110 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



while others are preserving groves of the native young timber, 

 and are thus becoming benefactors to the race, for which their 

 children will call them blessed. 



FOURTH DISTRICT — A. L. HATCH, ITHACA. 



Counties — Richland, Sank, Vernon and Crawford. — The apple 

 crop of 1880 was very large, prices low, and the home market 

 abundantly supplied with home-grown fruit until late in the fall. 

 Too much of early and perishable fruits are grown, overstocking 

 the home markets and reducing prices to an unprofitable degree. 

 No wholesale plan of saving such fruit has been introduced yet, 

 and the general tendency of all interested seems to be to cider- 

 making only for this purpose. Should stability of crops be 

 established, an early introduction of fruit evaporators, adapted to 

 general farmers' use, would be very desirable. We respectfully 

 commend this subject in all its features to your consideration. 



One of the worst troubles with apples this season was black 

 scab, apparently a fungus. Fameuse was very badly affected. 

 As suggested bv discussion last winter, we top-grafted several 

 apple trees before the sap flowed, and, as far as time of operation 

 is concerned, consider it quite successful. 



Canker worms, so destructive and plenty for several years, ap- 

 peared here early in the season, and then suddenly disappeared 

 about the 1st of July, we think. Why did they go so suddenly ? 

 Was it the birds that took them? Good bye ! to them anyhow, 

 and good riddance ! Many early maturing apples were of un- 

 usually poor flavor, notably the Haas apple. Why? Ben Davis 

 in tree and fruit very fine. Wish we had more, if they are not 

 superlatively good in quality. Had all the fire blight we wanted, 

 especially on Golden Russet. 



Grapes were very plenty of home fruitage, and very cheap. 

 This is the third or fourth good crop in succession here, and we 

 begin to look on grape culture as solidly fixed with us. The ras- 

 cally gall louse (phylloxera), we are now satisfied, is one of the 

 prime causes of loss of foliage on many vines, especially Agawam 

 and Delaware. What do the grape growers think of it ? The 

 much talked of paper bag experiment we tried, and did not think 



