Author: State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania Title: Report of the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania for 1906 Place of Publication: [Harrisburg, Pa.] Copyright Date: 1906 Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAg228.4 REPORT OF THE State Horticiiltiiral Association OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR 1906. HARRISHUKG, TA.: HARRISBUKG PUBLISHING CO., STATE PRINTER. 1906. STATE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. OFFICEKS FOK UM)G. PRESIDENT. . . . ^rt ,. Hanisburg. Gabriel Hiester • VICE PRESIDENTS. „, „, ^ Catawissa. Hon. W. T. Creasy ,, ,. , Germantown. Thos. B. Meehan , ,, ,, Willow Street. Dr. I. H. Mayer RECORDING SECRETARY. „ „ ,^ , Waynesboro. Enos B. Engle CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. „ „ , , Christiana. Wm. P. Brinton TREASURER. . .King «>f Pru.ssia. Edwin W. Thomas MEMHEKSIIIP. LIFE MEMBERS. Bartram, J. Hibberd, Milltnwn. Chester Co. Boyer, John F., Mt. Pleasant Mills, Snyder Co. Brinton, Wm. P.. Christiana, Lancaster Co. Chase. Howard A. Perry Building, ICth and Chestnut Sts. Philadelphia. Chase. Charles T., Perry Building. 16th and Chestnut Sts. Philadelphia. Calder, Dr. James, Harrrisburg, Dauphin Co. (deceased). Cornelius. Robert, Philadelphia (deceased). Creasy, Hon. W. T., Catawissa, ColumlMa Co. Engle, Henry M., Marietta, Lancaster Co. (deceased). Engle. John G., Marietta, I^ncaster Co. Engle, Enos B., Waynesboro, Franklin Co. Ermentrout, Hon. Jas. N., Reading, Berks Co. (3) (2) ANNUAL MEMBERS. Fox, Cyrus T., Reading, Berks Co. Garrettson, Joel V., Floradale, Adams Co. Good, C. W., Waynesboro, Franklin Co. Hacker, William, Philadelphia (deceased). Hartman, D. L., Etters. Hayes, Charles P., Philadelphia. Heyser, Jacob, Chambersburg, Franklin Co. (deceased). Hiester, Gabriel, Harrisburg. Hildrup, W. T., Raleigh, N. C. Hiller, Casper, Conestoga, Lancaster Co. (deceased). Hiller, Peter C, Conestoga, Lancaster Co. (deceased). Hoopes, Josiah, West Chester, Chester Co. (deceased). Huff, L. B., Greensburg. Huff, Burrell R., Greensburg. Landis, Israel, Lancaster, Lancaster C«). McCormick, Harry, Harrisburg. Dauphin Co. (deceased). McCormick, James, Harrisburg, Dauphin Co. Martin, J. O., Mercersburg, Franklin Co. Moehan, S. Mendelson, Germantown. Philadelphia Co. Mitchell, Ehrman B., Harrisl)urg. Panneljaker, Wm. M., Virgilina, Va. Reist, Peter S.. Lititz. Lancaster Co. (deceased). Relst, John G., Mt. Joy, Lancaster Co. Scribner, Prof. F. Lamson. Knoxville, Tenn. Shaffner, Jacob. Harrisburg, Dauphin Co. Swift, Rev. E. P., Mt. Oliver, Allegheny Co. (deceased). Thomas, George B., West Chester, Chester Co. Thomas, E:d\vin W, King of Prussia, Montgomery Co. Van Deman, H. E., 36;i0 13th St.. N. W., Washington, D. C. Wertz, D Maurice, Quincy, Franklin Co. Woods. Edward A.. Pittsburg. HONORARY MEMBERS. Barry, P., Rochester, N. Y. Downing. Charles. Newburgh. N. Y. (deceased). Elhvanger, George, Rochester, N. Y. Edge, Thomas J.. Harrisburg. Pa. Garber, J. B., Columl)ia, Pa. (deceased). Hfiges, Prof. S. B., Saxe, Va. Meehan, Thomas. Germantown. Pa. (deceased). Michener, Dr. E., T<»ughkenanion, Pa. (deceased). Parsons, Prof. S. B., Flushing, N. Y. Parry, William. Parry, N. J. (deceased). Rathvon, Prof. S. S., Lancaster, Pa. (deceased). Rowe, Hon. D. Watson. Chambersburg. Pa. Rutter, John. West Chester, Pa. (deceased). Haunders. Wm.. Washington, D. C. (deceased). Stitzel. George D.. Reading. Pa. (deceased). Thomas. John J.. T^nion Springs. N. Y. (deceased). Warder. Dr. John A.. North Bend. O. (deceased). Wilder, Marshall I'.. Boston, Mass. (deceased). Wickersham, Dr. J. P., Lancaster, Pa. (deceased). Willetts, Rev. Dr., Philadelphia, Pa. (deceased). Adams, W. S., Aspers. Allison, J. W., Mercer. Armsby. Dr. H. P., State College. Baird, A. T., Island. Barnard, C. P., Northbrook. Baxter, C. W., Haddonfleld, N. J. Beachy, N. C, Allentown. Bishop, W. O., 1302 William St., Har risbnrg. Bolton, W. P., Bonview, Boyer, F. D., New Cumberland. Bracken, J. W., Hollidaysburg. Breisch, D. D., Ringtovvn. Breisch, Robt., Ringtown. Bridges, George, Carlisle. Brooke, R. G., Schwenkville. Brown, A. N., Wyoming, Del. Bucher, Dr. I. Riley, Lebanon. Butler, Allen, Ogontz. Butz, Prof. Geo. C, State College. Christman, James M., Fort Hunter. Cooper, Calvin, Bird in Hand. Cotter, Lawrence, Danville. Coursen, I. H., R. D. No. 1., Trucks- ville. Critchfleld, Hon. N. B., Harrisburg. Cummings, R. M., Montandon. Denlinger, Amos B., R. D. No. 1., Gordonville. Demming, H. C, Harrisburg. Dietz, Milton C, Mechanicsburg. Eastabrook, F. L., Athens. Eby, Amos F., Mount Joy. Eicholtz, Henry, Waynesboro. Elden, Robert M., Aspers. Ellis, D. M., Bridgeport. Engle, Ezra B., Marietta. Erb, Amos H., Lititz. Eslinger, Samuel L., R. D. No. 1, Mechanicsburg. Frankenfleld, Miss W. S., 223 S. 7th St., Easton. Foster, T. C, Harrisburg. Freed, W. A., Home wood. Funk, Dr. J. H., Boyertown. Gilbert, David, Sr., Coatesville. Good, Martin R., Narvon. Gray bill, Hon. D. W., East Petersburg, Greenfield, A. B., Conneautville. Groff, Dr. Geo. G., Lewisburg. Haines, Mary M., Cheltenham. Halt, John D., Bryn Mawr. Harnish, H. H., Hubers. Harper. Wm. Warner. Chestnut Hill. Harris, Phillip. Light Street. Herr. Daniel D., Lancaster. Herr, David S., Mountville. Herr, John D., Millersville. Hess, Enos H., Lancaster. Hummel, Wm., Bradford. Huston. Chas. L.. Coatesville. Johnson. W. B. K., Allentown. Hill, Dr. S. S., Minersville. Jones, S. Morris, West Grove. Kauffman, D. C, York. Keath, Dr. J. W., Shaefferstown. Keller, Walter J., Pottsville. Kloss, D. S., Tyrone. Koons, Dr. P. R., Mechanicsburg. Kready, John, Mount Joy. Kraybill, S. S., Mount Joy. Krewson & Son, Jas., Cheltenham. Laub, H. H., Jr., Lewistown. LeFevre, T. C, Harrisburg. Lehman, A. B., Fayetteville. Leyder, J. S., 319 Peffer St., Harris- burg. Longsdorf, C. L., Floradale. Loop, A. I., North East. Mc Allen, R. W., Famettsburg. McGowan. H. G., Geiger's Mills. McLanahan, J. King, Hollidaysburg. McSparran, W. F., Furniss. Maffet, Miss M. A., 264 S. Franklin street, Wilkes-Barre. Mansfield, I. F., Beaver. Marshall. Mrs. J. L., 239 4th Ave., Pittsliurg. Mayer. H. M., Rohrerstown. Mayer. Dr. I. H., Willow Street. Meehan. Thos. B.. Germantown. Miller. John D.. Newton Hamilton. Miller, N. G., Harrisburg. Moon, Saml. C, Morrisville. Moon, Wm. H., Morrisville. Morton, Mrs. Elizabeth D., Ingram. Mosser, H.. Myerstow*). Moudy, J. E., Littlestown. Newcomer, W. S., Glenrock. Nissley, P. R., Mount Joy. Patterson. Jas. G.. Stowartstown. Peters, Earl, Mt. Holly Springs. Persing, E. E., Sunbury. 6 Pierce, Miss B. G., 3300 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Pratt Co., B. G., 11 Broadway, N. Y. Purvis, Timothy, Hunsecker. Pyle, J. W., Kennett SQuare. Rakestraw, Thomas, Kennett Square. Reichert, J. H. Host. Richards, A. C. New Paris. Rife. Jacob L.. West Fairview. Rittenhouse, Dr. J. S., Lorane. Root, A. W., Manheim. Root, J. W., Manheim. Rupp, D. C, Shiremanstown. Rush, John G., West Willow. Schaeffer, Dr. N. C, Lancaster. Schock, Oliver D., Hamburg. SchoU, Calvin P., R. D. No. 1, Halifax Shalcross, Frank R., Frankford. Phila. Sharpless, John D., London Grove. Shepard. J. W., Scranton. Shorb. Albert, Hanover. Sierer, Dr. A. L., Harrisburp. Snavely, H. C, Lebanon. Suavely, H. H., Lancaster. Snavely, J. R., Harrisburg. Stein, Geo. E., East Prospect. Stoney, R. J., Jr.. 424 5th Ave.. Pitts- burg. Stout, W. H.. Pinegrove. Stover. F. S., Bowansville. Surface, Prof. H. A., Harrisburg. Sweatnam. Mrs. Jennie W., Mast Hope. Swartwood. W. H.. Falls. Thompson. Dr. S. Y., Danville. Traver, F. E., Wyebrook. Tyson, Edwin C. Floradale. Tyson. Chester J.. Floradale. Wagner. Geo. A., Alinda. Wallings. Don, Clifton Heights. Watts, Prof. R. L., Scalp Level. Weast, Geo. B., Harrisburg. Weidner, A. I., Arendtsville. Weise, H. B., Parkesburg. Wilbur, Harry, Bethlehem. Williamson. E. C, Morrisville. Withrow. J. C. Vanport. Yeager. A. H.. Lancaster. Zigler, Amos. Rowenna. KEPOF^T OF THE FORTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE State Horticultural Association or PENNSYLVANIA Held at Gettysburj^, Pa., January 16-11, 1906. \ii awakoninjx intorost in fruit giowinj; in Adams county, fostorotl and t'ncourap'd bv an active local oi-anization, -The Fruit (1 rowers Association of Adams Countv," to-cther with a varied and interest in« projrramme of practical speakers and horticulturists of acknowi edj^ed ability and reputation, combined to make this a most instruc five and interesting m casion. The displav of fruit. althou<;h not so larj^e as some exhibits at previous mei'tin-s, was unusually tine, and was an evidence of the Jrrowinji inlerest that is being manifested in apple culture in Adams cDuntv. , , ., .. As a full report of the different exhibits and exhibitors is given elsewhere in detail, no descrii»tion will be attempted here. The following life and annual members have joined the Associa- tion since our last meeting: LIFE MEMUKKS. Gabriel TTiester, Harrisburg, Pa. Ehrman B. Mitclu'll, Harrisburg, Pa. Edward A. Woods, Pittsburg, Pa. ANNUAL ME^IRERS. W. S. Adams, Aspers, Pa. A. T. Baird, Island, Pa. N. C. Beachy, Allentown, Pa. R. G. Brooke, Schwenkville, Pa. (7) 8 A. N. Brown, Wyoniiiiji, Del. K. M. Cuiiiiuliijis, Moiiljiiuloii, Ta. Milton ('. Dietz, LMt'chiurKsburj', Pa. Henrv Eicholtz, Wnyncsboro, l*a. Kobt! M. Eldcn, Asiums, Ta. D. M. Ellis, P>riilj;vpoit, Pa. W. A. Freed, lloniewood, Pa. John 1). Halt, Brvn Mawr, Pa. John 1). HeiT, MillersviHe, Pa. William Huniniel, P>iadfoi-d, Pa. D. C. Kautlinan, York, Pa. T. C. Le Fevre, Harrisburji;, Pa. A. P>. Lehman, Fayetteville, Pa. K. W. Me Allen, Fannet tsbiirj;. Pa. N. (J. Miller, Harrisbiirj;. Pa. Saml. (\ Moon, Morrisville, Pa. Mrs. Elizabeth 1). Morton. Inj-ram, Pa. J. E. Mondv, Littlestown, Pa. Miss n. (5. IMerce, :r»(l(» Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. R (J. Pratt Co., 11 Broadway, New York, N. Y. Dr. J. S. Kitlenhonse, Lorane. Pa. Albert Shorb, Hanover. Pa. W. 11. Swartwood. Falls. Pa. Dr. S. Y. Thcmipson. Danvilh*, Pa. Edwin (\ Tyson. Floradale, Pa. Chester J. Tyson, Floradale, Pa. Don NVallinjis, <'lifton Ib-ijihts, Pa. A. 1. ^Yeidner. Arendtsville, Pa. President Hiester called to order, and after the nsnal rontmo of readinj: and approval of minutes of previous meeting, and a recess of five minutes for <'nronment of njembers, the following letter of welcome was jn-esented: The Fruit (liowers Association of Adams County, Flora Dale, Pa.. January 1(5, 1000, To State ITorticnltural Asso record luyself, by order (»f this Association, Verv sincerelv vours, EDWIN C. TY^SON, Cor. Sec'ty. The President responded briefiy, thanking the Adams County Fruit (Irowers" Association for their cordial welcome as well as their hearty aid and co-o])eration in awakening an interest in the work of the State organization. H 9 \s Chairman of (V)mmittee on legislation, Mr. Heister reportcHl th.t an "^ was hold with the (Jovernor on tbo quest on of !r^t inL 1 ivision of Horticulture and Pomology in the Depai - direction was made. , In tlK. abs,.n.-.. of Chahnuu, AVatt« ...- f..ll»vvin« -..poH was read by Mr. 'McMillan: KEPOKT OF THE OENEKAL FUCIT COMMITTEE. tUesf whose seivlei'S have been of j,'reat value. THE 1905 APPLE CROP. Tl,,. iiii.K- cioi) tlK' past season was a signal failuie in about iiiue- teutl s if he emtuties. Adan.s. Lanphin ^-^^^^-^^^^'^ Bucks and York are tl.e only eounties reportms ^ "^''^ '^..V^f^^i •Mul ill of the eorresiMindents in tliese eounties do not '^'"'t '"' V Ods From tV, to 1 10 per . ent. yields are generally reported froi^i :^tregoL^u nedeouluies, altlK.ngl. several growers rep^^^^^ smaller ^rops. Xo entirely favorable report .s niade by any one in *'ANt'r:v";'lt:'ykli'w.J;'K-d there was very little eont.daint re- ga)dlng -lualS- Sn.un.er and fall varieties seen, to have been less irenerallv a failure than wniter sorts. ,f ti.„ lonr, V LM-eat diversitv of reasons are giv.n for the failure of the 190. .,,>ple • op Tl e d..str,.<"7 ^'^^V.. X -oast' two lack of blossoms an.l prevalenc.' ot canker worms foi the past two or three years, are also subjects of .omplaint county-"' In renlv to the nuestion: "Is the crop piohtable in your county. four-flft';;^ of the V„rres,K.ndents give -'/\f ■•":-X.'',X"t finan' those who answer negatively generally attribute the l.iok of tinan '-•",:cr.!f"^'err;i;Vi;;;;;tVHa;mH raji^ ml thV s:.u,e pr.,p'or,iona.e number of '--l-f -'^^ -';;- that verv few new apple .ucbards were istablisbed *^»' y>\^] .'*»"'• T "*s. a . mill en.-oiiraging f-.s to those who ''"ve planted largMy in recent vears and also to tlios.. ,-outemplating -•ntering the bus Less on a c-oinn.ercial s.ale. There never was such a favorable time 10 from a flnaiuial standpoint to start now applo orchards, and there need be no fear that the orchard will be too larf,'e, if proper varieties are selected and intelligent care given the trees. The San Jos^ Scale is the one great enemy that stands off the would-be planter, and the average tiller of the soil hesitntes about planting on account of this pi'rnicious pest, so that now is the oi)portunity for the skillful, con tident tighters to plant trees by the thousand. Trees are dying and population is increasing, so that in all probability the markets of the future will require more fruit and pay better prices than in the past. Several varieties of ajjples of comparatively recent introduction are mentioned as promising. Stay man's Winesap is evidently in the lead among the newer sorts, it has a number of enthusiastic advocates and judging from the data collected it is destined to be a great commercial apple. It is a winter apple, ]w)ssessing many de- sirable points. It is a thrifty grower, coming into bearing early and yielding heavy crops of fruit'of excellent flavor, highly colored when properly grown and of splendid keeping qualities. It has the repu- tation of being a more regular bearer than the Baldwin. Other va- rieties named as promising are (lano, >>ero, Lankford, Stark, Wal- ker's Beauty and Mammoth 151a ck Twig. As to the prevalent height of heading trees, there is a very wide range. In counties where apple culture is an important industry, as in Adams, York and Franklin counties, the trees are generally headed fairly low, say from three to four feet. Hut farmers and til- lers of the soil who do not make a sjK'cialty of orcharding, head from five to ten feet from the ground so that teams can pass readily under the limbs without knocking olf the San Jose'' Scale. The Lycoming county correspondent declares that the usual distance from the ground to the first limb is from ten to twelve feet. He is outdone^ by the corresiwndent from Montgomery cotmty, who claims that fifteen feet is the prevalent height in his county. If the scale's fav- orite method of migration is walking it would have a long journey up the trunks of Montgomery county trees before finding good pas- ture. PEARS. The 1905 pear crop in this State was nnnh below the average. The great nuijority of correspondents report a very small yield and no one a full crop except that the Keitt'cr in various localities, iwmluced large yields. The President of our Association, Mr. (labriel Hiester, reports that Lawrence gave a 10 per cent, yield, Bartlett 60 iwv cent., Seckel 75 per cent., and Kietfer 100 per cent. Nearly all corres pondents state that the (piality was poor or fair, while a number claim that the (piality was good. In re])ly to the question, ""What varieties are most juofitable," Bartlett is decidedly in the lead, be- ing favorably mentioned twice as often as KeitT<'r. Tliis is en eouraging to those endeavoring to produce (juality instead of (pian- tity. A comparison with reports of pievious years regarding most profitable* varieties indicates that the Kiefl'er is not as popular as formerly among commercial growers. (Mapp's Favorite and Seckel stand next to Bartlett and Kieifer as money nmk(»rs. As to whether j)ear culture is a profitable industry in Pennsylva nia, seven-eights of the correspondents take a negative position. 11 one promimMtt i^ar grower blan^es the »<-f- [^ ^jlj^J^^^!^^ but coi.Uolh.blc- ....•nacc to l.-a. ci.U...c. ... o...- htate. PEACHES. T,.e u.on pea.... -.op -;-;;;:;^,.'-';,^::;:^^'^ ;::;rt'c.S :v:::^r:.i:;t:;..itc:'y:;^n. ..v,.,,,. a^^ j:'?.^^in;^J'u;n;";or;;.,rix s;^;;;CLr^ai. .o.. .-.. a„a *"'TJ.or ""eom« to bo co..si.lo.al.!o fl...t..atio.. h. the; ...Ms of o,.r ..ess is profitabl.-. "'M^'',*'. ■•\'1'';\ ^ ' 'o..'.. i' . ^ To P .-h «Vo«-,..s. orchards. PLUMS. QTTINCES. enemy. 12 CHERRIES. CJieirics niv j^i-owii siu-ccssfully in mnnv counties ol' tlu' State, and it is a protitable crop under favorable eonditioiis. The mountain- ous counties aJloid the best conditions and the ciop is very profitabhi in mountain localities atlerding j^ood liome markets. With suitabh? soils and climalic conditions the larj,^' sweet chen-ies of various classes are j^rown to [x-rfection, while the sour cherries, as Early Richmond, are j-iown successfully, over the entire State. Every pos- sible attemjjt should be made on all farms, however, to grow cherries of the tinest (piaiity for home consumption. Montmorency Large, Montmorency Ordiiuiry, CJov. Wood, P»lack Tartarian and Yellow Spanish are mentioned the most frequently, except Early Richmond, which is the leading sour cherry giown in the State. GRAPES. Grape culture in I'ennsylvania is of little commercial importance, except in Erie county, where it is grown on an extensive scale. Al- though the crop is not laigely i ulrivated for nmrket purposes, nearly every farm in th<' State has a few vines to supply fruit for home con- sumption, and with this purpose in view it deserves special attention. It is grown successfully in «'very county though soils and localities have much to do with the quality of their fruit. Black rot is doubt- less the chief enemy, but the ravages of this disease can be prevented by thorough and intelligent spraying. ' There should be a greatei- range in the selection of varieties for family purposes. Concord is jdanted nu)re extensively than all other varieties combined, and this is a mistake when the object is to supply fruit for the home. We have no objection to tile against the Con- cord as a market variety, l)ut grapes of better (juality should be more largely grown to nu'et the demands of the farmers' family. Concord is ahvays ih liable, and it should be ]danted on every farm, but not to tlie exclusion of grapes of superior merit. There should also be earlier and later ripening grapes than the Concord ])lanted for family use. The following list of varieties might be suggested for planting in the family vineyard: Moore's Early, Campbell's Early, Worden, Concord, Niagara, Rrilliant, Brighton. Delaware and Ca- tawba. SMALL FRUITS. In reply to the (piestion: "What varieties of strawberries pay best," twenty-five kinds ar<' named. Kubach receives favorabh' men- tion the most fre(|uently. In addition to Htibach, the following va- rieties are held in the highest esteem by our corresjvondents: Haver- land, Sample, Clyde, (Jlen Mary, Wm. Belt, Gandy, Brandywine and Sharpless. Cuthbert is very much in the lead as the best paying ras])berry. This report agrees with the report madi* last year, that the red rasi)berries are more profitable in our State than the black caps, although many prefer the latter oduotion of various classes of vegetables, yet n.ost of these pests um.v b.- contmUed by ^P^J'nf «^ bv oth °i' » eans. Th.- market sard..n,.rs of the State have no ser ous menaces to contend with, su.-h as the San Jos.-' S.-al.' is to the tr . t industry A lo'j; list of vegetables are designated as prohtable whenever marlcet conditions are favorable. The potato is the n.ost IneraUv gi" wn and is universally regard.'d as a profitable cn;op, fet man o our n.arkets are n.ostly snpplic-d by oth..r states^ T ns i, -i seHous mistake of I'ennsylvania farmers. Thousands ..1 acres of and rthe S ,te are well adapt.-d to ,K,tato culture and there ,s "m good "..Ln. why we should uot P-'"'- J'"'"'- ;..'»:,«- .'J^^ -^ of this standard vegetable. Innnens,. ,,uau it es ot ea ly aud 1 te cabbages are shipped into the Stat... i.otwithsfai.diiig the tact that Is vegetable is easily grown in ev.-iy .-ounty aud does not require e s,K^ci .1 ph shal .Conditions of soil that many oth..r vegetab^s 1. The !• rk.'ts in tlu- west.'rn part of the Stat.- consume thou- sands'f tons of abbag... pra.ti.al.y all shipp.-d from other Sta es, and which could readily be pro.luced in this s.-ctiou of tlie State There- me manv spl.-ndid opp«rtuniti.-s to grow .-arly tomatm-s for horn., markets as 'well as nmny other kinds of v-'p-ta";-;- »"■«-• celerv sweet corn. b.-<-ts. lettuc.-. et.-. Th.-re is "'■'■<1 "» .• . «•' ■ av!ak.-ni.rg of the farmers of the State as to their opportunities f..i growing and marketing all kinds of gard.-n crops. SPRAYING. Thre.--fourtlis of the .•..rrespon.l.-.its r.-poit that spraying is on ,hJ ncreas . tnd that wh.-ii the' work is perform.-d i" ";"';'""«'' «^"^ t.-lli^J.nt mann.-r tli.- r.-sults ar.- n.-arly always sat.sfa.l..r.v. This " . -''of t"^ s ronpst eviden.-s of horlhultura prngcss in o. Z!t.. Snravin.' is now regard.-d as an .■sscutial ..p.-rat...ii n or chardin,^';l!;;t ""s imil.utant as pruning, fertilizing and cultivating. THE SAN JOSE SCALE. TlK- S-,n JoH<; S.al.- is Ih.- most i...pular ias.-ct in IV-iinsylvania. It is^^l farrilrsubjct f..r dis.ussion in th.- ;!«;;;-'i'>-;; ,';;.'>:;;7;..r, farm.-rs institutes and at horti.iillural im-.liugs. N. .ii In •'"''" res ondents report its pr.-s.-n.e in tl,.-ir r.-sp.-ctiv.- ,-..uiiti.-s and its r.tCt 1. in v'rsallv f.-ar.-d. (icat loss.-s hac alivady b.-en sus ain.M 1 1 a imb.-r'..f grow.-rs b.-li.-v that Its .hsIruH.v.- work w .- 1 u.i. i" -^ iotl..-al.l.- during Ih,- ii.-xt two or thr.-.- .y.-ars. ; muslnrof tr..es hav,- been kill.-d -id many i.mre < ;;-;;;;;';;,.^- so b-idiv inf.-sted that it is simply a <|U.-sli..n ot time .intil th. tu.s n us ' .-.• ml. .1 .less .■tVe.t.ially sprayed b.-for.- th.- advent .,f warm ratl.r. wh.-n the work ..f d.-striL-tiou will ..mtinu,. with in.r.-as..d 'Tnn.n..-.Mi>.l growers are prot.-.ting Ih.-ir tr.-.-s by spraying, g.-n- eralTvwiJh linn-. TaU and sulphur and th.- results have be.-u. as a 14 nile, very crtVctive in controlling iho scale. But tbo great mass of tree ownVis arc doing nothing to check the ravages of the scale and a vast niajoiity of farnieis do not know the sply of fruit for houu* consumi»lion if not for nuirket purposes. We hope the time will never c(uue wlu-n fruit cull tire will be limited entirely to com mercial growers who will furnish general farnu-rs with all the fruits they need for family use. FERTILIZERS. The use of commercial fenilizers is i)ractically limited to specialists or those growing fruits and vcgi'tables on a large scab'. It is very rarely that fertilizers of any kind, exiM-pt barn-yard manure, is ap- l)lied'to the farm orchards of the State. The fertilizer usually em- ployed by Mr. (Jabriel Hiester, Pn'sidcnt of this Association, con tains about (» per cent, phosphoric acid and 14 per cent, potash. Mr. Snavelv of L«*banon uses a mixture containing :i(M) pimnds muriate of iK)ta'sh, 4t)(l pouiuls 14 per ractic<' in bearing or- chards is to cultivate at frequent intervals until about mid-summer, then sow cover crojjs, preferably legumes, as crimson cl(»v<'r or cow peas which are plowed under lh<' following spring and the ground harrowed until time to sow the cover crop again. An excellent plan for the young orchard is to grow vegetables or small fruits between the trees, using fertilizers liberally so that the trees do not sulTi'r from an insuilicient sujjply of i)lant food. SCHOOLS. There is room for great imjirovement in the rural schools of the State, ]>articularly in their relation to country lil<'. Natun- study receives more attention than fiuiuerly but the work is not usually conducted in an intelligent and entlmsiastic manner. The fact is that a large ])ercentage (d" our country slanted in a tasteful nuin ner and n-ceive little <-;"l «*'V,"*';it '^1 m-oduce i.rolitabU- results," "a suitable school curriculum. Most of tir^iwrJspo iVnts believ.. that edn.ation is the greatest n.-ed Mr. Irc Young, of McKean county, says the gr-'atest need .s "s.mie Moses to lead us out of iW wilderness." ^^ ^ -WATTS. fhairman (ienei-al Fruit Committee. Th.- f.dlowing -sub reports" ar.' submilt.d f..r publi.ation as con laining much valuable and pra.lical information. ^ ^ ^ vrSTlN WKKiUT. Hi'dfoid Co.-The gemTal outlook for exten- sile or.Oia.dng has not been as good as in the past ew years, partly .^account of-ihe presence of scale in many ;;<;"'^';;;'/^^'- . ^^'J lint misiK'cted to exist. Orchardists. and the home plantir aie wikenhm to the destructive aspects of the future spread of sea e a d ot ler liests and dis..ases, and a general edu.ation of the people bv antl oritv of the State is ixpe.t.d to show good results in the ne-i? f ure We have not had any experience in testing n..w frnits , this cuntv except bv a v,-rv few plant... s who have not yet ar- r^liiaJd' finite eomlusioiis as to merits or demerits of some new creations. rpiTi^nnn^F 1) VY -Wavne To.— One reason why we have had throe ^^i-^j'^.^iJr;^^. r/ ;i;:;;;:/'r;r'dta;e wm^ing m ; 'small xiichard in .•olunibia coun.y an-l lea-.-l ";,>;';;•- l/^V;:^ saw the destruction of thos.. cal.Mpilla.s for miles. 1 aU w . woiin tliU were ..xtreiiielv abundant lli.ie, also disapiK'ared ''I;' ""Mj^; ;riy:and li^ 'S<: - Wace-l it ^'^y^^^-^'^^-:;:- J^^ Z^'i^^Z w,....-\.atiiigvast,uanti,ieso l..,ves w^^^htb^ have none the same wa>. is.n\auu^< » > . ti...«o wnnim ;;.. d..ad and dying of t i)Ut forth new leaves. Hundreds of trees have been cut down during the pnst yeai- in this county, and if we have another winter like the past two, ap})h* growing will be a thing of the past so tar as McKcan (ounty is concerned. Hereto- fore it has been very jiroiitable and the truit has been of very tine quality. Tears have ;»lso been a protitable -rop, but until new trees are planted and commence to bear we shall have no pears here. The coujmon sour cherries have done well and the winters did not seem to injure tlu' trees. Fine strawberries are grown here and the flavor the best i have ever seen any [dace. The winter seems to have no elfect on the strawberry plants. Raspberries and blackber ries are not cultivated as wild (Uies grow here in profusion and there would be no sale for tin* cultivated berries. Currants do w<'!l here and if hellebore is used on the buslu'S, and ke|)t free of worms, the crop of currants is always veiy good. Where 15ordeaux Mixture has been used in spiaying, especially ui)on potato vines, it has been very successful. In fact, it is almost necessary to use it in order to get a paying crop of potatoes. We raise tine vegetables in this county, and of excellent flavor. In fact, have never seen nicer c<'l(*ry gi-own in any place than we get in our own gardens here. GABRIEL HIP:STER, Dauphin Co.— Your questions cover the ground so thoroughly that I have nothing to add. Wv have no com- mercial fruit growers in the county, except Mr. Simon and myself. Owing to the wet weather in Jum* the leaf blight fungus got a hold on the foliage of the ai>i)le trees and neither licpiid nor dust spray could dislodge it after it cleared up. So the apph' trees lost their foliage iirenuiturely, which left the fall a])ph* smaller than usual and lacking in flavor. York Imperial seemed to be more resistant and the foliage remained green until frost and the aj>ples were tine. The trees were loaded to the ground. J. NEWTON GLOVER, Union Co.— We Inid too much rain when cherries were ripe for them to keiq). Either w<'t weather or blight caused plums and peaches to dry on trees before they were riju'. On peaches it was dm* in ])art to the yellows. This is not a great fruit grcjwlng county, except for peach or- chards of whiih a number have been j)lante(l on the thin soil, when* Hiey do well. W. 11. STOCT, Schuylkill (\>.— The season was not favorable for fruit, ajqdes yielded so heavy in 1II04 that the trees did not produce many buds and a frost at blossoming time destroyed nnnh of the bloom. Scale is playing havoc with jieaclu's particularly and is s])reading at an aljirming rate, nmny have it and are not aware of it, until pointed out. 17 We had an unusual wet season after June, so that rot and fungoids were prevalent, causing fruit rot, and potato blight, and the ground was evidentlv too wet for the potato beetle to pupate so none were seen this fall after about August, so there appears a compensating gain with losses sustained. ., i. . Field crops, excepting clover, were good throughout; corn the best ^" There are very few apple orchards treated with any care, grain crops being grown, little attention given to care and cultivation, the rotation of grass, corn, oats and wheat being contniued some- times manured, and a few hundred pounds of t-S-:5 applied with orain. The result is moss covered, declining trees with dead branches and once in a great while a crop of inferior fruit. The boom in peach tree planting with 0 or 8 years has exhausted itself and not manv engage in it now, most experiments pwving failures. To plant 'trees and trust in the Lord does not meet witJ? success in fruit growing. J Q \TlvINSON, Montgomery Co.— My impreasion is that those who can successfully control the San Jos^^ Scale will in the near future reap a rich reward for their lal>ors in fruit growing. The lime, sulphur and salt mixture will destroy all scales covered by it. Care- less spraying has been the chief cause of failure. There is no occa- sion to boil the mixture. Lime should be fresh, slaked with boihng water, kept covered and stirred and allowed to stand one and one- half hours The licniid will then be precisely the same as if boiled, and thus saving one-half of time and fuel. Unless a remedy appears and is applied, or some unforseen change appears m conditions, all fruit trees will succumb to the pest, and in a short time. No new- orchards are being i.lanted in this county. Tho^e is not very much blight of late. H C SNVVELY, Lebanon Co.— I combatted the San Jos^ Scale for three or four vicars, and by spraying trees carefully with the linie- sulphur-salt mixture, the pest can be held under control so that trees show vigor and produce good fruit. Four years ago when I was abed and tribes were not sprayed I lost a number of peach trees. Last spring we failed to spray all of the apple orlums. The Lombard will rot, spit*' of all I could do. The (lages are liard to mature. I think this is a good time (o i)lant all kinds of fruit trees, if the plan(er will observe a f<'w (hings. First the ada])ta(ion of his land for fiuit; s(M-ond (he seh'ction of g(»od varieties adajited to his lo- cality; third, sutlicient knowledge of the wants of trees as to culti- vation and feeding; and lastly pluck to tight the fungous and insect foes (ha( infes( fruit trees and tlie fruit. V. S. FKXSTKMAKFK. Lehigh Co.— 1 do not believe there are a half dozen persons in (his county who uiuleistand (he caie of fi'uit trees in all its details. In (he soudn'rn or sou(ln'ast jK)rtion of our count V (here have been for ten or more vears luanv maiiv acres of • • • • fruit pu( out, priitci|>ally peaches, and for a (ime large quantities of tine fruit was |n-olitably grown, but sinc<' the necessity of spraying has beeome jippar<'nt, an( but |uove to be a veiy jirotitable lield foi* an up to date fruit grower and trucker. ThoiisMuils of (bdlais worth of fruit and truck are brought here in car loads, most (vf whionng orchard is the proper place (o grow small trmts. Th(^ PKKSIDKNT.— I grew slrawberries and raspberri«'S in the orcl rd for about tifteen years, and do not think 1 could have put he ground to better use. The tree's seemed to grow just as well and I do not think they suslaiu<'d a partnle of iujur\. AIR 1UU)W\— It is (he custom ia D.laware (o plant young peach orclc rds in berri.-I Jnn sorry t<» see the ,|uestion <.f agrieultnre in c Jsdmi lost sight of in tln-se discussions. A^-;/ ;-', -;:^'!:^ the value of our exports to for.Mgu eountrjes is f''^>"\ ' . .^j ;"^; '^'; in (his country will be fought out (he probU-m and sahadon of our rural homes. MR M()T'I)V.-T have an on-hard of abont IMHI (rces and In. ye inade To rultival*' (o(» iM'nr (he (hm'S to avoid bringing (he feeding ioo(s too near (he surface. ""l.v. plaiHcl al I m\ vino Alii IIIK.STKU.— Yrais iijio nuiiiy fiiniM'S uric s-W-'mu in l-ancasf.M- ami Yo'u .•„,„,( i,<. I,nl mvi ,;; U. IUa,l< n.t Uw vnuaanls ^y,■n■ <1.- sti'oyrd. ,.,*■', (•onnui ((.•(. I wani ... ,n,mn.M,l il Un- its ll,o,n„«ln,rss an.l o tlu. Stal... Tin- liisl of (lu'W- .•.•l".ils 1 i-U'V Inanl was snbnntte.l 20 by Mr. S^navcly of Lebanon, and was road at your annual meeting at Hariisburj^, nine years ajj;o, and it was oiw of tbe best I have ever listened to. MK. HIESTEK. — I heartily aj-ree with Mr. Hrown. I consider these reports better and fuller tlian any heard elsewhere or in any other state. We have abont completed our rejjjular programme, and I will call upon Mr. Tyson for some information concerning the local society that has been organi/j'd in this county and of which he is an active member. The following ]>ai»er was read by Mr. Tyson. THE FKriT r.KOWEKS' ASSOCIATION OF ADAMS COFNTi'. A Logical Outcome of tlw Fruit ({rowing Interests of the Community. By CHESTER J. TYSON, Floradale, Pa. ■I i Adams county, IVnna., is bordered on the North and West by the South ^lountain whose spurs and foot-hills break the adjoining county into numerous valleys with their well-drained, fertile slopes and interlying table lands. This comparatively narrow belt of land, with a few exceptions, comjuises the fruit area of Adams county, varying from about three to ten miles in width and extending from York county to the Maryland line. Tlu' soil of this district is (piite varied; alternately and in some ]»arts all jniubled together, we tind red shale, gray and white flint, copj)er and iron stone. Hut whatever th<' soil, the hills are for the most part giavelly and the drainage is excellent. For many v<'ai s it has been known that this section was well suited to the growing of fruits, ])articularly ap])les and many fine old orchards have borne excellent fruit, doing their life work and pass- ing away, to be replaced by others. Thus it has been for the past hundred years, but it was the same old story — a few fine apples, but not en(uigh to atti'act the buyers. The volume of business was not here. Each grower was comp<'lled to market his own fruit and through inexpi'rience tlu're was much loss. So the fruit industry did not glow. Early in the nineties, how<'ver, there was a genera! awakening all along the line and several large orchards were planted. From that time (»n, the enthusiasm incr<*ased, ])erhaps reaching its height about liKK). I say its h<'ight for about that time or a little earlier the San Jose Scale struck us and while the planting has con tinned, the timid ones have droj)ped out and it has been less general. A census of the best known orchards of the district, taken nearly two years ago shows over 40,000 apple tress and nearly 20,000 peach. This means to-day not less than 50,000 apple for the district and fully 21 30,000 peach. Of the apple fully 75 i)er cent, are York Imperial. Other varieties are Y'ork Stripe, Ben Davis, Baldwin, Stark, Rome Beauty, a few Grimes Golden and many others. In the past year, some growers have top-grafted and planted (juite largely to Stayman Winesap, but so far as I know, none have been fruited in this county. Before passing, I want to say a word for the Y^ork Imi)erial. In a meeting of this kind we hear our old friend abused almost from start to finish. He is our first love, he is our money maker, and it hurts our feelings to hear him slandered and abused. Moreover I want to say right here that the man who classes Y'ork Imperial with Ben Davis never has eaten a well-colored, fully ripened York Impe rial from the hills of old Adams, nor has he tasted Y'ork Imperials cooked as our Adams county wives can cook theuj; baked whole, the core removed, the cavity tilled with sugar and a good sized lump of butter on the top, fit for the table of a king; stewed Yorks, the quar- ters wiiole and firm, yet perfectly tender and with a richness xH'Culiar to the variety — better than canned peaches any day. For the past ten or twelve years, buyers have been coming after our fruit and we now have a cash market for our apples right at home. Heretofore the jjeach crops hav<' not been large, but if the trees that are now planted come into successfiil bearing, the peach buyer will be with us also. Our api)les are be<()unng known in many markets and the jiast season buyers were sent here from Chi cago especially for our York linp<'rials, to till a demand that has grown up in that city. In this connection, the following figures for the season of 1I)(K5 m'ay be of interest. Apples shipped from Adams county in barrels, 25,007 barrels; in bulk, 11,22S barrels; total shippinl 37,225 barrels. Apples sold to evaporator, \\H\H) barrels; to can- ning house, 2,40() barrels; together, 13,070 barrels, nmking a total sold in 1005 of 50,205 barrels, not counting the thousand of bushels made into cider. So much for the district and its products. For the first f<'W years we struggled along, <'ach grower for hina- self ; each one, except for occasional neighbourly advice fighting his own battles. But finally discouragK. KOOXS. — I think the idea of organizin;^ county societies and makiu}^ them contributory to State orjiani/ation, a very jjjood one. This is a small gathering for a Stat<' society, and its nu'inbership and usefulness should be {^really ( xtended by the orj;anization of county and local societies in every county in the State. PROF. SrilFACE.— It has been well said that this is a snuill rep- resentation, for a State society, but withal there are many counties reiues<*nted. This means that th<' jiospel of jiood news will be car- ried to nuiny homes, and become widely disseminated. Such orjijani zations jjresent many advaiitajics to the fiuit jjrower, one of the most important of which is buying and selling co-oi)eratively, a mattei* of great importance. If horticultural or fiuit grower's societies were organized in every county, nu'eiings c»)uld be so arranged that lec- turers and members couhl go from one to the other c(Uiveniently, thus ensuring a good attendance and continued interest. Ex]>eriences could be exchanged, rejiorts <»f successes and failures ciMuiKired, and int<*resting discussions biought out. One of the great mistakes (d" imv rennsylvania fruit growers is the idanting of too many varieties. Instead of l.l varieties of a|»ples, I would not plant more than foui- If planting a commercial orchard. Many fail becaus<' of improper care of trees, and from a lack of kuovvledg<' of how to pick, store, ])a<'k and shi|i properly. We need to disseminate information along these lines if w<' hope to secure any standing for our fiuit products in the maikets of the world. I hope to see the example set by Adams, IJerks and Wymning counties, emulated by vyi'vy county in the State. MR. HI ESTER.— \\'e have with us Mr. Swartwood from Wv(uning county, whei-e tlu'y have recently organized a c(Minty society. We would like to hear from him. MR. SWARTWOOD.— Our so one not very favorable owning to the pres i'uce of San Jose Scale. There are some small ])ea to |J).(I(I per barrel. MR. McSPARRAN.— What says Mr. McKay about York Imptuial apples? MR. Mpose they will bring three to four dollars ]K'r barrel in Philadelphia to day. ' Slaynmn's \Vin<'sai» will bring five dollars. "N<'ro" is from Delaware and is always ready sale. We also have Lawver and Nickajack, and some brought flS.OO ]M'r barrel, the highest pric<' I ever saw realized fples, I consider an apple orchard a good invest nu'ut and any nuui who will plant 50 acres will 24 find the investment as good as a gold mine. There is generally a rise in the apple market in January. It is claimed by some that \ork Imperial does not keep well, but I find it keeps well in cold stH)rage. l»eaches and watermelons nuiy be kept in cold storage, but soon lose ttavor. MK. WERTZ.— Don't you think there is more money in Hen Davis than any other variety of apple? I saw a commission merchant last fall who wanted 5,000 barrels of Ben Davis. MK. McKAY.— Several years ago Ben Davis was higher in price than York Imperial, but it is not so now. Mr. lUiOWN.— Ben Davis keeps better than any apple in the market. Buyers want them for that reason. MR. WERTZ.— Under these conditions would you graft Stayman's Winesap on York Imperial and Jonathan? MR. BROWN.— Mr. Wertz's Jonathan are as fine as 1 ever saw, and if 1 could grow them as fine as that, I would not grow anything else. One reason why Stayman's Winesap is taking the lead is be- cause it h'A^ quality, like Grimes' Golden and Esopus Spitzenburg. The tree also grows vigorously and bears young. The demand for Grimes' (iolden is great in New York, Bhiladelphia and Boston, for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. They want a ipiartette of turkey, cranberries, celery and Grimes" Golden apples. The following committees were appointed by the Chair: On Nominations. W. F. McSparren, Thos Rakestraw, Jacob L. Rife. Auditing Committee. Edwin C. Tyson, A. I. Weidncr, Dr. P. R. Koons. Nomenclature and Exhibits. A. N. Brown, D. C. Rupi>, Dr. 1. 11. Mayer. Delegates to Annual Meeting of State Board of Agriculture. John F. Boyer, Prof. H. A. Surface, Enos B. Engle, Robert M. Elden, Chest<'r J. Tyson. The following letter from Secretary Critchfield was read by the Secretary : l»ennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, January 15th, 1906. Enos B. Engle, Esci-, Secretary, Tenna. State Horticultural Society, (Jcttysburg, I'enna.: My Dear Sir: I have notice that hearings in i>rosecutions brought in Clinton and C<'ntre orations have been organized and heavily capitalized for the jnirpose of growing fruit. I i)elieve, however, that in Pennsylvania fruit will be supplied not by the large corporations so mucli as by individual growers. Per- sonallv I have alwavs be<'n an advocate of the little farm well tilled. The i)er<-entag<' of profit is greater aiul (he jpiality of the product usually better. Bui in order to compete in the general market with organiz<'d ca])ital, these individual growers should co-oiK'rate in marketing their fruit; an organization should be effected in each fruit district. Tiu» jirospeciive growers should carefully consider the proper locations for the various orchards. Then they should de- cide upon the vaiieties to be j)lant(Kl, and the whole district should conflne itself to two or three, certainly not more than four varieties, that succeed perfectly in that ]dace. They should then enter upon a careful svstematic studv of the markets at home and abroad, with a view to placing their product where it will be most highly appre- ciated. 27 Thev should make the same careful, systematic study of tlie dealers in the different markets, and select one man m each to handle their product. That selection should only be made after a carefiil IK^rsonal investigation of men and methods on ^)\^'^!'^^f:^.^^^^ monev that is spent will yield a better iH'rceutage of profit than that which is spent in personally investigating the nu-u who are to handle mr crops The fruit from each district should if possible be brought to a ci'utral packing house, and be packed under the direction of one exoert packer. ._ . xt^ \nother important matter for the organization to consider is the proper disposal of windfalls and culls, by turning them into sonrie kind of manufacturing product, and also the (piestion of cold storage, t ^ now univ<.rsally admitted that the most important matter con- nected with cold storage (next to having perfect fruit) is to get the fruit into the cold room at the earliest possible moment after it has taken from the tre<'. . x i • +i • Mv idea as to Horticultural organization— briefly stated--is this, each district should have its county society, which should be an or- ganization for business, to meet at least once a month P^'*'^*'''^^ n, JJ.?. Te grounds of one of the menilxMS, taking <.ach m turn, and here dscuss all these cpustions of hMation and varu' .es, methods of P^n^iT, cultivation and fertilization, insect pests, diseases, market- in*' etc. Tl.ou all of tl.cs.. .onntv orKani/.ati..ns shoul.l m.-.^t oik* a joar as the s'ato So.i..lv. a.ul .onsid.... M.-li-.-.H of h.t..,-..«t to »" i;"-' « «' to S ato micl. as h-islation ii.M..l- att.'ntion to a l.dl that has ,,..., :t,„du.-..d in th.. ,a-s..nt <-.,n«.-.ss I.v Mr. ^aams of U-s^n- sin. i.i..vi.lin)t for an in.i.-as.. in th.- annual ai.i>ro|.iiat...n to Kx,kii- ''Tho''tota!''Mnno,uiation involv.-d this ,..„• f.u- all .l.';. >'l="i..us in tho rnitod sl=lt,.s t..,oth..,; is «2io.ooo ''-'';;,•;'";';,, ;'\.>:;:^'', f.U' an annual in.,, -as,, in th." ap,M,M...al...n '"' '•^' :',•'','♦, ';. e *-')n ana In view of the meat beneht we lune aluacn u r ol fn n . w. ,k us.- S. a (ions, and Ihl la,,." f>..|.l still o,...n f u Vm i.' n al nv."s(if:ali.,u and ..x,,...i,u..nt. I ihink wvs.onld pvx Ihis m..asm .■ ..u. h.-a.-t; suppoil. n.,t onlv as an o,,ran.zal,..n, but as '"xowTwant to .-.■p.-at ho..- wha. T hav." said on s..v..ral otluT ooea^ Mon" If\ , w"nt't.. «.■ (his so.ioty llou.ish. you n.ns not dopoml onti„'-lv . .i u • »ni.-.'.s. Th. y will do what th,.y .an bnt tho success o? , < '.-n a ion .l.-p-nds u,M.n (h.. .•a.n.-st. a.tiv." omU-avor of ,"lh n.rnM. nT Z.b.. '. \\V want .■v.M-y on.- iut-r.-stod .n fruit or ; ."v^. or otuu. :.Ial paints in (h.; Stat,, to J"!",-'"' 'I,'; -"^ :^^^Z have thon. if .'a.-h ni.Mnb,T will nu.U.' up his n.iud to biinR all such in 28 29 his neighborhood with him to the next meeting. The question was asked at one of our meetings bv a member, "Wliat shall 1 tell mv neighbors to induee them to come with me?" 1 should say, tell them it will pay them well to come and make the personal accpiaintance of the leading fruit growers and nurserymen in the State; to make the personal ac(|uaintance of our ExiK'riment Station workers, hear them talk, ask them ciuestions, join in the general discussion of all ques- tions, and thus get In clos<'r touch with all the men interested in Horticulture in the State. Each year the demand seems to be growing for a standard fruit package for the whole country. The State of Maine has sent out a circular recommending a national convention for this purpose. It seems to me, owing to the ditlerent conditions existing in the differ- ent sections of this great country, a uniform package is impossible; but it would be a great advantage to us all if we could adopt a stand ard barrel and a standard box for the whole country; that is, fix by law the number of cubic inches a fruit barrel should contain, no matter what its shape, and the number of cubic inches a box should contain, no matter what its shape. Then we would have two stand- ard measures, and would know exactly what was meant when we saw them (pioted in the market r<*ports. While we are jihuiting these large orchards for commercial pur poses, let us not forget the all important matter of home adornment, oinanicnlal jdanting around our country homes, and the fruit gar- den for home use; for what after all has a man in this world but his home, and who can have so pleasant a home, or enjoy more luxuries, than the fruit grower, if he lives up to his privileges? THE BUSINESS OF THE SMALL FRUIT GROWER. By H, W. COLLINGWOOD. Editor Rural New Yorker. My title means the small grower, not necessarily the grower of snmll fruits. This is a day of big things, business has changed greatly in I he past 50 years and will change still more. The old New England farmers used to wait for snow before nuiking their annual tri|) from N'ermont to the Boston market. They went with oxen and sleds, loading their wax, their wool, their maple sugar and whatever they had on it. Just before they started the housewife would boil a kettel full of thick bean soujk When boiled she stood the kettle out by the door over night until it froze solid. Then they poured water on the under side of th«' iron kettle and knocked out a cheese of frozen bean soup. They bored an augre hole through this and hung a chain through it and hung it behind the sled as they went to market. When they stojqM'd for dinner they took a hatchet, chopped off a few slivers of the bean soup, melted it in a tin kettle over the fire and had their dinner. Thus having bean jiorridge hot and bean porridge cold and in some cases three weeks old. It is a long jump from this to our present system of distribution and sale. Apples are now sent 3,000 miles from California to find a profitable market. Peaches and plums are brought all the way from South Africa. In thousands of neighborhoods where, when we were boys, meat supplies canu' from local farms, there is not even a slaughter house. Butchers are only meat cutters. The same distribution of vegetables and fruit is made from large growing centers, and this cuts into the local trade. 1 remember the time when demand and supply regulated the price of potatoes. If the American supply ran short there was no limit to the price. Twenty years ago I lived in a boarding house in Brooklyn, N. Y. It was a short potato year and the price went to |5.00 a barrel. I know that our landlady stopped buying at $4.00 and gave us boiled rice and corn meal instead of potatoes. Now, when the piice reaches 12.75 the fact is at once known all over the world, and potatoes in (Jeruumy and Belgium may be taken from the alcohol factory and sent here for eating. They are good potatoes and have found their way into markets a hundred miles back from the sea shore. 1 speak of this to show how in many cases, what we call, our local markets havt been taken away from us. This has discouraged some of our small growers, who think their business is being stamped out by ih(> laige concerns. I don't find this so in our countrv. The big grower can't get down to the retail customers as well as the small grower can. Tlie more hands a package of fruit passes through the more the buyer will distrust it. The big man cannot give p( rsonal attention to every package, while the small grower can, and everv vear we are develo])ing a more discriminating class of customers— thev want the be^st. My experience is that while the present flood of fruit and vegetables will make it harder to sell ordinary goods in the local market, on the other hand it makes it possible to sell first class goods to better advantage. I find that customers like to see the bottom of the package and they like to be able to hold some one directly res])onsible. I do not fear the finest Georgia peaches or Delawan' strawberries when 1 can pick my fruit after it has ripened on the tree and get it to the customer at once. 1 find more and more people who r( alize that the distant fruit has ripened in the car and they can be made to realize the difference. The one exception that 1 know of to this rule is the sale of California apples \s these come n<'atlv i)acked and uniform in size and color thev take our best trade. We must realize that the Californian growers would be ruined if tlu'y were to send fruit as carelessly packed as much that comes from nearby growers. At the same time it is true that manv of our Eastern apples are just as good as the California fruit. Tiie latter is packed by experts, who go from farm to farm packing the boxes for shipment and jiutting the names on each box A small grower must pack his fruit ])roperly and stand bv his name, that is the best asset he can have. In the old times When local trading was the rule a man went into a grocery store and boueht five pounds of coffee. The grocer brought him the package and the man grew suspicious. He opened it before the crowd and found inside a stone w the names of what we have to sell. Sonu' jM'ople lat to grow a variety, a little of everything, s(j as to run a wagon and sup ply sill vegetables. The other is to have a g(Mul gened it, as we never had enough of anything to make a really first class showing. We finally decided to ]Mit most of our work on strawberries and transjdanted onions, with a sui'jdus of every thing in the general garden. This ]>ays us better, though circum- stances must decide what the average grower will do. I find that by having good su]»j»lies of stiawberrics of high (jiiality we get a r<*]Hitation and the strawberries will sell oui- other goods, (let a reiMitjjtion for producing one thing well and ])eojde will rd shipment and il will be good There are some good partners that will help out a small grower in the sale of culls or inferior. It is usually a mistake to try and sell poor stuff to your regular customers, or to ship it away, better sell it at home. A snnill canning outfit can be nuide to pay well. A neighbor of mine puts up fruit and vegetables when the price goes down, selling the canned goods at a fair profit in winter. For a long time commercial canned goods were so plentiful and (heap that it was hard to dispose of the home made article. There is now great distrust in the cheaper canned goods and people are afraid of copper and salicylic acid and this feeling makes a possible nmrket for honest goods. It often happens that good tomatoes, lima beans, sweet corn or snmll fruits are so low just when the goods are riiK? that it is like giving them away to haul them off for sale. They can be jjut into cans if a fair outfit is ])rovided and held until winter. A man in my neighborhoood had a big crop of peppers, which could hardly be given away. The family made a dressing and stuffed thousands of these peppers, selling them in the local city for sev- eral times the price of green pejMK'rs alone. Many of us have no idea of how markets and methods are changing. I know a man near New York, who was driven out of business, as an old farnu'r. There was a good spring of water on the farm, which for yoars had run uselessly away. This man's sihi dug out the spring, built it ui) and is selling the water to dav for more than some farmers back from the railroads get for their milk. There are other ]»artners on the fruit farm. I fiud the hog and the hens useful. W v keep hogs in the old orchard, which is in sod and luNuh'd high. These hogs tear up the sod and root and eat most of the wind-fall ai»ples. I would rather have th«' hogs get them than to patronize the « ider mill We must feed the hogs some grain and keep wood ashes or bone before them or they will gnaw the trees. It is astonishing how much pork can be made out of the waste of tlu' garden and fruit V man who has worked up a retail trade for fruit and vege- tables can easilv dispose of sausages and small jinnts to his cus- tomers. We find the hog a most useful citizen in working over the manure. This winter we are using a good deal of sawdust for bedding and unless this is thoroughlv >vorked over it will sour m 32 land. We shall use lime wherever it goes. I know some small growers who combine pure bred stoek with their crops. As they cannot keep many head of stock they keep a few goml ones. Some popular breed ot^ hens or pure bred hogs can be made to pay if a man can attend to them. I think it pays best in this business to take some odd breed, for instance, Ked ToUed for cattle, Tunis for sheep, and the Essex or Tamworth for hogs. In this way a small breeder will not have to compete with large ones and the novelty of his stock will attract business lo him, but no lazy man need api>ly for the job. To make a living in this way a man must also have a family of good size with some interest in his work. If the people insid<' the house are looking only for a nice easy time, without work, such a business cannot be made to succeed. Such a man must be a good salesman, quick to know what jieople want, a pleasant man to approach his customers and a good judg<' of prices, he must be thoroughly honest, so that people will trust him and know what his goods are before he shows them. A good sujjply of personal cards or circulars will help. They should be neatly printed and well gotten up and scatter<-d broadcast over the country where he wants to sell his goods. The plant business may be combined with fruit growing, especially near a large town where iK'ople want to start a small strawberrV i)atch or raspberry plantation in the back yard. A man can often do well by furnishing the jilants and setting them himself for such jieople. 1 have briefly ont lined some of the ways the small fruit grower can compare with the large one. He is not by any means in danger of being crushed out so long as he takes up the work in a business like way and sticks to it piH)perly. THE rRESH)ENT. — We are fortunate in having with us Mr. A. N. Brown, of Wyoming, Delaware, who will discuss "The Three Systems of Orchard Management." To the most casual observer it must be apparent that there are many systems of orchard management practiced by orchardists. In fact, much has been said or written upon this subj<-ct in recent years a very large majority of fruit growers still follow the paths their fathers trod, or hold som<' preconceived notion of their own, whether it be founded uimn eitln'r scientific or practical facts. Again, "ue have another class who believe a fruit tree will bear no matter what the soil conditions, or what tlu- tn^atment, providing weather conditicms are favorable; and when a tree fails in yielding aunuallv her increase it is due to the weather or that trees only bear on occasional adternate years. A careful study of the con- stituent elements of tree and fruit, and a knowledge of soil reciuire- ments at oikm' proves the fallacy of all such systems or lack of systematic reasoning. No matter what the methods of the past have been, or what the present are as practiced by many, my subject comprises the entire range of orchard management. There are practically only three systems, viz.— The Sod System— The Mulch System— and The Tul- tural System, and a brief discussion of these will by comparison, perhaps enable us to ajjply them, with some modifications suited to our several conditions and environments, profitably. 33 There is no studv of nature so attractive, so inspiring or so ele^ v-iUng UBthe stud; of Fruits and Flowers; it enlarges man's views ^f ^ ?;;ttve wisdon/as no other study can. And when we fully reah.e hat a tree is only an instrunu.it with great |--;;:;;V ^^ hands of man to mould, to form, throug^i and ^^\ / ^.^^^^ the one product of universal desire and of uiu venial ^^^^Jj^'^ to recoLHiize a fruit tree as being a machim that wi I pioduce a n)d ic in a^ lord with the kind of food and attention he tree "^ved we must first know the c-onstituent elements of tree aM 1 and the best systcMU by which these eUmients -" }>;-^ ^ As an illustration, a niatuiv apple tree ^^ith a cro,w. fiuit^^ t^^^^^^ is to sav, a tree fifteen to twenty years old, producing twe nt^ l^ « ^ ^ ^ +!,« tiol.v tlu" "''"^f''''I> "'"' . ^. ■'^ „„.,l,ani<-al fom' l?'l.";;iu;^:rti:;rt';:rrriz porsisto^t,, t^is -me. 8 34 turn" will be rewarded by fine, vigorous, healthy trees, bearing fruit of highest (luality, and producing its fruit annually, barring only extreme weathei eondilions. What are the three systems of orchard management and which will proiluce the best results for the practical orchardist with the most economy? ^. j • i^i, 4. The Sod System, which has been mostly practiced in the past, and still has manv adherents, has nothing to commend it other than that it saves labor or cultivating, binds washing soils and makes getting through the orchard with teams for gathering fruit, etc. easier and saves much fallen fruit. But these apparent advantages are overcome bv the manv disadvantages; in the first place to grow the sod, which usuallv consists of timothy, red top, orchard or herd grass, requires 7() ]K)unds of nitrogen, IS pounds phosphoric acid and 77 pounds of potash, the commercial value of which is |15.2;; and $11.27 worth of these elements are re.piired to grow leaves, wood and fruit of the trees themselves, it will be seen that to grow this seed crop in addition to the tre(»s, it wcmld recpiire the appli- cation of manure or fertiliz<'r to the value of 12(5.52. But this is not the worst factor in the sod system; if in sod there is an impos- sibilty to control the wood growth and bud formation, and the storage in the tree of the necessary nitrogen, jihosphoric acid and potash to develop and bring to full maturity the fruit because the moisture supplv cannot be controlled. The cutting of the sod crop and not removing it is not ettective with the growing crop thereon; so that the sod system is a faulty one from either a scien- tific or practical standimint, and should only be practiced upon such locations as make the oth<'r systems impossible. The advo- cates of the sod svstem claim that fruit.grown under such sytein will carry better than* when grown under any other system. I will grant this, for the reason that such fruit is of low cpiality; high cpiality fruit being tender, breaking and juicy, will not stand rough handling, etc., or live as long. . , . »^ The Mulch System differs from the Sod System in that the soil is cultivated and the mulch drawn on to the orchard, and in this way we secure all the benefits of the cultural system. Moisture, air nutrification— wood and bud growth at the season that these should be made and storing into the tree all the necessary plant food elements to grow and fully mature the fruit; the difficulties of securing the amount of mulch required, because this system re- quires just as perfect and c<)m])lete attention to details and thor- oughness as other systems to be successful; this difficulty makes the mulch vstem on a large scale impracticable. The Cultural System, practiced iij^on a thoroughly practical, and in accord with present knowhHlge of soils and tree and fruit phy- siology is suited to a greater variety of conditions and within the reach of every orchardist. This method, pusued as it should be. requires that orchards should be ploughed as early in the spring as the soil will p<-rmit, after ploughing they should be cultivated once a week with such im])lement as conditions require when culti- vating is to be done; this continued each week until July Ist, to 10th, according to lateness or earliness of the season, and culture should be given twice a week in times of drought; when this cul- 35 clover, soy l*"'"^"'':.'!':''^."^"'' i:,,t' ^vh U.'V il.ould l.o plougbed „u the soil until t«llow...|i «»»' .'^;, ,^, " "';;,,,.,i. The advantages ,„,der and this "'''■'-,^- f «■;;';;,;".'"„. ,Hlnd hnds for the fol- of this system are thai ) u «'; '"',', „.,„,„ thev should be lowing season-s ero,. in the ''" l-^, ^ "X uld ease to itltord opi.or- gro«n,and tl... rulture 'f ;:<'^"'''-\ ,..';" ,'fTlv mature U-forc luutiv for this «• 1 and b.ids to haid.n ai 1 « •' ^^ " , ^,.,.,. w"^tc:r. Again, this enltnral ^^^ ;;-';;;;['; ,,,,!r'^„m\„atnre to store up all the n.M-essarv plant lood . '- " ' ^^ .-u ture- eon- t» fruit bv the lime the '" '"'■>\;'-; ^'fi "X mm" g •''l'0«''« '^ serves the n.oisture, aerates <";,;;;," ;^"^, ','".; X Thus eliminat- larger surfa.e to the aeln.n ot '"<"'>!',''"' ";,,;„. ^ i„ .nmdition |,„^„hos„horie arid -•'} i;«'i»:;^^. - ';:;,':' ; * , W'l.'inus in the soil for the oiM.rat.on ot th.' f''''''"'- ' ' .'^ •"' ,. .,„a ,i,.. lining of the ;,nd .onstant enltnr,. to -"'f •'■^':, ';/,'; ';,v „..eded. soil it is in.possible to -»•«•';'••;■' I '1" r, i .1 that the an.onnt Tin. lllin..isexpernnen ta a -n h^^^^^^ t ^^^^^ ,.„„.,,„t,.d ..ries of moistur.. m soil (i.Knal.d a> ■' ^ " " j,, ,.„„t„in in an fron. i:! to "JT per '•;■»'■::;;,:;,:";;',." t," than the uncnlti- acre 1(14.(1(1(1 gallons to •'•■■"'"'*"''"' ^.r, her with the air admitt.-d vated soil. This add..d n.o.stnre, <>*■'<',.. V,,id and ,K,tash into the soil by .ulture unlo Us (h. i;^^^ ^ ', V,,., „f ,,.gumes by and other mineral ..|..n...nts "'."V"';, .^' Vf. ,!, .^ it, so that the their root syst.M,, going deep ;>';;'.,i „X\ T esV ero,« improve plant food eh.n.ents -an "1^" ' '. '^ '", '''^i,i,,jj u with vegetable fhe nieehani.al .•ondilmn ot th. sol ''> "'„ '^ , , „, ^,o„s. ad- ,„att..r and hun.ns; this '>«»''' ";»^";^^';'r,,;:.';' a ,d r..tMining this ,„i„ing of the fr.... passag.. ;''*';■;. ^ V'^^,,' ,,,stly i( must be «ater K. b.. taken up by '"''' ' ■ .^,^1 his wav in an or.hard ,.,,„..,ob..r..d that a l..gn.ue '_ , ';' "^ , ^,„. 4... p..u„ds of phos- vviU give to ..a.h aer.. -Id- 1""""^^^ "'[ "' , 7 , ;„ „„. ,„arket today phoric a.id and -02 p.-un.ls ot I'"'; ^ .\;: " , ,,, .,u.,u..nts is there- ,t *«.(•(•. This an.onnt o ''"•'';^;;' ,, ,^; ', ,,,,1 for the g.-owth fore ret.. rn...l '';/'''; .-;\v;;V,vb.. en. J.-aV.d 1.. this p.-o.-ss of of the crop itself, and sm n as m.iv "^ disintregation. Hn.refore be seen that the In eon,pa.i..g .h..s.. ^vsfems it ea ''. efo,.^^ ^^^^ ,.,.„„ir.....ents. intense cult..ral s.yst..... "''';,;",".■ s -so., wl.e.. t.-...- g...wtl. !:^^.x.l1:^«-"":«""-■'"•:^ - .'^ ..!y and ii ss of ... m.-thod elearly r...-..gni/...d. ^^ ^ ^^^,^. Yo.-U 0|.<.hai.ds l,r. warren, of !";'/"'r'..^';,. fruit than or.ha.ds l,.ft in till..d fivey.'ars .v.eld..d **',"'' ''^-J^i.i.ilar and substantially the sod five y..a.s. ^vlu...' .;''»<1' ">- « J'/ .' , ,,,t,.,„ that will bring «an,e. Th.. M'..'**'^"-/'''-':;'^ "j-'J,;;; "-,.,. -ation, .onditions. en b,.st .■.suits sh.u.hl 1". ....sy "t ^'^ "'":„,,„, a,,v svstem that may viron.......! will '>-•'•'-«'l'''^■ **'r:"7'.f."i^"i." ted' must b.. observed be a.lopt..d. b..t tl... i;'>"<;'I" ;■;;/, f i.^M lilv a... t.. b.. s....u....d. where .-?-'""«.>,»""""' VT;:'..v.."e 1 at Anlerican Horticulture haa The best evidence of the a(nancL 86 made lies in thv fact that wc to-day coivtrol conditions suiTOUuding f^uit culture, instead of havinj.^ conditions control us. The modern demand of the nuuket for fruit is that it must be of highest quality; and fortunately for the fruit grower he can }?row quality into his f uit b y fcH^din.r his trc.es a full balanced ration, just as best resu ts are obtainc^d in a dairy herd, by the proper balanced feed; ui eithe case the cow or the tn^e beinj; the instrument in the l^ands of man to conyert raw material into a manutactured product. In tht deiiree that fiuit j^rowers will meet the reciuirements so clearly Indicated by scientific inyestipilion and practical experience in that de-ree^ will Horticulture still further adyance as the noblest occupation of man. DR MVYEK— Mr. Seeds at our Farmers' Institutes, recommends Cow-Horn Turnips and Essex Kape. Has any one tried them in- stead of Crimson Cloyer? MR. BROWN.— I haye used (\)w Horn Turnips and Vetch. A MEMBER.— I do not attach much yalue to Cow-Horn Turnips. Twenty tons would not return more than fl.no worth to the soil. MR PETERS —1 was much interestc-d in Mr. Brown's address ou orchard culture. He has, howeyer, based his arj-uments on Dela- ware conditions, and not on the diyersitied conditions we haye in rennsylyania. As to sod culture, Mr. Brown mentions two men who haye succcn-ded. I would adyise eyery one to cultivate accord- ing to his particular soil and conditions. iMR HIESTER.— We want to study and ccmsider the principles Mr Brown has spoken of, want Uy know what we are working for. then study our own conditions and apply them to our own farms and orchards. "When I was young an old fruit grower told me to plow two fe(4 deep before^ planting my orchard. I follow<'d his adyice and the trees grew finely but bore no fruit, and I was obliged to check their growth by sowing to wheat and timothy, at the rate of 10 quarts of the latter per a^»'>' l^*''' year for three years. The trees gradually stopped growing but had I checked the'giowth earlier I would have had less wood growth and more fruit. The treatment which I gave my trees w;«m Id prob ablv have killed Mr. Brown's in Delaware. I agree with Mr. Peters that w(> must study our own conditions and apply our own treatment accordingly. RESOLUTIONS. The following resolutions were read by the secretary and unani- mously adopted: "Resolved —That the Slate Horticultural Association of Pennsyl- vania in annual convention assembled, hereby endorses the bin (H. R 345) introduced into the House of Representatives by Hon. H. C. ' I 37 efforts to secure its ims«age. ^ ^^^^ .^ "Resolvcd-That tlu- ^'^'^.'''V^^^',,'" f yV Lonsin, to Hon. James these resolutions to Hon. H. < • Adau « ot ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^_ Wilson, Secretary of Agrieultiue, and seutative from Pennsylvania. e .. +!,« "Ri'friirerator Car Iwiines the United States" >»as m.d b,N tU. sec.eta.j '•Chii. ""'^ fc ington, D. C. ,.„n„nittee to meet in Washington ••It is the intention of "'"•/' ',"'' „',.t with the President in a very short time or ''; f'', •.,::'; ,,.ig rate bills in prepara- and the various •"<'"'^''' ^."t, , f , t . n e take action, by sending tion. and we urg.^ntly f h ;, ♦".',* ^'.natter sent the chairman resolutions, l,.tt.-rs or t-b'g' • ">■• f^./V ,.,,,• for relief of tl... pro- will be for use in Waslungl.n. n t s «W intolerable du.ers of the I''''-'«l''''.'';- V;"; li; ^ "',rv a now compelled to bear burd.'ii of .■xcessive i.nig •''•"'-;.^,.;' .'.t jf a rate bill is pass<'d void bearing in mind the l"-'--*'^^ /t. . ea s 0 ever) before the bene of these icing features, it wil • ' ) ' ^.j,, ,„,,,„it an amend- such charge's. ^ ^,^^^_^ ^^^^^^ respectfully, '•JOHN 0. SCALES. Chairman, ..Retrig.'rator Car Lin.'s Committee. 38 "Icing Clause. "Section 5. That a rate to provide for (lie furnishin- of ice for thr^ t'^^^n'^^l !:;^:f ^^ry-'^ /-'"--^ »- ^^-' i^^ P-Her;at/^r.tn t ththlv .1 • ^'\!''''^^' "1 ^^^<' piiblisluHl (ariff of the carrier under us tKiKl, bills (he scvcial .|iuiii(ifi 39 MORNING SESSION. Wednesday, January 17. After calling the meeting to order the President announced that a photograph of the society will be taken at the close of the morning session at the court house front. All invited. The following question from the Query Box was answered by Prof. Surface: "WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD TO PREVENT MICE FROM GIRDLING TREES?" PROF. SURFACE.— The subject of preventing mice from eating trees is one of great iuiiK)rtance because^ thousands of trees are lost by mice in this State and I know of one fruit grower in Cumberland county who lost !!|;2,0()0 worth of young trees, 5 or G years old, last winter. I could at this time mention 20 suggested remedies but shall refer to only a few of the best. * . In the first place, remove the cause of the trouble. That is the grass, weeds and rubbish on the ground. They are attracted by this material in which they find both food and concealment, and which should b(» removed most carefully in the fall, or better, the orchard should be so cultivated that there will be no accumulation of vegetation on the ground around the trees in winter. Second. Mice feed almost wholly beneath the snow and generally only when there is snow on the ground, consequently one of the best measures is to pack the snow around the trunk of the trees, as they will not burrow through the ice pack thus formed and will not come on top of the trauqiled snow to feed. The chief pest is the short-tailed meadow mouse or Vole. It feeds almost entirelv uiwm vegetation. Its en<'mies are the owls, hawks, especially the' red tail hawk, the screech owl and the black snake, especiall'v during the summer and the latter part of the year. These enemies to the mice should be preserved as they have no obnoxious habits. It is im]>ortant to suppress all such ]>ests by encouraging and ]>reserving the natural enemies that are at work on them at all times of the year. , A direct remedy for this pest consists in tying bands of wire cloth, once or twice around the trees (extending down beneath the ground and to the heighth of about two feet. Another good remedy is to mound the trees to the height of |\t least a foot in the fall'before the ground freezes and the mice will not come out to feed on toi> of the mound. A third practical remedy is tramping the snow. The fourth consists in poisoning them with any kind of poisoned food that they will eat. 40 th^t!?m,'L"^' M 'V l"''*?"*!"";" •«"" >'"<•" and rabbits is to paint a move H.h.. '.■•'■'•«»■«' «l.,t,.l..aapers by Prof. Surface, Economic /oo og.st, and s^^vcral of his office and ti
» By PROP. H. A. SURFACE. Economic Zoologist, Harrlsburg. Pa. The day has passed when it is necessary f(u' expert fruit growers I u«li(s toi the San Jose Scah-. or the possible effects of oils unMgafM.n, or certain solutions upon either trees or i,(4 s Tl^se Inngs nrr m.w fairly wc^ll established, and we are readv to movT^to a b gher plan<. and discuss such subjects as some of the detaTls of the life or rate of spread of this fM-st. "eraiis ot l> 41 A year ago a paper, presented before this association, contained the statement that during the past several years the scale had not spread more than a few yards. Last fall in the vicinity of the writer of that ptiper we found he was mistaken, as we could trace its spread from his premises to a distance of two or three miles or more; but general statements of this kind are not as valuable as specific details of what has been found by men making a careful examina- tion over a country of considerable area. As a type of such work, I wish to read from a written report recently sent me by Mr. Charles A. Heiss, our inspector and demonstrator in Centre and Clearfield counties. Under date of December 5tli he wrote as follows. "Yesterday morning I again inspected carefully the premises of Mr. G. and found that both large and small trees of his premises were generally infested, but in the rear of his lot were two peach trees about six years of age which were very badly covered. From there I went to the peach orchard of C. B., about one mile southeast of here, con- taining about 1,100 trees, ranging from two to four years of age. I could detect no "Scale" until I came to a tree in the middle of the orchard about three years of age and this was completely covered. Then I inspected around this tree and found (he Scale had spread in a radius of four rods from this tree in numbers decreasing as the distance from the tree increased. From all appearances this tre«* may have been infested from the nursery." The above sentence shows that since the other trees, which con- sisted of pear, api)le, pc'ach, and j)lum were only generally infested but not badly covered. Ihe two peach trees mentioned were very evidently the source of the infestation on these premises. "In another orchard belonging to the same man I found a repeti- tion of the above conditions. Next I went into the peach orchards of \V. E. 15., one mile south of R*. This man has jHobably 500 trees in three orchards. About his home lie has a number of Japanese plum trees. These may rang<* from seven to ten years of age and are infested more or less witli Scale but not enough to make it prob- able that they came thus from the nuisery. In the middle of a young apple orchard on the o]»posite side of tlu' fence I found a number of young apple trees slightly infested. Now close about these trees was absolutely no bad case of infestation and the closest was one tree at least t<'ii rods away, which shows that it must have been carried from there by some bird or insect. Large tre<'S, i)robably twenty-five years of age were also slightly infested." Certainly the badlv infested trei' nu'ntioned above carried the Scale from tin* nurseiv, and since (his orchard was about three years of age, we are safe in saying that the Scale spread ovach trees, I could find no Scale. "This morning I mad<' an insp^^ction of the town and found it to be m a very bad state, i)robably the worst of anv town I have vet been in. Trees fifty years of age, as well as voung^rees. grape viii'es and quince bushes are covered with it. So bad is it indeed that many trees were dead and the bark of many others cracking open and last summer's growth shriveling up, and it was impossible to tell which was the worst infested tree. However, proving that the Scale does travel across lots in spite of Doctor G's statement that it does not I went into the field of A. N. C, one-half mile west of P O and at least 100 rods from any trees, and there I found about' six good-sized apple trees infested with the Scale " From the fact that Mr. Heiss found the Scale covering a branch o the tree but not the trunk, he is jusHfied in his conclusion tha^ the Scale was carried to tins particular branch, doubthss bv a bird and that it started at this pla,-e. U must have been there no? more than a year, or the (runk itself would have been covered Thus in this case we have evidence of the spread of the scale over a circle of at least a diameter of eight rods or over 130 feet within the vear V 43 and, of course, the rat<* of spread would become much larger as the infested area increased in extent. It is possible that a few individual Scales were carried a much greater distance; but, of ocurse, an in- spector cannot be expected to find all the pests, especially when they are so small and are lik<*ly to find concealment beneath buds and scales. This portion of tlu* rep(U't is remarkable as it ]>roves ccmclusively that the Scale was carried here, al least ten rods or 165 feet, from one orchard to another over a strip of woodland. "To find how far it had traveled 1 took a hip of about six miles (■ast of here ami could tiace (he Scale for a distance of three miles from town, all hough no trees, except one about a mile from town, were badly infested. The lemalnchM' of the infestation at a distance of two to three miles from town had apiKiiently just started this summer and ho far as I could find was entirely removed from any case of serious infestation and on such trees upon which it could not have come from the nursery. Beyond three miles I could find noth- ing, excei)t in a newly started peach orchard six miles east of here, where I found one small i)each tree covered and this one without doubt came from the nurserv." « Tlie fact that these trees were of large size proves that they were infested by the Scale that was carried to them, because they would yet be comparatively small trees even if they were the very first in tested with Scale that were brought into this State, as it has not been with us more than about twelve years and is consecpiently found only upon small trees, unless it be where it was carried from younger trees to the older ones. As they stood at least tc«n rods from the badly infested trees it shows conclusively that the Scale was carried this distance, or nearly a third of a mile. This gives full justificaticm for establishing the half mile as a limit within which the Scale* must be held in complete check around nurscM*ies to avc»id infestation of nursery stock, as is recpiired by the State of New York. "The name of the agent who sold these treses and who has the large part of the trade in this section is . Fol- lowing this I went west and north and found that the Scale was there also. I went north about three fourths of a mile and found it on trec^s fifty years of age with no signs of badly infested young tlTC*S." No better proof is needed in finding the Scale on trees fifty yejU'S of age. and no infested young trees nearer than three-fourih of a mile, that the Scale was cariied or spread over this entire distance. This valuable porticm of the rejiort shows that the Scale has s]>read from the cM-igiiial center ovei* a distanc-e of at least three miles, and it also emphasizes the importance of the work of inspec- ticm and demcmstiation which we are doing, and shows the ability of the class of men whom we have em-agecl as deinonslj atcus. not- withstanding the fact that a self-appointed critic thought it wise to refer to them as "experts of a month's training." While we do not advocate destroying infested trees as in special cases, the destruction of the isolated infested trees is im]»o!tant in such cases as the last mentioned, in order to prevent the spread of the Scale from these small centers of distribution. "Then I went one mile west of the town and found the Scale in the peach orchard of J. V. (J. This orchard i« from three to four years u of age and after a tboi-eugh iii8i.oetion I ...uld detect not one badlv nfested tree but at «hort infrvals I found braneh.-s w"th the Sea e S'br.diir;i'dTThr ' ''""""'^' •'^••^-*' ''-^' "-' -- f-*^" near here.'""^ conditions I found to juvvail in t«o other orchards "In addition to tliis I made a trip to and found thit tlie«e IK.o,.le were not behind the tinu-s and had ah-.^ad made the Sea e a common study in their town. H.-re I received an appUcation for a demonstration to be held n.'xt spring in th,. orchard o KB This orchard contains about :(.()()(. trees and is a splendid place' for a demonstration. I send the application herewith. The people of ^^^-——^ a..e enthusiastic over the work and are spmying and There is here such plain evidence that the Scale is carried bv such means as buds Hying from tr«e to tree and branch to brm^h that no sented to lias Soc ety a year ago staling that the writ<-r bel ev.-d that the feeales spr.s.d chiefly by crawling fron, one tree to another i, too erroneous to comnuind further attention «uotuci is The concluding iiaragra],!, „f Mr. lleiss is one of the mo.t <.n. couraging possible, because it shows that th,. citiz.Mis in this in fested region are awakening to th,. iiuportan,-,. of th,- worl the Stat, IS oftering them, and will c.rtaiuly so„n ov,.r,ome th,. "nemv that his caused th,.m such trouble. l),.u„.nstrations will b,. gi\"i his snr^' in that region and fh..r,. is evid,..,,.. that tli,.re a^ l,.as we'Lavt friends who fully appr,.,iat,. our ,.|T«rt8 in their behalf I had7n end..d luor,. fully t.. discuss the pap,.r that was pr," ent,- 1 ^ f,u° his Asso.-mt.on last spring and whi,h did not meet with the views of members, but ey,.,, though I ask,.d the writer to 1„. pn.sent at th^s tin,,, and defend his points if he ,-,mld prov them, h,' is not here and conse,,uently pref,.r not to discuss t without giv ng h^a fa r' OKtiAXIZATK.N OF THE SAX JOSE SCALE WOKK BY THF mvjsiox OF zoorx)(iY ix pexxsylvaxia. By N. a. MILLER, Assistant Economic Zooloslsl. WlH-n it lM.,am,. ,-,.rtain that an effort was to be made hiokin.r toward tl„. Kuppressi.m of the San Jos,'- Seal,, in t fs Sta?e it became v,.ry ,.vid,.,it to those in authoritv that th,- ,n me hod t. pursue was to iuaugurat,. a campaign of •,.du,at o is .Innned «nd nrg,., by I.rof,.ss,u- Surfa,-,-, rather than arbit la Iv t la v down certain m,.aus of treatiiu.ii, and to for..,. citi.,.nsto act accord ingly. It was obvu.iis that su,li (...atuient could not be nutTntn be"',IsTs's'"'"""- """ "■'■'"""* ""*' '* «■""'"• '" •■' "••>- ot%Ckina" The ,|u,.sti,.n then was, what should b,. the natur,. „f this edu,.n tional ,.ampa,gn? What ni,.ans and methods should ,' id before the citizens of the State, and how? Tlies,. fa.ts w,.re very apparent ■ 45 (1) As a general rule the people did not understand the nature of the San Jos6 Scale well enough to act for themselves, except in a :ew localities in a few counties of the southern part of the State. (2) In but a few localities were the means of combating the Scale well enough understood to be successfully applied by the persons themselves interested. I*eopIe who understand the nature of the insect did not know the methods to be applied, and were at the mercy of the agents of either unscrupulous or well-meaning but misguided manufacturers. Thus it was obvious that the first effort in the work should be exi)end<'d along the line of instructing those interested in the best known materials and methods to be used in combating this most injurious in.sect, and the proper time when this should be done. The question then arose as to what was the best method. There are two general methods in practical use: 1st, Fumigation with a gas, like Hydro-cyanic Acid gas (HCX), which is death to all animal life; 2nd, Spraying or washing with some liipiid material that will kill or injure by actually coming into contact with the body of the insect. At first thought fumigation would seem to be the more eflfectivo of the two, for assuming that we have a gas and a licpiid of equal deadliness to a given organism, the fact that the gas will diffuse evenly throughout any enclosure and i)enetrate where the liquid will not, should nmke the gas the more effective. For this reason HCN gas, being the most deadly, is the most effective insecticide known, and is used generally in nursery fumigation where the San Josc'^ Scale is i)resent, on stof..ssional .ir.har.lisl .l.,..s not. I (hink, r..aliz,. (h,. ma.'n.l tiKle of tlMMask wla-n «.. sp.-.-ik .,f ...lu.-adug (h,. ,,ubli ■ to" ,;„ - for 1... S..al... Sn.-h persons hav,. I n spraWng f.Ir v.irs Tl,^ would not think of ...ntinuing (h.-ir business wilh.nil spravin./ ,i do not real,/... that tli...v an- simpl.v ab.m( 1 per ...n <,f ill' persons in th.. Stat,, who are (,..vi„g (o ,-ais.. Irnit. ,i d h.: ot li ,- !•!» p..r .-..nt. hav.. as .v..t not a((e,„p(,.d (,, figh( ,|„. s.-ale in an v pracln-al wa.v. it ma.v l„. true (hat this smafl n„,„l,..r « .- .ow^"k . ^ 47 raise the larger part of the marketable fruit in the State, yet the fact that they have been successful as si^ecialists does not entitle them to more consideration than belongs to the large number of small and unsuccessful growers. Outside of about a dozen counties practically nothing was known of spraying for San Jos(^ Scale be- fore the Division of Zoology commenced its demonstration last fall. Bearing the above facts in mind it was decided that the best method of educating the i)ublic was to send out men who were competent to do the work in a satisfactory manner and to teach others how to do so. These men were to be ecpiippcd with apparatus sufficiently powerful to show how it should be done, and were actually to make and apply the materials recommended for spraying for San JoscS Scale, and to give such other information regarding the entire work of fighting the Scale and other injurious insects as might be found necessary. The apparatus carried V)y the Demonstrators must have two requi sites: It must be powerful enough to do satisfactory work, yet it must not be too expensive to come wi(hin the reach of the average small fruit grower, nor too heavy to be easily conveyed from place to place. The kind of apparatus must be adaptable to the needs of small growers, as the large grower who wishes expensive appara- tus has interests enough involved to cause him to go, of his own initiative, to i)laces where he can get the information or instruction he desires. This is just what the small grower cannot do, and such help must be taken to him. The Lime-sulphur salt Wash was used in this spraying, for the reason that at present this mixture has met with the approval of the best scientists and has been the most successful of all materials with the majority of practical men. Resides it is the simplest to make and the cheapest of the home-made preparations. The objec- tions to it are the trouble in jjreparing snuill lots and its caustic action on the exposed j)arts of I he persons aj)])lying it. None of the present commercial preparation could be conscientiously used for the simple reason that no such preparation has as yet proven successful enough, nor has any such ma tibial been used for a sufficient length of time to justify the reciuumendation of it at this time. It is to be remembered that this is jnactical woi'k and not an experimental [proposition. This work during th<' ]»ast fall has been necessarily to some ex- tent i)reliminaiy. The State was divid<'d into twenty sections of from one to five counties in each, according to the relative values of interest involved. A man was sent into each district on No vember 1st with instructions to s])end at hs'ist two weeks in finding out where San Jos(:» Scale was most abundant, for at that time there was reason to believe that there were wide areas in the Cen- tral and Northern sections of the State where it had not vet appearcMl. If the Scale could be checked at tlie boundaries of these uninfested areas, it was reasonable to suppose that such localities could be k<»pt clean for ])robably many y<'ars to come. Where they found Scale and where demonstrations of spraying were desired and conditions favorable they were to make arrange ments and to schedule such appointments for a later date. All 4S persons making application thiougli tl,,- central office were re- qnestcd to send witli their aj.pli.ations twigs tliouglit to be in fest...!, since nianv persons ar.. iinabl.- to distinguish San JosC- Scale tron several other scale insects, proniiuent among which are Scurfv and ).vMer-shell. Demonstrations w,.re s.h..dnh.d only at p a es found to l,e favorably situaf.d. .entrally hxated, and Ave nib's or Xduir;:,?-' ;■'""■ •''•■"""«•■•»'-" '» i- «!>-.. as u aVa schedule -i"H' ""'l Meetings of this kind were h.-ld in tliirlv counties,_lK- i„ ,,11 with a tota attendame of over 5,01.1). Practicallv eve v one of inro„7';7t'""T'7'''""'^''"" '"•'■^""•^- '""' "*-«"■"'"'« i"'i< '"Iv one out of t,.ii, which is a very low ..stiinat.-. will sprav during tl,e btate. Hill undertake spraying, who would not have done so but for this ins rue ion. This will not be the .nd of this work for it , si means that if only one small grower take up the w.uk. in he c^ se of a .vear or two the iiui <,rity of his neighbors will be doi„ ' it also wiM.ii tli,.y .see his profits. This has l7een the case in c erHin ...nnfiesof Southern Pemisylv where a f.-w pub c-spirited d progressive horticulturists l„.gaii sn.h spraving a few veirs .Co juid where at the pres,.iit time ihe proper' ie.^ of th,.se"erv , erso,"s rs.',;tr;;v.'ingri:i'.;''- ' ""'■" ""• ""- "-■«■■•■-'- -•""" on^'^'Frn!,','',",,"',"" "* '?"* t»o.i>"P".tmit facts have been brought out. Itoiii the persimal insp..cli<)ii made by thes.. agents it can not now be d.-hmlely said that there is a single couiitv in this State where there is no San Jose Scale. Fr.nn sinvral iV I, s ot b" i, reported, but the ii.spe.tion in those counti,.s has no be • n gen eral enougli o give definit,. results. Jt is present in everv fi, i^ gixnymg section of any ,onsiderabl.. in rjance. Not , n v I is but It IS also generally distribul,.d ovr local areas, and if i be ,t" genei.i or on all of the tre,.s in such areas, it is on a ew a s m. arated inf..rvals. showing that it is just g,.(lii,g a good sta t ,ind tl e di^tety'ii;,:;!. '" '■"""■ '""'"'' "■*'"■'■ ""•='"" *" ««"' 'f "■■''!■''-":' The work was actively conti d until the first of the nresent .year, when ,t was dropped on ac.-ounl of the unfavorable w^.a/her. «V 49 but it will be resumed this spring at the first opportunity. It will be conducted in about the same manner as last fall, although plans have been made to have it more systematized than formerly. The work of tlu' past season was the first and successful trial of oes it injuH' the tree or jdant to which it is applied? (;{) Is the cost so grtnit as to render it too expensive for practical use? In considering the elticiency of an insecticide we frecjuently find mistakes which greatly alter tin* final r(»sults and conclusions. Among these mistakes it might be well to mention that many users of insecticides fail lo consider the scales which are alrf^ady d<'ad at the time of spraying. On close examination in the <'arly win- ter or late fall, we found on peach and i»luiu trees, moderately in- fested, from 10 to 20 ]>ei- cent, of the scale d<'ad, and on apple and pear from 5 ]>ei' cent, to 1(^ per cent. dead. It is our opinion that the number of San Jos('' Scale killed by agen each insecticide. To do this we found the iKnvonUv^v dead i>ievious to sp.avin^ on one tm of ( Tei v lof treated with each insecticide Hv f.iLi...r n. i'«- <>rt\u\ lot aires hefoii. ...wi . fT. /i . ^ ^*>'->»« ^le ditterences of percent- ages iHtoie and after the treahnent it would seem to irive fhn quentlj examined tiees on on,. hi..,iwli .»f «i.; i \^ -T ::js£:SHS i JEHSf Err Anoth.... ,ni«tako. al.l.ooRh „o, so <•<. nm „ "b h, o Urs s whtro iiilillPsisi vvn«.. or,.,,,,.....,/-;.;, .::.rL";::;r,':;ti;:;;; ;;rt';c''''-^- -"' '^'- " •id., is „ft..„ blain.Ml fo, r,m.Mn«!/ wl rl ■ if ,U ^'^ ^ "'''''^*' timcR tlio ti-,...s a... i.oiul .,, w, f ""^ ''"■ "'' """'•^' ► I 51 (1) Those having crude oils for a basis, which are rendered soluble by some "secret'' means, as "Scalecide," "Target Hrand Scale De- stroyer,'' etc. (!') Modification of the Liine-sulphur-salt Solution, as "Con Sol,'' and "Horicum." CJ) I'artial union of I and 2, as "Kill-O-Scale," and "Salimene." (4) l^^-products of no other use, and for that reason often recom- mended by the originators as the "only insecticide and fungicide in the world." Some of the last-named comiKuinds haye proyen to be such as Calcium Sulphate, one of the most insoluble compounds known to chemistry, a paint mixture, which would not kill eyen the Aphids, and many others too numerous to mention, but all of about the same yalue as the tvyo just mentioned above. Early in Jul3' I'rofessor Surface outlined and the writer under- took a series of experiments to determine the possibility of spraying during the summer months and hold the scale in check to such an extent as to warrant summer spraying. In these experiments com mercial insecticides were mostly used, and the results are summar- ized l)elow: In cases where "Con Sol,'' "Target Brand Scale Emulsion," and "Kil-O-Scale" were ajiplied in summer strength as recommended by the mauufactureis, we found that th<'y caused the crawling larva'* to become fixed and secrete coverings much sooner than when the trees were not treated. When applied strong enough to kill the adult scale the foliage was badly burned, and in some cases the trees were killed. From these experinu'iits we found to make Summer Spraying successful in the slightest degree we had to spray at least once a week during the entire breeding si^ason. Our best results were obtained by using Whale (Jil Soap, 1 jiound in 5 gallons of water, which killed a large numb«'r of the crawling young, and no harm eould be noticed to tlu; tree on which it was aijplied. To determine the real value of some of the most widely advertised commeicial insecticides, a seri(*s of experiments was started early last autumn, and this has been continued uj) to the present time. AlthiMigh it is imjjossible to give the tinal results of these experi ments at present, yet we can now give the r<*sults of the trees sprayed juior to DcMcmber LM). IDO."), working on the basis that an insecticide exerts all its inlluence within a month fiom the time of ajjplication. Thirty trees, consisting of apjde, ]>each. ]»ear and cherry were sprayed December (I, IIMI."), with "lloriciim," which is a i)re])ared form of the Liim' siilphui -salt Mixture, mad<» and sold by th<' Ham nwuid Slug Shot "Works, at fifty c<'nts pei- gallon when purchased in .")(> gal. lots. This was applied in projxMlion of one ])ait to twenty- five i^n ts of water. One application was made with a result that from fiftv-tive to sixtv-fiv<' p<'r cent, of the San Jos«'' Scale were deaii on .lannarv 2r>. "Target Uiand Scab' Destroyer." niad<' by the TTorticultural Dis tributing ('oni]»any, was ajjjdied in pi'oporlion of one ]>art to t>yenty five ])arts of >yater on one hnndicd t!<'es, consisting of apph», plum and a frw j^each. The result here was very poor, as with the pre- ceding, as not mote than fifty or sixty \h'v cent, of the insects were ■\>i 52 53 kill.^J. The .vsiilts «•<.>•,. alMMit the snnu. on all varieties of trees waLh'mnaly 5""' "'"'''■' "'■"■"""■'■ "'"• """ "'" '""' '■xa.nim.tion "TaiKcl Itran.l Itesiii K, sioii." ,„a,I,. l,v the same tiiin as the abov.., was spnivd on a few trees h„, owii.V to a tendem y t« gj m both ,,un,,. a,„i „oz.|e it was vr, .iillienlt to applv. On both tie peaeh aneale, made by the Thoms<'U Cliemioal Comnanv w-ia ai-pl.ed Dee. Sth, one part to twnt.y parts of water, on S,' ntU I'll"". a'Hl P<-ar tre..s mod,.rat,.h infested. The result.s ht"e var ed ■ons,d..rably ,„t the average showd not more than tiffy to sixty per eent. ot tn- s.ale dea.l on Jan. .111,. A s.-e^.nd ai.plLation on the san,e varieties of tre,.s l),.,-,.n,lH.r 1!) gave the ie results These results tog,.,her with tlw high p,i,.,. ,7f ,|„. ins.Xide (« .(i per gal on when purchased in hug,, quantities, would oer a „ly eo demii Its use >n .omparison with .he m,.re siu-.essful and "iLZ r<-n,edies. sueh as Liine-siil,,h„r Wash or Whal.. Oil Soap ' W arien s "O. K.," made and sold by S. 1{. Warren was anulie.l one part to twenty of water on tweni,-flve appt^'^nd diun^t^ees HhL^.A f. "".«' PaHiciilar i.lnin trees the examination on Jan ( slowed fiHun ninet.v to ninetysev.n p.-r e<.nt. of the inseets de' d while on th.. a,,pl.. ,r,.es only forty ,0 Hf,y ,,.., ."nt «TmI' d«d These ivsnlts may be due to oth.-r eonditions than the nsectidde but from the .-onnt it appears that this mal.-rial was nearl sue' eessfnl on one kind of tre.-, and a eomph^te failure o^ another although a,,plied on tl... san... day and under the same conditions ' by he' i' (■'■p.'Tr/r. •"7't.^ «*<■ "I'l'l'' t'''''« with "Sealecide," made by t lie J. (..1 latt < ()., using on<. part to twentvlive of water Exam ination made two w.-eks afterward showed that at least ni^efv IH.r eent. of the seal., were dead. On Oet. I (th a l.lo, k of dun •ees yvere sprayvd with the sam,. mat,.rial and strengt , sin! the san... apparatus, an.l on this lot not over forty per ee. 0 he s al,. yy..r,. ,h.ad on Nov. JO. With ,|,..se varying' rcsus it was hough ne,essary to spray nior,. trees for eoinpariaon o" »ee <. tw,.n y hve a|,ple an.l plum lr....s w.^r.- tivat.ld with th same materia al Ihe sa s(„.ng(h. .\„ ..xaniinali.m ..„ In 5 show 1 from Ihir y.hve lo f.,r(y-liy.. p..,. ..,.,„. „f t,,.. ,,,„,. d.. It .result ipo . a|.|. .. an.l plum l„.ing ,h.. sam... Kurthe, ..xp..rim..|its win be to s... If tl .. .IH..r..n.-es ar.- not dm- to natural .-onditions of tl,.. nse,ts on th.. diir..r..|i, tr..,.s ralh..r than .0 ivsults of sn,' vin^ It must be r,.|„..m|,..,.,.d dial f,.„„ HfLvu t., fortv IM.r eent f tf.' s.a 1.. ,ns,...(s may 1... f 1 ,,,.,d .luring ,h,. „.ii,„.,, .ye, u on tre. s hat hay., m, b...... spray...l. ami ...ns. ..„,ly ,|,, ,„tal ,,!•• nfl' "'] ' '"/I'VKlnals giu.u ab.iv,. ..aunol 1... attribut..d t., ii ,' ! i "i*, !!,' l'r.,m tli..se ..xperim.uls w.. ar.. f.>r.-..d to .-oiMlud..- ^U 'Hnt ,0 mrd an.l last ml., .an be f.,r„,..d as to th.. sm-.-.-ss or fa li r. ^f •, y eonim,.r.ial ins..el,.i.h., as we hav.. had a f..w fairly s eeessfur "e • » suits and complete failnres nnd..r the sam.. conditions. It is neces- sary to r(.peat them several tiin..s in order t.) .diminate the chances of error. (2) In the majority of cas..s tb.. failures .ir ]iartlal failnres far ont- number the results that would b.. call..d ev..n fairly successful. t (3) It is impossible, owinj; to varvinjj: original conditions and final results to calculate accurately the per cent, of scale insects killed, and the margin of variation may be at least five per cent, on either side of the definite result. (4) That the solution of the problem of controlling the San Jo8<5 Scale by means of commercial insecticides is yet to be solved. EXPERIMENTS WITH STANDAKI) HOMEMADE INSECTI CIDES FOR THE SAN JOSE SCALE. By ROSS F. LEE. Owing to the great increase of the San Jost' Scale and other scale insects throughout the State, the Division of Zoology of Pennsylva- nia, decided to start a series of experiments with Lime-sulphur salt Mixtures and other home-made remedies. There is a great demand for a remedy which is cheap, efficient, and easy of application, yet not injurious to trees. I am afraid too many of us consider our time wasted which we spend working among our fruit trees. The Scale is simply a reminder and an awakener to the fact that in the past our fruit trees suffered for want of care and attention. A series of experiments were recently undertaken to determine, if pos- sible, the cause of some failures with the Lime-sulphur-salt washes, and their variations, in controlling the San Josc^ as well as other scale insects. Other remedies, such as Kerosene and its variations. Whale Oil Soap, Warren "Sand Oil" and Caustic Soda were also used. The failure of an insecticide may be caused in many instances by the mode of aj»plication, improi)er preparation of materials, poor classes of crude material, and inferior apj>aratus, rather than by the material actually used in spraying. This is especially true in the case of the Lime-sulphur-salt wash. In preparing this nmterial the several processes to be carried out have a tendency, at the best to invite carelessness, although under such a condition this can be more safely used, with success, than can any other insecticide. Care should be taken to select a good grade of fresh stone lime in order to get the best chemical combination possible. The following are the results of using the Lime-snlphnr-salt wash and its variations, — a wide degree of eft'cctiveiicss being noticeable. 1. Lime-sulphur-salt, self-heated but not boiled with fire, and used in the pro])ortion of 22 IT»s. Lime, 17 lT»s. Sulphui-. and r>Tt)s. Salt to 50 gals, water, was applied to .')() peach trees. The aj)plication was made on Nov. 15th, and an examination in earlv Januarv showed 45 |K'.; cent, of tho Sralo dead. Aiiotl.,-,- application of tbo «a„u- 2. Liino-suli)hin--salt (Fonmilji, 22 lime 17 sulnhnr in «nif m i oxlTnaHo,;, o.^ Jal n'th!'"""' "' '""• '"'"• *"•"«' -'"^- - '"- >-* a TlR. saiii.. iiiatciials l)oil<.d tliicc-foiiiths liom- and nn.Ii,..! f„ per ^u?;;':,;!', '''•'',''■••''';■''' •■•■'" "■■""•• ••» ^"v- ^mi/Jl;" .:!..' pel tent, ot dead scale in Januaiv '<-'".* 4. On Lolling J.inie-snlpliui-.sa'lt one lioiii- in the fojni..r nionor tion« and spnivlnR oi a.i, tiees, il(! ,„.,■ c,.nl ol th, .v I,, i , ' , we.e fonnd d.-ad. TMh variation fnm .\o V of -V ,• .," r't'l Jiei*.ir^:';;:!v!:r::.r;rvi^:'-n::"!i;^;;;-:^ showed 85 p<.p cent, dead Jan 11th ' '' '^^ '""'"'' """ '"""• ^py-tl:•^^;n■-d%,Si;r:•';^^^:t.r,•^^^^^^ 75 , a,. water). ^t' V-.;:::::; ', " no;;'-;Vs'';.:;:'V.oii;if"- ^- r- and hoth were ,M,nallv l.adiv infested *■' """"*''«• trca'iva.ui:;,;,:"'"^'^"'^ '•'■'■•■""•^- "^•■" ^'•"■"'^- •■oweve.rlvrpnu.: an hour, and at th,.'las ;xan,Vn atfon ui ^t ';;;;rV'"'"' '"'";'" "^ dead. Many of the tr<.e« osikm i I . . /' '"''" "'"*■ '''''•" iujnred bv this latter snrivn^;, ,' '' "'"' .""■'"''• ""■•'* «""rol,v in manv instan.es en ire i il ed ui'', ''■"''• •'"""" *"'f^« ''<'"•« continn'ed ravages of he^ .o,,',,'':""!!,' '■ ^"'"?^'" *^'"* *"" trees s..vere,y if con,inn..dnl;:.cTnt:di;miVl"';^^ was brouffil out in tliis wnvh «.i,;. i. • V " '^"' *'"^ fji^'t and ,,n.4 t,n^;;y,';;r,;::A,.: ;■ ,:;,:i;!:i;",,:: ,«^ aro on the trees as it is uvuii^.^u.r ' '^ ^^\ '"'* ^'•*' l<*avos .«^«swit.,enon.,:'n;:t;:ir;ro':;^^'^ti r::: ::./:c7.^ Sncc.ss with tlie T,ini<.-snli,linrK-,lVw.,Ji 1 "' "" ""' scal<-s. thoronKh worl< than in ease oo,e; in e .ides'''"' ^ ,';"""' T" h.gh pressure and a «ood no..,e. prod:-..'n'i"a"!,;^; ^lUv ai^nm-s' 55 sary to reach the small twij;s. It is not as ponetratini^ or searehinjj: as the oils, making it necessary in some instances to go over the trees two or three times to reach ev(*ry spot not covered by the first application. This wash is now well proven to be a fungicide as well as an insecticide, and when applied leaves a white coating on the bark, which aids the operator in finding the missed places. It has been found to be the cheapest and most effective wash known, being absolutely safe in the hands of the amateur. It will not injure the most tender fruit trees when api>lied during the dormant season, but on the contrary aids in ridding the bark of fungus diseases, which most commercial insecticides will not do. Lime-sulphur-Caustic -Koda being the self-boiled wash, killed about 10 per cent, less scale insects, in almost every experiment in which it was used, than did the boiled Lime-sulphur-salt wash. There was always more sediment left behind in the self-boiled wash, which tended to clog up the nozzle and render the mixture difficult to spray. It is just as disagreeable to handle as the boiled Linu'- sul- phur-salt wash, and is not as efficient in ki'eping down the scah'. It is therefore not recommended. KEROSENE. Kerosene mixtures used on a])i>le, plum, ])ear and ])each were sprayed on Sept. 21st with some very good result?, while others were very poor, as is usually the case when using the oils. These trees were moderately infested with San Jose Scale on the plum and peach, while most of the jX'ar and apple were also infested with Scurfy Scale. 12. Kerosene and Lime (Limoid), 20 ])er cent. Kerosene, showed 55 per cent, of the scale dead on Jan. 11th. 13. The same material ai>pli<'d to apple at the same time and strength, showed 70 jier cent, of tlie scale dead. 14. Moderately infested ajiple, jilum, pear and peach sprayed with Kerosene Emulsion (20 per cent. Kerosene), have 05 per cent, of all scales dead at the 1st of the lu-esent month. Th wide difference in results in using the oils is jirobably due to the fact that Kerosene tends to separate from j>rej)arations with water. These mixtures being a])plied to the Scurfy Scab' on j)ear and a])ple did not seem to aflfecct it in the least, the eggs being apparently healthy. 15. Kerosene Mixture used on ])lum, a]>ph» and ])ear, moderately infested with San Joh6 Scale, was sprayed on Sept. 22nd, and ex- amined on Jan. 11th, with the result that 00 per cent, of the scale were found dead. (20 per cent, of kerosene.) IC). Warren's "Sand Oil" or Crude Petroleum, used as it came from the barrel, was ap])lied on pear and apple encrusted with San Jos^'^ Scale on Xov. 17th and examined on Jan. 10th. All San Josd Scales were found dead, but the eggs of the Scurfy were not affected, or at least had the ap])eai'ance of IxMUg uninjur two ])ounds to one gallon of water on pear and pbim, klll<'d .■).") pei' cc-nt. of the scab*. Tips a])]>lid at the strength of two pounds (o a jiallon of water. (3) A cheap j^rade of crude oil killed all (he scales, but the trees were materially injured, the extent of which cannot be learned until a later date. (4) Kerosene and its variations j-ave verv good results in soiiu^ instances, but very jmor results in others. This is probably dm to the fact that it is hard to keej) the oil from separating fro'm the water with which it is mixed. This same fact accounts for the injury to the trees. Besides these oils being dangerous, they an almost too expensive to be used by the average fruit grower. ' (5) The Lime-sulphur-salt washes and variations have proven the most efficient in holding the scale in check. The "self boiled" washes, where Caustic soda was usod, destroyed about 10 jier cent less scale, in every instance, than did the boiled Lime-sulphur washes. * This material has proven the statement made by other experi- mentors, that IT IS THE STANDAKD APPLICATION, being the most efficient, cheapest, most beneficial on the trees and BEST ALL AROUND REMEDY at present used in c(mtrolliiig this iK-st. It is capable of being put in the hands of the careless as well as the careful man, and if the former have no good results, he is at least sure of no injury resulting to his trees. Suc > o < 'A S^ \A H < w en O < P M < m O o < rJl (—1 o I— ( o >^ o W W H 57 •pBap -juaa aaj 'psjidxe ajBQ ■paXBJds o^-BQ 'Jsquin^ !S c si > o 2: S I « 1 1 I a 9 o g < o (0 OQ OQ ci! s '& ss ts )g s s c B C c S3 > > > o o > o > o » 9 s ss$ ^ s$$ ^ s s«« s»s^ g sis g P4 oJiXiai pu lj=*s u cA o »« C "S « c 0) I 4= • *,2 • ••'-5 •••22 i.r - .s »•««> r"-" ; :— n n 09 (d 01 r^ S S c8 03 n n co oo ed P SPm « n SI'S S "> A cit-o© ^ ^sss g^s: ?{J:^S SJS'^S c^SS ' u iJcn = 1^ *•§ .01 > o A ct E i» SmoS^ •— 3 . 9iJ u Q, •'W h 0) .3*; ■^-^^ ^wt •JoquiriM 58 59 3 C I < H Q H •pBap -^uao aaj •paj|dX9 OJBQ S bo s •paXBJds ajBQ 3 •J3qmn>^ 7 « E B 9 O c ; - - w « 00 trj "5 £fc£ t* % s s jH O .H rH M iH c oi c c c ti d ed >-3 •^ ►^ c c cit C at c oi •-5 en £ bo 3 a m a OS a a o M© > > o o > o c o b 3 d ee — CO) oT aJ J= . - 4; g-d d 5 tr Q. 4 Mas c • OQ • *^ O 4J U* S:Ed (0 d 41 g 5 41 c 41 10 . p a c o 4, d tB c d c o *• 4j d 4< 3 A. is riS 3 a d O OS d C flj C 4, a (^p: dts L'p: r- ,g 00 •^^ ' t r \> FUNGUOS DISEASES OF ORCHARD TREES AND FRUITS. By M. B. WAITE, Pathologist in Charge of Orchard Diseases, United States Department of Agriculture. SPRAYING MIXTURES. It will uot be i)ossiblo for me to explain the method of prepara- tion of all the sprayinj^ mixtnres that have been used in the treat ment of all the diseases which atteet our fruit trees. I will thert^fore take up two of the leading mixtures used in the orchard and a few of the fungus and other diseases. There are two preparations that stand our prominently as by far the best of all that are used in treating the orchard. The lime- sulphur-salt mixture is the best for spraying the trees while they ar^j dormant, up to the time the buds have begun to swell in the sprin;^. The Bordeaux mixture, especially if combined with an arsenite, is the best for spraying the trees when they are in foliage and fruit. THE LIME-SULPHUR-SALT MIXTURE. The formula varies for this considerably as used by different people in different sections. The mixture is so good that almost any combination of sulphur and lime properly boiled together, usually answers the purpose for which it is intended. We have adopted as our standard formula, however, 15 pounds of flour or flowers of sulphur, 20 pounds of liigh grade stone lime, 10 pounds of salt, to 50 gallons of water. The sulphur should be mixed with a little water in the form of a paste. About 10 gallons of water should be brought to a boil, or nearly so, the lime added and then the sul- phur and salt all practically together. If the lime is not pure high grade stone lime the amount should be increased so as to give the equivalent of pure lime. We have used partially air slaked lime with succ<'ss, provided we increased the quantity. The mixture can b<' boiled in an iron kettle or better, by means of steam conducted through a ])ip<' into a barrel or cask. While boiling the rest of th-? water should be added. Thi^ s]M'ay should be applied warm and mixed up immediately before using. It is effective against the curl leaf of the ju'ach and against most of the a])ple cankers and bark diseases of fruit trees. It kills the s])ores of jiear leaf blight, apph' scab, th<' ^lonilia fungus and other things of that sort and retards the first appearance of these diseases but does not prevent summer attacks of them on the new growth. Furtliermore it is the best known i-emedy against the San Jos*^* Scale and certain other insect ]M'sts, so that it combines to a remarkable degree the fungicidal and insecticidal effect. It can not be used after the leaves are out, exce])t ])ossibly as a wash to apply directly to the trunks, as it injure-.* foliage. BORDEAUX MIXTURE. The best all around fungicide for use on fruit trees is the Bordeaux mixture. There are various formuhe for making up this mixture and various methods of mixing. I can give only the essential points. 60 61 riic old standard fonnula' for Bordeaux mixture Is the 64-50 for inula, that is usinj,^ a r>()-j.anon barrel as the standard, « pounds of blue stone (copper sulpha(e) 4 p<.unds of lime to 50 j,^allons of water. \\ here the lin.e is of ^ood j^nade and where the plants are not easilv injiired, as wilh Irish iK)tatoes, canlaloupes and j^'rapes, this for- mula IS in-obably the best thai can be used. However, on apples and pears while they are ordinarily uninjured bv JJordeaux, there has biM'n a -reat deal of trouble with russetin-. " This russetini; is probably compensated by an increased quantitv of lime and bv di- luting the preparation. ' ^ Furthermore, so mu;)0 fcMinula is therefore a little safer than the 0-4-50 and has come to be regarded as a standard for ai>ple spraying. For pear-blight, ai.ple h-at blight, and for the smut on the apple fruit and the nist on the i»eais, the 4-4-50 answers very well. In other words, the for- mula IS slightly diluted. Where the lime is at all (pieslionablc its amount should be in- creased t(. nmke up for the deticiency in strength. On this account many growers are using the 4 0-50 formula. On peaches and Japanese i)lums Bordeaux mixture during rainv seasons injures the fcdiage, producing not (mlv the "shot hole" effect but frequently defoliating the trees, even before the fruit has ma- tured. It IS risky to spray peach t rees or Japanese plums, in foliage with any tormula of loppcr or in fact with anv fungicide which we have yet been al>Ie U> lind, but if they must b^ spraved and the or- ^•hardist is willing to take the risk, a Bordeaux containing a large excess of liim^ should be used. Wv regard the :{-J)-50 formula as the best formula tor jjcaches. APPLE SCAB. This fungus disease is one of the most serious ai)ple troubles in lennsylvania. A similar disease occurs in the pear, caused bv a Thfv » ' ;V' /""^^'' f."'^ ^' eontroIhMl by the same treatment. lliey may therefore be discussed togc^ther. The scab fungus is especially suscejitible to weatln-r conditions Moist, i;ainy or muggy weather during the sjiring months greatlv fjivors the disease, whih- dry, sunny weather retards its progress. J.^!'nhi /""^"^^'*'"''"^^''' '" ^*''^»'" ''^ '"''''' ''' '^''''- The spores a e abh. to germinate and enter the tree only during certain favor- able spells of weather. We term these periods of moist weather in- fection iMMMKls. and it is a good thing for the fruit gn.wer to reco- mze smh spells of weather as periods of inf,Mtion when the scab and othei fungi are able to gc rm.nate and enter the fruits. It is neces- f^VuJ'T ^'" ^•■";'' T^ ^■^*''"^" lM-ote.t- da3'S in the time the different varieties can be treated. In the second application it is advisable to add the arsenate of lead or Paris (Jreen to the Bordeaux Mixture and destroy the codling moth as well as the apple scab fungus. The third treatment should be made seven to ten days later. If the season is drv, from this on additional treatments mav not be ■ • necessary. However, if the season is moist, two or three additional sprayings at intervals of two weeks may prevent later infection:, and be of value in saving tin* cro}). Tlu' later treatments for apple scab are made when the tree is in full foliage and will be etfeles. There are two or three leaf blights caused by ditfer(»nt fungi, but they are easily preventable by spraying after the trees are in full leaf. BITTER ROT OF APPLE. Until the past season this fugus disease has been (me of the troublesome problems in orchard pathology. No one had been able to control the disease with even reasonable satisfaction. The dis- ease is particularly abundant through Maryland, Virginia and west to Missouri, through the southern j)ortion of the commercial apple districts of this countrv. So far as known it rarelv destrovs fruit in quantity in this State but as it does occur and may some time be in- jurious, you will be interested in the recent successful results. It has been extremely destructive in the Yellow Xewtown ajqile districts of Albermarle and adjacent counties of Virginia. In recent years it has been destroying jjlmost the entire crop of many sections. During the past season Mr. W. M. Scott, Orchard Patholo- gist in the Bureau of Plant Industry, carried (m a successful s<'ries of spraying experiments which showed exactly how to treat th'* disease and which saved in som<' cases as high as OS per cent, of the crop, although on the control trees left uns]>rayed less than half a dozen sound ai)ples could be found, the entire crop was ruined with this fungus rot. As the result of this extensive series of ex]>eri- ments, Mr. Scott outlines the treatment for Bitter Rot as follows: Spray with 5-5-50 Bordeaux mixture, beginning June 10th to 15th, five to seven times at intervals of two weeks. The results of his experiments showed that much of the s])raying Iireviously had been attemjjted too ( arly in the season, that in order to se<'ure good results it Is ne<<'ssary to begin about the middle of June and kee]) the fruit thoroughly coated with the Bordeaux Mix- ture throughout the summer. .Vfter the fruit becomes thoroughly coated by three or four sprayings, the mixture stays on pretty well until picking time. APPLE CANKER. We have had a good deal of com])laint from Pennsylvania as well as other sections of the country about fungus diseases on the bark of apple trees. There are some half dozen different species of funvi which produce a]>ple canker. Sometimes these a])ple canker s])ots resemble ])ear blight, and conveisely the i»ear blight disease itself jiroduces dejid ]>atches on the limbs and trunks of ap])le trees re- sembling canker work. 'A]>])1(» cank(M'. as suggj'sted above, is largely checked by dormant spraying with lime sul]>hui -salt. It is also con- trolled, at least partially, by the Bordeaux Mixture spraying. How- ever, where there are ohl cankers, it is desirable to i>rune out as much as possible of this troiibh' where it is on smaller lini])s and to froiijye out the dead spots, soak th<'m thorou};:hl.v with some fungi- cide like corrosive sublimate or sulphate of iron and dilute sulphuric acid and then paint the wound with white lead paint. PEAR LEAP BLIGHT AND FRUIT SPOT. This is one of the commonest diseas<'s of ])oi\vH and it occurs on quinces as well. Tt not only spots u]) the fruit, making it unsijjht^lv and partially or wholly unmarketable, but it defoliates the trees. <*uttinfr down their vej?etative vijjor and productiveness. Trees affected for three or four years with ]x^ar leaf blitrht soon ^vj in a stajrnant condition. Thev bloom profusely, in fact they are snowv white with blossoms, but they set little fruit. The remedy for trees in this "tr. jrnant conditions is to prune them back pretty severely, re- moving' two-thirds of the bearinir wood and fruit spurs and then spray them after the foliacre has formed, with Bordeaux Mixture. This disease is so easv to m'event that in my own orchard T use 4-4-50 formula of Bordeaux for this purpose. About two oi- thre^ treatments are ample for this disease. The first treatment shouM be made between Mav IH and June 1, when the trees have come into full leaf and when the youns: T>ears are three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Of late years the Keifer and the Le Tonte pears have been attacked seriously bv this dis(»ase, althout^h ten vears a«ro i occurred very slijrhtly on these varieties. PEACH AND PLUM ROT. Tt may be well to call vour attention to some of the diseases which are not so easily controllable. The brown rot of peaches and plums is a very disastrous disease. Tt occurs from the Great Lak»'!^ region, the northern limit of peach culture, to the Gulf, and with Iti- creasinjr severity as one jroes southward or toward the ocean. Ft is less serious in the mountains than it lower altitudes. So far we have been unable to control this disease satisfactorilv by sprayintr. Bordeaux mixture will reduce its ravages to some extent, frequentlv there beinjr .^0 per cent, less rot on sprayed trees, but this is not re- garded as satisfactory. The dormant spraying with either Lime-sulphur-salt or with Bor deaux also produces some jrood effects, but T have seeu the rot occur verv badly on trees thorouirhly snraved for two consecutive seasoTis with Lime-sulphur-salt wash, so that it does not prevent the troublr-. We have carried on elaborate experiments with this disease and are workinjr hard upon it, but so far we have not mastered it. APPLE ROOT ROT. TTere is another funj?us disease that has baffled all attemps at a remedy. In fact it Is a very unpromisinj;, almost hopeless tvpe r»f trouble. We have no treatment that we can ap])lv to th<^ i-oots ir, the way of funjricides or jjermlcides and so far the apple root rot has remained strictly unconquered. When all the other troubles are straightened out perhaps we may be able to ^^et some hold on th's difficult problem. 68 PEAR BLIGHT. This disease, which is caused by a bacterial i^erm, occurs on the pear, apple, (luiuce, and other plants of the l*ome family. It has been one of the stumblinj? blocks in orchard diseases for years, but durinj; the last few years through the careful workinj^ out of the life history of the bacillus which produces it, we are now able to control this trouble. It is only a question of careful thorough work. This disease is transmitted by insects on the blossoms, not only the common honey bee, but flies, wasps and other insects carry it from flower to flower and from orchard to orchard. It is also occasionally carried long distances by birds. This disease is infected mainly through the blossoms, but it is also infected to a large extent through the tender tips of growing twigs and occasionally through the fleshy bark of twigs and branches. Most of the germs die out in the trc^ shortly after they are pioduced, but occasionally the dis- ease is able to continue in the tree until autumn. Along the ad- vancing margin of the trees the germs kcn^p alive and if they can keep on multiplying until the tree goes into a dormant condition in the winter, they are able to live through the winter and begin to grow again the next spring. When root pressure gorges the tree with sap in the spring this causes the blight to start off with re- newed vigor. A gummy substance exudes unto the bark under c<'r- tain weather conditions and this gummy exudate is the virus of the disease, is carrier onto the opening blossoms and thus the disease spreads. These hold over cases beeach yellows and the rest of the yellows group, we can achieve greater triumphs by stam]uug out and con- trolling diseases than by the more expensive annual treatment bv spraying. Adjourned. AFTERNOON SESSION. Edwin W. Thonuts, Treasurer, submitted his annual report which was accepted and reported to the Auditing (^ommittee. The statement showed a balan«-e of fH5.15 in the treasurv. « Mr. Rak<'straw, of t^immittee on Nominations, submitted the fol- lowing list of officers for the year 11)00. President, Gabriel Hiester, Harrisburg. Vice Presidents: Hon. W. T. Creasy, Catawissa; Thos. B. Meehan, Germantown; Dr. I. H. Mayer, Willow street. Recording Secretary, Enos B. Engle, AVavnesboro. Corresponding Secretary, Wm. P. Brinton, Christiana Treasurer, Edwin W. Thomas, King of Prussia. The aforenamed nominees were duly elected by ballot. Harrisburg was chosen for next meeting, and date of mcM^ting was changed from Tuesday and Wednesday, January 15 and Ifi 1907 to Wednesday and Thui-sday, January 10 and 17, in oid<'r to'avoid the crowd and excitement incideut to inauguration dav which will be January 15. The following paper was read by Prof. Wm. A. Tavlor, Pomologist in charge of Field Investigations, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 65 THE POMOLO(iICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICL LTURE. The pomological work of the Bureau of IMant Industry may b»* roughl}' divided into two general lines, namely, systematic and economic work, though in fact all the work thus far undertaken in this fleld has a deflnite cHonomic relation and practical bearing. The term pomology, which has been varicmsly applied by writers, may perhaps be most accurately defined as the science of fruits and the art of their culture. The sarticular regiim be based, and the risk of failure of varieties in regions new to them be reduersists in the older orchards. The Yellow Newtown of Long Island, transferred to the warm and fertile mountain coves of Mrginia became the Albemarle Pippin of the mountain region below the Potomac River. The Mumper Vandevere of Pennsylvania, grafted in northern Illinois for Yellow Newtown, became tlie Minkler of that State and the great Mississippi Valley, and has been so widely distributed under that name and so firmly fixed in i)omological literature that it takes pre cedence over the earlier name of the variety; the Napoleon cherry of the EuroiM'an lists is almost universally grown in California and Oregon as Royal Ann; the Pond })lum as Hungarian Prune. Systematic investigation of the a])]des grown in family orchards reveals the fact that a large jnoportion of the varieties in them, out- side of a few standard commercial sorts, are either unknown by name to the growerg or are incorrectly named. H lib 66 This condition made it mH-essaiy ihat special attention be paid to the nomenclature and identification of fruits in the early years of the Department pomological work. In co operation with the Amer- ican Pomological Society, the State horticultural organizations, and the horticulturists of the experiment stations, a fair degree of uni formity in the various names in formal catalogues and volumes has been attained. A large number of public spirited fruit growers and nurserymen throughout the country have generously aided in this work, which is still in progress. In connection with this work, an invaluable collection of accurate varietal descriptions, photographs, waiter color paintings and fac- simile models and herbarium specimens has been accumulated which constitutes an important feature of the working equipment of the office. The continuous policy of those in charge has been to assem ble in this collection all varieties of fruits grown in North America, so that workers interested in pomological questions may have access to them for the prosecuting of their investigations. Necessarily the identification of varieties from specimens semt by growers and others has becom<' an important feature of the work, the receipts for this and allied ])urposes having averaged nearly 3,000 lots of fruit per annum during the past five years. Such work is recognized as having a distinct and immediate value to fruit growers as well as a definite bearing on systematic pomological work, so that growers are, uimn application, furnished with mailing packages and franks with which to forward specimens for this pur- pose. Publication on particular fruits embodying the results of these in- vesftigations are in preparation. One. "The Nomenclature of th«' Apple" (Bulletin 56 of the Bureau of Plant Industry), was issued in 1905. This comprises the known varieties of this fruit referred to in American publications between 1S04 and 1004, the first century of American pomology, and includes some 15,000 apple names and synonyms, with tabular descriptions and references to places of origin and first publication so far as determined. Actual and supposed new varieties, whether yet introduced or not, are received in large numbers from originators and nurserymen for opinion as to their exact identity and their relative value in contrast with sorts already known, also for suggestions of suitable names not previouslv used. Such work as this* in addition to a large volume of correspondence upon matters relating to various phases of the fruit industry both systematic and economic, makes up the distinctive office or indoor work in pomological investigations. FIELD INVESTIGATIONS. Since 1901, the distinctive field problems In pomology, most of which are of direct economic importance, have been separately grouped for convenience in administration. These comprise those lines which embrace experimental studies of problems connected with fruit marketing, transportation and storage, viticultural in- vestigations, fruit district investigations, and a number of miscel- laneous field problems. Under the general head of fruit marketing, a systematic experi- mental study of the various questions involved in that subject is 67 being made with special reference to its bearing on the develop- ment of export trade in American fruits. It is becominng very gen- erally recognized that with such fruits as the apple, the i>ear, tlu.» peach, the orange, and possibly some others, the yield in favorable seasons in future is likely to be much larger than has been the case in the past. A wider distribution of the product must, therefore, be accomplished if disastrous gluts are to be avoided. While the larger part of our fruit product will no doubt always be consumed in America, the export is recognized as one of the most important safety valves for surplus fresh fruits. Series of shipments to British ])orts have demonstrated the entin* practicability of delivering there in sound and wholesome cojidltion, early summer apples, peaches and pears of the varieties best adopted to our domestic markets and at times when our surplus of them are very likely to occur. In a number of Instances such ship- ments have yielded higher net returns than the home markets even in years of high prices at home. In the case of the Bartlett jK^ar hi New York a large and in the main profitable, expert trade has al ready developed along the lines experimentally determined and dt monstrated by the Department. The profitable exportation of pea'hes is considered a more uncer- tain matter largely because of the fact that the peach is not yel sufficiently well known to the great mass of population in nothern and western Europe to be in steady and large demand. The fact that in favorable seasons Elbertas from points as diverse In their conditions as Georgia, Oklahoma and ronnecticut have been d'- livered in London in good oi*der, and have netted their growtM-.'- values nearly or quite equal to home markets, is sufficient to indicate that the field is a promising one. Early ap])les, from those districts like the Chesapeake Peninsula, which can place their product under refrigeration in the foreign markets within ten days after leaving the tree, are worthy of further attention in ]Kjrticular locatities, especially in seasons when the European crop of summer fruits and the Australasian crop of winter apples which come into competitioL with them are light. But far more important than any of these is the export trade in winter apples. In all but our very lightest <'rops the export de mand has in recent years been the most imjmrtant factor in determ ining the prices of sound fruit during the autumn and winter. Foi this reason, particular attention has been paid to such questions as size and style of package, method of packing, suitability of variety to market, etc., as well as to the introduction of American a]>ples to markets where they have not hitherto been used in commercial quan titles. Series of shipments of winter apples from representative apple sections, packed in barrels and boxes, both with and wilhout wrapping, comprising both graded and ungraded fruit, are now being made to the principal European seaports to obtain actual ex perimental data on these vexed questions, which it is practically im possible for the grower to determine for himself except through long and frequently costly experience. Progress reports of this work are given out from time to time through ])aiM*rs before associations, such as this, and will eventually be summarized in bulletin form for distribution. 68 FRUIT TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE. Under this head a (•oinprehensive iiivestijjjation of the entire ques tiou of the handlinj,' of fruits for transportation and storaj^e has been in pro^jfress for the past four years. Experiments conducted with the more important commercial vari(»ties of ai)i)le8, i>ears and peaches, in some of the leadinj^ districts for those fruits have demo.i strated the necessity of picking? at proper stajje of ripeness, careful ness in handinji:, promptness of forvvardinji: and withdrawal for con sumption before the product has j>ast its stajje of full maturity. Perhaps no fact developed in this investipition is of greater funda- mental importance than this, namely, that the durabilitv and value of fruit destined for cold storaji:e are as vitally affected aiid as sureiv damaged by careless handling in any stage of handling or shijipiiig as in the rase of fruit destined for immediate consum]>ti<)n. The loss in the former case is, in fact, frequently greater than in the latter, because of the additional expenditure for freight, storage charges^ etc., and the inevitabh' risk of deterioration before an oppjutune time for sale occurs. To quote from the report on this work for the last season: "The experiments during the four years have shown c()nle storage mav be overcome by more rational handling of the fruit before it is storerl. and by giving it better cjire in some respects after it reaches the storage house. Ai>ple scald, one of the most serious storage trou- bles, is not yet well understood, but the experiments have again demonstrated that it can be controlled commercially bv picking tlie apples when hard-ri])e insttnid of prematurely as manv wintcM- apph's are picked; by storing them (piickly after ])icking, in a temptM-ature of about 31 degrees F., and by selling the more susceptible varieti -s comimratively early in the season. The premature ripening of ap- ples in storage is often the result of delaying the storage too long after the fruit is picked. These investigations continue to em])h;r size the supreme importance of (juick storage aft<'r the fruit leaves the tree. Tlie "slumping" of apples in the barrels due to the devl opment of the common blue-mold fungi in the spring, is genenillv the direct result of rough handling of the fruit while it is bein*" picked and packed. The skin of the fruit is bruised, and the rots enter and grow vigorously if th<' fruit is not stored quicklv in a cold temperature after picking. The investigations continue to em phasize the need of uniform tem|M'rature as low as :U to :?2 degrees F., for long term storage, and of ])ure wholesome air in the war(* house if the flavor of the fiuit is to be retain(>d without contamina- tion. Told stored fruits are frequentlv injured in quality througli the lack of proper ventilation of the storage warehouse. ' This side of the storage question needs further investigation, which cannot be satisfactorily made until the Department has an experimental storage plant. The effect of the environment under which fruit is produced, upon its keeping quality in storage is being studied experimentallv with fruit from trees of different ages, in different soils and from different climates. In co-operation with the X. Y. State Exp. Station, a com prehensive investigation of the influence of various methods of cul ture, such as clean cultivation vs. sod culture, etc., is under wav The comparative value of a large number of varietties of apples from different apple districts has been studied for the past four years with a view to determining their relative fitness for storage. During the i>ast year a special study of farm storage houses hns been inaugurated and will be continued for a sutticient time to obtain light on the relative efliciency and economy of farm stomgi houses cooled with ice, ice and salt, brine cooled with ice and salt, and mechanical refrigeration in eastern New York. It is believed that in certain parts of the North a distinct advance in fruit storage can be made through the utilization of properly constructed storage houses where the fruit can be held by the owner in first class con- dition for use as needed by his markets, at less risk and expense than are involved in storage in a plant outside of his personal obser ration and control. The practicability of freezing small fruits for use by bakers and confectioners in flavoring ice creams, sherbets, etc., and for use in pies is also being investigated. Such quckly perishable fruits as strawberries and raspberries, which can only be held in good con- dition in ordinary- storage for a very few days are found to be preserved in practically perfect flavor and condition for several months by freezing quickly before they are overripe. This new phase of the cold storage business is already becoming of large commercial importance in some of the larger cities. FRUIT TRANSPORTATION. For some time past the conditions directly concerned in fruit transportation have been under investigation, and these have now assumed such importance that the}- are being given siM'cial atten- tion. The behavior of peaches in refrigerator cars as shipped from Georgia and California is being thoroughly investigated, both nt shipping point, in transit and at destination. In this connection, thorough tests of the precooling of fruit intended for such shipment are being made. In the case of peaches in (leorgia it has been found that a large part of the rot in transit to northern cities occurs in the two upper tiers of carriers in the car, the three lower tiers arriving at destination in sound condition. This unequal condition is uiKiuestionably due to the very rapid cooling of the fruit in the bottom of the car and emphasizes a conclusion previously reached in these investigations that quick 'ooling after pierature of the outside air to about 40 degrees F. by the use of ice and salt. Fruit cooled in this way, before being loaded into the cars for shijHuent, was found to arrive at destination in much better condition and to remain sound longer after arrival at destination than that ship])ed under ordinary icinL% even where well ri])ened fruit was used in the ])recooling tests and l>renmturely picked hard fruit for the ordinary shi])ments. This line of work, of course, involves a radical change in some of. the present commercial methods of shipping, and further tests are n«*ed<*d before investments in precooling ])lants could safely be mad(\ 70 In this connection, an investigation of the causes of decay 'u oranges and lemons in transit from California to Eastern markets is now under way. The losses from this cause are said to havi' aggregated no't less than half a million dollars a year for several years and to seriously menace the future of the industry. As the result of systenmtic observation of the practice of growers and packers in the handling of oranges it was discovered early in 1905 that about one-fifth of the orange crop is made susceptible to decay by improper handling before the fruit is packed. These injuries are caused by the puncture of the skin with clipj>ers used in cutting the oranges from the trees, by punctures from stems left too long, by finger nail cuts in handling and by other mechanical injuries in the handling of the fruit in orchards and packing houses. Experi- ments having demonstrated that from 10 to 50 per cent, of these injured fruits are likely to decay if favorable conditions of heat and humidity develop, growers were notified of the danger, and as the industry is quite thoroughly organized the information was immediately put into practice, with the result that one of the lead- ing growers and shippers of southern California estimated in the spring of 1905 that the Department investigations in that in that section had saved the industry at least |200,0^)0 on the last crop. Extensive tests in precooling oranges, both in stationery storage houses and in cars on track by blowing cold air through them after they are filled with fruit until the temperature of their contents is reduced to a satisfactory point, have demonstrated that with oranges, as with peaches, quick cooling is an important factor in checking the ripening processes and in preventing the development of rots. VITICULTURAL INVESTIGATIONS. Under this head a comprehensive study of the relative adapta- bility of phylloxera resistant stocks to soils is being made in California, where nearly, if not quite $100,000,000 is invested in the viticultural industry. Other allied questions are also under study there in nine co-operative experimental vineyards located in representative viticultural sections of that state. During the past year a special study of the rotundifolia or Scuppernong type of grapes in the south Atlantic and (lulf States has been begun. It is believed that this native species is capable of quick development into an important cultivated type and that its varieties will be found well adapted to the climate and soil conditions of the Houth Atlantic and Gulf States where other cultivated grapes are grown with much difficulty and at considerable risk of loss by the grower. FRUIT DISTRICT INVESTIGATIONS. Under this head a careful field study of the adaptability of va- rieties of orchard fruits to particular soils, elevations, slo[>e8, etc., is being made with a view to determining through actual observa- tion as well as through the recorded experience of fruit growers the exact conditions under which varieties reach their highest per- fection and meet the most evident needs of our markets. This work has thus far been mainly limited to the Allegheny mountain region, from Pennsylvania southward, and the Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas. In connection with it, exact data on the blossoming and ripening dates of particular varieties in most of the important 71 fruit districts of the country are being made by several hundred volunteer observers, with a view to securing accurate information on points connected with the selection of varieties for mixed planting when cross fertilization is necessary and for ascertaining the dura- tion and exact time of the blossoming periods for use in those por- tions of the country where the relation of these phenomena to the average date of last killing frost is important. A report upon this subject covering the South Atlantic States is already in manuscript and will soon be published. MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS. Under this head investigations of the cultural varieties of the pecan and other nuts are in progress and of the peach and other fruits. A special study of the summer apple industry of the Chesa- peake peninsula has been nearly completed, and an investigation of the apple evaporating industry as it exists in the East, both of which are about ready for publication and distribution. MR. McKAY.— I would like to ask Prof. Taylor as to the standing of "Winesap" in the foreign market. PROF. TAYLOR.— We have reports that "AVinesaj)" is not a desirabh' apple in the (Uasgow market. In Ix)ndon and Hamburg it seems very popular. During the last two years the foreign mar- kets have been taking "Oolden Russets" at higher prices than they paid for red fruit. "Crimes' Colden" and "Jonathan" are generally exported at a loss. "York Imperial" is an excellent export apple especially in German markets, but it is sometimes liable to scald. This tendency is more marked however on fruit from young tr*es. The following paper was read by S. Morris Jones, ^Vest Grove Pa.: WHY NOT MORE ROSES? TVre are many beautiful flowers, but I believe the rose holds now as it has held in the past, its place as Queen of the Flower King- dom. Her supremacy is recognized by all classes of our iM'ople; her beauty is held as an emblem for comparison, as the highest standard of beauty; anything as sweet-scented is recognized as pos sessing the height of fragrance. Almost by intuition it would seem, the minds of the boys and girls who live in the flowerless sections of our great cities are imjiressed with the idea that the ros<' is the most beautiful as well as the most desirable of flowers. I have been told by members of the Flower Missions that these children go wild over rose buds and frequently have to be repressed when th(\v are being distributed to them, and that they will choose and be niuch better satisfied with one or two roses than much larger bunches of other kinds of flowers. The Flower Missions are doing a noble work— the flowers they distribute carry with them much joy and pleasure and undoubtedly 72 *^^?i ^^J:'*^^^*^ aspirations for a better life. How those members Of the Flower Missions wlio witness the joy that one little rose Dud brings to the breast of the fortunate recipient must wish that there were "more roses." The growing of roses is a large industry, millions of them are grown each year for outside planting, and millions of them are planted in parks and private gardens throughout the United States Our country is large, however, and although so many rose bushes are planted it is very noticeable as we pass along the streets of our towns and villages and of the suburban parts of our large cities that many of the lawns, I think I might say a large majority of the lawns, appear to have no roses in them. Manv of the bushes that are seen ate of the hardy climbing class, with the Crimson Rambler, a comparatively new rose more noticeable than anv other varietv. Ihe hardy climbing roses are very desirable for manv places, biit they are not the most popular class of roses. W V see more of them because they are nearly sure to live and thrive when phmted, their vigorous habit of growth enables them to overcome the attacks of msects and fungus, the cold winter weather does not kill theii branches and if planted in good soil they will live and thrive for many years without jiruning. The more popular bush oi garden roses are planted in much larger ciualities than the hardy climbing varities, but the lives of many of them are very short,— not necessarily or intentionallv .mint r^^"/!;* "^^"^ ^.^ ^ '^^tle timc^ly care and attention, on acc- ount of which the enemies of the rose bush soon end its life The IS of roses that should do well in our gardens and survive ordinary >v inter weather is quite a long one, and while thev will all thrive and do well in almost any good soil and favorable* situation, there IS no dcjubt that some varieties will do better in a particular kind of sou than others. Just what is in the soil to makc^his dilferc "o no one can certainly tell, but we can see by obsc-rving the growth of the plants just what varieties make a poor growth, and wiricli ones produce, unsatisfactory flowers,-thesc> we should c^ave cm o the c-ollection for our own i)articular garden The rose can hardly be regarded as a fastidious plant, but it is a heavy feeder, the roots absorb a grc^at dcnil of nour shmc' nt whic'h must be kept replenished by liberal manuring in order tc7gcT the' 11' wf'- •.'•*^^ r •' "" i'HI-'tant matter and'can be better' under stood when it is known that the Hybrid Perpc^tual roses Much as a :.omnr?"""T'' ''";^ ''^•""" ^^^^^ ^^^^^"^^ niarta shcmll IL a complete new top each year. In otlu^r words wIhmi these rost^s rc^ pruned ni the spring all the old wood that has bor Hc>wcm-s 1 e previous yc.ir shcuild be cut out, and in its place there shou d be a i amp e number of strong young shoots to make a ncnv top I the old op ,s a lowed to remain it appropriates most of the' nouris 1- ment from the. roots so that no young shoots are produced fm the following year;-plants pruned in this wav,-and I believcHt s the^ way most o them are pruned,-soon lose their vU^. litv anc 1 ad better be replac-ed by young, healthv plants. * The pninning of the rose is a very important operation-all ex- penc.ne.ed grovvers agree; on this i.oint-and the^y also agree tha is fs difficult, mdee^d almost impossible to give definite instructions to the 7S inejuiring beginner or to those who are seeking to improve the methods that they have been following. Each plant is a problem in itself, the eye must see it and it must be studied before the shears are applied, in order to obtain the best results. The one general principal to follow is to satisfy yourself which is the most vigorous part, and with this as a basis for the plants structure trim the weaker branches and cut back the stronger ones, having regard all the time for the shape of the plant. U it is your object to induce larger flowers and not so many of them cut back the stems severely, if you want a larger show of smaller flowers leave the stems or branches longer. The ever-blooming roses such as the Teas, Hybrid Teas and Noisettes require different treatment in pruning from the Hybrid Perpetuals. Their habit of growth is more bushy and branch- ing, and they do not as a rule produce strong young shoots to take the place of the old top, so generally speaking the old top of these varieties should not be trimmed too severely, but the strong stems should be cut back slightly and the weak ones removed. Roses have enemies and some of them are very persistent. The worst of these are the rose slug, the aphide or grc^en fly, mildew and the leaf spot, commonly known as black spot. To destroy the rose slugs some kind of poison is used; white hellebore, Paris green and a preparation called slug shot are the poisons usually selected for the purpose. I decidedly prefer the white hellebore as it is very effective — much more effective than slug shot — and it does not burn the leaves a** Paris green will do if too much is put on. A de- coction made of about a tablespoonful of hellebore to two gallons of boiling water, applied whc^n cold, is the most economical way to use it, but is can also be used as a powder or mixed with cold water. During the early summer when the slugs are the most troublesome and when they also do the most harm, it is a good plan to always have this poison ready for immediate application. Pow- dered tobacco or a strong solution of tobacco should be used to destroy the green fly; it must be remembered that the aphide or green fly increases with marvelous rapidity, and that prompt meas- ures should be taken to destroy it, if tobacco cannot be had it is possible to kill a great many of them by rubbing them off with th»- fingers. For the fungus troubles, we use powdered sulphur for mildew, but for tlu» black spot there does not seem to be any very effective remedy, fortunately the spot attacks the older leaves and if the plants are in vigorous growing condition they .will not be seriously hurt by this disease. I stated that the before mentioned pests are the worst enemies that the roses have, possibly I am wrong in saying so, it may be that the worst enemy they have is neglect, not intcmtional neglect, but the rose suffers just as much from its effects as if it were inten- tional. We are very busy i>eople and it is often hard to find time to attend such things as looking after the roses in our gardens. Some of us scold ourselves for not having taken the time, for it reepiires but a few minutes, however there is always something else to do and the rosc^s do not absolutely have to be attended to. If we could only ]>ersuade ourselves somehow to make it a point to atte'ud to the rosc^s with more care in the early summer and keep n them healthy and thrifty at that time, we would have much better plants, for it is Ihen that they ueed to make a strong healthy growth so that they may have time to mature and harden before cold weather; and then if we get the bushes nicely started and have something pleasing to look at and to show, we are certain to make more effort to keep them in a vigorous, healthy condition. In what 1 have said about the trouble that the rose grower may expect, and the rc^medies that he must ai)ply to correct them, I hope I have not drawn a discouraging picture. The sum of these tiH)ubles no doubt gives us a most potent answer to the title of this paper, that is, the enemies of the rose destroy so many plants that we cannot exju'ct to see more roses in our yards and gardens until the lovers of the rose learn to institute a more vigorous cam- paign against its enemi<'s. There is a bright side to this rose (piestion in the form of many beautiful rose gardens, I have seen some of them and no doubt all of you have seen others just as beautiful; they are not always visible from the street, but are often located in some chosen spoi just out of public sight. I do not mean commercial gardens, but refer to those that have beej planted and cared for by the amateur. Some of the prettiest gardens 1 know of have been and are now cared for by very busy pi'ople, who will tell you that it does not take very much of their time to do the work necessary to keep the plants in tine condition, and that they as well as their friends get a great deal of pleasun* from them all summer long. In selecting rose bushes do not always insist on having hardy plants for there are manv of the tender and semi-hardv ever-blooni- ing varieti(»s that will grow so well and bloom so continuously during the first season that I am sure anyone should feel well repaid for planting them even if they did not live thi^ugh the winter. To get the best results the bed must be enriched with well rotted stable manure, cow manure being preferred. I am satisfied that this method of growing roses — choosing the ever-blooming varieties and replacing each spring any that may winter-kill — will become much more popular in the near future. Small own-root roses can be bought very cheap in quantities, in faer 20, 1905. Enos B. Enj-le, Secretary State Horticultural Association, Box 7U, Hjniisburjjj, Pa.: My Dear Sir: I have just received circular of announcement of proj^ram for the January iiKM'tinj; of the Society. I doubt ninch whethei- I can be present, but matters may so shape themselves that I can be (»n hand at least a part of the second day. While in Massachuselts last September, I visited Concord, and n<'ar that town sueceeded in securing; a small branch of the orijrinal Concord <;rape vine. I think there are (wo buds upon i( that'^will f^row. I shall take j-real jdeasure in presenting it to the Associa- tion. It is almost impossible to secure any cuttinj?s at all from this remarkable ora]M' vine, but the lady in charj-v last September verv kindly permitted me to break oft' tln' piece of the vine which I shall present to Hie Pennsylvania State Horticultural Society. Faithfully yours, H. C. DEMMING, Tn accordance with the forej^oinj; communication the branch wa? presented to the Society with the following; note: "Part of branch from the orijjinal Concord j?rai>e vine; taken from the vine, near Concord, ^lass., Saturday, SeptembcM' .30, A. D. 1005, by H. C. Demminj-, of HarrisburJ,^ Pa. '^Presenti'd to the Pennsylvania State Horticultural Societv, with tlie compliments of "HENKY C. DEM.MIXC." The vine was acceptlates of four varieties. He exhibit? a seedling that in size, color and tlavor is ]>romising. John F. Bover exhibits four ]>lates, four varieHes, that were abso lutelv i)eifect and had not been i.pray-d. This fruit, however, is grow'n in an isohited section, and upon small areas, which is im- portant in that there are still many such conditions in Pennsylvania where apples mav be grown for a limit<'d iieriod, at least free from some of the worst ditticultues that confront the fruit grower in sections where similar conditions do not exist. John Kreadv shows one plate Sheldon Pears, three plates of ai)ples. Miss Mary M. Hain<'S exhibits one plat<* ajiples, one jar figs. W. H. Black, two jdates a])]>les. W. S. Adams exhibits nine i>lat<'s apples, seven varieties. President Hiester, 15 jdates and 10 varieties ai»ples, 2 jdates Law- rence pears. These two last named exhibits deserve spj'cial mention on account of high color and freedom from imperfections. In Mr. Hiester's exhibit we note peculiar forn» of Smith's Cider Apples which is in- structive in that it represents the i>ossiblity of such varieties even in standard varieties that ofttimes makes i)ro])er identification ex- tremely ditticult. Tlu' total exhibit is 77 ])lates and 40 varieties. John O. Rush, West Willow, Pa., has a very creditable exhibit of 15 varieties of nnts. His Persian walnnts, "Frani»earance. of high (piality, and are perfect blossom; an important feature in nut culture. 78 Henry Eiclioltz, AVavnesboro, Pa., exhibits a collection of carna- tions among wliicli is a beautiful seedling of his own creation, named "Mrs. W . T. Omwake." He also shows the "Thos. W. Law- son," and recent cn^ations in white, red, pink and variegated colors. We reiwrt this exhibit as a whole is a very creditable one and such as should encourage increased efforts "on the part of the Society. We suggest that the Society offer a certificate of merit as pre- mium for the exhibition of meritorious fruits; believing that this would increase the interest in these annual exhibits. ResiM'd fully submitted, A. N. BROWN, DK. I. N. MAYER, I). C. RUPP, Committee. THE CHAIR. — In the rep(u t just submitted Mr. Brown has madf a suggestion worthy of consideiation, and I hope that it will be con sidered by this Society. I refer to the (piestion of premiums for exhibits. I hope some one will make a motion so that the matter may be taken up for discussion. MR. BROWN.— I move that this Society be authoriz.ed to otter certiticates of merit to worthy exhibitors. In our Home Society we did not have suttlcient funds to otter cash prizes and in order to encourage exhibitors we gave certificates of merit which to many were of gn ater value than cash j)remiums. I have just r(»ceived a letter from my son who has been attending this week a meeting of the Peninsula Horticultural Society, and he stat< s that one ex- hibitor had two (U) foot tables covered with his own display of fruit. We have had exhibits of as many as 1,(MM) to 1.200 plates of ap])les I would suggest also that at future exhibits all imperfect fruit be debarred from our tables. We don't want to encourage the grow- ing of imperfect speciuxiis. \\'e are the best p<'ople in the world and deserve the best that can In* had. I realize that this is a new departuH' f(M- this Association and 1 hope no action will be taken without discussion. TUK CHAIR. — I hav<' noticed for several years that usually the best plate of peaches was grown in a Tillage h)t, and the best plat<' of quinces was a I v. ays grown in a village lot. 1 am in favor of a<-cordiiig to such exhibitors some kind of recognition, and we could better alloid to give certificates of merit than cash. I can hardl\ agr(M' with Mr. lirown that all imperfect fruit be debarred at our exhibits. Sometimes such specimens serve a valuable object lesson by way of comparis(m. Mr. Rrown's motion was ado]ited and the mattei- was referred to the executive committee for ari'aiig<'m<'nt of details. THE CHAIR. -We have as a guest of this Association Mr. Skill man, president of the New .b'rsey Horticultural Society. He has been very (juiet since he is liej-e and few have known of his presence We will have the pleasure of hearing from him. MR. SKILLMAN. — I have been having a good time since I am here and would rather listen than talk. I am glad to be with you 79 and am here because I want to be. Our New Jersey Society wanted to send me elsewhere, but I preferred to come here because I had been at the Bendersville meeting and wanted to return to see and shake hands with my friends from there especially the Tyson family. They are all kind and hospitable and cannot help it. I also met your President there, and had him come to our meeting in New Jer sey, where he made a g»od spc^ech. Another reason why I came here was to see this old and historic town which figured so prominently in the civil war. You have had a good meeting and a splendid exhibit, and I have found your dis cussions interesting and instructive. I believe in visiting meetings of this kind and in an interchange of courtesies among our societies. We ought to co-operate and work in harmony because much can be accomplished by co-operation and united efforts. H we act as one body we can generally get what we want. Rural residents are about the only people who do not act in unity for what they want. Fruits should have a protective tariff, and our produce should have protection as well as the products of our manufactures. Foreign fruits come in direct comi>etition with our own. Owing to freight discrimination California growers can sell their fruit at a profit in competition with our eastern fruit. They can grow it cheaper than we, and the government aids them in irrigating their lands free or at a nominal cost. We should unite also in a demand for'a par eels post, and with rural mail delivery we would be brought in closer touch with merchants in large cities. We need laws also to protect us from the modern automobiles, who drive so recklessly over our public roads endangering life and virtually driving your wife and daughter off the road for safety. W<' have in New Jersey a law which does not permit us to protect our prop<^rty from birds. I do not believe such a law is just. We can protect our homes or our stables from thieves and mbbers, but dar(» not protect our or- chards or gardens from destructive birds. If we shoot or kill one we ar(» liable to a fine of ten dollars. A man near Boundbrook found a young robin one day that had been blown out of its nest by a storm. A little girl kindly took the little bird into the house to feed and care for it and for so doing was fined twenty dollars by the deputy game warden. An extensive pea grower said the birds destroyed for him one season a hundred bushels of peas worth two to three dollars i)er bushel. These are evils that should be reme died and by co-operation we may be able to obtain redress. There are many ways in which we can benefit by a cordial co- oi>eration. It encourages a kind and sympathetic fellowship thai makes the world a kin. AVe should all be bound together and work together for the common good. The following resolutions were adopted: Whereas, The fruit interests of Pennsylvania are of great im portance and demand proper development and can be develoiK>d only by the State giving them the recognition and interest they deserve; therefore, be it Resolved, That we the members of the State Horticultural Asso elation, do hereby express our earnest desire for the next State Legislature to establish a Division of Horticulture of the Depart meut of Agriculture, to give us ueeded help with varieties of fruits, methods of cultivation, fertilization, pruning, thinning, harvesting crop, packing, storing, shiyiping, combating diseases, etc. Resolved, That we shall ask our legislators and all possible kin dred societies to work for the establishment of such an office, prop erly filled by a comiK'tnent horticulturist. Whereas, We the nuMubers of the Pennsylvania State Horticul tural Association realize the need of pure materials in making fungi- cides and insecticides and desire and need legal protection in thi.^ regard; therefore, be it Resolved, That we urge State legislation providing strictly againsl the adulteration of nmterials sold as fungicides or insecticides in this State. Be it Further Resolved, Tliat we shall place this subject before other Horticultural and Agricultural Societies to secure their aid in suppressing the sale of adulterated insecticides and fungicides. MR. SKILLMAN. — We also want a uniform pjickage law. which should be the same in all states. As it is now Delaware has one standard for fruit packages, and New Jelled to use the prescriln^d legal packages. Mr. Brown and Mr. Tyson also favored the enactment of such a law. The following resolution was read and adopted: Resolutions (■oncerning the San Jos^ Scale. Whereas, The San Josc^ Scale has invaded our community to a worse extent than was believed until the State inspectors commenced to examine our trees, and Whereas, We have been helped by the efforts of Prof. H. A. Sur- face, State Zoologist, and have confidence in his methods; therefore, be it Resolved, That we, the members of the State Horticultural Asso ciation, do hereby express our appreciation of the labors of State Zoologist Surface and his ins]MM'tors and demonstrators and further express to the (iovernor our thanks for the h<»lp he has given us by appointing such men to the«e im]>ortant offices and ask continued ^ support for them in their important line of work, and recommend them to the confidence of the public. MR. r. J. TYSON.— I would like to hear from Mr. Brow^n on tho subject of spraying and spray mixtures. MR. BROWN. — T have had some experience in this line and am sometimes called a Lime, Salt and Sulphur crank. I have used this wash most extensively and have had considerable success with it. Have also used 'Kil-O-Scale' with some success. Last fall I used ^Scalecide' and found it very effective. I applied at the rate of 1 part to 20 of water. Made application last week in November and upon examination ten days later concluded that SO per cent, of the scale had been killed. Three wrecks later nearly all were killed; subse quent examination show that results were satisfactory. One report read here to-day claimed that 96 per cent, had been killed with it. 81 We are destined to have more trouble with the San Jos^ Scale in the future than we have had in the past and are looking for some cheap and efficient wash that will do the work, and be more con- venient to handle and prepare than lime, sulphur and salt. If 1 were to live twenty-five years, and would be obliged to grow fruit by spmying with lime, sulphur and salt, I think 1 would go out ot the fruit business. , , . „„ , If the soluble oils can be furnished at a reasonable price, and their continued use does not prove injurious to trees they are des- tined to come into popular favor. I am hoping that they will prove the ^Moses' that will lead us out of the wilderness. iMR. McMillan.— I have been much interested in Mr. Brown^s remarks since I have had some experience in the use of the dif- ferent spraying materials. I have used the soluble oils, and while I have seen some good results where strong percentages were used, on the whole, they have not proven so effective as the lime-sulphur- salt I have had first-class results with the latter material on peach and' plum especially, though not quite so good on apple. On peach Uees near H^risburg, sprayed last week of April, 1905, with regular Lime-S.-S., it was impossible to find any young crawling scale m July and August. These trees were badly infested with living scale before spraying. I do not see what better results one could expect than this.^ -Mr. Brown speaks of killing 95 per cent, to 97 ^r cent of the scale with soluble oils. If one per cent, of the scales ^ a moderately infested tree be left alive the results may not be considered satisfactory, and in some of our experiments less than one per cent, were left alive. Five per cent, or even two per cent 0? live scales remaining on a tree will be sufficient to reinfest it badlv bv Sentember or October. I have been in Blair county recently where there are a number of orchards containing from one to five thousand trees and where they have been spraying%ith the lime-sulphm-salt wasl. there is httle o nn scale In addition to being an effective inseetiside the L.-i5.-b. is a valuable lungic do, as we heard Prof. Waite declare in his lecture. ThU was very evident upon the trees in Blair countv fro"; the ap- Jearan^e of tL foliage aid general condi.ion of the t^es The bark was bright in color and smooth in appearance, with none of the char- rteristic brown blotches of the Monilia or "Brown Rot." Near ^Inkstown, Blair county, the owners ».' « J«'„»-V"^:;t'\:^-;;P ^ ^ ed their trees regularly every spring ^'tl",!^-^:^- ,^^ '^nnntimie to to be found on them but the owners declare they w 11 contmue to use this material every year simply because of its value as a fungi- ""one ereat objection to the commercial oil preparations is their excessiv'e costThich operates against their ^t-^-/'-/- f ^l use It seems unreasonable to sell a preparation of this kind, that "s near y pure oil, at *l.(m to 11.50 per gallon when refined petro^ eum can be bought at 1.T c..nts a gallon retail. Even when sold at SoTents the mixture when diluted will be more than twice as ex- pensive ks lime and sulphur, and this amounts ^P.^^X^''^^ large orchards. Many pt>rsons hesitate considerably on the expense of spraying. I have hi^ird Prof. Surface and others express their opinLTthft nearly all of these ardent advocates of commercial in- 6 82 secticides are interested directly in a percentage on their sales. It would also seem so in this case. Further careful experiments will be made however, and if it can be proven that the oil remedies are as effective as L.-L.-Salt, they will doubtless come into more general use on account of their convenience. There are several reasons why I'rof, Surface is recommending and using the Lime and Sulphur Mix- ture in his demonstration work throughout the State. In the first place the materials can be obtained in every locality at compara- tively low cost and every one is familiar wiUi them. In the next place, the wash is easily prepared. As Prof. Waite has said: "There is no great mystery about preparing boiled lime-sulphur-salt." It can be "slung together" (piickly in almost any approximate propor- tions and if boiled thoroughly, for an hour or more, will do its work. I met some men who used the self-boiled mixture on a number of plum trees early in November and when examined six weeks later they found only 10 or twelve live scale on each tree. This material was prepared in a barrel and such care taken to conserve all the heat that it was really more trouble than boiling in a kettle. It is not hard to apply in spraying if well strained, and it will certainly do the work. This is the concensus of oi)inion from all the experiment stations in the U. S. when it has been tested, which is more than can be said for some of the soluble oils, or any other material. An- other very good reason we recommend I..-S.-S. is on account of its alsolute harmless effect on all kinds of trees in dormant condition. Oils of any kind are dangerous in tho hands ()f an inexperienced person, and a large number of our farm»'rs who want to save their trees have never seen a spraying pump. There are other good reasons why we use and recommend the L.-S.-S. mixtures, but I have given you enough to show our position on this subject. MR. BROWN. — I do not want to be understood as taking excep- tion to the use of Lime, Sulpher and Salt. Prof. Surface has assumed a wonderful responsibility that will require signal ability — and he has done, and is still doing his work well. His organization is superb, and for his purpose the Lime-Sulphur wash is the best and safest material he could use, and I would have done the same under similar circumstances. However, there is a demand for a spraying material that is more conveniently handled and applied than this mixture, and that can be sold at a reasonable price. The expense of the oil mixture is more apparent than real. They cost more per gallon, but it must be remembered that their spreading capacity is forty per cent, more, and that they are more easily applied. I am expecting that we will yet evolve a soluble oil n'lixture that will really be cheaper than anything else, and that will prove entirely satisfactory. Tntil then the Lime. Sulphur and Salt wash must stand as the sovereign remedy. Th(^ following resolutions were read by Mr. Hartman and unani mously adopted: Resolved, That the State Horticultural Association desires to ex press its sincere and hearty thanks to the Commissioners of Adams eonnty for their interest and kindness in granting the use of thf court house for our meeting; also to the Fruit Growers' Association of Adams county for its valuable aid in making such a success of our meeting. 83 Resolved, That this Association commends esi)eciany the fine dis play of fruits, cut flowers and potted plants, and extends heartiest thanks to the members and friends who have given such great care and assistance in bringing and arranging them. Resolved, That the Association greatly appreciates the assistance rendered by the experts and specialists who have heljR'd to make this annual meeting interesting and profitable. (Signed) D. M. WERTZ, D. L. HARTMAN, D. K. McMillan, Committee. (84) END OF YEAR