, it diminished the size of the fruit very appreciably. I do not know what is involved, and I would not attempt to explain it, but I am inclined to think that the weather conditions came in there in a way that we do not understand, but they certainly did come in very markedly. An Important Word of Explanation. Dr. Clinton: Mr. President, I think that there is no very great difference in opinion betvv^een Dr Stewart and Dr. Britton and myself, and though we may not quite agree with him in laying all the blame on the arsenate of lead, we would agree with its particular form and its com- bination with the different fungicides to form arsenic acid are the main causes of the injury to the peaches in his experiments, and probably for the less conspicuous injuries we have had in this state on both peaches and apples. The solution of the matter seems to be the use of ortho-arsen- ate of lead, which so far seems to be available for pur- chase only from the California firm whose address he gives. If this form of lead is used, and the general directions for spraying, as given at the end of my paper, are followed, I think we have the best procedure for spraying in this state. If this form of arsenate of lead is not readilv avail- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 217 able to our growers, I think for the present we must be content with the brands now on the market, which from Dr. Stewart's experiments seem more likely to produce spray injury to peaches than the ortho-arsenate of lead, though in our own experiments the use of these did not ordinarily prove very injurious on apples when used with those brands of lime-sulphur which contain no foreign alkaline ingredient, such as soda or potash. President Rogers : 1 am sorry, but we will have to draw this discussion to a close now, as Dr. Stewart has to leave to take his train. I think the Secretary has an announcement to make. Secretary Miles: It may be interesting to the mem- bers of the association to know that we have received 303 memberships so far at this meeting, and beyond that five life memberships. The Membership Committee would like me to say for them that all of you who have not yet added your names to the roll they hope will not go home without doing so. Everyone interested in the subject of asparagus growing is reqitested to remain after this meeting. The asparagus growers of the state are to hold their meeting immediately after the adjournment of this meeting this afternoon. That will be held here in this hall. President Rogers : We will now take up the discussion of the topic "Some Orchard Foes and How to Control Them," with ten minute talks by some of our leading orchardists, as scheduled on the program. The first speaker is Mr. J. H. Hale, and his subject is "Peach Growers' Foes." 2i8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Peach Growers' Foes. Mr. J. H. Hale : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : The time is too short to go into a subject hke this with a very great amount of detail. Tlie question, peach growers' foes, would indicate that we had some, and it is true, and in going about the other day on the train I tried to make note of a few of the foes that we have, in the order of the trouble that they make us. It seems to me, from forty years' experience with peach growing in the State of Connecticut, that it is safe to say that freezing in winter is the most dangerous foe to the peach in- dustry in our state, and it is one thing that we cannot at the present time in any way combat. Extreme freezing in winter or in the spring after the buds have started is a foe that we have not yet learned how to overcome. One good thing about it is that we do not have to deal with it very often. In thirty years I have lost only one crop of fruit in the spring after blooming time. But we have lost a good many by extreme freezing weather in the winter. The only way I know of to combat that foe, and I would like to see the growers of Con- necticut doing it, is every cold night to go out and spray your trees with water. The water freezes the buds in a little enclo- sure of ice. Of course, it is practically impossible to do any such thing as that on a large scale. I have known people to take a pail of water and a whisk broom and sprinkle water over a tree and save it. Real extreme freezing in winter is about the greatest foe that we have to deal with. My son and 1 estimated about two months ago that we would have forty thousand baskets of peaches in one orchard. To-day we do not expect to have a hundred baskets. We do not know of any- live buds at all. The next thing in order as the source of the most danger to the peach grower is the retail dealer, and he is a most dan- gerous foe. He buys peaches at wholesale at from sixty to TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 219 seventy-five cents or eighty cents a basket, and then puts them on the market at a dollar and a half. It stops consumption every time. And the average retailer in the Connecticut mar- ket puts a tax of about fifty cents a basket on top of what they pay the growers for them. It is too much, and it stops con- sumption every time. It injures both the grower and the re- tailer. A few are satisfied with a reasonable profit, but most of them want to double their money. I have seen peaches sold at from sixty to seventy-five cents to eighty cents at the groc- ers' and then seen them displayed in front of the store marked at one dollar and a half a basket, and sometimes beside them some marked at $1.60, some at $1.70, and in some cases they have even tried to squeeze $2.00 out of the public for some of the best of them. So I think the retail dealer, next to frost, is the most serious foe that the peach grower has in the State of Connecticut to-day. A reasonable profit of from twenty- five to fifty cents a basket would be enough. It would help consumption, and help the growers. Next comes the brown rot, which was under consideration by Professor Stewart to-day. That practically is the next most dangerous foe that we have. And that, I think, did more damage in the humid regions of America last year than all other diseases put together. The professors in the colleges are at work on that problem, and they have given us a number of suggestions how to control that foe, and I think in time we are going to be able to overcome it altogether. So that is a diminishing foe. The next in order would be the "yellows." That is a dis- ease that some call contagious, but anyway it kills our trees, and we do not know yet how to control it, except by pulling the trees up and burning them, destroying them and getting them out of the way. That disease was very serious all up and down the Atlantic Coast, as far as New Hampshire, and we had to wipe out millions of trees to check it. It ha? been less prevalent in late years, because I think we have been watching out for it a little closer. That scourge in eight or 220 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ken years did a tremendous amount of damage. We had just commenced to get control of the scale when the yellows got in and caused a tremendous amount of damage. Well, we have got over the scale scare, and I believe we will overcome the yellows. The next thing perhaps in order of the usual diseases or foes to which peach growing is subjected is the borer. The peach borer is a very serious menace to our voung trees. In 1911 it was perhaps worse. All over the Carolinas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, it did a great deal of dam- age. The only thing is to dig them out and kill them. Of course, you can do a little when the mother moth is flying. i)ut after all you have got to inspect every tree, locate them, and then dig out the borers and g"et rid of them. The leaf curl, which affects the later varieties far more than the early white varieties, is a serious foe sometimes, and some seasons is worse than others. Before we sprayed at all there was not any way to control it, but by spraying with Bor- deaux mixture we are able to control the leaf curl, and now we are using the lime-sulphur for killing the San Jose scale, and this also acts as a fungicide. The next on the list is the San Jose Scale. It is a foe, but it is of so little significance compared with the retail dealer and some of these other things I have mentioned that it is hardly to be considered. W'e want to spray to control the leaf curl, and we want to spray to control the brown rot, and by using lime and sulphur in the dormant season we can clean out the San Jose Scale. We do not need to worry about him very much more. He is a dead issue. And the last — I named first frost, because we practically cannot control it — and the last one I am going to name is the "other fellow." (Laughter). A few years ago, when the Barnes Brothers, my brother and myself, and a very few others began growing peaches, we were the only ones in the peach business in Connecticut. We used to get a dollar and a half wholesale for everything we produced. We were not permitted long, rWENTY-FlRST ANNUAL MEETING. 221 however, to get such net returns before the other fellow came on the ground, and it was not long- before instead of getting a dollar and a half a basket, with the competition of the other fellow, the price began to fall ofif until we got down to sixty to seventy-five cents, and some growers are lucky to get that. Now, understand me, I am not objecting to it. I am perfectly willing the other fellow should have as good a show as my- self. I am not objecting to the other fellow — any more than I am to the San Jose Scale. Not a bit. I am glad he is here. He is having some fun. He is adding to the gaiety of nations, and making the peach business more interesting, but the truth is that the other fellow keeps coming. Why, a very few vears ago — not over five or six years ago — there were only three or four growers of any consequence around Hartford. Xow there are seventy-five, and they all pile in here with their peaches, in this one market, until they have absolutely swamped it, not only for themselves, but for everybody else almost. By-and-by when we get together through some co-operative scheme, or in some other way w^e will get up some plan to balance the mar- ket, and conditions will be better. So the greatest foes, Mr. Chairman, that you cannot con- trol are the frost and the retail dealers. The other things we are learning how to control, and in time I think we will get together with the "other fellow" and be able to overcome that difficulty. I thank you. A Member : Professor Cummings, speaking about the preservation of peach trees in winter, says that he would stack corn fodder around the trees. I liave tried it this winter, but I expect that the corn stalks will make such a good house for the mice that there will not be very much bark left on those trees by spring. Whether anybody else has tried the experiment or not, I do not know. I just speak of it because if there is any one who has tried it I would like to know what the result was. President Rogers : We will skip the next three numbers on our program for the present, and take up "Spraying to 222 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Control Our Foes," by Mr. A. T. Henry. It gives me much pleasure to introduce one of our good young growers who is making a success in the fruit business. Spraying to Control Orchard Foes. By A. T. Henry, Wallingford. Ladies and Gentlemen and Friends: Your officers have asked me to say a word on the preparation of the lime and sulphur mixture. This is an important topic at this time, as we regard spring spray- ing as the most important of the year,' because of the effect on both the buds and apples, and while Mr. Repp and some of the other growers in the South may use oil. we like lime and sulphur. Of late years the prepared lime and sulphur mixture has come before the public quite extensively. These mixtures are put up in concentrated form and find quite a sale. They come in barrels. There is no sediment in them to clog the pump, and everything works very nicely in that way. They are somewhat expensive, although for a man who has to use only a barrel or two, it will hardly pay him to make up the concentrated lime and sulphur at home, but for a man who has to make rather more, the three to six dollars a barrel extra which he has to pay, when he uses it liberally, is some- thing which ought to be counted in. I should sa}^ that when a man uses over ten barrels, the cost is something which he ought to take into consideration. We have used the concen- trated lime and sulphur, and have made it ourselves for the last two years. In the first place, it is easy to make and it has the same advantages as the material that you buy. It can be made up ahead of time, one barrel can be diluted from six to eight times and so saves a good deal of boiling. A person with a small apparatus can cook up a quantity, and when he gets through he will have from six to eight times as much as if he had cooked regular lime-sulphur. I think that one of the most serious objections to the use of oil is the fact that it TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 223 cannot be seen on the trees. This is always a disadvantao:e. That is not present when the hme and sulphur mixture is used, as we make it. It does not take an\- complicated apparatus. About all that is required is a pan or kettle of suitable size. Our for- mula is to take 110 to 130 pounds of sulphur to 60 pounds of lime. We generally take the sulphur and cook it into a Ijinling mass, with from ten to fifteen gallons of water, and after it has got up to the boiling point, put in the sulphur. You will get a very high heat, so that it will reduce the sulphur quickly. Then add more water, to make 50 gallons, and boil about an hour. This will give you a mixture which will test from 24 to 27 degrees on the hydrometer, and can be reduced about eight times. This will test from 24 to 27, and will stand to be diluted from six to eight times. That is about all I can say about the making of it. Now as to the cost. It costs in the neighborhood of three dollars a barrel to prepare. Your sulphur will cost something over $1.50 a hundred pounds, perhaps about $1.60. Your sixty pounds of lime will be about 40 cents, making $2.10 for the material in your barrel, which will bring the total cost to not over $3.00 a barrel all prepared. Of course, that is not including the barrel. Your barrels can be used over again. At a cost of $3.00 made up, if it is diluted from one to six, your spraying material will cost you about forty-five cents a barrel. I brought along a sample of sulphur such as we use. I think most people use what they call the flowers of sulphur, which costs from $2.25 to $2.40 per hundred. Some of you may have been a little bit surprised when I said $1.60, but that is for another form of sulphur. The one which is in this package is the crude powdered sulphur. It is quite fine, as vou can see. There are no lumps or impurities in it. It is 99% and over pure sulphur, and is very fine, and a great deal cheaper than any other form we have found. We have found it is better to use in the preparation than the more expensive 224 ^^^ CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. forms. The only other thing- in the preparation of this ma- terial is to make sure to use a high grade of lime. It must have not over five per cent of magnesia in it, because that forms a precip'itate at the bottom, and that is to be avoided. It should be a high grade material. I think that is all I can say about it, Mr. President. President Rogers : What is the trade name of this sul- phur that you are using? Mr. Henry : Powdered brimstone, I think. I do not know of any other name that it goes by. We have found it better than the more expensive forms. It is very fine and over 99% pure. It is nice to handle. It is all weighed out for you, in 100-pound sacks, and all you have to do is to simply cut the top of the sack, open and dump it in. Mr. Ives : W^here can that be procured ? Mr. Henry : I think from any wholesale sulphur house. I have several names if anybody is interested. A Member : Where do you get your lime ? Mr. Henry: Well, we have got the most of ours from Maine. I think there are several dififerent lime kilns in the state now. I am not familiar as to which has the more mag- nesia, but that is something to be avoided. You want to get the calcium of lime. You must be sure to get calcium of lime, because the more magnesia you have in it the more it will give you sediment every time. A certain amount of sedi- ment is perhaps desirable, because it shows where you have sprayed. A Member: What is the objection to using the lime- sulphur that we buy in the market. Mr. Henry: There is no objection to it, except in mak- ing it up you get the same stuff, but, of course, you pay a con- siderably increased cost where you have to use quite a quantity. This costs me about $3.00 a barrel. The manufacturers, how- ever, are not making a tremendous profit on the commercial as they have to pay for new barrels, to which is added freight and several profits. TIVENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 225 Mr. Ives : How does that solution test that you have just spoken of? Mr. Henry : It ous^^ht to test 24-27 degrees, I think. There are a good many bulletins on this which the growers can get. With the 24 to 27 test, we can dilute to about one to six, or something like that. That gives you a spray with some sediment in it. We prefer to make it up, because then we have got it on hand when we want it. President Rogers : When you say, dilute it one to six, do you use that strength on the trees with the foliage on? Mr. Henry : That is for dormant trees. You can use it on cherries and apples about one to forty for the 32 degree test. That should be about one to 32 or 33 for what a person makes up. That should control the leaf spot on cherries. And that is what is used on apples and pears a good deal. President Rogers : Aside from the heating of the lime in boiling, is there any difference between it and self-boiled lime-sulphur? Mr. Henry : There is hardly any dift'erence in it, only you just use a different formula. It is the same tools and the same apparatus, only a dift'erent formula. It is practically the same as Dr. Stewart has told us about to-day. Mr. Fenn: For summer sprays what proportion do you put on, I mean what is the proportion of the mixture? Mr. Henry : One to thirty or forty. It depends on the strength of your material, but you have got to be very careful on peaches with that, or you will take the leaves off with it. President Rogers: Would you spray apple trees with that strength? ]\Ir. Henry : Yes sir. We have used it on apples one to 40 with arsenate of lead, and no harm done at all. A ]\Iember : You say that freezing does not hurt the material or damage it? Mr. Henry : No sir ; it does not hurt it. It won't freeze except at a very low temperature. It will stand zero weather for a week and perhaps not freeze. After it is made it will 226 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. stay hot for a week. The barrels ought to be full, so there is not much air space under the heads. If they are not, there will be a slight scum which will form on the top. A Member: That is to be kept very tight? Mr. Henry : It ought to be, although that slight scum which forms on the top does not hurt anything. When you come to use it, then the barrel wants to be well stirred up. You do not want to use the top without stirring it up, because all of the sediment will sink to the bottom. It ought to be stirred up first. President Rogers : I am sorry to call this discussion to a close, but we have got one more speaker on orchard foes this morning. The next talk is on the codling moth. We have with us Dr. Britton from the New Haven Experiment Sta- tion, who will give us just a few minutes' talk on the codling moth. The Codling Moth. By Dr. W. E. Brxtton, State Entomologist. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : The apple growers are inclined to look upon the advent of the San Jose Scale and some of these other troubles as being extremely serious, but the codling moth, like the poor, we have always had with us, and we have gotten so used to it that we have not considered it so. Nevertheless, the codling moth is probably the worst of all apple insect pests in the state at the present time. While it may not cause such widespread damage throughout the state, yet it is scattered all around, and each year it takes its toll of fruit. The amoimt of the damage which it does is very considerable. The eggs are laid upon the leaves and upon the fruit soon after the fruit sets. In the careful experiments of Professor Sanderson at the New Hampshire station he found that the voung caterpillars feed upon the buds. Formerly they did not TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 227 suppose that they did. They fed some upon the leaves possibly, and finally coming" to the young fruit and generally working their way in through the calyx end, that, of course, being the small end of the fruit, and finally coming out, leaving the well- known worm hole in the apple. They come down the tree and make their cocoons under the rough bark of the tree, or per- haps in the rubbish on the ground. In treating this pest I should use arsenate of lead. Of course, if you have fungus troubles, it is all right to use it with the fungicide. If you have other troubles, but for the codling moth alone, the arsenate of lead will do the business. Some of you will want to know how many treatments to put on. There should be two every year, one just after the petals fall. Apply within a week or ten days after the blos- soms fall, and then give a second application about one month after the fruit. Now as to the arsenate of lead, we may use the dry pow- der or the paste form. The advantage of the paste form is that it adheres better to the foliage and remains exceptionally better. It does, I think, remain in suspension better. If we have a good agitator on the pump, we can get it upon the foli- age in good shape. Whether it sticks better or not I am not prepared to say, but last year we used over a hundred pounds of one kind of paste arsenate of lead, and it stayed there a long, long time. It certainly does not come off readily. I know it was there long enough to control the codling moth. There is no particular need of having it stick any better. On the other hand, the dry form is easier to handle, and you do do not have to pay for half water. You do not have to pay freight on the water. I may say that the price is usually twice as much as the other, so that the cost of the ar- senate of lead per barrel would be about the same. We use three pounds of paste to the barrel. We use one and one-half pounds of the dry. The paste in the dry form is rather bad to keep over because it dries out badh', while the dry will keep indefinitelv. But it matters not very much which vou use. If 228 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. I was spraying a young orchard I think I should buy the paste plain and use it all up that year, but I should have some of the dry on hand so that if I found some of the trees needed spray- ing for some trouble I should have some of the dry to apply. Now the question has come up sometimes whether we shall apply this in the form of mist spray or the driving spray. This is chiefly due to the fact that in some of the dry, arid regions of the country, like Colorado, they have used the driving spray with great success. In those regions the codling m.oth is more serious than here. It is more serious in Oregon and out in the western regions than it has been here. Out there they have three broods a year, but here in the East we are able to con- trol it with the mist spray. When we had our meeting of en- tomologists. Dr. Ball from Utah gave a paper in which he criti- cised very severely Sanderson and some of the other eastern experimenters, and recommended his driving spray. It looked as though there might be quite a scrap over tlie matter, but Professor Quaintance got up and explained the whole difficulty, I think. I think his explanation is correct. In dry, arid re- gions the filaments of the stamens shrink up so that by the use of the driving spray it throws the poison between them. In the East where we have m.uch more moisture, and usually a moist atmosphere, the filaments of the stamens are close to- gether so that if you use the driving .spray it is practically im- possible to get into the lower calyx. The claim is made that about the only advantage of the driving spray is that it may enable you to reach some distant portions on the tree which you cannot very well reach with the mist spray, but I think, in Connecticut, there is no trouble irt controlling our insect pests with the mist spray. President Rogers : Do I understand by that. Doctor, that you want to get your spraying up over the top, so that it will drop down through the foliage ? Dr. Brixton : If you are going to use the driving spray you do. With the mist spray that is not necessary, because ev- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 229 erything is enveloped in the mist which is forced into the foH- age of the tree. Now in regard to using lead arsenate in connection with other things. In the experiments carried on by Dr. Clinton and myself in the last two seasons, we found the smallest per- centage of wormy fruit where we used the lead arsenate alone. In combining it with lime-sulphur and other things we did not control the codling moth quite as well. Our smallest percent- age was with the use of lead arsenate ; our next smallest, lead arsenate and sulphur mixed together, and then comes lime and sulphur, and then Bordeaux. Any one of these, however, will control the codling moth, so that you could get a large percentage of perfect fruit. In the last year's work our check- trees showed an average of something like 12^4% of the fruit attacked, while our spraying with lead arsenate alone kept it down to 2%. With the Bordeaux it was only slightly over 3%. I think I will not take your time further. The noon hour having arrived, the other speakers in the discussion of "Orchard Foes" were not heard and a recess was taken at 12.45 until the afternoon session. The morning ses- sion then closed was an exceptionally interesting and profit- able one. 230 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. AFTERNOON SESSION. The afternoon session of the closing day of the meeting was called to order at 1 :45 by President Rogers. A short time was spent in the discussion of questions from the program list, as follows : AIr. Burr: Mr. President, will you take up No. 10? President Rogers : "Who has tried subsoiling an old or- chard with dynamite?'' That is a good question. Has anyone here tried dynamite in subsoiling their orchard ? We have used it at our place just to blow stumps out, but I hardly think that subsoiling has been tried very much in Connecticut yet. There are a great many, though, who have cleaned up their orchards and have used it in cleaning out the stumps. At our place we keep it on hand all the time. I want a case of dynamite, or a part of a case, all the while, and then when we come to a big rock, or have to tackle a tough old stump, you can put a stick of dynamite under it and loosen it up so that you can draw it out. You can put a stick under three different sides of a stump and loosen it up. If you have a battery, you can lift that stump right out just as easy as anything, whereas, if vou put one stick under the stump, it does not blow it up. Sometimes it wants three or four. That is what most of the people that I know of are using dynamite for. A Member : Doesn't it bore deep holes in the dirt ? President Rogers : Well, of course, you get them down deeper than what you would naturally blow, but they are eas- ily filled up. I believe, for setting out new orchards on some very hard land, dynamite would be a good thing. I believe Mr. Hale has done that. It blows up the soil and loosens it up for quite a distance. I have never tried it for that, but I believe this spring I will try it. Mr. Burr : Do you bore holes in the stump to put it in ? President Rogers: In blowing up old stumps we dig around and put it under. Plate III. This Superb Exhibit from Conyers Farm, Greenwich, Conn., Won The Apple Shippers' Cup at the New England Fruit Show of 1911. TJVENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 231 A Gentleman ( from Maine ) : Mr. President, although I am not a member of the organization here, I thought I would like to give you my ideas on digging holes with dynamite. We took about two oimces of dynamite and broke the stick up, put it in and connected it with a touch fuse, and then it was set off. We set about three thousand trees in about eight days by that method, kept men ahead blowing out the holes in that way. Had about four men doing it. You can see it is very rapid work, and is especially serviceable in hard, rough land that is suitable for an orchard, but where the digging would be pretty hard under ordinary circumstances. President Rogers : How long ago did you begin that work? ]\Iaine Gentleman : About three years ago, and I think at the present time that it is regarded as one of the good meth- ods in the state of ]\Iaine. I am not selling dynamite or any- thing like that, but I just thought I would like to add this to the discussion. If any of you are interested, you can get fur- ther information about it by writing Mr. W. B. Parker, Exeter, Maine. It is done very cheaply. Of course, it costs more than the old method, but on hard land it beats the old method. I think everything, all told, it can be done for pretty nearly half what it would cost to set the trees out in hard, rocky soil by the old method. Mr. Ives : I would like to ask, in using that to blow up stiTmps with, whether you bore holes in the stump or put it under the stump ? President Rogers : Somebod^■ brought tliat up a few minutes ago. For blowing out a stump with dynamite you merely take your bar and run a hole underneath your stump, and then put the dynamite under. I prefer to do it when the ground is wet and not dry. Put the dynamite underneath the stump from three points. When making your holes to put it in have your bar come to a point together in the center, and then put your dynamite in about equal distances apart in the 232 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. holes, stop them up with very wet mud or dirt, and then touch it off with a battery, so it will all go at the same time. A Member: There is a question I would like to ask. In treating- an old orchard you cut out a great deal of the top, don't you President Rogers : If I understand the question, I should answer by saying that if I had an old orchard, or some old trees in very bad condition, I would prefer to do my pruning gradu- ally, say, for three years, to get those trees down to a shape somewhere near my ideal. I should prefer to put some time in on cultivation. I do not believe you can take an old or- chard and bring it up to good standing in three years without care and development of that orchard. I believe that you have got to work your orchard to bring it up, just as you would a run-down animal — exactly. You have got to begin to feed, by going very carefully, and bring it up iby stimulating it, and if you overdo it you are liable to do more harm than good. If you overdo your cultivation and pruning, you are apt to ruin your tree, and you might as well cut it down. A great many people at the present time, I think, are going a little too far in dehorning or cutting back trees. They are doing it all in one season. According to my way of thinking, you are just throwing away your money. A M;EMBER : I hardly think it does. Another thought that comes to me is that perhaps in that subsoiling we will stir the soil so much deeper that it will naturally store a good deal more moisture. President Rogers : Very true, but you take a tree that has not been cultivated, that is in sod or weeds, and that has not been cultivated for five or ten years, and your roots are up at the top of the ground. Xow, rather than to try to subsoil that orchard, I would say to cultivate that orchard' very shal- low. If I was going to plow, I should plow it just as shallow as I could the first time, and the next year I would try to plow a little deeper, and in that w^ay try to work the roots down a little. The roots are what the tree lives on, and what su]>ports TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 23.^ the tree. The roots will go where the plant food is, and you have got to gradually work them down, and that is where you get the advantage by continuous cultivation — you keep the roots down to about such a depth. The roots will go where they can get plant food, and the plant food should be where it will be available to the tree. If you work the plant food down so that the roots naturally go down after it then you have no roots up near the top of the ground. A Member : In the dehorning process where you have an orchard set in sod, is it absolutely necessary that you should dehorn and break up the sod-land the same year? President Rogers : No, it is not. I should prefer to take one at a time. If I had a tree that had not been trimmed thoroughly, why, I would do my pruning, perhaps, this year. If it was pretty bad, and the tree was almost ready to die, I would do some pruning this year and some the next, because I do not think it would have the strength to withstand it all at once. It would be too much of a shock. A AIember : Question five, please. President Rogers : "What is the best treatment for a fairly productive Baldwin orchard forty years old that has been in sod and pasture for the past thirty years?"' That is right in the same line as this question we have been discus- sing. Professor Gulley, can you answer that, or bring out anything new? Professor Gullev : Mr. President, I think you practi- cally answered that just now. There is no reason why an orchard of that kind cannot be improved and made more pro- ductive, but you have got to start the work right. The only way to do is to break up the land and stir up the soil in some shape. You have got to give it cultivation. I do not think any particular system is essential, because you can do it in a dozen different ways and be successful. It will undoubtedly want something in the way of thinning and trimming, and if you are going to break it up, you have got to put something back into the soil. It is a help to have something in the way 234 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. of feeding. Without any question, when we grow a large- orchard it takes a good deal from the land, and you have got to put it back, but I do not think that any particular system has very much to do with it, as long as you do something that is going to help the growth of the trees and produce good, healthy stock. It means cultivation. It means feeding in some shape. It is simply a question of getting at the best way. Mr. Staples: Most of my trees in Maine are not par- ticularly old, but they have always been carefully trimmed and cultivated, and have had care always. I do not think I can add anything particularly to this discussion. I have an orchard in West Hartford, and wdien I first bought the place it was in about as bad condition as it could be. We have been using considerable wood out of that orchard every year, and it still has a larg"e quantity of wood in it. We have trimmed it a good deal and we have fertilized it. That is a thing v/hich has to be done ; if you are going to get a good crop, you have got to trim, feed, spray and fertilize. A Member : What fertilizer did you use on that or- chard? You seem to have got a pretty heavy wood growth there. I think it would be interesting to know what fertiliz- er you put on. Mr. Staples : We have used a little of everything, (-)ne of the best things that we used in our Maine orchards was hogs. I do not suppose it will hardly do for me to say so here, but that treatment has given me excellent results. Peo- ple here, so far as I have observed, do not use hogs so much as they do in other places, but I have used hogs in my orchard there, and I have gotten pretty good results. Of course, in addition to that, we have mulched it and cultivated it. Any- one of those things I suppose is good, but the use of hogs has worked particularly well with us. Mr. Fuller: I ha-ve got about ten acres of ground in New London on' which is an old orchard forty-five years old. That has not been plowed in a great many years, and the TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 235 trees had borers. Wq took hold of it last spring- and pruned it very severely, and then cultivated it, but in spite of that I picked from one tree about ten barrels of fruit. It bore enor- mously. I had no idea it was going' to bear so, or I should have thinned it. I was interested in what the gentleman said who has just spoken about hogs in an orchard. I was in ^Nlontville this fall. I went down to the house of a friend of mine there who has a farm of two hundred acres. On that farm he had a wire fence enclosing about half of his orchard, and in that enclos- ure were hogs. The trees in that enclosure — why, they were loaded with fruit, and the ground was covered with apples of a number of different varieties, Northern Spy, Baldwin, etc., and the foliage was beautiful and green. On the other half of it there was not a leaf on the trees to amount to anything and no fruit. A Member : I would like to ask Mr. Staples if the hogs disturb the bark on the trees ? I should think if you put hogs in your orchard they might be apt to injure the bark. Mr. Staples : Whenever I have turned hogs into my orchard I have nailed around the orchard strips of board close to the ground, and wound it round one, two or three times with barbed wire. By doing that I had no trouble. Some- times they would get into the orchard before we had had a chance to get that done, but we never had any trouble because they would eat the grass and things of that kind before they would touch the trees. I presume if you left them there until the bark was the only green thing left, probably they would take that. Mr. Ives : I would like to ask Mr. Fuller if the hogs that he saw on that place in Montville did not eat the apples at all. He said the ground was covered with apples. Didn't the hogs eat the apples at all? Mr. Fuller : There were so many for the number of hogs in there that thev couldn't eat them all. 236 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. President Rogers : Is there anything further to offer on this question? Jf not, would you like to call for some other question? A Member : Number three. President Rogers : Number three is called for. ''After the Baldwin and Spy, what is the best red winter apple to plant in Connecticut?" All you want to do is to cut out the Spy. (Laughter). Is there any other variety that you sug- gest beside the Baldwin and the Spy? ]Mr. Staples, after }0U get Baldwin and Spy, which other winter red apple would you plant? Will you answer that question? Mr. Staples : I think, Mr. Chairman, that I should plant Macintosh Red. . President Rogers : That is a fall variety. Mr, Staples : You mean for a winter apple ? President Rogers: Yes. Mr. Staples : I do not know of anything else that I would plant. I think . I would keep on planting Spys and Baldwins. President Rogers : For an early fall variety I do not think there is anything better than Macintosh Red. It makes a good early fall apple, and looks nice, but I would say right here that I went down to the cold storage plant the other day to get some apples out, and we had a barrel of Macintosh that we put in there for the show. They were shipped here to Hartford, and we took out perhaps a peck or a half bushel, and immediately filled it up with other apples. The other day I brought the barrel out, and we had those apples down at our banquet, and they VN^ere fully as good as they were the day we left them in storage. They certainly came out in nice shape, but I would not recommend holding tlie Macintosh apple until February and then try to put it on the market, be- cause it won't stand it. Of course, if you take the King apple, that is a very nice apple, looks well, and I think will bear every year when the tree is from fifteen to eighteen years old. We have 2:ot them that have borne everv vear for the last ten TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 237 years, and given a good fair crop. The l^aldwin trees will bear, when they do bear, from eight to ten barrels per tree. So that, looking at it from a commercial point of view, it does not pav to grow the King apple, although they are a pretty good variety, thev do not always do as well as mine have. yin. Staples : There is one other variety, and that is the Canada Red. That makes a very fine red winter apple. President Rogers : That is a very good apple, but is it any better than the Baldwin in quality? I have never fruit- ed it, so I am not ready to say that it is not. but I will say that is a very fine looking apple. Professor Gullev : I w^ould say that I am not ready to recommend that apple to the growers in this state because it is good for nothing unless the trees are top-grafted. If you have got some strong variety to top-graft it with, you are all right. They grow a good many of them in western New York, and there is no question but what the Red Canada is a good apple to plant, but the Baldwin is fully as good as that, and I think it is a better winter apple. The Red Canada is not in that class. The Baldwin is a good deal better, some people think, from the standpoint of eating, but Red Canada stands up very well, and for a nice apple to put on about next April it will beat anything in the United States to sell. It does not come into bearing very early, but it has good keep- ing qualities and has been ahead in that respect of almost ev- erything else for a great many years. President Rogers : I would like to ask Professor Gulley regarding the Canada Red compared commercially with the Baldwin. What would be your opinion as to the standard? Professor Gutxky : Ji-^dged by the ordinary standard, I should say the Baldwin every time, because the Baldwin is an apple that anybody can grow any time. The Greening is the onlv other one that will match that at all. But we have got a dozen apples that are better in some ways than the Baldwin, but it wants a man who knows how to handle them to make a success. Thev do not ^row under the same treatment that 238 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the Baldwin will. We have got a dozen varieties that we ought to g^row more of, but for general commercial purposes it will be pretty hard to find anything to take the place of the Bald- win at present. President Rogers : My point is right here. Of course, you all know that I pride myself on raising Baldwin apples, but I do not want to have you all think that I have got noth- ing else on my farm. I have probably got from thirty to thir- ty-five different kinds on my farm, ranging from one limb to three or four trees of a kind. I have got from twenty-five to thirty-five varieties, I should say, on the place, but in the last ten years I have set probably ninety-five per cent of Baldwin apples. I have got commercially the best results from them. This last fall I probably had five or six hundred barrels of the other varieties. When I went into the market to sell my apples, I told the buyers that I had got so many barrels of Baldwins, perhaps twenty-five hundred to three thousand bar- rels, and from six to seven hundred barrels of other varieties. One party said to me, "What can I buy two thousand barrels of apples of you for ?" I told him the price, and we made a bargain. What do you suppose that party wanted ? He want- ed two thousand barrels of Baldwin apples. I had other trade that I have been supplying for years, and the result was that every Baldwin apple that we grew on the farm is sold to-day. I have Greenings yet. That party wanted two thousand bar- rels of Baldwins, but he took about two hundred barrels of the others just to accommodate. If we are going into the ap- ple scheme for the purpose of raising them commercially, we have got to grow something that the people want, that is, something that you can sell in large quantities. If you are going to supply a local trade, then you can build it up, and you can use some of the other varieties, but I think the Connecti- cut market to-day is calling for Baldwins. Professor Gulley: Do you think if you had a quantity •of Spys that you could not get rid of them ? TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MERTING. 239 President Rogers : I certainly could, but we cannot grow them on my farm to good advantage. A Member: Where can they grow them to advantage? President Rogers : In Vermont. A Member: Mr. President, I would like to ask how about the Sutton Beauty? President Rogers : I don't know. Professor Gulley can tell about that. Professor Gulley: That is a good apple. We had out at the College about twenty or thirty barrels, and we had a buyer over there that had come into the state buying apples. I happened to have a lot of those that we did not want, and so I said to him, "Come over here and see these, and perhaps you will like them." He did not want any Baldwins or Green- ings. We had quite a lot of them. I showed him those ap- ples, and when he opened the first barrel he said, "I will take the whole of them." The Sutton is a very good apple, but it has got to be handled properly. The trees have got to be thinned and trimmed and kept in good condition, but once the Sutton gets to growing you are going' to have a mighty fine apple. One thing that I am after is to stop this crowding of the Baldwin to the exclusion of everything else. We have got a lot of localities in this state that can handle some other varieties. I am in favor of raising some other varieties. I am not running down the Baldwin, because I am a friend of some other varieties. Mr. Staples spoke about the Spy. In New York it ranks with the others, but it is so long in coming into bearing that it is quite an objection to it. I do not think we want to plant the Spy in Connecticut. It does not do here as it does west of the Hudson River. While occasionally a man will do well with it, it does not do much, as a rule, in Con- necticut. W'here you find one that makes a success with it, there will be a dozen that will fail. Up in Maine and out in ^Michigan, though, the Spy is one of the leading apples. Mr. Buell: I would like to ask if the Sutton does not "bear every year. 240 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Professor Gulley : I do not think so, but it is a tre- mendous bearer when it does bear. It wants thinning and care, but I have not yet been able to see that it is what voti call an annual bearer. Mr. Buell: 1 have gqt fifty trees, and I was wondering if they did bear every year. Professor Gulley : I believe the Macintosh is going to do it. I should plant Macintosh, but you have got to give it more care than you do the Baldwin. That is an apple that will outsell Baldwin anywhere and any time. The buyers can- not see enough of them, or at least, that is what a buyer told me this fall. Anybody can grow Baldwins, but you have got to give more care to the Macintosh. Mr. Hale: Mr. President and friends; this is a most interesting discussion. There has been a wonderful interest in varieties, and in apple planting, and unquestionably, for local markets there are quite a number of varieties that should be planted, and which in a local way will prove profitable and will give the growers better results for their money than the Baldwin, but in a great commercial way your main crop of apples at the present time must be Baldwins. You have got to raise, what one speaker said here a few minutes ago, what the market wants. A great many growers have set out thous- ands of Baldwin trees, but they are also going to plant some of these nice show apples, because some of them see how they stand in the market. They are going to plant them, but I am afraid they are going to be disappointed by-and-by in the cash results. I will admit that it is a great pleasure to sell those nice-appearing, beautiful apples, highly colored, than it is to sell the old Baldwin, but at the same time your bank ac- count must be satisfied, and you have got to pay for pruning and pay for packages, and pay for transportation, and we have got to raise the apple that is going to get us out of it the best. If you have got money enough to grow fruit whether it pays or not it is all right, but if you haven't money enough to put TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 241 in thousands of trees of other varieties and wait your chance then the thing to do is to stick to what the market wants. Speaking on this money question, I rejoice to see the change which is taking; place, and I rejoice to say to-day that you are going to have more accommodation. I have tried to do as well as I could by the horticulture of Connecticut besides looking out for myself, but I want to give you just a little liit of advice. Those of you who have not very much money to lose, if you want to make some money, just lay low for the next few years, and you will be able to buy orchards for about half what it costs to build them up. President Rogers : I believe there is some truth in what Brother Hale has just said, but one thing that I have gone by in setting out Baldwins for the last few years is this : For the last five years, if you w^ere to go to a nursery, one that you could depend upon, and ask what varieties they had, you would find that they had about everything all sold out except Baldwins. Everybody has set out Macintosh Red, or Wealthy, or some of these other newer apples. My father al- ways told me, when I was a boy, "When potatoes are cheap plant all you can. You can sell them when they are dear and sell them all.'' I am going along the same line. When peach- es are high, the tendency is for people to flock into the busi- ness, and the next year they will be so cheap that you can hardly give them away. That is the idea. Now, is there some other question? A Member: Mr. Chairman, have you had Question No. 17 up? President Rcigers: No, I think not. "What is the present situation with regard to damage to fruit trees by deer? How shall we arrive at a fair valuation in assessing such damage?" That is a good question. A great many of you know that for the last four years I have been trying very hard to do away with the deer in the state of Connecti- cut. They have damaged me a great deal. I never have asked this state for a dollar for the damage. I think this 242 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. last month I drove as high as seven out of my young trees, or out of an orchard where some thirty-five or forty acres have been set for about two years. You can see what I have been up against. I would like to hear from others on this question — in regard to damage from deer. A Member : If the state protects the deer, why shouldn't it protect the farmers and fruit growers? PlJESiDENT Rogers : That is what I want to know, but how are we going to get at any fair valuation? That is one trouble. I have been called out a dozen different times to appraise damage by deer, and I have always been very much ashamed when I have gone home in the way I have used my neighbors. I believe there are others here in the building that have had about the same experience that I have had, and I, for one, would like to hear from them. A Member from Massachusetts : We have got a serious problem in Massachusetts. This last \ear the Com- monwealth is probably paying something like ten thousand dollars for damages done by deer to orchards and other growing crops. I believe that the solution of the problem will come through the excessive damage that the deer are causing. I believe it is the duty of every farmer, when they have any damage done, to try to get some paAinent for dam- ages from the state. If the amount runs up pretty well, then there would be some object in having the deer laws changed or amended so that they may not be a menace to the orchard industry. It is one of the serious obstacles in many sec- tions to success in the fruit business, and it is something which the farmers of the state have got to determine. I saw one orchard of 1,700 trees entirely annihilated by these ani- mals, which were upheld by the sentiment of those who call themselves sportsmen, and who want them protected. If we are going to be agriculturists here in New England, let us have laws that will protect our interests, and not give way as we have done to the sentiment of so-called sportsmen. I believe the law is cfoine to be changed in Massachusetts this TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 243 year because the people are beginning to realize that it is an injustice. President Rogers: Of course, the state of Massa- chusetts is only a little ways up the line. That open season that they had in Massachusetts undoubtedly drove a lot of deer over the line, and they killed about two thousand of them up there, but we didn't have a chance to have a try, at them. We cannot use a rifle on them or kill them unless they are doing actual damage. I never have killed a deer, but we cer- tainly have got to do something. Now, I think we have spent about all the time we can on these questions. Is our Committee on Nominations ready to report. Mr. Putnam, I believe, is chairman of that committee. Election of Officers. Mr. J. H. Putnam : Ad^r. President, the Nominating Committee is happy to be able to report the following list for officers of this Society. We consider that we have been very fortunate in being able to select those whom we want, and trust that the report will be accepted and the officers elected. For President, J. Norris Barnes, of Yalesville. For J Ice-President, Stancliff Hale, of South Glaston- bury. For Secretary, H. C. C. Miles, of Milford. For Treasurer, Allen B. Cook, of Farmington. For County Vice-Presidents: Hartford County, Lewis C. Root, of Farmingrton. A^ew Haven County, A. T. Henry, of Wallingford. Fairfield County, E. A. Jones, of New Canaan. Litchfield County, Edson G. Davis, of Torrington. Middlesex County, George W. Spicer, of Deep River. Nezv London County, F. W. Browning, of Norwich. Windham County, E. E. Brown, of Pomfret. Tolland County, Garence H. Savage, of Storrs. 244 ^^^ CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. President Rogers : The report of the committee is before you. What is your pleasure? Professor Gulley : I move that the report of the com- mittee be accepted and that the Secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the Society for the list of officers nominated by the committee. Motion seconded. r^REsiDENT Rogers : Would you like to remark upon this question? If there are no remarks, all those in favor of this motion say "Aye." Contrary minds, "No." The "Ayes" have it and it is unanimous. Secretary Miles : In compliance with that vote, I hereby cast the ballot of the Society for the following list of officers : President, J. Norris Barnes, of Yalesville. J 'ice-President, Stancliff Hale, of South Glastonbury. Secretary, H. C. C. Miles, of Milford. Treasurer, Allen B. Cook, of Farmington. County Vice-Presidents : Hartford County, Lewis C. Root, of Farmington. Nezv Haven County, A. T. Henry, of Wallingford. Fairfield County, E. A. Jo'Nes, of New Canaan. Litchfield County, Edson G. Davis, of Torrington. Middlesex County, George W. Spicer, of Deep River. A^ew London County, F. W. Browning, of Norwich. Wind ham County, E. E. Brown, of Pomfret. Tolland County, Clarence H. Savage, of Storrs. i President Rogers : I declare Mr. J- Norris Barnes elected President, and the other officers duly elected for the next year. Is Mr. Barnes in the room? Mr. Barnes, please come forward. President-Elect Barnes came to the platform and was received with applause. Mr.. Barnes : Mr. President and Gentlemen : I am not so sure, Mr. President, that the committee have come to a wise decision. In fact, I feel very sure that they have made TlVENTY-FIRSr ANNUAL MEETING. 245 a mistake, because as I look around this room and see this large assemblage, I realize that you are looking- for some man who has the time to take care of the business of this Society. You naturally expect a great deal of your officers, and I am not sure that I can do all that you expect. However, in con- senting to attempt to perform the duties devolving on one occupying this place I agree to do the best I can. I shall be obliged to rely on the co-operation of the members and the members of the different committees. If the President will pardon me just a moment, I would like to take a moment of your time to refer back to the time when a small number of the fruit growers, the nucleus of this Society, got together in a small room in the Capitol, and talked over fruit-growing matters. That meeting resulted in the formation of a committee to consider various matters that were up at that time, and later it resulted in the for- mation of the Connecticut Pomological Society. At that time there were but few of us in number, although we lacked nothing in enthusiasm. When we come to look over and consider the number that we now have as members of this Society, we can see what a great progress has been made in enthusiasm and interest in fruit growing in Connecticut. I think this is in the right direction, and as it should be. We are in a fair way to make further progress. I thank you, gentlemen, one and all. M;R. J. H. Hale : Just a word to supplement the re- marks of your newly-elected President. As one of the sev- enteen members that were at that meeting with Air. Barnes, when we organized this Society, I am glad to be here to-day and to see him elected President of this splendid Societv of more than seven hundred members. As I remember the talk at that time, when it came to a question of providing the sinews of war, he was about the first man to put up and ask the rest to put up. I want to say to all you who have enjoyed this splendid meeting, and to any of the members that have not, that we all want to stand together and help back up Mr. 246 THE CONNECTICUT POMOEOGICAL SOCIETY. Barnes, for I believe he is g'oing to make a splendid Presi- dent of this Society. President Rogers: It seems to me proper at this time for me to thank you all for the support that I have had from this Society in the last six years that I have been with you. I have been with you as an officer for six years. I was at that meeting- twenty-one years ag^o at the Capitol, at the time that Brother Barnes and Brother Hale were there. Sev- enteen of us formed this Association, and as I think back it is with great regret to note that so many of the charter mem- bers have passed on to their due reward. I want to thank you again for the support which you have given me in the last two years as President. I cer- tainly have enjoyed it, and it certainly has done me good, and I want to congratulate you on your newly-elected President, Mr. Barnes. I feel that you could not have done better. He is one of our largest growers at the present time, and with your Vice-President, Mr. Hale, they will certainly make a good team. I thank you for your attention. Our Secretary, I think, has a resolution to offer. Resolutions. Secretary Miles: There have been two or three reso- lutions handed up to the desk which the gentlemen who of- fered them would like to have brought before the meeting. The first resolution is one making a change in the Society's by-laws. It is in regard to article three, concerning the duties of the Treasurer- of this Society. The by-laws simply say that "the Treasurer shall pay out no money except on the written order of the President, countersigned by the Secre- tary." In the past year or two, as the Society has grown to its present proportions, it has seemed wise, in the care of our funds, that the duties of the Treasurer should be outlined a little more clearlv, and this amendment has been drawn : TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MI'JITING. 24; Amendment to By-Laws. Add to Article III the words. "He shall be empowered to sign all checks and receipt for all money in the name of the Society, and shall also be responsible for all fimds or se- curities that may be deposited, and draw money in the name of the Society. The Treasurer shall give a bond in the sum of two thousand dollars." President Rogers: It requires a two-thirds vote of the members present for the passage of an aiyendment to the by-laws. Mr. Gold: I second that amendment. President Rogers : Would you like to remark on this resolution ? Mr. Kelsey : Does that say who shall pay for the bond? Mr. Root: If there is any doubt about that, Mr. Chair- man, I would favor changing the amendment so it will hi clear. Professor Gulley: I should say that the bond should be furnished by the Society in every case. If that is not in the resolution I move an amendment to that effect. Amendment seconded. President Rogers: All those in favor of this amend- ment to the original amendment signifv bv saying "Aye." Contrary minds, "No." It is unanimous in favor. Now, those who favor the whole resolution as amended say "Aye." Contrary minds, "Xo." The "Ayes" have it, and the amendment to the by-laws is passed. The By-Law as amended is as follows : Article III — The Treasurer shall pay out no money except on the written order of the President, countersigned by the Secretar}-. He shall be empowered to sign and endorse all checks, drafts and vouchers and receipt for all money in the name of the Society. He shall also be responsible for the 248 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. safety of the funds and securities of the Society and may deposit and draw money in its name. The Treasurer shall give a bond in the sum of $2,000, the expense of such bond to be paid by the Society. Mr. Putnam : Mr. Chairman, either I overlooked it in passing- in the Nominating Committee report, or else we omitted to make the nomination for Vice-President from this state for the Xew England Fruit Show. The committee nominated Charles L. Gold, of West Cornwall. President Rogers: If I understand that, the commit- tee'makes a nomination for Mce-President from Connecticut for the New England Fruit Show. Each New England state has one A'ice-President, and Mr. (jold has been placed in nomination from our state. He has been on the Board for the last two or three years. What is your pleasure in regard to this matter? A Member : I second the nomination. President Rogers : All those in favor of electing Mr. Gold say "Aye." Contrary minds, *'No.'' It is a vote and you have elected ]\Ir. Gold. Secretary ]\Iiles : I have another resolution. The members will remember that considerable has been said in the reports of the committees in regard to the matter of co- operation for the members of the Society, and therefore this resolution has been prepared ; Resolved : That the Publicity Committee be directed to take up the question of the co-operative purchase of sup- plies and put the same into effect whenever there is a demand for it ; and be it further Resolved : That the Publicity Committee be directed to investigate the subject of co-operation in the packing, handling and marketing of fruit, and to make a full report of their findings at the next annual meeting. President Rogers: W'hat is your pleasure in regard to this? TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 249 A Member: I move the passage of the resokition as read. Motion seconded. President Rogers : It has been moved and dulv sec- onded. Would you Hke to remark on the resohuion? Mr. Curtis : It seemsi to me that the committee would have to do under that resolution a great deal of work. Thev would have to go ahead and investigate the question of supply and demand for apples, for instance, in Xew England. Thev will have to find out whether enoug"h apples are raised to supply the consumption. That information at present can be had nowhere except from the railroad officials. I have tried within the past two weeks to get from the Xew Haven rail- road a statement of exports and imports. Thev tell me they have no figures which show that, but by putting a man on their returns and going through a good deal of work they can get that information. That is a matter of considerable expense to them. They will not undertake that expense in their regular work, and it is a question whether this associa- tion is in earnest enough to justify paying the railroad for the cost of obtaining that information. In other words, I do not thing the committee will be able to get very far unless the Treasurer or some one is authorized to pav expenses of a definite amount of money. How much money it will take it is impossible to tell, but I should like to inquire whether the resolution which the Secretary has offered contemplates the expenditure of the mone\- of the Society in order to obtain this information ? Secretary Miles: Mr. President, I think that the resolution under which the committee was originallv appoint- ed did not carry with it any provision of that kind, and that the work which the committee has done so far has been done without expense to the Society. Mr. Curtis: All I want to say, Mr. President, is that I think it doubtful whether we should be able to accomplish anything of great value, or obtain any statistics which would be reliable along this line unless we are authorized to spend 250 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. some money in getting hold of those statistics. It is not in- formation that we can go to the railroad office and get with- out expense, and it seems to me that it is going to involve some expense, no matter where you get it. Mr. Putnam : It seems to me that this resolution may also devolve upon our Secretary considerable work. We have an Executive Committee that is being entrusted with the details of the business of the Society, and this matter of ■expense is perhaps something that they can determine. I would, therefore, offer this amendment, "that we empower the Executive Committee to use such funds of the Society as they deem necessary for the purpose of carrying out the resolution." President Rogers : There is a resolution before the house. The amendment is now offered that we empower the Executive Committee to use such funds as they deem proper, either in assisting this committee or in assisting the Secre- tary in regard to the work which is involved, as they may ■deem necessary. Amendment seconded. A Member: I would like to ask the brother on my right if he can give us any idea what these statistics that it is necessary to secure are going to cost? Mr. Curtis : I have no information. The railroad gave me no idea. A Member: It seems to me this is likely to involve a considerable expenditure of money. If I was one of the Executive Committee, I think I should like to have an idea about what the Society wanted to spend. President Rogers: The Society has only so much money to spend, and it would be very unwise to go into any- thing that would require any more money than what we have got to spend. A Member: I did not mean, Mr. President, to cast any reflection on the Executive Committee at all. President Rogers: All those in favor of the amend- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 25' ment will signify by saying "Aye." Contrary minds, "No." It is passed. President Rogers: Would you like to remark still further on the resolution as amended? If not, all hi favor of this resolution as amended say "Aye." Contrary minds, "Xo." It is passed. Mr. Farnham, I believe, has a resolution at this time. Mr. P'arnham : Resohed : That the Connecticut Pomological Society be, and hereby is, authorized to communicate with the people in charge of the proposed standard barrel law, known in the House of Representatives as Bill No. 17,822, and recommend that it be amended so that it shall also include the standardi- zation of berry baskets as well as all fruit containers manu- factured and used in all of our several states ; and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of this Association for- ward these resolutions to the Chairman of the Committee in charge of the bill at Washington, and that our Senators and Representatives be asked to co-operate in the passage of the bill. Mr. Gold: I second that resolution. President Rogers : I think that is a good resolution. I think we should have some standard in regard to our pack- ages here in the state. I find in shipping apples out of the state that almost always you are obliged to have a standard barrel. I think if we were obliged to have a standard bar- rel it will be a good thing. I believe we should have stan- dard packages, not only barrels, but berrv baskets, and this resolution is right along in that line. If there is any one here who would like to remark on the resolution, we will be glad to hear from them. If not. I will put it to a vote. All those in favor of this resolution sav "Aye." Contrary minds, "No." It is adopted. Secretary Miles: Another resolution, Mr. President. Resolved: That the Legislative Committee of this So- ciety draft and present to the next General Assembly a bill or bills which will have to do with the extermination of wild deer or of confining the deer in special state tracts. 252 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Introduced by Air. H. R. Howard. Resolution seconded. President Rogers : In regard to forestry in this state,, there is a little movement that way, and I believe it is a good thing. We have got lots of woodland now, and if the state of Connecticut is going to protect the deer, why not let the state buy up a lot of this forest land, enclose it, and keep the deer where they will not do any damage? That is right along in that line. If I am right in sympathizing with the resolution I hope it will be carried. Mr. Gold: I am sorry to differ with you, Mr. Presi- dent, on that, btit I think that the resolution as offered is altogether too strong, and asks too much. There is a good deal of complaint of damage from deer, but I do not believe we are in a position to call for the passage of any such action as that resolution calls for. I, for one, would be opposed to the passage of it. We have got some deer in the state, and they are doing some damage. I do not want to see that passed, because you are asking too much in that resolution. If it was in milder form, I would favor it, but the state is not going to pass any such bill as that calls for, and I do not think we want to ask anything more than what the state is ready to do. Mr. Howard: I am glad to hear this gentleman in de- fense of the deer. It was my pleasure to meet with the Fish and Game Commission yesterday, and in talking over the matter of a large bill for deer damage, this matter was brought up, and it may be that the people, when they become aware of what the expense for damage by wild deer has been in the last year or two, will make some provision for their extermination, or for the confining of them in state tracts. I believe that there would be a lessening of the expense to the taxpayers of the state to confine them in a forest somewhere, and our chairman has spoken along the line of the forestry preserves of the state, where they belong, and the expense of maintaining and of fencing in those deer would be less than what we will have to pay for damages if they continue to TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 253 roam where they are a mind to. I live out in Union, away up in the northeastern part of the state, and I believe that the development of apple culture afid the fruit business will do more to increase our grand list than anything else. To-day we have no agricultural interests that we can stake ourselves on, but the character of the soil and everything indicates a natural tree soil. We have it in the pine, and w^e are going to have it in the apple. We find it here. Now it may have to do with the livelihood of the people there, but at present w^e cannot raise apple trees in Union. We planted one thous- and apple trees about a month ago. I was checking them over a week since, and out of one thousand there are two hundred and ninety-eight which are destroyed. That dam- age has been done b}- deer. W^e put the very best knowledge that we had into the planting of that orchard, but what can we do under such conditions ? Can we go out and kill the deer? No, because the law prohibits the killing of deer, and we are going to be right up against this proposition. If tiie fruit industry in our hill towns is going to be developed we have got to get rid of the deer. I believe this resolution is worthy of your consideration. It is a fine sight to see the deer out there in Union. It is nice, and makes a pleasant picture for the eye, but, gentle- men, you cannot raise apples out there on account of the deer. Mr. Putnam: I would like to speak on that subject. What is the sentiment back of the deer question? Up in Massachusetts it seems to be that there shall be lots of deer, lots of them raised, and then when the law goes off, a lot of young hoodlums are allowed to shoot them, and two thous- and of them this last fall were killed, and nobody knows how many hundred of them wounded, ^hat is the sentiment which says, let us keep the deer. I fail to see how that is of any benefit to the agriculture of the state. I sav that we bet- ter let the deer be exterminated rather than to keep on rais- ing them to be butchered in any such numbers as thev are being killed in Massachusetts. ( xA.pplause ) . 254 T^HE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Question called for. President Rogers : The question has been called for. Those in favor of this resolution as it has been read will please say "Aye." Contrary minds, "No." Well, it is a pretty close vote in the opinion of the Chair. All those in favor of this motion please stand and be coimted. All those opposed to this please rise. I declare the reso- lution carried. President Rogers : Now we must proceed with our reg- ular program. We have a gentleman who is to come right on with an address. I have the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. C. C. Hulsart, who will talk to us on the experiences of a successful^ New Jersey market gardener. Experiences of a Successful New Jersey Market Gardener, By C. C. Hulsart, Mattawan, N. J. Mr. Chainnan, Ladies and Gentlemen: Having been here during the greater part of your meet- ing, this story occurred to me. It was the case of some wed- ding invitations that were sent out. One of the contracting parties was a widow, and the man had been twice a widower. The invitations were on a post-card, addressed to the guests, and said, "This is no amateur performance.'' '(Laughter). Neither has been this meeting. Friends, I have come to you from the state of trusts and mosquitoes. I have been asked to talk on the experiences of a market gardener, and truck farmer. After listening to what we have for nearly two days it will be a radical change of diet. Whether it will be acceptable or not remains to be seen. I propose to talk for what little time I have on fundamental principles. The principles of market gardening and truck farming will apply just as well in Connecticut as in New Jer- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 255 sey. Practices may differ. Being" some more miles awaw my conditions may be somewhat different from yours, but, as I was saying', what I mean to say will be mostly on princi])les stated in such a way, so far as I can, as will bring out some questions, and through those questions the speaker may be able to find out what you are most interested in besides the apple. I was thinking that if you had a Jersey cantaloupe there is hardly a member of this audience that would eat it, but if any of you will come down to my farm next summer we will try to show you some fruit of that kind that will con- vince you it is a good thing. Now friends, at the outset, in order to be successful with market gardening and truck farming, there are some things which must be considered. First, the soil ; second, its hand- ling so far as humus, manure and water are concerned ; the fertilizers, when to apply, how to apply, and where to apply ; last, but not least, the man behind the gun. Tf he is not inter- ested in that type of farming he had better continue to grow apples, whether it be in Connecticut or wherever it may be. At the outset let me say that I have been farming over a quar- ter of a century on a sandy ground farm. When I first pur- chased it I was somewhat disappointed, because I thought when a man had a deed for the property it was his, but when a northwest wind blew over the fences the other fellow would not let me cart them home. Something had to be done to hold down the mortgage or it would not stand. So we had to try something else. Cover Crops. A man that is trying to grow truck in a garden that does not consider the cover crop proposition to get vegetable matter and humus into his soil is lacking in one of the essential elements of success. I am before an audience where if I was to say that crimson clover was the best thing", you would throw up your hands in horror. Nevertheless, the man that can grow on his farm crimson clover can solve the problem of vegetable matter and humus in his soil. In the early beginning of my operations we bought in large quanti- 256 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ties city stable manure. It took nearly half the time of a man to cart it home, and then it used to be composted, and then after it was rotted down, we had to cart it out and put half a shovelful along each plant that we had put into the ground. It took a lot of time. That was the old style. There are some people doing it now. With all the exhortations of the agricul- tural press and the experiment station bulletins, people are in- clined still to follow along the same road that father took. I cannot impress that upon you any stronger than by this illus- tration. A drummer at one time got into a little town, and after spending some time in eating a hurried meal, he ran for his train. He just caught it, and got in, when the conduc- tor came through, and he said to the passenger, "This is an express.'' "Well," said the man, "It is enough to give a man heart disease to ride over a road like this." Well, the con- ductor said that the road did not pay, but in order to save their charter they ran a few trains. After the drummer liad ridden along for a while he got the conductor's attention and said, "Why, we are traveling a good deal smoother now. I guess they must have been making some repairs on this end.' "My gracious !" said the conductor, "it isn't that, but we are off the track." (Laughter). Now there are more farmers than one scattered between here and where I live that would travel a good deal smoother if they would get off the track that father was on fifty or a hundred years ago. We began to realize some years ago that it was too much of an expense to be buying city stable manure by the hundreds of tons, and using a man and teams all winter to get it to our farms. That gave rise to the question, was it possible to keep up the fertil- ity of our land without so much manure? Now, necessity is the mother of invention. Labor got scarce. Manure got high. And we were forced to do something. We began to cut down on the manure, and at the present time there is not one-quarter used by the truck gardeners in my section that there was twen- ty years ago. Now, without taking up too much time, let me pass on TJVEXTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 257 to another crop that you can grow here, and that is the hairy vetch or the winter vetch. I am known as a crank on cover crops in my own state. Nevertheless, you will pardon a per- sonal allusion to the farm that I went to twenty-six years ago, and which now produces from three to five dollars where it did one when I went there. I am thinking of the bridge that has carried me over. Then, too, a great many farmers are so sit- uated that it would not be possible for them to buy manure. We are located only about twenty-five miles from New York City, and our markets include Newark and Brooklyn as welL I claim this, friends, that by covering your soils with a legum- inous cover crop, you can maintain the fertility of the soil in- definitely, and take ofi:' a maximum crop, all conditions being equal, every season. Aly own soil has been under plow for over a hundred years, and it is producing to-day better crops than when I first owned it. There is another thing which the market gardener must do. If he is going to compete with his neighbor the sooner he does it the better. It is the man that gets there first that gets are market and the price. Hence, earliness in vegetable grovN-ing is one of the principles that every man must study, and he must know how to get there. Most all vegetable crops need a soil rich in humus, and well filled with soluble plant food. That brings us to the feeding proposition. The man that will put all of his food for a plant in the hill that he is going to plant, and set it into a space one foot in diameter, is just as foolish as a man who will feed nails to a horse and expect it to get fat. It is not in the right place. I think everybody will agree with me on that. Where are the roots of a plant? How long are they? Where are some of the practices of these old-time farmers ? In some instances where are the roots ? Why, not over an inch below the soil, and scattered all over the surface. Where would you sow the other? Why, naturally over that inch of soil. You have got to put your plant food where the plant can take it up. You want to get that which will hurry the plant from the start. 1 am attempting to talk 258 THU CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. from the standpoint of early crops. I do not want to get into the market when the other fellow has been there before me and got the money. It is the man who has got the market who makes a success of vegetable growing. Now, the point is, what can we do to get the very earliest vegetables so as to get the market? Friends, I do not use a pound of commercial fer- tilizer, and haven't in nearly twenty years. How can we, then, in order to get a good early stand, get the growth, reach the market, and do it cheaper than the other man. The earlier w^e can get our product on the market and the cheaper we can raise our products by the package, or the bushel, or the barrel, as the case may be, the more profit we can get out of the mar- ket. Xow I submit this proposition to you, and it seems to me it is a rational one. If' you have a good cover crop you do not need much animal manure. Plow that under it to the usual depth. That is all you want so far as the top of the soil is concerned. Never turn up a great deal of the subsoil at one time. Turn it under. We want to get that root system where it belongs — down where the moisture is, down where it will get the benefit of the tillage, and out of the way of tlie heating of the sun the latter part of the season. Next, scatter "broadcast all over the soil a mixture of three parts of add phosphate to one of potash mixed together. Now that is a hank deposit, friends. All of you farmers like money in the hank. That is a deposit for those plants to draw on. That is- a deposit that the plants can draw on from time to time as they need it. When the plant first starts its roots it is there to build up the structure of the wood and fibre of the plant. It is there. The goodness from it will reach into the soil and reach those tiny rootlets lying close to the surface. You get it at all times. Now when you are trying to encourage the growth of the roots of the plants use nitrogenous fertilizer mainlv, such as nitrate of soda and such things as that. Use it because it is cheaper. Secondly, because you get more back for the pounds that you have applied. That makes it cheaper from another standpoint. Regarding the returns in plant food TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 259 as one hundred you get back from either blood or high grade tankage from sixty-five to seventy per cent. Furthermore, the plant food in nitrate of soda can be bought to-day for fifteen cents a pound, and in other compounds it costs from twentv to twenty-four. I was lr)ing to examine my boy one day in frac- tions, and I said to him. "If you had half an apple, and I gave y-ou another half, or if you had a dollar and I gave you an- other, what would you have?" ''Why,'' he says, "I would have a fit." Well, I didn't examine him any further. Now, friends, with that method of feeding market garden ■crops, supplemented by additional applications of soluble ni- trate in the form of nitrate of soda, you can carry any crop to maturity. And not only that, there is no form in which you can feed a market garden crop with so much success. There is hardly a crop that we grow that we do not use that method on. It is used all through our section. In my case, or in anybody's who uses it, the application is so soluble that it dissolves in the first twenty-four hours, and the plant is ready to take it up in the next twenty- four hours. I have seen it show in from the forty-eighth to the sixtieth hour after it has been applied. The New Jersey Station put out a "bulletin on the use of nitrate of soda, advocating its use. Some eight or ten years later I ran for an experiment for quite a while some fourteen or fifteen difi^erent crops, applying ni- trate of soda in different ways to see what it would do, and in every instance the application of nitrate of soda gave me the best results, and those results were obtained at the least expense. My friends, there is another point. The man who is try- ing to grow market garden crops depends on the commercial seedsmen too much for his supply of seed. Every time a man does that he is very likely to get disappointed. I heard a man say, not a week ago, that after reading over a catalog the less he knew. They are painted in such glowing colors. It will apply in every instance as well. In my own neighborhood there is a tomato cannerv right near the station. You can go 26o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. by there in an ordinary season, when they are running toma- toes through the factory at a very rapid rate, and you will find the steps covered with the crates, with lots of tomato seed. Xow, some men get their tomato seed from such a place as that, and that will operate this way. Jones plants Success, and Johnson plants Stone, and so on around the list, and when one man falls short he gets what plants he wants from his neighbor, and puts them in his field. Another man gets some more and puts them in his. See what a mixture you are get- ting unless you are careful. Let me give vou a little personal experience. I wanted a special variety of kale. I sent in to the city of New York for seed enough to plant a couple of acres. It came out and it grew. The cultivation and every- thing had been complete. Dr. E. B. Voorhees was visiting my place, and the Doctor made this remark, "That is a pretty sight." The leaves were nearly as big as your two hands, and as to quantity, I had a world of it. But friends, when I came to gather that crop, I did not have a barrel of any one kind at one time. I had all that had ever been in the catalog and some extra. That is what I got for not knowing what the seed was that I put out. The man that is going to make a success of marketing earlv vegetables must provide his own seed, and grow it himself, if possible. It is impossible to get reliable seeds through the agencies where you are getting them to-day, and it is not the seedman's fault. The cry has been from the beginning for cheap seeds. You are getting them. The seeds are a great deal cheaper than the price. Now there are some things about market gardening that I might touch on. The man who is going to grow crops suc- cessfully must practice rotation of crops. There must be a certain rotation. We often see it in the agricultural press that there should be at least a three to four year rotation, with certain things, one of which takes in clover, but you hardly ever see anything about truck gardening. It is more essential there than it is in general farming. Why? In the first place, you have got insect pests and fungus that TWENTY-FIRST AX X UAL MEETIXG. 261 nuisl be controlled, and so one crop ought not to be followed with another which belongs to practically the same botanical family. Why? If you will examine the potato plant and some others, you will see that they all belong to one botanical family. Such crops as that ought not to be followed one by the other on the same plot. The Colorado potato beetle found that out in 1875. When he could not find one to eat, he ate the other. The beetle that destroyed one will feed on the other. Further than that, there are other crops which are deep-rooted, and those that draw largely from the i)otash in the soil. If you follow with crops of the same kind vou will still continue to take up the fertility of the soil, and you will have to add to it very largely from the fertilizer, and that takes money. But I must not stop to go into this important phase of the subject in detail to-day. It has been mv custom to put on a crop of peas, because that is not a particularly- deep-rooted plant, finish that, and then once in a certain num- ber of years we can put egg plant or something like that on, and so on around the circle once in six or seven vears. Now, for just a few minutes, I want to call vour attention to one crop that I take considerable personal pride in, and that is cantaloupe. It is one of the crops that I am growing, and I feel like emphasizing it a little over all of the other mar- ket garden crops. The demand for the cantaloupe increases. The prices have been pretty fair. The man that has got the soil and knows how to grow tbem can do well. The man that wants to grow cantaloupe must first have the soil that is the right kind of soil to grow them on. Of course, that is the case with any kind of a crop, but a man that is trving to grow any crop, in addition to the soil that is adapted for that crop, must know the peculiarities of the crop that he is trying to grow if he is going to be successfiU. For example, b\- put- ting cantaloupe on to a heavy soil, all you can do will not make it a success. By putting it on light soil, and starting it right with proper fertilization, if that is kept up until the end, every- thing else being equal, you will grow good crops. The can- 262 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. taloupe wants sunlight. That is a great essential in growing almost any kind of crop that makes sugar or starch. You people know that there are some varieties of the cantaloupe that are grown in the South that are better than those grown here in the East, and the reason is because they have about eight or nine days of sunshine every week. That is something that we do not get in New Jersey or in the East. In New Jersey oftentimes the sun comes out strong for a little while, and then it will be foggy or cloudy, or something of that kind, and that has a good deal to do with the successful rais- ing of cantaloupe. With fair climatic conditions and proper fertility of the soil, the crop is almost sure. There is a good deal of difference between that kind of farming and the farm- ing we see carried on in some places. Take, for example, as- paragus. Asparagus takes no more fertility than two tons of timothy hay. and yet it takes four times as much available plant food. Asparagus is a crop which matures very quickly. That is the reason. You are growing that crop in about sixty days, and vou are mutilating the stalks every morning or every other morning when it is cut. and that is done at a time when there is no root growth going on, and it is all done in so short a time that the plant food must be there in abundance, and at just the right time. Another thing that must be practiced in this kind of farm- ing— when you put a product before the consumer it has got to be right. You have got to have good goods. You have got to attract attention. Furthermore, you have got to have your products palatable, you have got to have them succulent, or the purchaser does not want to come back again. So in raising truck garden products, let me lay down as the funda- mental principles, appearance first, and then succulence, and palatability as food. Now, in order to get that you have got to have every miiuite of the time from the time the root gets out of the seed until the fruit is ready, plant food available to carry the plant along to maturity ; otherwise, you will have TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 263 a stunted growth, or a spasmodic t^rowth, and you will not get as good a product as the market wants. Now, I have tried to talk in such a way as to draw out a lot of questions, or, at least, some questions. I do not know what you are trying to grow. We are growing cantaloupes, raspberries, tomatoes, peppers, early corn and the like. I shall be glad to answer any questions. Discussion. President Rogers : Are there any questions to ask Air. Hulsart ? A Member : Do you grow your own seed ? Mr. Hulsart : Nearly all. I prefer to raise my own seed if I can. Sweet corn, pepper seed, tomato seed are all produced on the farm, and they are all selected seed, or home- bred seed. A JMember : Can you save seed from more than one va- riety on the same farm? Mr. Hulsart : Most assuredly you can. A Member : How do you work that on melons ? How far apart do you keep the vines in order to prevent the mixing of the varieties ? Mr. Hulsart : Well, on the melons there would not be any danger at one hundred and fifty yards. I am not troubled that way because I never grow but one variet\-. I have had two varieties sometimes, just to try something new. but if I try two varieties I always put the new one on the east side of the field. I never grow but one variety for the market at one time. A Member : Won't the bees carry the pollen anrl in that way cross the varieties ? Mr. Hulsart: They might in certain iiistances. but a bee is not going to go out of a blossom here and then i1y a hundred or two hundred yards to find another one if there arc plenty right near, and if he does he will leave most of the pollen over the kind he is traveling on long before he gets to 264 THE COKXECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the other side. It is not reasonable to suppose that, if you have got a plot on one side of your farm and another on the otlier side, a bee is going to travel right from one side to the other. It is absolutely impossible to keep perfectly straight all the time from cross pollenization, because you haven't got the chance to control that that you have in the animal world. Pol- len flies sometimes with the wmd, and it is also carried by the bees. But take the other side of it. What are you getting when you go away from home? You do not know what you get. Then there is considerable in climatization. You bring those cantaloupes that I was talking about to the North and they fall down the vdry first season. They do not cut as good, the flesh is not as g-ood, and thev have not the flavor or the texture that the variety has after it has become acclimated. But you take the Jersey red cantaloupe, and you can improve that all the time. I know of one kind that has been on one farm for twenty-eight years. A Member : I would like to ask the gentleman how long he makes his farm produce melons? Mr. Hulsart : A\'hy. as a rule, we can keep the crop right up through tlie melon season, but there are certain in- stances wdien }ou cannot do that. The blight may strike it, and I imagine it may be killed off by fungus diseases. Of course, it is in some seasons, or would be if you did not take care of it. In our section of the country we are never struck with that only between the 18th of August and the 24tli, and if we can get our crop ready for the market in the earl\' part of the season, we are so nearly done when the blight strikes us that it does not do us any damage. That brings out the point that I was talking of a while ago. You want to get ^•our mel- ons in as early as you can and get them on the market. A Member : Are any of these seeds furnished by vour Congressmen at Washington ? Mr. Hi'LSART : Well, that is a good one. My friend, let me tell you something. Just so long as the farmer will follow political friends and let somebody else do his thinking for him, TIl'EXTV-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 265 just so long' will }0U be using millions of seed distributed by }our Congressmen and Senators, and they will do it just as long as they think the\' can buy you for a twent}'-five cent package of seed. President Rogers : I am sorry to be obliged to close this discussion, but there are two other speakers on the program yet. The next subject is "How to Attain Success in the Cul- ture of Berries, Currants, etc." We have a gentleman with us from Massachusetts, Mr. F. A. Smith. It is a pleasure to introduce ^Nlr. Smith, one of the large and good growers of berries in ^Massachusetts. How to Attain Success in the Culture of Berries. By Mr. F. A. Smith, Turner Hill Farm, Ipswich, Mass. We are neglecting an opportunity. C)ur section of the country is w'ell adapted to small fruit raising. We have the markets in our numerous cities and can get the necessary help. The territory from Boston to New York has been referred to as "one continuous city." This is our big asset, the market for our products. Nine years ago it became part of my work to amalga- mate three farms by abolishing roads, removing walls, etc. In order to get returns at once, small fruits were resorted to. Strawberries were tried, but they ripened before the "shore season" opened up, so currants, gooseberries and raspberries ■\vere planted instead. Owing to the limited time at my disposal this afternoon, I shall talk mostly about the red raspberry, which appeals most strongly to me, probablv because we have had the best success with it. Soil — Select an\ soil except heavy clay or land which cannot be drained, there will be too much nitrogen in such land and bushes will run to foliage. Its Prcf'aration: — This cannot be done too thoroughly. 266 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Avoid witch grass land. Grow a cultivated crop the pre- vious year upon the land. Location — Almost any gentle slope will be found satis- factory. A north slope with a cool soil is preferable. Elevation — This is rather unimportant, as blossoms and fruit come at a time when there is no danger from frost. Shade — The raspberry revels in shade and therefore the orchard makes an ideal spot. Propagation — Obtain your first stock with great care. Go and see before you buy. Establish your own nursery as soon as possible. Root gall is one of the worst enemies and too great care cannot be taken to keep it out of the planta- tion. Time of Setting Out — 'Set out in the spring. If set in the fall the frost is very likely to heave them out of the ground. Spacing — Set the rows six feet apart and plant eighteen inches in the row. Establish a hedge row as soon as possi- ble. Get the rows perfectly straight by marking out the land and turning out a furrow. Drop the plants and firm the earth around them well. Cultivation — ^Continue cultivation each year up to the middle or the last of August. Fertilization — The previous crop should be extra well fertilized. Put a good dressing of manure in the hedge row in the fall. Nitrate of soda, basic slag, and muriate of pot- ash are the commercial materials to use. Cover Crops — ^After stopping cultivation sow a crop' consisting of % peck of oats and a like amount of barley. This will make a good growth in the fall, serve as an ex- cellent mulch in the winter and will die in the spring giving no trouble. No suitable legume has yet been found for this purpose. In the spring round down and back in the middle of the row with the plow set light and turn the furrows to- gether. This gives a good amount of loose earth to start with. Plow three inches deep and cultivate two and one-half inches deep. TWENTY -FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 267 Priming — Don't let the shoots fruit the first year. The second year you will o-et a fair number of g-ood canes. But don't work for too much fruit that year. This is the time to do the heavy pruning. Cut them well back. The third year narrow the hedge-row to fifteen inches and thin plants to ten to twelve inches apart. Delay pruning as late in spring as possible. After the snow goes and we have had one or two good soaking rains and the sap starts we put on a large force and rush the work through. Harvesting — This is the time of greatest difficulty. Women pickers are the best, men are profitable, but avoid the boys if possible. A frame holding three baskets is strapped to the pickers so that both hands may be used. Du- plicate cards are used and placed together and both punched at the same time ; thus avoiding any possible mistakes. Varieties — Three varieties can be recommended for New England, the Early King, the Ruby, and the Cuthbert, giving a good succession. Discussion. President Rogers: We still have another speaker this afternoon, but we will devote a short time to the discussion of Air. Smith's paper. Are there any questions to ask Mr. Smith ? A Member : I would like to ask the gentleman about plowing the furrow that he speaks of between the rows. You throw the furrows together at the center? Mr. Smith : We run one in the center and then turn them together, so that after we have gone back and forth with the cultivator it is leveled up again. A ^^Iember: In running through in that way is there no injury to your root system? Mr. S^nTii: No. You see with my rows six feet apart I go down and back on the same line, and we simply break up the ground in between, and in that way we get a nice open, arable soil, with the least possible trouble, and with practically no danger to the root system. \\\{h tlic rows six 268 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. feet apart I go down with the plow and then come back on the same line. A Member: How deep does that plow go? Mr. Smith : Well, not over three or four inches. A Member: Do you vise a cultivator? Mr. Smith : Yes, we use the cultivator at the proper time. A Member: How deep does the cultivator go? Mr. Smith : Probably not over two to two and a half inches. It is best to cultivate rather shallow. Now as to pruning. I would like to show you a little about pruning on this black board. I consider that pruning is one of the most important features of the work. I am just going to let that represent the plant as we take it from the old plantation, or where vou raised it. These little cross lines on here that I am putting on represent the root system. Now in taking that up do not let the man pull it up. Do not allow those roots to be broken or torn. It takes a little time for those wounds to heal, and hurts the vigor of the plant. When you are propagating, if you can get a root system like that it is a very nice thing to have. That insures a good vigorous growth, if the plant is cared for. That plant is taken and planted in the row. Now as the growth commences the first year you will notice that the bud will start out here (indicat- ing), and another year it will work out here (indicating). This is all supplementary to what you are working for, because later on you are going to get new canes up here, and that is what you are working for. Sometimes we plant them as much as eighteen inches. They will break into growth, and sometimes they will send up some shoots and try to bloom. Now there is a chance to get yourself into trouble right away. Of course, this is fruiting cane, and it will pay you to have some person keep these fruit canes down. You may ask, why don't you keep it down when you set it out? I will tell you. In the first place, you need it as a marker to show where to cultivate, and as soon as you get any growth you need the T)enefit of those leaves to help establish and maintain the vigor TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. zC^y of the plant until you get the system of new canes. So I contend that that is an important point. Now in pruning the 'second year. The second year, if vou are successful, you will get a fairly good number of rather short canes coming up like that (illustrating), and that is where the beginner begins to go wrong. You want to go through the plantation and destroy all that, cut the old canes and get them out of the way. You see you have got to keep those cut back the second year if }ou are going to get any fruit. A AIember: ^^'hat time do you do that cutting back the second year? ]\Ir. Smith : In the spring. Of course, the next year you are going to get a vigorous growth of cane. Perhaps it will be six or seven feet in height, and it will be a matter of pretty heavy pruning if the plantation is growing strong. Now on that year we aim to narrow that hedgerow down about fifteen to eighteen inches. We aim to reduce those plants in that row" to ten or twelve inches. Don't be afraid to cut away the plants and get rid of that surplus vv^ood. You. are going to get more satisfactory berries, and the plantation is better for all other purposes. Now I want to refer just a little more to the question that this gentleman brought out with regard to the time that we do that pruning. The spring is the best season we Have, but we have got to be guided, to a considerable extent, by the weather conditions. The rule that you wdll get from many horticultural books and papers will be to go through your plantation, remove the old canes, and I think that most grow- ers agree that you can do that up until about the first of July. I think from the rainfall notes I will simply say from the time the growth starts up until the first of July. That would be two months and a half. Last year we had a rainfall of onlv three inches, \\hile the normal rainfall should have been between ten and twelve. So you see everything was rushed ahead. During the drier part of the season the growth was retarded. About the time we were planning to cut away 270 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. these old canes the weather condition changed. July is the time that we complete the picking, but that year we had a rainfall of five inches in twenty-four hours. We delay prun- ing the raspberry as late as we can. other conditions being fa- vorable. Now about the removal of the prunings. We think we have reduced that to a minimum of trouble. We use a home- made tool. We hitch a horse to a sort of rake, the principal features of which are the teeth and a wooden head. It has but two teeth. We hitch on the horse and run that through, and in that way pick up most of the prunings, and bring them out. Sometimes if the pruning has been very heavy we will have to run through two or three times. There may be a few of the canes left along the rows, and in that case we sim- ply throw them over into the next row and they are picked up on the next time around. This reduces the labor of clearing up the ground to a minimum. Now in regard to the matter of pollenization. That is something which is not so very important, because it usually takes care of itself pretty well. I have a great admiration for the bee. If I go through a raspberry plantation when it is at the height of blooming and see plenty of bees at work I am pleased. I have often seen before five o'clock a good hustling crowd of workers, and along late in the afternoon after the men have left the field and gone to supper, and clear up to seven o'clock the same hustling crowd of bees. That, of course, insures thorough pollenization, and it carries you a long way toward complete success in getting a good crop of fruit. A Member: Do vou use men or women for pickers? Mr. Smith : I was coming to that question of harvest- ing. Ordinarily, I am called among those that know me an optimist, but if any of you are intending to engage ha rasp- berry growing, and are disposed to be pessimistic at all, that is the time when you will meet with your greatest difficulty. Women pickers are the most satisfactory. The raspberry is a very successful fruit for pickers. Pickers assure me that thev would much rather pick raspberries because they do not TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 271 have to get in such a stooping position. 'J'he ])ickinG;' is done in a much nicer manner, which makes it more comfortable and satisfactory. We employ mostly girls and women, and find them more satisfactory than other help. Sometimes we are forced to use men on pay day, but except in some of the heavy work and in cleaning up the plantation we never have found that kind of labor as profitable as the use of women and girls. In picking we have adopted this practice. Each picker has a card, and when the picker has picked a certain number of quarts that card is punched. The foreman has a card, and every picker has a card, and when the picker comes in the two are put together and punched, so that both agree perfectly. We have not employed ma.ny boys to do picking, because un- less you watch them pretty close, if there is a place to go swimming in the neighborhood you will be apt to find more boys in the river than you will in the field. They are not to be depended upon. In picking we have used the Climax baskets. The pick- ers strap them in front of them, so that they are able to use both hands. We urge the pickers, as soon as they pick through their row, to leave their baskets in the shade. It is quite a little chore for them to take it in, and we are rather in- clined to favor paying for a collector to go through and make the collections, As to the question of yield, the climatic conditions have a good deal to do with that, and the seasons vary, but three thousand baskets to the acre is a small yield. We have set out some new ground, and we shall have between sixteen and seventeen acres in raspberries soon. \Nt have got some of our old plantation in an apple orchard, but we are going to abandon that as soon as this crop is harvested. Now Mr. President, I do not know as I had better take more of your time to go into the question of varieties. We have tried a number. Of course, we have had our failures with certain varieties and others have been a success. The Earlv King has done very well with us. It comes in earlv, usually about the fourth of July. The usual average picking 272 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. time is about the ninth. This year we picked them on the sixth. That is very satisfactory. We have also raised a good many Cuthberts. If you wish to test yourself and see whether you can make a success of raspberry growing, I would like to give you this suggestion. Procure some plants, and set them out in the garden, or put them near enough to the house so that the good people may be able to get some results out of them ; or, if you have any children in the family and you wish to interest them, pass them over to the children and tell them that you will give them the same help in the cultivation and in the matter of marketing — tell them it is all in their hands, not only the matter of planting, but picking and everything of that sort is in their own hands. If they can make a suc- cess of it you ought to. President Rogers : What do you consider the best kind to grow ? Mr. Smith : '^he Cuthbert is a very good and reliable variety. We are doJng pretty well with the Early King. President RcieERS : It is getting late, but w^e still have another number on the program. We have with us again this afternoon ^Ir. Castner, who has come to Connecticut from the Flood River apple growing region of Oregon, and as the closing feature of our meeting he is going to give us a demonstration of apple packing. You can watch him^ as he goes along, and ask him questions on any point that you care to. Demonstration Lecture. Modern Methods of Packing Apples. By John B. Castner, Hood River, Oregon. ]\Ir. Chairman, I do not knov- as I shall show you any- thing different from what ^ ou have all seen before, for I have been doing this for the last two days dowmstairs, and I guess most of you have seen all there is to show. But there may be some questions that I can answer. TJl'ENTY-FIRSr ANNUAL MEETING. 273 A Meimber: Do you always pack the apples with the stem end up? Mr. Castner : Where we can pack on the calyx end we do it. That is for this reason. We get less bruising from packing in that way. A Member : Is there such a thing as one pack being more popular than another pack? Mr. Castner : Yes, there is. We have in the West two kinds of pack ; one kno\\n as the straight pack, and ihe other the square pack. One is 2-2 diagonal, and the other is 3-2. The diagonal and the square pack. In that kind of a pack all the apples are packed one on top of the other, four across the box like that, and then down here, every apple being packed one on top of the other. In that case, of course, when you put the cover on it jams every apple tightly into place, but it does not make any bruising. In the other way, on the diagonal, one apple rests in between three like that. T will show you how that is done as I go along. A Member: What is the difference in the size of \our boxes ? A'Ir. Castner: We have what we call the Hood River standard, the dimensions being ten and one-half deep, eleven and one-half Avide and eighteen inches long, inside measure- ment. The other is ten inches deep, eleven inches wide, and twenty inches long. I think the time is coming when we will eliminate all special boxes and use just the standard size, be- cause all-sized apples can be packed in the standard box. Tw-enty-five different sizes of apples can be packed in that box, and packed right. Two thousand one hundred and sev- enty-three cubic inches is a standard box. The other is larger and holds more than a bushel. A Member : How much is it short of a bushel ? Mr. Castner : It is not short. This is twenty-three cu- bic inches over a bushel-. In Madison Square Garden, at the Land Sho\v, that subject was brought up a number of times, so we sent out and got a sealer of weights and measures, and he took the apples out of one of these standard boxes, and 274 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. then took a bushel measure, and it would not hold the apples. Still we had the paper left in the box. That satisfied them down there that it holds a bushel. Of course, we do not pack at all in a bushel measure as we do the boxes. A Member : Don't the public prefer the straight pack- ing better? Mr. Castner : No sir, the public do not like the straight packing. You g'et more bruised apples that way, and they do not want bruised apples. President Rogers : Are there any more questions to ask Mr. Castner? Perhaps it would be well to ask the ques- tions as he goes along. Mr. Castner : Perhaps I better begin at the beginning of this and show it right through. Before going an) further, the first thing is to have a supply of paper right opposite the box like that. The paper comes already to wrap the apples in, as you see it here. We have it right within easy reach. You see how the paper lies in the box for a lining. Now the secret of packing apples in boxes is to grade according to size. You want to start your box right, and then keep every apple in it to about the same size. Then you will have no trouble in filling the box. In wrapping, pick the apple up in your hand like that, take the paper up, and then just turn your hand over like that. There are just two motions in get- ting the apple wrapped. It is all done. Then place it in the t)OX. A Member: How fast will a good man pack? Mr. Castner : Well, an average good man will pack from fifty to sixty boxes a day, and out with us he receives three dollars and a half a day. A Member: Does he do his own grading? Mr. Castner : No. the apples are graded before they come onto the table for packing. A ]\Iember : Suppose the grower does not grade them properly ? Mr. Castner: If the grower does not do it right, the TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. -V5 packer grades them, and the packer charges it up to the grower at the rate of five cents a box. Now in packing into the box you see I put an apple in each corner and one in the center, three, and then two like that. There are no vacant spaces, and every apple in there is just the same. We use the same size all through the box, and with the bulge it makes it impossible for the apples to rub or cause any bruising. In the packing we keep forcing the apples as much as possible to the center, and we naturally make the bulge by forcing to the center. After vou get your layer in on the bottom then it is covered with paper. Use paper between every layer. Putting in the paper helps to protect the fruit, because it keeps the upper layers from com- ing in contact with those beneath. The paper in the box pays for itself. A Member : Is there any particular paper that you use ? Mr. Castner: Yes sir. this particular paper is a paper manufactured at Holyoke, Massachusetts. It is a little heav- ier than the orange paper. That is the kind that we use most of out there. Now you see I have got that box full. A ^Member: Will the cover go on there now? Mr. Castner : Yes sir. We always pack the box full like that, and the cover will nail on, and as the box is made the bulge will make sufficient space so that those apples will not be h^'i-iised at all. A Member : What is the price of that standard box ? Mr. Castner : In the West it costs us about ten cents. I do not know what the price is here. Perhaps they are a little cheaper out there than they are here. I think they can be put up here for twelve or fourteen cents, maybe less. 1 know that Air, Marshall, of Massachusetts, gets them in car- load lots. A ]\Iember : Do you put them in those wrappers all the time ? ]\Ir. Castxf.r: Yes sir. After the box is filled then we 276 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAE SOCIETY. have the nailer, who presses the cover on and drives the nails down at the same time, and that is all there is to it. Mr. Castner's packing demonstration, which aroused con- siderable interest, continued until the close of the meeting. Members crowded about the stage and eagerly watched the operations of the expert, questioning him meanwhile as to the why and wherefore of his methods. These lessons in modern packing proved to be the most attractive feature of the meet- ing and Mr. Castner was complimented on his excellent work. No further business appearing and the program being completed, at five o'clock President Rogers declared the an- nual meeting of 1''12 adjourned sine die. TWENTY-flRST ANNUAL MEETING. 277 Report of the Special Committee on Fruit Exhibit, with List of Premiums and Awards. The following" schedule of premiums was offered for the Society's regular Winter Exhibit. The number of entries was large and the competition keen. SCHEDULE OF PREMIUMS. (Competition open only to members and for fruit grown in Connecticut). Class 1. For the largest and best display of fruit by a grower, $3.00 $1.50 Class 2. Best collection, five varieties. Market Apples 2.00 1.00 (The variety and condition of specimens both to be considered in making award). Class 3. Best collection, five varieties. Dessert Apples Zm 1.00 (Same to apply as above). Class 4. Best single plate following varieties, each, .50 .25 Baldwin, U. 1. Greening, Roxbury Bussett, King, Sutton, Peck's Pleasant, Wagener, Grimes, Nortl:ern Spy, Hubbardston, Westfield, Talman Sweet, Falla- water, Ben Davis, Mcintosh, Stark, and other worthy varieties not to exceed ten. Class 5. Best single plate Pears, each variety not to exceed 6 varieties, each, .... .50 .25 Class 6. l>est packed and most attractive package market apples, 2.00 1.00 Class 7. Best barrel of Apples, any variety, (va- riety' and packing to be considered^ . . . 10.00 Class 8. Best Standard box of Apples, any va- riety, (variety and packing to he considered), . . 6.(K) Class 9. Best barrel of each of the following va- rieties, S.OO 4.00 N. B.-— Five <;pfTiniens constitute a plate Gi.-ncial rules of the Society to govern in this extiibition. The Society 1 escrvc? the right to issue a life membership in lieu of rash premiums to any exhibitor whose awards amount to $10.00 or over. 278 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Baldwin, R. I. Greening, Roxbury Russett, North- ern Spy and King. Class 10. Best Standard Imx of each of the fol- lowing varieties, . . . . • . • $5.00 $3.00 Baldwin, R. I. Greening, Northern Spy, King, Mcintosh, Sutton, Wagener, Spitzenberg, Jonathan and Grimes Golden. Special Prize. Offered by W. & B. Douglas, Middletown, Conn., of Arlington Spray Pump Outfit (value $25) for Best Barrel Baldwin Apples grown in the State. Entries in Classes 7 and 9 not to compete for this special. The committee appointed to exatnine the exhibit of fruit report as follows : The plate exhibit is fully up to the standard of our win- ter shows and there are some very fine plates of the following varieties : Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, Northern Spy, Winter Banana, Canada Red, King, and Peck's Pleasant. There are several fine boxes of apples which show care- ful grading and packing of the fruit, and which show beyond doubt that the box is the best package for our fancy grade of apples, particularly vvheti we can grow and pack such boxes as those of Northern Spy, King, Rhode Island Greening and Baldwin shown here. The barrels shown are well backed and show good grading and selection, both as regards size and color, but tipon re- moving a part of the fruit, the same trouble that one always finds in the barrel pack is- very apparent, namely, the severe bruising of the fruit, which goes far to disprove the barrel pack for a fancy or even good grade of apple. Just a word in regard to exhibiting fruit. We have seen what the western fruit growers have done through exhibition, and we have seen what, in a smaller way, our own New Eng- land Fruit Show has done for the industry in the East, but the grower is apt to lose sight of the greater possibilities of the show, than the merely taking of prizes. Our aim in the exhibition of fruit should be largely to reach the consumer. The grower should look upon the show as a splendid adver- TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 279 tising medium, a place where the g^rower and consumer meet and get in touch with each other. To this end our shows of the future should be as free to the ]niblic as it is possible to make them ; the financial support should some from the state, and the fruit growers should insist that their legisla- tors grant them money enough to carry on the show so that there will be no paid admissions. Then there should be an abundance of good fruit to be given away, so that every per- son who visits the show should not only see the fruit, but test its quality. It will be only through the widest publicity that we can hope to get the attention of the public drawn toward our products, and there is no better medium for so doing, nor no cheaper way of doing it, than by good exhibi- tions. List of Awards. CLASS I. No Entries. CLASS IL Collection Five \*arieties Market Apples. First Premium to E. E. Brown, W'estland Farm, Pomfret.. $2.00 Second Premium to Julius L Ives, South Meriden LOO CLASS in. Collection Five Varieties Dessert Apples. First Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomfret 2.00 Second Premium to Julius I. Ives LOO CLASS IV. Single Plates of Apples. Baldivin. First Premium to H. E. Savage Sons. Berlin 50 Second Premium to E. Rogers, Southington 25 Rhode Island Greening. First Premium to \\'.. A. Stocking & Sons, Wheatogue 50 Second Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomfret .25 Roxbury Russet. First Premium to L. J. Grant Wapping 50 Second Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomfret 25 28o THE CONNECTICUT PQMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ■ King. First Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomtret '. . $.50 Second Premium to Elijah Rogers, Southington 25 Siiffflii Beatify. First Premium to A. J. Clark. Durham 50 Second Premium to F. B. Bailey, Durham 25 Peck's Pleasant. First Premium to L. H. Warncke, Cannon 50 Second Premium to E. C. Warner, Clintonville 25 Wagener. First Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin 50 Second Premium to G. 'W. Florian, Thomaston 25 Grimes. P'irst Premium to E. E. Brown,. Pomfret 50 Northern Spy. First Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomfret 50 Second Premium to E. Rogers, Southington .25 Hubbardston. First Premium to G. W. Florian, Thomaston .50 Westficld. Second Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin 25 ToUnan Sweet. Second Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin 25 Fallawatcr. First Premium to A. J. Clark, Durham 50 Second Premium to ft. C. Warner, Clintonville .25 Be]i Davis. First Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin .50 Second Premium to A. J. Clark, Durham .25 Mcintosh Red. First Premium to Thomas Griswold Co., Wethersfield 50 Second Premium to L. G. Grant, Wapping 25 Stark. First Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin 50 Second Premium to E. C. Roberts, Middletown 25 Fall Pippin. Second Premium to F. B. Bailey, Durham 25 Limbertwig. First Premium to Julius I. Ives. South Meriden 50 Second Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin 25 Yellozv Bellflower. Second Premium to W. A. Stocking & Sons, Weatogue 25 TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL M FAiTING. 2«1 Blue Fearmain. Second Premium to S. L. Tuttle, Wallingford $ .25 Gillifloiver. ■ First Premium to L. G. Grant, Wapping .50 Second Premium to Julius I. Ives. South Meriden .25 Spitsenberg. First Premium to A. J. Clark, Durham .50 Red Canada. First Premium to H. B. Buell, Eastford 50 Second Premium to S. P. Griswold, West Hartford 25 JVolf River. First Premium to L. G. Grant. Wapping .50 Rome Beauty. Second Premium to H. B. Buell, Eastford 25 York Imperial. First Premium to L. H. Warncke, Cannon .50 CLASS V. Single Plates Pears. Catillac. Second Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin .25 Anjou. First Premium to W. A. Stocking & Sons. Weatogue 50 CLASS VL No Entries. CLASS VIL Best Barrel Apples, Any Variety. First Premium to W. A. Stocking & Srms, \\'eatogue 10.00 CLASS VIII. Best Box Apples. Any Variety. First Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomfret 6.00 CLASS IX. Best Barrel Apples. Baldzi'iiis. First Premium to \V. A. Stocking tS: Sons, Weatogue 8.00 Second Premium to E. Rogers, Southington 4.00 282 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Rhode Island Greening. First Premium to W. A. Stocking & Sons, Weatogue $8.00^ Second Premium to H. E. Clark, Middlebury 4.00 Roxbury Russet. First Premium to H. E. Clark, Middlebury ■>. 8.00 CLASS X. Best Standard Box of Apples. Baldzvin. First Premium to E. Rogers, Southington 5.00 Second Premium to W. A, Stocking & Sons, Weatogue 3.00 Rhode Island Greening. First Premium to E. E. Brown, Pomfret 5.00 Second Premium to W. A. Stocking & Sons, Weatogue .... 3.00 * Northern Sfy. First premium to E. E. Brown. Pomfret 5.00' King. First Premium to E. Rogers, Southington 5.00 Bellflower. Second Premium to W.' A. Stocking & Sons, Weatogue . . . 3.00 Gilliflozver. Second Premium to W. A. Stocking & Sons, Weatogue 3.00 Douglas Special Prize for Best Barrel Baldwin Apples Grown in THE State. First Premium to H. E. Savage's Sons, Berlin. SPECIAL CLASSES. For Collection of New Varieties Apples. Honorable Mention, Joseph Albiston, Manchester. For Exhibit Cranberries. Honorable Mention, E. Haley, Mystic. For Exhibit Hickory Nuts. Honorable Mention, E. Schmidt, New Canaan. Wilfrid Wheeler, L. S. TennYj N. S. Platt, Committee of Awards. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 283 The Trade Exhibit. The display and demonstration exhibits of tools and sup- pHes for the fruit grower has become a very important fea- ture of all horticultural conventions. They often receive more attention from the visitors than even the exhibits of fruit. By means of them the fruit grower is enabled to study and compare the most up-to-date implements and sup- plies for spraying, cultivating, harvesting, packing, and sell- ing his fruit crops, and the manufacturer and dealer have come to realize that by displaying samples of their goods through these trade exhibits they can not only secure a large amount of business, but also come in touch with a great number of growers who will be future buyers. In short, it is the best medium of advertising for the least cost. Year by year the trade exhibit feature of our annual meetings has grown, until in 1912 it reached larger propor- tions than ever. The demand for space on the part of the manufacturers was very great, and the interest shown by all who attended the convention was really remarkable, amount- ing almost to a neglect of the other features of the meeting. The lower rooms in Unity Hall, which were devoted to the exhibits, were divided into spaces of various size and a rea- sonable charge made for the same, with the result that ev- ery inch of available room was occupied, making it evident that in the future larger accommodations will have to be found for this important feature. The displays were of a varied character, as the follow- ing partial list of the firms represented will show: 'Goulds Manufacturing Co., Boston, Massachusetts, Branch, spraying outfits. The Sherwin-Williams Co., Newark, New Jersey, insecticides and fungicides. Joiix S. TiLLEY , Watervliet, New York, ladders and picking devices. 284 THE CONNECTICUT POM O LOGICAL SOCIETY. GiiORGE L. Warncke & Co., Cannon, Connecticut, insecti- cides. GEOiRGE W. Callaway & Co., Hartford, Connecticut, spray pumps. The Frank S. Platt Co., New Haven, Connecticut, orchard and farm tools, spraying outfits and supplies, prun- ing implements, etc. BowKER Insecticide Co., Boston, Massachusetts, spray- ing supplies. Tice Frost & Bartlett Co., Stamford, Connecticut, ex- tensive display of spray pumps and supplies, insecticides and fungicides. Paul M. Hubbard & Co., Bristol, Connecticut, nursery stock. B. G. Pratt Co., New York City, insecticides and fungi- cides. Cutaway Harrow Co., Higganum, Connecticut, orchard and farm tools. W. & B. Douglas, Middletown, Connecticut, extensive display of spraying outfits and supplies. Grasselli Chemical Co., New York City, insecticides and fungicides. C. R. Burr & Co., Manchester, Connecticut, nursery stock. Clifford F. Brewer, East Hartford, Connecticut, spray pumps and farm tools. PIarvey Jewell, Cromwell, Connecticut, the Hardie spray pump. G. P. Read, New York City, fruit packages and packing supplies. Barnes Bros, Nursery Co., Yalesville, Connecticut, nur- sery stock. IIemingway's London Purple Co., New York, insecti- cides and fungicides. TWENTY -FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 285. Rrackett, Shaw <&: Lunt Co., Boston, Massachusetts, spraying outfits, entwines, etc. The Frost Ixsecticidiv Co., Arlington, Massachusetts, spraying supplies. Danburv Square Box Co., Danlmry, Connecticut, paper packages for apples. E. I. DuPoNT De Nemours Po\\'der Co., Wilminofton, Delaware, dynamite for tree planting. Cadwell & Jones, Hartford, Connecticut, spraying sup- plies, etc. F. E. BoARDAfAN, Middletown, Connecticut, pozver spray- ing outfits. 13ATEMAN AIanufacturing Co., Springfield, Massachu- setts, branch spraying outfits. Mechling Bros., Moorestown, New Jersey, lime-sulphur solution. E. W. Auckland, Hartford, Connecticut, farm tools. TO (U PART TWO A Brief Record of Field Meetings, Exhibitions, Institutes, Etc., Held in 1911. Summer Field Meetings, 1911. The Executive Committee of the Society met early in July at Savin Rock, on the shore, and besides enjoying- a fine shore dinner, considered and acted upon considerable business, especially in relation to the holding of the usual series of summer field meetings. Several invitations for meetings were received, but in view of the immense peach crop promised in the state, it was decided to concentrate the efforts of the Society on one big peach meeting, which would give the growers, fruit buyers and railroad officials an op- portunity to confer together for the satisfactory handling of the crop. It was estimated that the peach crop of 1912 would probably total about one hundred thousand baskets more than the big yields of the past year or two, which have reached one-half million baskets, and the importance to the grower of proper facilities for shipping and marketing the fruit was recognized by the committee. Accordingly the kind offer of W. A. Henry & Son to hold a field meeting at their WalHngford orchards was ac- cepted, and the following call was sent out for a 288 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Peach Field Meeting, August 9, 1911. FRUIT GROWERS' FIELD DAY. The Connecticut Pomological Society will hold A Big Field Meeting at W. A. Henry & Son's "Blue Hills" Farm Wallingford, Connecticut, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 1911. The Messrs. Henry cordiall}^ invite the members of the Pomo- logical Society and all interested fruit growers to visit their exten- sive fruit farm and orchards at Cook Hill, Wallingford, Wednesday, the ninth. Their orchards are among the best and most promising in Connecticut and are well worth a visit by every fruit grower in the state. Blue Hills farm is finely located on the range of hills lying be- tween Wallingford and Hamden, two and one-half miles from Wal- lingford ; comprises some three hundred acres, one hundred of which are already planted to orchard fruits.. In 1904 the Henrys, coming to Connecticut from Wisconsin, and seeing the possibilities in New England soil, purchased three hun- dred acres of neglected land and in six years have developed, from brush land and woods, a wonderfully promising fruit farm. There are some fifty acres in peach orchards, which promise this season a yield of about fifteen thousand baskets ; also fifty acres of young apple trees, just coming into bearing, besides orchards of sweet and sour cherries, pears, quinces, etc. The visitor will see illustrations of thick planting of peaches, new ideas in pruning, cultivation and spraying, and in every depart- ment of this farm, modern methods of managing a plant wholly de- voted to fruit growing. Don't miss the opportunity afforded by this splendid meeting to. visit one of the finest orchards in the best peach section of the state ! The gathering will be made especially a Great Peach and Field Meeting ! and the harvesting, shipping, and marketing of this season's peach crop will receive special attention. Many fruit buyers and commission men frqni all the large mar- kets will he on hand, and representatives of the New York, New ANNUAL REPORT. 289 Haven and Hartford Railroad ivill be present to confer ivilh the grozvers on shipping and marketing business. No wide-awake peach grower can afford to miss this meeting ! After a tour of the orchards, dinner on the basket-picnic plan at twelve-thirty, at the Henry homestead. Lemonade and dishes fur- nished by the host, but each visitor must provide his own lunch. A fine program of speaking and discussion after lunch. Special Feature ! A demonstration of the use of dynamite for removmg stumps and rocks and clearing land for tree planting will be given by the DuPont Powder Company, of Wilmington, Delaware. Demonstra- tion on the Henry farm at two-thirty p. m. Don't fail to see this wonderful work ! In the Cook Hill district of Wallingford are located many splen- did peach orchards and fruit farms. Don't fail to come ! Lots to see ! Plenty to learn ! And a great meeting to enjoy and profit by!! Plan now to attend! Bring the ladies ! ! Fine weather, a very large attendance, an interesting program and wonderfully fine orchards to see and study and admire all combined to make the meeting a success. A dozen busses, automobiles and auto trucks were re- quired to transport the large crowd of visitors from the rail- road station in A^'allingford to the farm, and after lunch when the company gathered for the speaking on the lawn in front of the Henry home, between four hundred and five hundred were present. A picture of the gathering is shown on Plate V. President Rogers called the meeting to order and intro- duced Professor W. A. Henry, the senior member of the fruit farm firm, wdio extended a cordial welcome to the vis- itors, and gave an interesting account of how he and his son were led to come to Connecticut and engage in fruit grow- ing. Referring to their success in orcharding, he said hun- dreds of other growers are doing as well, and hundreds more might do as well if they will only give their soil and crops the proper treatment. The soil at P)lue Hills Farm is not rich, but it is of easy culture and responds well to the right methods. Connecticut fruit 2:rowers have the soil, the cli- 2C)0 THE CONNECTICUT PO MO LOGICAL SOCIETY. mate, the markets and cheap transportation ; coui>le these Avith faith in your business and you will succeed. j\Ir. J. H. Hale responded to this welcome in behalf of the Society, and took occasion, in his characteristic w-ay, to praise the work of the Henrys and the splendid orchards they have built up, on what a few \ears ago was worn out brush land. Mr. Hale spoke of the big peach crop soon to be har- vested and the need of co-operation with the railroads, in or- der to distribute the fruit to the best advantage. He added that an effort would be made to send Connecticut peaches to the great New York city market this year, and this should prove a profitable outlet in seasons of heavy crops. The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad people had promised to do all they could to bring about this result. Announcements concerning the coming New England Fruit Show were made by Mr. C. L. Gold, Connecticut vice- president of the show^ and then Mr. A. T. Henry, the young host of the occasion, was called upon to tell the company about the fruit farm and the methods in use in the orchard- ing operations. Mr. Henry laid special stress on the impor- tance of cover crops in the orchard and the plowing under of clover and other humus-making plants. After the speech making, the attention of the visitors was centered upon the dynamite demonstrations, which were carried out on a distant part of the farm, and showing the use of dynamite in blowing- out stumps and rock and clear- ing land for tree planting. A further visit to the orchards, where in the peach sec- tion some superb Greensboro peaches were being picked, many business conferences between the fruit buyers and the growers present, and a discussion of peach shipping ar- rangements with the railroad officials, and last, but not least, a social good time for the members and their friends round- ed out a day of great profit and pleasure, and as a "peach field dav" one lon^- to be remembered. ANNUAL REPORT. 291 It was intended to follow the peach meeting with other field days in August and September, but the busy days of the peach picking season coming- on and the numerous fairs and exhibitions during- September, led the officers of the So- ciety to give up the plan, and instead the attention of all was directed toward the preparations for the fall exhibitions and the bigger event — the Xew England Fvuh Show in ( )cto1)er. Exhibitions of 1911. During the year 1911 the Society undertook and carried out successfull}' a larger number of fruit exhibitions than in any previous year. These various shows were not only sources of profit, but proved of immense good in directing attention to the possibilities of profitable fruit culture in Con- necticut. The details of the exhibitions have already been given in the report of the Exhibitions Committee, and it is only neces- sary to add here a general summary of the work incident to arranging for and carrying out the different exhibitions. The following circular was issued during the summer, calling attention to the fall shows and urging the fruit grow- ers to co-operate in their support of the undertaking, which they did most heartily. The Fall Fruit Exhibitions. Secretary's Office, Milford, August 18, 1911. Fellow Members: The officers of the Society wish to call your special attention at this time to several coming events of importance to our members, as well as all Connecticut fruit growers, and solicit your support of the Society's work in connection therewith. The Connecticut Fair at Hartford. Charter Oak Park, September fourth to ninth. — We have accepted an offer to make a display of peaches at this fair and desire the co-operation of all peach growers who have choice, fruit for exhibition. Our show at this fair last year was a great success. This year we want to make it even larger 292 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. and better. The exhibit is not for competition, and we will pay growers market prices for choice fruit, and the grower's name will appear in the exhibit. The earlier varieties are to be put in cold storage at once, and during the fair we want fresh fruit sent in each day. Fruit should be wrapped and packed in six-basket car- riers, or in peach baskets if sent direct to the Fair. If you are too busy to get the fruit ready, notify the Secretary, and someone will be sent to pack and ship the fruit. The Hartford Cold Storage Company, Hartford. Connecticut, are ready to store any exhibition fruit. Always ship by express. The Society will pay expressage. Let us know at once if we can depend on you for some choice peaches. Also, we urge you to send some fruit to Charter Oak to compete for premiums, which are very liberal. The premium list has been sent you. It will pay you to make an exhibit. But don't forget that the Society wants to make a splendid peach show, that will be creditable to the whole state. Will you help? Our Fourteenth Annual Fall Exhibition will be held at Berlin, September twenty-sixth to twenty-ninth, in connection with the State Fair. Every member should plan now to make an exhibit at Berlin. There will be large premiums and several special prizes to compete for. Premium list will be issued early in September. The Berlin Fair expects us to make a great show. Be sure and exhibit at least a few plates of your best fruit, and don't fail to attend. The Danbury Fair, October second to seventh. This big fair has proposed to our Society to make an exhibit of fruit, and we have accepted. It will not be for competition, but intended as an educa- tional feature and to demonstrate what Connecticut is producing in the way of fine fruits. At least seventy-five boxes of apples will be needed, as well as other seasonable fruits. All growers who will contribute exhibition fruit or have the same for sale are requested to correspond with the Secretary, and arrangements will be made to pack and ship the same. We want a representative exhibit and it offers a fine chance to advertise your fruit. The Danbury premium list will be mailed you. Better decide to send some fruit for com- petition. New England Fruit Show at Boston, October twenty- fourth to twenty-eighth. Last and greatest of all the fall shows will be the one at Boston, and for which our state is pledged to provide a big fruit display — the very best possible to make this season. Mr. Charles L. Gold, West Cornwall, Connecticut, is in charge of the Plate V. Peach Growers' Field Day at W. A. Henry & Son's Blue Hill's Farm, Wallingford, August 9, 1911. A Few of " The Men Behind " the Connecticut Exhibit at Boston — New England Fruit Show, 1911. ANNUAL REPORT. 293 state cxhiljil and will be glad to hear from anyone having fruit suit- able for this exhibition. Much of the display will comprise fruit packed for market, requiring some two hundred boxes and forty barrels of apples, and the Society will he prepared to purchase first- class commercial fruit. Let us know what you will have of differ- ent varieties, and directions will be sent you about packing, shipping and storing. Connecticut growers are especially urged to make individual ex- hibits and compete for some of the splendid prizes offered. Don't fail to plan for this. The premium list of the show will be sent out in a few days — all our members will receive a copy. Now the responsibility for a creditable display from our state rests upon the growers themselves. Every grower of good fruit should be represented by at least one entry, and every grower should realize the unusual opportunity that is offered to achieve a reputa- tion for his products and for the state. We want Connecticut to be at the head of the list, as she was at the Show two years ago, and she can be if the fruit growers will respond unanimously and do their best. We shall count on each grower to co-operate with the Society in all of these shows, and trust YOU will let us hear from YOU. Yours truly, H. C. C. Miles, Secretary. 294 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The Fourteenth Annual Exhibition of Fruits. Held at Berlin, September 26-29, 1911. Class 1. Class 2. Class 3. Class 4. Class 5. Class 6. Class 7. Class 8. Class 9. Class 10. Class 11. Clas sche:dule of premiums offered. First Division— Collections. Best general collection of fruits by grower, of which not more than two-thirds to Ix' of apples. See Rule 7 $10.00 Best collection, 15 varieties of ap- ples 5.00 Best collection, 10 varieties of ap- ples 3.00 Best collection, 8 varieties of ap- ples, for general purposes 2 00 Best Collection, 5 varieties of ap- ples, for market use.* Special prize, Spraj-ing Outfit offered by W. & B. Douglas Best collection, 12 varieties of pears 5.00 Best collection, 6 varieties of pears . . 2.00 Best collection, 12 varieties of grapes 5.00 Best collection, 6 varieties of grapes 2.00 Best collection, 10 varieties of peaches 5.00 Best collection, 6 varieties of peaches 3.00 Second Division — Single Plates. Best single plates of following varie- ties of apples, each $2.00 $1.00 Baldwin, Fall Pippin, Gravenstein, King, Mcin- tosh, Northern Spy, R. I. Greening, Roxbury Rus- sett. Wealthy, Wagener. Best single plates of following varie- ties of apples, each $100 $ .50 Ben Davis, Belleflower, Black Gilliflower, Che- nango, Cogswell, Delicious, Esopus, Fallowater, Fameuse, Golden Sweet. Stark, Green-Sweet, Grimes, Hubbardston, Hurlbut, Jonathan, Lady, Maiden Blush, Newtown Pippin, Oldenburg, Peck's Pleasant, Pound Sweet, Porter, Red Astrachan, Rome Beauty, Red Canada. ShiaVnassee, Sutton, Twenty Ounce, Westfield, Williams, Wolf River, Hyslop and Transcendent Crabs, and for other va- rieties not to exceed ten. $5.00 $3.00 2.50 1.00 1.50 .75 1.00 .50 2.00 1.00 2.50 1.00 1.00 .50 2.50 1.00 1.00 .50 2.50 1.00 1.00 .50 $ .50 $ .25 * This class is intended to draw out the growers' ideas of value of varieties. In making the award this will be considered as well as the condition of the speci- mens shown. ANNUAL REPORT. 295 Class 2. Best single plates of following varie- ties of pears, each $2.00 $1.00 $ .50 Anjou, Bartlett, Bose, Clapp's Favorite, Clair- geau, Louise Bonne. Lawrence, Seckel, Sheldon, Kei lifer. Best single plate of following varie- ties of pears, each $1.00 $ .50 $ .25 Angouleme Diel, Onondaga, Lucrative, Boussock, Buffum, Howell, Flemish Beautj^, Mt. Vernon, Eas- ter Beurre, Le Conte, Nelis, and for other tvorthy varieties not to exceed ten. Class 3. Best single plate of following varie- ties of grapes, each $2.00 $1.00 $ .50 Brighton, Concord, Delaware, Moore's Early, Ni- agara, Worden. Best single plate of following varie- ties of grapes, each $1.00 $ .50 $ .25 Eaton, Hartford, Isabella, Wilder. Agawam, Diana, Diamond, Jefferson, Campbell's Early, Clinton, Green Mountain, Catawba, Lindley, Salem. Empire State, Martha, Pocklington. Of other varieties not to exceed ten. Class 4. Peaches and plums, each valuable va- riety $1.00 $.50 $.25 Class 5. Quince, each valuable variety 1.00 .50 .25 Class 6. Grapes grown under glass, one bunch each variety 1.00 .75 .50 Class 7. Cranberries, best exhibit, anv vari- ety ■ 2.00 1.00 Third Division — C.\xxed Fruits, Jellies, Etc. For Table Use. (Wives and daughters of members may compete in this division with- out payment of any membership fee). Class L Best collection canned fruit, 15 va- rieties $8.00 $4.00 $2.C0 Class 2. Best collection canned fruit, 8 vari- eties 4.00 2.00 L(0 Qass 3. Best collection canned berries, 6 va- rieties. See Rule 8 3.00 2.00 LOO Class 4. Best collection pickles, 6 kinds, one quart each 3.00 2.00 1.00 Class 5. Best collection jellies. 6 kinds 3.00 2.00 1.00 Class 6. Best single can of the following fruits 75 .50 .50 Strawberries. Blackberries. Black and Red Rasp- berries. Currants. Gooseberries, Huckleberries, Cran- berries, Grapes, Pears, Yellow and White Peaches, Apples, Quinces, Crab Apples, Cherries, Pineapples, European Plums, and Japan Plums. (See Rule 8). Class 7. Best single jar jelly, made from above named fruits .75 .50 .25 296 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Class 8. Best sample unfermented fruit juice, each kind, not to exceed six $ .75 $ .50 $ .25 Fourth Division— Packed Fruits. Class 1. Best packed barrel choice market ap- ples. Special prize, Arlington Sprav Pump Outfit, ottered by W. & B. Douglas. Class 2. Best box choice apples 2.00 1.00 .50 Class 3 Best 3 boxes choice apples of any ^ varieties. Special prize, Silver Cup, offered by B. G. Pratt Co. (See Note). Class 4. Best standard basket choice peaches 2.00 1.00 .50 Class 5. Best peck basket choice peaches .... 1.00 .50 .25 Class 6. Best package choice grapes 1.00 .50 .25 Class 7. Best package of apples, pears, peaches. or plums, of not over one peck, and of convenient size for buyer to carry* 2.00 1.00 .50 FitTH Division — Nuts, Etc. Class 1. Best specimen anv varietv of cultivat- ed nuts " .' $.100 $ .50 $ .25 Class 2. Best sample of native nuts, any kind 1.00 .50 .25 Class 3. Best collection native nuts, made by boy or girl and correctly named, not less than one-half pint each kind (ex- hibitors in this class not required to be members of the Society) 2.00 1.00 .50 Class 4 Best arranged table piece of home- grown fruits 2.00 1.00 .50 Class 5. Articles not classified, for which dis- cretionary premiums may be awarded IMPORT.\NT INFORMATION— READ CAREFULLY. Exhibitors are requested to bring or send their Exhibits as early as possible. Committee will be in atendance and have tables ready on Monda,y, September 25. Fruit for exhibition may be sent bj^ express to the Society at Berlin, care of the Secretary, to arrive either on Monday or Tues- day. Express charges will be paid by the Society and deducted from your premiums when awarded. Exhibitors should carefully zvrap and pack all fruit and put their names and addresses on all packages. Also carefully label each variety. BE SURE AND HAVE YOUR FRUITS ON HAND EARLY. * This is intended to draw out the growers' ideas of an ideal package in size and shape to be easily carried by consumers. Note. This przie cup is again offered under the same terms as last year. It was awarded in 1910 to Conyers Farm. Greenwich. It must be won twice by the same exhibitor before it becomes his property. ANNUAL REPORT. 297 RULES OF THE EXHIBITION. Rule 1. All exhibits must be received for entry not later than 2 p. m. Tuesda}', September, 26, and must be in place by 6 p. m., as judg- ing will begin promptly on opening of second day — Wednesday. (This rule will be strictly enforced). 2. Entries of collections in hirst and Third Divisions should be made with the Secretary on or before Saturday, September 23, using enclosed entry blank for the purpose, that proper room may be pro- vided. 3 All articles entered except in Fifth Division, must be grown or prepared by the exhibitor. 4. All fruits shall be correctly labeled ( if possible) and except grapes and crab apples, live specimens, neither more nor less, shall make a plate, either single or in collection. Of crab apples ten specimens, and of grapes three bunches, shall make a plate, except where noted. The collections also shall eml)race just the required number of plates. 5. No exhibitor shall make more than one entry for the same premium,, nor enter the same plate for more than one premium. 6. 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. 7. Entries in Division 1, Class 1, must not contain over two- thirds apples, or over one-fourth of any single class of fruit. 8. Entries of different kinds of Canned Fruit must be self-evi- dent; that is, separate varieties of "red raspberries" or "yellow peach- es" will not be considered as distinct kinds. Cans to be opened for sampling at the discretion of the judges. 9. Lists of varieties in all collections must be made and placed with entry card on collection. 10. As the object of the Society is to encourage the growth of fruits of fine quality, wormy or diseased specimens or those infested with San Jose Scale will not be allowed to compete. n. Competition is open and premiums will be awarded to mem- bers of the Society only (except as noted in Third Division) and for fruits grown within the State of Connecticut. 12. No exhibit shall be removed without the consent of the com- mittee until the close of the meeting. Exhibitors are requested to state whether the fruit is to be returned to them, or donated to the So- ciety. SPECIAL FEATURES. DisPL.w OF Spraying Machinery and Supplies. Fruit Packages, ETC.j ETC. Manufacturers and dealers will be given freely space to exhibit Spraying Apparatus and Supplies of every description. A splendid chance will be afforded to show the machines in actual operation and reach the Connecticut farmer and fruit-grower, who are looking for the best spray goods on the market. During the exhibition there will be demonstrations of Spray Pumps and Spraying Mixtures, and the preparation and use of the latest remedies for insects and diseases. The myst approved pack- 298 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ages and best methods of packing fruits for market and shipment will also be shown. SEE THESE EXHIBITS AND GAIN NEW IDEAS. The above constituted the Hst of prizes as revised for the Fourteenth Annual Exhibition, held with the State Fair at Berlin. Despite much rainy Vveather during the fair week, the exhibition was successfully carried out, and while the number of exhibits was about the same as in previous years, the qual- ity and grade of the fruit displayed showed decided improve- ment. The apples were some of the finest ever shown in the state, and the peach display was also noteworthy. These an- nual exhibitions have educated growers in the production of better fruit, and also how to select perfect specimens of each variety for exhibition purposes. A knowledg^e of varieties and their comparative value is one of the most valuable lessons taught by these shows, and we only wish that more of our growers would recognize the benefit they might derive by par- ticipating in the competition. It would surely be worth to them a hundred times what it costs in time and money. The display of fruits packed for market was better than usual, particularly the boxed apples from Conyers Farm, which was again awarded and is now the owner of the special Scalecide Cup. The exhibits were judged bv Prof. S. T. Maynard of Massachusetts, and the canned fruits by Air. W. P. Robert- son of Hartford. An excellent photograph of the interior of the exhibition tent is reproduced in Plate VI. Plate VI. A View Inside the Exhibition Tent. Apples Packed in Boxes Competing for the Special Cup Prize. THE SOCIETY'S 14th ANNUAL EXHIBITION, BERLIN FAIR, SEPT. 1911. ANNUAL REPORT. 299 Institute Work in 1911. As has already been mentioned in the annual report of the Secretary, the Pomological Society is still a factor in the Farmers' Institute work of the state, and pomological insti- tutes continue to be a prominent feature of the Society's edu- cational work. During the winter of 1910 and again in 1911 the So- ciety- joined in its institute work with other state organiza- tions under the leadership of an Advisory Board, resulting in the holding of a larger number of joint institutes and fewer institutes devoted entirely to fruit growing interests. However, during 1911 there were held six pomological insti- tutes, and conducted by the Society. These were held bv in- vitation of the Granges in the following towns : East Had- dam, February 17. 1911; Bristol, March 3; Woodbridge, 3klarch 10; Griswold, March 14; Milford, March 21; and New Canaan, March 23. These were all well attended and full of interest and enthusiasm, showing the desire on tlio part of the farmers of the state for meetings of this kind. A specimen program is given herewith, as showing what was offered farmers and fruit growers through the Institute. The Society was called upon through. the year to supply speakers on fruit culture for institutes of the other state or- ganizations and for meetings of the Granges and for V. M. C A. lecture courses, etc., and this is becoming a very impor- tant part of the Society's work of instructing the people of the state along the lines of profitable fruit growing. In this connection, six speakers were furnished for the course of lectures on fruit growing arranged by the Hartford Y. M. C. A. Association, which was a decided innovation and a very successful one. Thus the efforts of the Society in an educational wav are extending vear bv vear. 300 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. FARMERS' INSTITUTE at Bristol. Connecticut, March 3, 1911 by invitation of Bristol Grange No. 116 The Connecticut Pomological Society. will hold an All-Day Institute in Knights of Pythias Hall, Bristol, Connecticut, Friday, March 3rd, 1911. The Institute is Free to All. A Meeting for the Discussion of Practical Farm Topics by Experi- enced and Up-to-date Speakers. Everyone interested in better fruit growing, poultry keeping and farm management are cordially invited to attend. Program. Morning Session at 10 :00 O'Clock. Address of Welcome Judge B. A. Peck Response . . E. Rogers, Southington, President Pomological Society Address, "Business Methods in the Management of our Farms," Mr. F. H. Stadt MUELLER, Elmwood Address, "The Renovation of the Neglected Apple Orchard," Prof. C. D. Jarvts. Storrs Experiment Station Recess. Dinner will be served by the Grange. Afternoon Session at 2 O'Clock. Music. Address, "Poultry Keeping for Pleasure and Profit," Geo. a. Cosgrove, Willington For the State Poultry Association Address, "The Farmer's Fruit and Vegetable Garden," T. H. Putnam. Litchfield Discussion and Questions Following Each Address. A question box will be open to receive inquiries on any farm topics to be discussed as time permits. This will be made a promi- nent feature of the meeting; all are urged to bring questions and ])articipate in the discussion. ANNUAL REPORT. 301 The New England Fruit Show of 1911. The second of the New England lliennial Fruit Shows was again held in Horticultural Hall, Boston, October 23rd to 28th, and was an even greater success than the first one, and was especially notable in the progress and improvement shown in fruit production in the New England states. A wonderful improvement was seen in every department of the show, re- sulting from the awakened interest in fruit growing all over the Xew England states, thus proving the great educational value of these exhibitions. Reference to the show has already been made in the va- rious reports submitted at our last annual meeting, but we would like to give a more extended account here did space permit. We can only refer briefly to the part that the state of Connecticut, and also the Pomological Societ\', played in the 1911 show. With the help of the special state appropriation it was possible to canvas the fruit farms of the state pretty thorough- ly and secure for the state exhibit the finest fruit grown in 1911, which was not a very favorable season, especially for apples. This preparatory work extended over many weeks in advance of the show and entailed a vast amount of work on the part of those in charge of the Connecticut exhibit, which was under the management of Vice-President C L. Gold. jMuch of the fruit for exhibit was stored at the plant of the Hartford Cold Storage Co., and was there sorted and packed by an expert packer and a special car loaded for Boston. The chief interest in the 1911 show centered about the competitive state exhibits, in which the rivalry was extremely keen. The various state displays occupied the two sides of the main hall. In this exhibit the New England States were well represented. Each state exhibit consisted of one hundred boxes and twenty barrels. The boxes were massed in uniform tiers reaching nearly to the ceiling. In the foreground stood 302 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. the barrels. The chief considerations in awarding the prizes were the quality of the fruit, packing and general arrangement. The much coveted interstate prize of $100 and a gold medal was captured by New Hampshire. Massachusetts won the second prize in the interstate com- petition, $50 and a silver medal. Connecticut was third in the interstate competition, win- ning the prize of $25 and a bronze medal. As we have inti- mated, the Connecticut exhibit was considerably handicapped because of the great number of varieties represented, twenty- two in all, consisting of Greening, Baldwin, Gilliflower, Rox- bury Russet, Sutton, Fall Pippin, Winesap, Cooper's Market, Pewaukee, Mcintosh, Spy, Hubbardston, Ben Davis, Hurl- but, Spitzenberg, Stark, Tolman Sweet, Pound Sweet, Baker, Gravenstein, Grimes' Golden and King. Fifteen growers were represented in the exhibit ; hence there was more or less diffi- culty in making the various packs uniform. The uniform blood-red color of the red varieties in the New Hampshire and Massachusetts exhibits was not quite so pronounced in the Connecticut exhibit, although they were apples of very high quality. The Greenings in the Connecticut exhibit were surpassed only by those in the Rhode Island exhibit. Connecticut beat out the states of Maine and Rhode Isl- and, which was greatly to our credit, and to have taken third place in this year's show was a far greater honor than to have won first place two years ago, so great has been the progress in apple culture the past two years. In fact, the show two years ago was a countrv fair in comparison with the show this year, so different was the quality, color, size, uniformity, con- formation, packing, etc. Even if Connecticut did fail to win first place with her state exhibit, her individual growers, whose splendid fruit was in evidence in every department of the show, won their full share of prizes, as the long list of awards at the end of this article will show. It was demonstrated be- yond question that in the production of the highest grade of fruits that can be produced. Connecticut need take no second oa 03 ANNUAL REPORT. 303 place in competition with other eastern states. The superb apples shown by such growers as Conyers Farm, Elijah Rog- ers, and Westland Farm (to mention onlv a few) proves the truth of this statement. This account would not be complete without some mention of the beautiful fruit display that was attractively stag-ed b\ the romological Society as a special exhibit. Commenting on the special dis])lays. the Couiiccficiif Farmer said : In the main exhibition hall were two other exhibits that must m/. be overlooked in our account of the show. The first one confronted the visitor as he entered the hall. It was the exhibit of the Connecti- cut Pomological Society, which was the only thing of its kind in the show, and because of its largeness and attractiveness elicited much praise. In the center stood a pyramid of peaches — peaches the last week in October. Arranged about the pyramid were boxes, plates and baskets containing apples, pears, grapes, quinces, crab apples and cran- berries. The display was awarded the silver medal for the best ex- hibit of all varieties of fruit. At the right of the door as one entered the main hall was sta- tioned the splendid exhibit of the Connecicut Agricultural College, containing one hundred and three plates and several boxes of apples, pears, grapes and crab apples, all of which were grown at the college. Clusters of grapes were fashioned into a monogram bearing the letters C. A. C. All in all, the exhibit was worthy of the institution and re- flected great credit upon those who had it in charge. The Fruit Show was attended by a large number of Con- necticut people, many remaining for the entire week and em- bracing the splendid opportunity to study and profit by the many and varied features of the greatest fruit show yet held in New England. List of Awards to Connecticut Exhibitors. ■Conyers Farm, Greenwich (G. A. Drew, ^Manager ) : . Apple Shippers' Association cup for best exhiliit apples packed for market. First for best collection, 10 varieties apples. Second for best collection, 5 varieties apples. 304 T^l"- CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Sweepstakes for best box of apples in entire show. (R. I. Green- ings.) First for best 5 boxes of apples. Berlin Prize for best plate exhibit of Connecticut-grown apples. First on plate of Hubbardston apples. First on plate of Roxbnry Russett. Third on plate of \\'ealthy. Second on plate of Fall Pippin. Second on plate of Sutton. Third on plate of Golden Russett. First on plate of Grimes. First on plate of Mother. First on plate of Newtown Pippin. First on plate of Porter. First on plate of Baker. Second on plate of Pewaukee. E. Rogers, Southington : Douglass Prize of $25.00 for best barrel of King apples. ■ First on best barrel Greening apples. Westlancl Farm, Pomfret ( E. E. Brown, Manager) : Fourth prize on best collection. 10 varieties apples. Third on best box R. 1. Greening apples. Fourth on plate of R. I. Greening apples. Second on plate of Williams' Favorite. Second on plate of Gilliflower. Third on plate of Chenango. Third on plate of Grimes. Third on plate of Newtown Pippin. Waveny Farm, New Canaan : Second on plate of Roxbury Russett. Second on Plate of Peck's Pleasant. Mrs. C. D. Wiggin, Mystic: Fourth on plate of Roxbury Russett. Second on plate of Winesap. H. H. Mason, Farmington : Fifth on plate of R. F Greenings. H. B. Buell, Eastford : First on plate of Red Canada. ANNUAL REPORT. E. E. Bucklin, Mystic : Third on plate of Wagener. Third on plate of Winesap. W. F. Beaupain, South Norwalk: First on plate of Chenango. Third on plate of Winesap. Third on plate of Bosc pears. G. F. Piatt & Son, Mil ford: Third on plate of Hurlbut. K M. Ives, Meriden: Second on plate of Newtown Pippin. First on plate of Milding. Third on plate of Spitzenberg. Third on plate of Twenty Ounce. Third on plate of Quinces. L. H. Warncke, Cannon. First on plate of Lady. First on plate of Peck's Pleasant. L. J. Grant, Wapping : Third on plate of Westtield. N. S. Piatt, Xew Haven : First on plate of Elberta peaches. T. H. & L. C. Root, r^armington : First on plate of Late Crawford peaches. Three prizes on additional varieties of peaches. 305 3o6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY A Report on Co-operation. Being the Report of a Special Committee Made to a Conference of New England Fruit Growers, at Worcester, Mass., March, 1912. If I correctly understand the duty of this committee, it was intended that we should investigate and report upon the advisability of co-operative selling of the products of New England orchards. Some of the advantages of such selling that have come to our attention in studying the subject are as follows: First, By advertising, to encourage the use of fruit and educate the public regarding its value as a staple article of diet, and so increase consumption to keep pace with in- creased production. Second, By advertising, to acquaint the public with the superior quality of New England-grown fruit, and thus hold our own markets against the much-vaunted products of the West. Third, To satisfy this stimulated demand with uniform packages of standard grades of quality, that the market can depend upon to be as represented. Fourth, To more evenly distribute the fruit, so that all markets would be supplied at all times and yet all glutts avoided. Fifth, Properly worked, this should be to the advantage of the consumer as well as to the producer. It would prevent wastes, give better goods of guaranteed quality, and by re- ducing the cost of distribution, should lower the cost to the consumer without reducing the profits of the producer. This should increase consumption to the advantage of all. Some of the requirements fur the successful working out of the plan are : ANNUAL REPORT. 307 A larpfe amount of fine fruit, of uniform quality and de- sirable varieties. A sufficient nunnber of orchards located near a suitable central packing station. An organization strong enough to command the respect and confidence of producers, dealers and consumers alike. Last, but by no means least, regenerated Yankee farm- ers who will throw over their conservatism, forget all their inborn traits of Yankee independence and love of barter, re- pudiate all the traditions that have made their race famous, and stand ready to pool their interests and sacrifice their in- dividuality for the good of the producers as a whole. It appears to be the unanimous opinion of those we have consulted, that we must come to the point of adopting some form of co-operative selling- of our orchard products in the future, but that the time is not yet quite ripe. At the present rate of increased apple planting, and the rapid adoption of better methods of growing and handling New England fruit, the first objections will soon be overcome. We are not, however, yet ready to prophesy as to the time required to overcome the last objection. The Connecticut Pomological Societv has appointed a committee to make a survey of the orchards and a census of the fruit products of that state, and we would suggest that if this could l)e done in all of the New England states we would have a much better understanding of the possibilities before us. We believe, however, that the time has alreadv arrived when co-operative buying can be made of great advantage to all our members. Fertilizers, machinery, spray materials, etc., can be purchased at a saving, thus reducing the cost of production. There are now farmers' co-operative asso- ciations at work through other organizations with which ev- ery fruit grower can g'et in touch, and we recommend that you investigate the opportunity they afford, for the following reasons : 3o8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. This co-operative buying will effect a substantial re- duction in cost of production without sacrificing their indi- viduality as growers. It will be better to make use of and strengthen exist- ing agencies rather than to start competitive ones. Admit- ting they have made mistakes, it is only by correcting our mistakes that we advance in anything. We may thus become accustomed to co-operation, to pooling our interests, to the methods of organization neces- sary for its success, and when the time seems ripe, for the co-operating in selling our fruit; if we find our purchasing agency is not suited for this purpose, we should then be prepared, Avith the experience gained, to form an organiza- tion that, from the start, will fulfil successfully all the func- tions that we believe such an organized movement capable of, in the co-operative selling; of our New England fruits. J. H. Putnam, Chairman. ANNUAL REPORT. 309 NECROLOGY. As the years of the Society's life multijtly, and more extended fields for usefuhiess develop and new members are added to the organization, we are forced to realize that the ranks of our older members are rapidly thinnint^-. More and more frequently the hand of death is laid up/on us and some beloved friend and fellow worker is called to his last reward. While we know that this is in keeping with Na- ture's plan and is only the evidence of an All-wise Father's love and wisdom, yet the breaking of the earthly bonds is keenlv felt and our hearts go out in sympathy to those near and dear to the loved ones who have been called aw^ay. In these remaining pages of the Annual Report we de- sire to record with loving memory the death of the follow- ing members during the past year : Cornelius Ani;re\\s, of Xcw Britain, who died in September, 1911. at an advanced age. had been a member of the Society for many years and deeply interested in its wel- fare. He was a prominent farmer and an extensive dairy- man in his town, a devoted member of the Grange and a good citizen. He will be greatlv missed. Adin a. HixoiN. of Worcester. Massachusetts, died September twenty-fifth, 1911. Air. Hixon was a member of our Society at the time of his death, but was perhaps better known in his connection with Alassachusetts horticulture, having been secretary of the famous Worcester County Hor- itcultural Society for a long period of years. He was en- thusiastic in his love for flowers and fruits and had had a life-long experience in horticullural affairs in his state. 3IO THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Arthur F. Clark, of Higganum, who passed away af- ter a serious operation in the fall of 1911, was well known to the farmers of Connecticut, having been connected with the Cutaway Harrow Company for many years. He was a member of the Society of long standing, and was highly re- spected by all who knew him. Orson S. Wood, of Ellington, died suddenly in Novem- ber, 1911. Mr. Wood although not especially engaged in fruit culture was an interested member of the Society and had its welfare at heart. He was widely known and prominent in agri- cultural affairs in this state because of his connection with the Grange for many years. He had served as ]\Iaster of the Connecticut State Grange and in other official positions and at the time of his death was one of the state Executive Committee. Mr. Wood was a college graduate and all his life was deeply interested in educational matters, both in his home town and throughout the state. He was extensively engaged in farming and tobacco raising at Ellington. A man of strong character, his counsel and leadership will be greatly missed in the larsre circle in which he lived and worked. J. H. Merriman, of Southinciton, passed away after a long illness December twenty-fourth, 1911. In the death of Mr. Merriman the Society loses one of its oldest and best members, one who we all remember for his earnest support of the organization and his genial ways and deep love for everything pertaining to fruits. Up to a few years ago. when he was stricken in health, Mr. Alerriman was an enthusiastic worker in the Society. He was one of the original charter members and served as President of the Society in 1*^00. He was a firm believer in organization for farmers and contri- buted freely of his time and talents for their benefit. No man in the state was more fond of the culture of fruits, and ANNUAL REPORT. 3'1 the fine orchards that he planted remain a monument to his skill and industry. He was possessed of a kindl\ nature and a mind richly stored with wit and wisdom. He will be missed by a large circle of friends and fellow fruit growers. The following- sketch of Mr. Merriman's life and work is taken from a local paper: The funeral of Mr. Josiah H. Merriman, aged seventy- seven years, was held at two o'clock this afternoon from the chapel of the First Congregational Church, of which he was for many years a member and a deacon. Rev. Fosdyke B. Harrison, the pastor, conducted the service. Interment was in Oak Hill cemetery. Mr. ]\Ierriman was a son of Anson Merriman and the deceased was a direct descendant of Nathaniel Merriman, who came to New Haven from England, and who surveyed and laid out the town of Wallingford. Anson Merriman lived in the Shuttle Meadow section of the town and his son, Josiah, died in the house where he was born. A widow and one daughter, Mrs. Elijah Rogers, survive him. The deceased was one of the first in this section to engage in the growing of peaches. He was also a grower of tobacco and one of the first exporters of apples to England. In the seventies Mr. Merriman went West and invested in Illinois land, but the investment did not prove as profitable as he had expected. During the early eighties he was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in Dakota. Upon his return here he engaged more extensivel)- than ever in fruit grow- ing and for many years his was the largest peach orchard of this vicinity. Mr. ]\Ierriman was a member of Union Grange, Unity Council, O. U. A. M., and the Connecticut Pomological So- ciety, of which he was one of the organizers. Beside a widow and daughter, he leaves a brother, Alfred H. ^^erriman, of Plantsville. 312 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGJCAL SOCIETY. Miss L. S. Williams, of Hartford, a member of the Society since 1907, died at her home, in January, 1911. She was one of the manv ladv members whose interest in the or- ganization is g^reatly appreciated. Alx\er Trask, of East Hai-tford, died in January, 1912, at his home in wSilver I.anc. Mr. Trask was one of the So- ciety's oldest members, both in years and in length of member- ship. He was seldom absent from a meeting and took a lively interest in pomological matters. A splendid Christian character, he was loved and re- spected by all and his pleasant face and kindly greeting will be sadl}' missed at our meetings. J. Frank Elwood, of Greens Farms. The sudden passing away of this well-known member, at the Bridgeport hospital of pneumonia in April, 1912, will come as a surprise to his many friends and acquaintances. Air. Elwood had a host of friends among the farmers of the state, as he had traveled for years as a salesman for fertilizer concerns. Everyone loved him for his genial ways and hearty good w'ill and he will be deeply missed wherever fruit growers and farmers gather in (he days to come. LIST OF MEMBERS. 313 LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 1912 This List Corrected to July 1912. LIFE MEMBERS. Ashton, Frank B., ]\Iiddletown. Talcott, Phineas, Rockville. ^ The Conn. Agricultural College, Storrs. Brown, J. Stanford, Yonkers, X. Y. (South Lyme. Conn.) Shepperd. Walter S.. Somers, R. F. D. 2. Brown, Everett E., Pomfret Center. Geer, Everett S., Hartford. Lucchini, Victor E., Aleriden. Gulley, Prof. Alfred G., Storrs. Miles, Henry C. C, Milford. Gold, Charles L., West Corn- wall. Gilbert, Orrin, Middletown. Clark, Arthur J., Durham. Curtis, Ellicott D., Bantam. *Bronson, Nathan S., Xew Ha- ven. Jarvis, Chas. M., Berhn. Repp, Albert T., Glassboro, N. J. Brown, F. Howard, Marlboro, Mass. Rogers, Elijah, Southington. Savage, Theo. M., Berlin. Yale, Arthur C, Meriden. Clark, Chester H., Durham Cen- ter. Cook, Allen B., Farmington. Beaupain, W, F., So. X'orwalk, 192 West street. Deming, Nelson L., Litchfield. Clark, H. E., Middleburv. Healey, L. H., North \\'Qod- stock. Frost, H. L., Arlington, Mass. Ripley, Louis A., Litchfield. Allyn, William I., ^lystic. Root, Lewis C, Farmington. Root. T. H., Farmington. Burr. O. Percy, \\'estport. Clinton, L A., Prof., Storrs. Ives, ]\Iinor. South ]\Ieriden. Tucker, F. E.. \'ernon. Henrv. A. T.. Wallingford. ANNUAL MEMBERS. Abbe, Earl C, Windsor. Abbe, Linden S., Hazardville. Abell, Myron R., Colchester. Acton, Harrv W., New York Citv, 519 West 121 st. Adams, E. B., Berlin. Adams, Joseph, Westport. Ahern. W. C, Plantsville. R. D. No. 58. .\lhiston, Jos., So. Manchester. Deceased. 314 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Alcott, Dr. R. VV. E., West Hartford. Allerton, G. M.. Naugatuck. Allen, A. R., Winsted. Allen, Chas. I., Pequabuck. Alsop, J. W., Avon. Alvord, S. M., Hartford, 254 Ashley st. Allyn, W. I., Mystic. Anderson. Albin, Bristol, R. D. No. 1. Anderson, Seth V., Brewster, N. Y. Andrew, A. M., Orange. Andrew, George F., Farmington. Andrews, F. H.,_ Farmington. Andrew, Irving A., Orange. Andrews, E. C., Cheshire, R. F. D. Andrews, H. W., Brookfield Center. Andrews, J. E., New Britain. Angell, M., Putnam, Box 398. Anthony, Henry F., Walling- ford. Apothecaries Hall Co., Water- bury. Ashley, Dr. Dexter D., New York City, 346 Lexington avenue. Atkins, F. C, Hartford, 711 Prospect avenue. Atkins, Mrs. F. C, Hartford, 711 Prospect avenue. Atkins, T. J., Middletown. Atwater, Edwin B., New Ha- ven, Box 207. Atwood, C. B., Watertown. Atwood, Oscar F., Brooklyn. Atwater, Geo., West Cheshire. Atwood, Chas. W., Watertown. Atwood, E. H., New Hartford, R. F. D. Atwood, E. R., New Hartford, R. F. D. Avery, S. F., New Britain. 215 South Stanley st. Aver, Robert E., Unionville. Bacon, Eben W., Middletown. R. F. D., No. 1. Bailey, F. B., Durham. Bailer, O. E., Rockville, R. D. No. 1. Bailey, Robert S., Middle Had- dam. Baker, Edward W., Middletown. Baker, C. H., Andover. Baker, Mrs. C. H., Andover. Baldwin, Walter H., Cheshire. Barclav, John H., Cranbury, N. J.' Barker, C. A., Westville, R. F. D. Barker, J. Harry, Branford. Barker, Leonard, Glast&nbury, R. D. No. 2. Barnum, Orrin S., Bethel. Barber, Henry A., Danbury. Barber, Joseph, Rockville, R. D. Barber, Mrs. Joseph, Rockville. Bard, J. Sprague, Brooklyn. Barnes, J. Norris, Yalesville. Barnes, John R., Yalesville. Bartlett,"G. M., Andover. Barton, Richard, Thompson. Baskerville, Granville R., Step- ney Depot. Bass, Mrs. M. R., Willimantic, R. D. No. 2. Bartlett, F. A., Stamford. Bassett, George E., Clintonville. Batcheller, Fred E., Lawrence, Mass. Baumgardt, H. F., Highwood. Beach, A. S., Bridgeport, P. F. D. Beach, Chas. L., Storrs. LIST OF MEMBERS. 315 Beach, J. H., Branford. Beach, Z. P., Wallingford. Beardsley, Mrs. A. M., Rox- bury. Beardslev, C. F., Newtown. Beckwitii, G. C, New Hart- ford, R. F. D. Beckwith, W. M., New Hart- ford, R. F. D. Beebe, C. C, Wilbraham, Mass. Beers, F. H., Brookfield Centre. Beisies^el, Jacob, Woodbrid.^e. Belden. Fred L, Rocky Hill. Belden. Fred S., Rocky Hill. Benham, Leonard M., High- wood. Benham, Wilbur H., Highwood. Bernhard, Albert, Meriden. Bidwell, A. F., Canton Center. Bigelow, E. W., Litchfield. Bilton, L. W., East Long- meadow, Mass. Birdsev, E. T., Rockfall, R. F. D. Birdsev, iMrs. H. B., Meriden, Pomeroy ave. Bishop, Mark, Cheshire. Blakeman, J. H. Oronoque. Blakeman, Frank E., Oronoque. Bliss, Charles G., Essex. Bliss, Ethelbert, Ludlow, Mass., R. F. D. Boardman, Thos. J., Hartford, 77 Buckingham st. Blodgett, M. L., Falls A'illage. Boardman, F. E., Aliddletown, R. F. D. Bolles, C. P., Wilbraham, Mass. Bonner, Chas. W., Rockville. Burroughs, Thos. E., Deep Riv- er. Boschen, C. A., Brooklyn, N. Y., 527 3rd St. Bowdish, Rev. W. W., New Ha- ven, 504 Whitney ave. Bowker Insecticide Co., 43 Bowman, Harry W.. Torring- ton, R. D. No. 1. Chatham St., Boston, Mass. Boynton, C. C, Cheshire. I'-racelin, Richard, Essex. Brackett, Shaw & Lunt Co., Boston, Mass., 62 No Washington st. Bradley, Dr. W. M., New Ha- ven, 520 Whitney ave. Bradshaw, E. L, Bristol, 169 Prospect St. Brainard, M, N., Southington. Bray, S. W., Milford. Brewer, Harry R.. Guilford. Brewer, C. S., Hartford. Bridge, Ephriam, Hazardville. Bridge, H. J., Hazardville. Brinsmade, W. H., Bridgeport, R. F. D., No. 4. Briscoe, C. H., Thompsonville. Brockett, Ernest R., North Ha- ven. Brockett, M. R., North Haven. B'ronson, Geo. H., Northford, R. D. Bronson, Lewis H., New Ha- ven. Brooks, E. D., Glastonbury. Brooks, H. R., Glastonbury. Brooks, John N., Torrington. Brooks, R. W., Cheshire. Brown, A. E.. Columbia. Brown, F. D., Hartford, 150 Warrentown ave. Brown, Frank F., North Scitu- ate, R. I. Brown, G. F., Cannon Station. Brown, Jas. F., Jr., North Ston- ington. Brown, Lewis, Sandy Hook. 3i6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOEOGICAL SOCIETY. Brown, L. H.. Hartford. 67 Buckingham st. Brown, Stanton F., Poquonock. Brown, T. L., Black Hall. Brown, W. E. S.. Xew Britain. 5 Chapman st. Browne, Louis L., Xew Canaan, R. D. 32. Browning, F. W., Norwich. Brownson, S. B., Shelton. Bruner, Myron L., Wilbrahani, Mass. Buck. Chas. H., W'etherstield. Buckingham, C. A., Cheshire. Bucklin, Edward E., Mvstic. Buell, H. B., Eastford. ' Burnham, C. N., Middlefield. Burr, Algernon T., W'estport. Burr, C. R., Manchester. Burr, W. H., Westport. Burr, Eugene O., Higganum. Burt, E. M., East Long Mead- ow, Mass. Burton, Fred W., Mystic, R. D. Britton, Dr. W. E.. Experiment Station. New Haven. Brundage, A. J., Danbury. Burr, O. P., New Canaan. Bushnell, Mrs. Huber, Berlin. Bushnell, J. C, Manchester. Butler, George E., Meriden. Callahan, Thos., New Britain, R. F. D. Calhoun, J. E., Cornwall. Callaway, George W., Hart- ford, 220 State st. Camp, A. A., Bridgeport, 261 Clinton ave. Camp, David, N., New Britain. Camp, W. H., Waterbury. Campbell, L. H., Providence, R. L, 54 Locust St. Candee, Z. H., Sheffield, Mass. Canfield, Wilhelm, Bethany, R. D. No. 3. Canning, Wilham A., Milford. Cannon, C. J.« Burnside. Carini, Bartholomew, South Glastonbury. Carpenter, C. W., Munson, Mass. Cartwright, J. W., Hampton. Gary, W. B., Windsor. Cassidy. I\L J., Seymour, R. D. Cass, Chas. F., Waterbury, R. F. D., No. 1. Chalmers, John F., Cromwell. Chamberlain, F. A., Terryville. Chandler, Dr. W. M.. Philadel- phia, Pa., 1939 Federal st. Chase, F. S.. Waterbury. Cheney, Seth Leslie, So. Man- chester. Child, C. H., Woodstock. Child, Wm. C, Woodstock. Church. H. E., Hartford, 34 Asylum street. Clark, E. O., Rockville. Clark, Geo. T., Beacon Falls. Clark, ^lerritt M., Brookfield Center. Clark, O. R., Higganum. Clarke, Clifford L., Durham. Clarke, David A., Milford. Clarke, Denison W., Middle- town, 491 Main st. Chnton, E. B., Clintonville. Clinton, Dr. George P., Experi- ment Station, New Haven. Clinton, Prof. L. A., Storrs. Clift, Frederick E., Brooklyn, N. Y., 619 E. 4th St. Clough, F. P., ^^'aterburv, R. F. D. No. 4. Cochrane, Geo. W., West Corn- wall. LIST or MEMBBRS. 317 Coe, Elmer \\'., Waterburv, R. D. No. 1. Coe, W. T., Northford. Coleman, \[. L., Cheshire. Coleman, ]M. P., South Coven- try. Coleman, ]\Iiss Vernette E.. New York Citv, 420 West 119th St. Coleman. R. L., Cheshire. Coles, John E., 109 Warren street. New York City. Collins, M. J., Hazardville. Colton, F. B., Hartford. Conant. O. L., Hartford, 33 Oakland Terrace. Conn. Fruit and Orchard Co., Hartford, 29 Hartford Trust Building-. Comstock, G. C, Norwalk. Conant, George A., Windsor Locks. Cook, Geo. A., Willimantic, R. D. No. 2. Cook, H. B., Noroton Heights. Cook, S. G., Branford. Cooke, H. G., Branford. Cooke, Marcus E., Wallingford. Cooke, L. Morelle, Wallingford. Cooke, Rowland R., ]\Ieriden, Spruce St. Cooley, Ernest, South IManclies- ter, R. D. No. 1. Cooper, J. M. Wallingford. Copping, Ernest. Vernon. Cornell, Joseph, Norwalk. Covell, Willis, Abington. Cowles, P. A., Farmington. Craft, Edward E., Glen Cove, L. I., N. Y. Crandall, A. E., Berlin Crosby, George W., New Brit- ain, care Stanley W'orks. Crowell, David A., Middletown. Crowell, J. W., Hartford, 479 Garden st. Cullen, John T., Derby, Box 71. Curtis, F. A., Hartford, 5 Flor- ence St. Curtis, H. B., Cheshire. Curtis, Newton M., Sandy Hook. Curtis, Robert W., Stratford. Darling, Robert, Simsbur3^ Dart, E. S., Vernon Center. Davis, C. T., Middletown. Davis, Chas. A., Southburv, R. D. Davis, E., Branford. Davis, Edson G., Torrington. Davis, G. Warren, Norwich, R. D. Davis, Henry B., Southbury. Davis, Myron F., Somers, R. D. Dearden. Greenwood, East Hartford. Dean, E. K., Sharon. Deming, F. J., Rocky Hill. Deming, Dr. William C. Georgetown, R. D. No. 41. Deming, H. P., Robertsville. Derudder, Peter, Meriden, Eaton avenue. Doehr, Fred, Wallingford. Dooley, W. T., Kensington. Doolittle, Arthur H., Bethany. Douglas, Edward C., Middle- town. Douglass, G. F,, Collinsville. Downs, Jerome A., Bethany. Dresser, J. S., Southbridge. !Mass. Drew, G. A., Greenwich. Dr}hurst, Henry. JXIeriden. Dryhurst, Henry, Jr., Meriden. Duerr, Fred. Sevmour, R. F. D. No. 2. Duffy, F. E., West Hartford. 3i8 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Duncan, R. R., Wethersfield. Dunham, H. C, Middletown. Dunham, Wm. N., New Brit- ain. Dunn, R. S., Middletown. Dunn, Mrs. R. S., Middletown- Box 911. Dyer, E. W., Berlin Easterbrook, I. Harold. Dudley, Mass. Eddy, Frank C, Unionville. Eddy, J. C, Simsbury. Eddy, S. W., Ayon. Ellis, S. K., Rockyille. Ellison, E. W., Willimantic. Ellsworth, Dayid J., Windsor. Ellsvyorth, E. J., Ellington, R. F. D. Ellsworth, F. H., Hartford, 133 Huntington st. Ellsworth, J. A., New Britain. Elwood, C. F., Greens Farms. Emerson, T- B., New York City, 20 E. 30th street. Enders, J. O., West Hartford, Box 546. Ennis, Bertrand O., High wood. Eno, Frank H., Simsbury. Enslin, T. J- ^laplewood. X. ]. Eppes, H. :\I., New Rochelle. N. Y. Evans, Archie J., Hockanum. Ewald, Simon L., New Lon- don. Fagan, Joseph A.. Forestyille. Fairchild. H. L., Bridgeport, R. F. D., No. 4. Fall, E. B., Middletown. Fanning, W. N., Kensington. Fanton, I. C, Westport. Farnham, A. N., Westyille. Fawthrop, Walter, Cromwell. Felber, John J., Rockyille. Felber. John J. H.. Rockyille. Felber, Mrs. J., Rockyille. Fenn, Benj., Milford. Fenn, Dennis, Milford. Fenn, Robert M., Middlebury. Fenn, Linus T., Hartford. Fischer, E. P., Durham. Fiske. H. B. & Co., Proyidence, R. I. Fletcher, A. J., Meriden. Fletcher, Mrs. 7^. J., Meriden. Florian, G. W., Thomaston. Fonda, Arthur L, Kensington. Forbes, John P., West Hayen, R. D. Forbes, J. S., Burnside. Foster, Sylvester M., Westport. Francis, A. P., New Britain. R. F. D. Francis, Judson E., Durham Center. Francis, Mrs. G. J., Middlefield. Fredsall, Frank A., Torrington, R. D. No. 2. Francis, John H., Wallingford. French, W. H., Wolcott. Frost, E. H., Bethlehem. Frost, Frank M., Yalesyille. Frost, Fremont, Hartford. Frost, Willis E., Bridgewater. Fuller, H. C, New London. Fuller, O. D.. West Simsbury. Fuller, Wm. ' H., West Hart- ford. Gager, John M., Willimantic. Gardner, A. H., Meriden. Gardner, B. L., Wallingford. Gardner, R. H., Cromwell. Gatchell, Mulford H., Andoyer. Gaylord, E. W., Bristol. Geer, W. H., Yantic, R. F. D. No. 1. Geer, E. H., Jr., Hadlyme. Gehring, Fred, Rockyille. Geissler, Paul. Abingion. LIST OF MEMBERS. 319 Gelston, J. B., East Hacldam. Gibney, V\'. H. l.lerlin. Gilbert, Azel E.. Aliddletown. R. D. No. 1. Gilbert, Henrv. Middletown. Gilbert, Myron R., Gilead. Gilbert, Thomas, Middletown. Godfrey. Eli S.. Tannersville, n.'y. Goehring. Richard, Norwich- town, Box 12. Gold, Airs. C. L., West Corn- wall. Goff, H. W., South Canterbury. Goldstein, B., Storrs, care Ai^'- ricultural College. Gotta, John, Portland. Goulds Mfg. Co., The. Seneca Falls, N. Y. Gowdy, R. W., West Dummers- ton, Vt. Grant, Lucius J., Wapping. Grattan, W^alter, Torrington. Graves, Chas. B., M.D., New London, 66 Franklin st. Gray. Qias. A., Norwich, R. F. D. 1 Greene, A. F., Woodbury, R. F. D. Gridley, E. D., Plainville, R. D. Griffith, Geo. H., Bristol. Griswold, Chauncey, Farming- ton. Grisv.old, Harry N., Wethers- field. Griswold, H. O.. West Hart- ford. Griswold, J. B., Newington. Griswold, R. S., Wethersfield. Griswold, S. P., West Hartford. Griswold, Thomas & Co., South Wethersfield. Griswold. W. F., Rockv Hill. Gullev & Bonner, Rockvillc. R. D. No. 3. Hackett, E. A., Bolton. Hale, George. Westport. Hale, G. H.. South Glastonbury. Hale, J. H., South Glastonbury. Hale. Stanclifif, South Glaston- bury Hale. Mrs. Stanclifif, South Glastonbury. Haley, E., Mystic, R. F. D. Hall, Chas. C, Cheshire, R. D. Hall. C. R., Rockwille. R. D. No. 2. Hall, Ellsworth. Wallingford. Hall, Geo. B.. Moodus. Hall, G. D., Wallingford. Hall, G. H.. Manchester. Hall, Wilbur H., Wallingford. Hammer, V. T., Branford. Hammond, Joseph, Jr., Rock- ville. Hanford. Mrs. C. O., West Springfield, Mass. Harrison, H. L, Waterburv, R. D. No. 3. Harrison. Orlando. Berlin, Aid. Hart, E. S., New Britain. Hart, E. W., Forestville. Hart, S. A., Kensington. Hart, Mrs. S. A., Kensington. Hawkins, R. C. Southburv, R. D. No. 2. Hawley, E. J., Bridgeport, 27 Hough avenue. Hawley, A. D., Bristol. Haves. S. W., Hartford, Box '335. Hemingway's London Purple Co., New York. 133 Front street. Henry, R. Lyon. Hamden. Hilliard. H. I.. Sound \'iew. 3-'o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIRTV. Hillyer, Appleton R., 91 Elm street, Hartford. Hillyer, Prof. H. W., Farming- ton. Hines, John T., Farmington. Hitchcock, Lewis W., Walling- ford. Hitchcock, A. L.. Plainville. Hoflmeister, August F., High- wood. Hotaling, Chas. T., Greenwich. Hollister, Geo. H., Keeny Park, Hartford. Hollister, W. O., 634 E. Con- gress St., Detroit, ]\Iich. Holman, F. W., New York, 24 Stone St. Hopkins, A. B.. Windsor, R. D. Hopkins, J. H., Xev/ Britain, West ^lain st. Hopkins, J. E., Thomaston, R. D. No. 2. Hotchkiss, Qias. M., Cheshire. Hotchkiss, William, Bristol. Hough, E. J., Wallingford, R. F. D. Hough, George E., Wallingford, R. F. D. Hough, Joel R., Wallingford. Houston, J. R., Mansfield Depot. Howard, A. B. & Son, Belcher- town, Mass. Howard, H. R., Stafford, R. D. Howe, Geo. A., Winsted. Hoxsie, Allen X,, East Green- wich, R. I. Hoyt, Stephen, New Canaan. Hubbard, Clement S., Higgan- um. Hubbard, Elmer S., Middle- town. Hubbard, Paul M., Bristol. Hubbard, Robert, Middletown. Hubbard, W. B., West Corn- wall. Hubbard, W. C, Bloomfield. Hull, James. Durham. Hull, G. W., Bristol. Hulme, Chas. S., Thomaston. Hungerford,, Newman, Hart- ford, 45 Prospect st. Huss, J. F., Hartford, 1103 Asy- lum ave. Hunt, W. W., Hartford. Huntington, Chas., Windsor. Hurlburt, H. A., Norwalk, R. F. D. 42. Hutchinson, M. F., South Manchester. Innis, A. C, Ridgefield. Isham, A. O., Vernon. Ives, C. P., Branford. Ives, E. M., Meriden. Ives, Mrs. E. M., Meriden. Ives, Miss Florence C, Meri- den. Ives, Julius I., South Meriden. Jackson, Edward O., Middle- town. Jackson, Elmer, Wilton. Jackson, Fred O., Middletown. Jackson, J. C, Norwalk, R. F. D., No. 42. Jackson, Robert F., Middle- town. Jacobs, Arthur C, Mansfield Center. Jarvis, C. D., Storrs. Jenkins, Dr. E. H., Experiment Station, New Haven. Jenks, Albert R., Amherst, Mass. Jennison, E. F., Hartford, Box 425. Jente. Paul J. H., New Haven, 133 Broadway. Jerome, F. M., New Britain. LIST OF MF.MBHRS. 3^1 Jewell, Harvey, Cromwell. Jewell, Mrs. Harvey, Cromwell. John, H. P., New York Citv, 60 Wall St. Johnson. Dr. F. E., Mansfield Depot. Johnson, H. D., Highwood. Jones, A. M., Ludlow, Alass. Jones, James, M i d d 1 e t o w n, Home ave. Jones, E. A., New Canaan. Keeler, Robt. C, Bethel. Keener, M. H., South Man- chester. Kelley, Edward, New Canaan. Kelley, W. J., New Canaan. Kello'go-. Geo. A,, West Hart- ford. Kelsey, Davis S., \\'est Hart- ford. Kelsey, Frederick, Higganum. Kenny, J. P., Glastonbury, R. D. 2. Kilduff, Mrs. P. J.. Bristol. Kilduff. P. J., Bristol, R. F. D. Kingsbury, Addison, South Coventry. Kingsbury, John E., Rockville. King, Horace, Thompsonville. Kirk, Fred A., Hamden. Kirkham, John S., Newington. Klink, W. M., Georgetown, R. D. Knapp, Geo. S.. Groton, Mass. Knapp, M. C, Danbury. Knowles, Wm. A., Aliddletown. LaField, J. Howard, Plainville. Lane. Willis A., Hazardville. Lasells, William C. Kensington. Lazarus, Nathan, South Mont- rose. Pa., care London Hill Farm. Lee. Wilson H., Orange. Lewis, Francis O., Bristol. Lewis, Fred J., Highwood. Lewis, George J., Unionville. Lewis, L. C, New Haven, Highwood Station. Lindabury, H. R. & Son, Frenchtown, N. J. Linsley, L T., Branford. Lippmann, J. & G., New York City, 338 Washington St. Loomis, Chas. N.. Bolton. Loomis, John, South Manches- ter. Loverin, D. P Huntmgton. Lowrv, Edwin W., Bristol, R. D. 1. Lowry, H. P., Bristol, R. F. D. Lupton, S. L., Winchester, Vir- ginia. Lyman, C. E., Middlefield. Lyman, Henry H., Middlefield. Lynch, Wallace, Bucatunna, Miss. MacDonald, A., Yalesville. Mack, H. H., East Haddam. A-IcLean, Archie, Essex. Mahan, Bryan F., New London. Mallon, James, Rockville. 8 Spruce street. Manchester, George C, Bristol. Mansfield, David B., Camp- ville. Manchester, A. W., Bristol. Manchester, E. F., Bristol. Manchester, Rob't. C, Bristol. Marshall, Jos., Seymour. R. D. Mansfield. K. W., Westport. Mansfield, Peter, West Hart- ford. Marsh, Wm. T., Litchfield. Martin, J. A., Wallingford. Martin, W. B.. Rockville. Mason, H. B., Southbridge, Mass. THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Maxwell, W., Rockville. McCormack, Samuel, Water- bury, 1063 N. Main street. McCormick, W. L., Thomaston, R. D. McCollam, P. G., Bridgeport, R. F. D. No. 1. McKay, W. L., Geneva, N. Y. McKnig-ht, J. T., Ellington. McLean, John B., Simsbury. McLean, S. G., South Glaston- bury. Mead, L. H., Hartford. Mead, Seaman, Greenwich. Mechling, Edward A., Moores- tov/n, N. J. Merz, George, Vernon. Merrow, Geo. N., Hartford, 34 Forest st. Messenger, C. E., North Can- ton. Miller, C. H., Berlin. Miller, E. Cyrus, Havdenville, Mass. Miller, F. B., Bloomfield. Mills, D. E. Bristol. Mills, H. G., Bloomfield. Minor, Geo. N., Bristol. Mitchell, W. L., New Haven, 1505 Chapel street. Molumphy, J. T., Berlin. Morgan, Charles C, New York City, 7 East 44 st. Morse, John W., New Haven, Box 748. Moore, E. A., New Britain. Mortimer, Edmund, Grafton, Mass. Morton, E. G., Broad Brook, R. D. Morris, Chas. G., New Haven, Box 1352. Morris, F. S., Wethersfield. Morse, C. Z., Shelton. Moses, A. A., Unionville. Moshier, Charles A., Waterbury, R. D. Mosley, A. W., Glastonbury. Mowry, Albert J., Centerdale, R. L Moss, J. W., West Cheshire. Moxon, J. R., New York City, 60 Wall street. Mueller, C. J., Berlin. Munson, W. M., Huntington, Mass. Munson, R. A., Highwood, Station 4. Myers, F. E. & Bro., Ashland, Ohio. National Lead Co., New York City, 111 Broadway. Nelson, Ole, Shelton. Nettleton, H. L, Durham. Nettleton, J. N., Meriden. Newberrv, Leslie W.. Hartford. 50 State st. Newton, Clarence R., Westville, R. F. D. No. 2. Newton, Robertson & Co., Hartford. Newton, W. P., South Kent. Nichols, C. E., W^illington, R. D. Nightingale, L. J., New York, 30 Church st. Noble, H. C, New Britain. NortliroD, Arthur W., Ridge- field. Nott, M. A., Middlctown, R. F. D. No. 1. Musante, Peter J., Bridgeport. 125 Middle st. O'Brien, Richard P., New York, 441 ^^^ 48 st. Olcott, W. H., South Man- chester. Olds, A. A., Hartford, 252 Lau- rel St. LIST OF MEM BURS. 3^i O'jMeara, Edward P., Xew Ha- ven, 902 Chapel St. Orris, E. S., Buffalo, New York, Park Hotel. Osborn, Chas., Xewington. Ott, Fred, Cheshire, R. F. D. Overend, Walter E.. Worcester, Mass., 522 CambridG,-e si. Paddock, J. H., Wallingford, East Main street. Page, B. F., Northford, R. F. D. Pardee, E. I., Cheshire. Pardee, G. F., Cheshire. Parker, G. A., Hartford. Parker, John B., Jr., Poquon- ock. Patterson, Arthur E., Middle- town. Parsons, L. J., Hartford. 263 Windsor Ave. Patch, A. Warren, Boston, Mass. Patten, D. W., Clintonville. Patterson, B. C, Torrington. Patterson, George B., ^^'est Redding. Paul. A. Russell. Franiingliam, Mass. Pauley, Geo. A., Xew Canaan. Payne, Lyman, Portland. Pease, C. T., Ellington. Peasley, Fredk. M., Water- bury. Peck, Henry B., Xorthfield. Peck, J. H., Hawleyville. Perley, G. P., Woodstock. Pero. Louis, South Glaston- bury. Perry Chas. M., Southbury. Peters, Thomas, Chesliire. Peters, Wm. T., Cheshire. Phelan, Franklin V., Vernon. Phelps, A. H., Clinton. Phelps, Chas, S., Canaan. Phelps, E. J., Enfield. Phelps, Mrs. E. J. Enfield. Phelps, G N., East Haddani. Philips, Alan, Farmington. Pickard. P. W., Hopedale. Mass. Pierce, Mrs. L E., Bristol. Pierpont, A. B., Waterbury. Pierpont, W. L., Waterbury. Pinckney, H. I\I , Milford, R. F. D. Pitkin, A. L., Talcottville. Plant, A. B., Branford. Plant, Albert E., Branford. Plant, Alfred, \\'est Hartford, Box 447. Plant, R. U., Branford. Piatt, O. M., Plymouth, X. H. Piatt, Frank X.; Milford. Piatt. Frank S., The, Co., New Haven. Piatt, Geo. F.. ^lilford. Piatt, N .S., 395 Whalley av- enue, New Haven. Piatt, AYilliam F., Milford. Plump, Chas. H., West Red- ding. Pomeroy, E., Windsor. Pond F. PL, Terryville. Pond, G. H., New Haven. 61 Lake Place. Porter, G. B., Waterbury. Porter, Marshall, Hebron. Potter, H. F., North Haven. Powell, E. C, Springfield, Mass. Potts, J. PL, Dr., New Britain. Pratt, B. G., 50 Church street, New York. Price, Walter E., Warehouse Point. Pring, Geo. PL, Wallingford. Pring, Thos. J., Wallingford. Putnam, J. H., Litchfield. 324 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Qtiinlivan, J. W.. Wallingford, North Orchard st. Race. R. H., North Egremont, Mass. Read, G. P., New York City, 199 Duane st. Redick, L. L., Xewington Cen- ter. Reed, Horace B., Greenwich. Reid. Mrs. WiUiam R., Hart- ford, 48 Oak St. Rengerman, Wm., East Gran- by. Reynolds, C. C, Sloctim, R. I. Rhodes, J. I., Tolland. Rice, J. L., Ludlow, Mass., R. P. D. Rice, J. W., Wilbraham, Mass. Rice, L. W., Wilbraham, Mass. Rich, A. E., Rockville, R. F. D. Rich, C. A., Cheshire. Richardson, J. H., Thornton, R. I., R. F. D. Riddick, M., Woodstock. Risley, Chas. R., Silver Lane. Roberts, Earl C, Middletown, R. F. D. No. 2. Roberts, E. J., Middletown. Roberts, Silas W\, Middle- town, R. F. D. No. 2. Robertson, L. J., Manchester Green. Robertson, Die W., Forestville. Robinson, W. C, Columbia. Rockwell, F. P., East Windsor Hill. Rogers, F. D., Monson, Mass. Rogers. James Simsbury. Rogers. Miss Katherine R., New Canaan. Rogers, M. P.. West Cornwall. Rogers. Thomas W., New London. Rooke, J. R., Bloomfield. Root, L. C, Farmington. •Root, T. H., Farmington. Rouse, A. D., Warehouse Point- Rowe, J. G., Wethersfield. Rowe, J. Scofield, Hartford, 211 Fern st. Rowland, John O., Wallingford. Russell, B. L, West Cheshire, R. D. No. 2. Russell, S., Jr., Middletown. Ryder, C. D., Danbury. Sanderson, Lucien, New Ha- ven. Sanford, Henry C, Bridgewat- er. Sargent, F. D., West Cheshire, Savage Clarence H., Storrs. Savage, Willis L, Berlin.' Schlosser, Dr. R. O., Collins- ville, R. F. D. No. 45. Schmidt, E., New Canaan. Schreiber, Thomas, Southbury. Schultz.. C. H., Hartford. Schultz, W. F. & Co., Hart- ford. Schwab. Chas., Yalesville. Schwink, J. G., Jr., Meriden. Scoville, 1. J.. Plainville. Scoville, S. R., West Cornwall. Sears, Prof. F. C, Amherst, Mass. Sears, P. A., Slmwood. Seibert, Phillip, New Britain, Seward, Arthur L, Durham Center. Sexton, P. G., Darien. Seymour, Fred R., West Hart- ford. Shedd, G. V.. Preston. Sheehan, Edward A., New Haven, 605 Orange St. Shepard, S. A., Hartford. LIST OF MEMBERS. 3^5 Shepardson, W. ]M., jMiddle- bury. Sherwood, J. Arthur, Long Hill, R. D. Sherwood, N. H., Southport. Siggins, William H.. South Manchester. Silliman, J. F., New Canaan. Simpson, W. A., Wallingford. Sisson Drug Co., Hartford. Skilton, Earl W., Terryville. Skinner, M. G., Higganum. Slady, F. W., Fairfield, R. D. D. No. 10. Slater, Geo. B., Manchester. Slater, Geo. H., Glastonbury, R. F. D. Smart, Geo. W., Silver Lane. Smith, Dr. F. Milton, New York City, 63 West 48 st. Smith, Edward A., Hebron. Smith, Fred A., Ipswich, Mass. Smith, E. W., Cheshire. Smith, Geo. V., Willington. Smith, G. W., Hartford, Box 38. Smith, Grover A., Cheshire. Smith, James A., Hartford, Box 38. Smith, J. Eliot, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Smith, J. H., Hartford, 249 Fairfield avenue. Smith, Dr. L. A., Higganum. Smith, L. P., Burnside, Box 3. Smith, M. B., Hartford, 288 Asylum street. Smith, R. M., New Britain, 50 Garden st. Smith, S. A., Cheshire. Soby, Charles, Hartford. 855 Main street. Spaulding, Geo. R., Phoenix- ville. Spencer, Henrj-, Haddam. Spicer, G. W., Deep River. Spicer, Mrs. G. \\'., Deep River Stannard, E. H., Wilton. Stauss, ^Martin, Rockville. Staples, G. W., Hartford. Stack, G. M., Still River. Stark, W. H., Chester, Mo. Steere, Enoch M., Chepachet, R. L Steere, Sayles B., Chepachet, R. L Sterling, S. P., Lyme, R. F. D. Stevens, A. T., Storrs. Stevens, C. T., North Haven, R. D. Stevens, H. C, East Canaan. Stirling, J. C, Rockville. St. John, D. A., New Canaan. Stanley, Theodore A., New Brit- ain. Stevens, F. V., Jr., Stamford. Stocking, \\'. A. & Son. Wea- togue. Stocking, A\'ilbur F., Stratford. Stockwell, S. T., West Sims- bury. Stoddard, E. M., New Haven, Experiment Station. Stoddard, Jos. E., Abington. Storrs, Benj. P., Cheshire. Stoughton, Lemuel, AVare- house Point. Street, S. H., New Haven, 33 Crown St. Strumpf, George, Burnside. Sumner. G. H., Woodstock. Taber, F. J., South Windham. Tanner, John E.. Moosup, R. D. No. I. Tanner, Walter C, \^olun- town. 326 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Taylor, Edward J., Southport. Taylor, J. M., Kensington. Terrell, C. L., Cheshire. Terry, F. E., Forestville. Terry, James, Hartford, 78 Wethersfield avenue. The Vreeland Chemical Co., Little Falls, N. J. Thomas, W. S., Groton. Thomson, Jared B., Monterey, Mass. Thomson, W. B., Hartford, 36 Lewis St. Thompson, Chas. A., Melrose. Thompson, Chas. B., Moodus. Thompson, Chas. J., Berlin. Thompson, M. E., Ellington. Thompson, Wm. H., East Haddam. Tillinghast, G. G., Vernon. Tillinghast, W. E., Vernon. Tillotson, E. W., Farmington. The J. T. Robertson Co., ]\Ian- chester. The Sherwin-Williams Co., Newark, N. J., Brown st. and Lister ave. The SterHng Chemical Co., Cambridge, Mass. Titus, Ellwood V., Glen Cove, L. L, N. Y. Toland, Ralph, La Crosse, Wis. Tobin, T. J., Southington. Todd, E.' A., Waterbury, R. F. D. Todd, Mrs. E. W., New Ca- naan, R. F. D. No. 3L Tolles, L. G., Southington, Box • 256. Tomlinson, W. G., Southburv. Toth, A. M., Wallingford, 'R. D. 2. Tracy, M. E., Orange. Treadwell, J. H., Danbury, R. F. D. Trischman, G. W., Middle- field. fucker, J. H., Providence, R. L, 128 Merser st. City, 30 Church st. Tucker, F. E., Vernon. Turney, Oliver, Fairfield. Tuttle, A. N., Warren, Mass. Tuttle, S. L., Wallingford. Underwood, R. F., Mount Tom, Mass. Usher, R. C, Plainville. Vermont Marl Co., Brattleboro, Vt. Viets, R. B., New Britain. Vine Hill Farm, Elmwood. Wakeman, S. B., Saugatuck. Wallace, E. J., Wallingford, West Quinnipiac street. Walden, B. H., Experiment Station, New Haven. Waldo, Gerald, Willimantic. Waldo, Harold B., Naubuc. Walker, Chas. P., New Haven, Box 613. Walker, Geo. C, Waterburv. Walker, C. H., Jr., West Sims- bury. Waller, W. E., R. D., Chest- nut Hill, Bridgeport. Walther, Louis J., New Britain. Warncke, Louis H., Cannon Station. Warner, E. C, Clintonville. Warner, Everett E., Highwood. Warner, J. R., Hartford. Warner, Lewis E., Highwood. Warner, W. V., Waterbury, R.. F. D. No. 4. Watrous, J. L., Meriden. Webster, A. E., Berlin. JJST OF MEMBERS. 327 Webster, \V. J., Berlin. Weed, T. L., New Britain. Welch, G. H., Torrington. Wells, Dudley, 2d, Wethers- field. Wells, W. A., Middletown, R. D. 1. Westbrook, Richard Ward, Brooklyn, N. Y., 1145 Dean St. Welton, Ard, Terryville. Wiard, F. S., Yalesville. Wricks, S. D., Syracuse, N. Y. Mrs. C. D., Provi- dence, R. I., 40 Princeton avenue. Wilcox, R. C. & Sons, Guil- ford. Wilcox, Louis E., ^leriden, 44 Windsor ave. Wilcox, Paul P., NeAv Britain, 185 Lincoln st. Wiley, Clarence H., Hartford. 122 Collins street. Wiley, C. W., Manchester Green. Wilkins. Edward H., Middle- town. Wiggin Willard, S. F., Wethersfield. Williams, A. W., New Britain. Williams, F. B., Naugatuck. Williams, J. C, New Haven, 1456 Boulevard. Winsor, Thos. K., Greenville, R. L Wheeler, Chas. A.„ Storrs. Wheeler, Wilfrid, Concord, Mass. White, Rev. H. J., Hartford, 145 Vine st. Wolcott. R. R., Wethersfield. Wood, G. P., Ellington. Woodin, E. P., West Cheshire, R. F. D. Wooding, D. C, Waterburv, R. D. Woodrufif, C. v.. Orange. Woodrufif, R. H., Guilford. Woodward. Madison. Columbia. Woodworth, E. H., South Cov- entry. Wooster. Fred A.. New. Britain. 118 Camp street. Wright, W. O., Union City. Young, C. O.. Yalesville. Zala, B., Glastonbury.