WINTEE MEETING. 133 



<;ially if we continue this line of breeding generation after generation. 

 <3an we not establish this law and know what we will get ? 



How can we get a perfect cross of oar fruits! Why of course we 

 must take certain blooms of certain varieties and cover them so that 

 the pollen can be saved, not mixed with other blooms of the same tree 

 even. Then let us take a small pair of scissors and clip the buds open 

 before they bloom, so that we may cut off the stamens, and the fruit 

 will not be fertilized with its own pollen. We must then gather the 

 pollen from the variety we wish to cross with, and dust it upon the 

 pistil of the bloom we are to fertilize, and then cover it closely, so 

 that no other pollen can reach it. 



This is a very particular and careful process, and it surely requires 

 s, skilled hand to accomplish it. 



But I think that I must not follow this further, for fear of not 

 being able to close up our meeting tonight. One other important 

 matter in the line of experiment that I think every person in the Soci- 

 ■ety would seem glad to hail with joy : The establishment of sub-sta- 

 tions, at least four of them in the different parts of the State, to carry 

 on these experiments and report to the central station at Columbia. 

 One in the southwest, southeast, northwest and northeast would fill 

 our quota of what we want done in the way of testing new fruits. This 

 testing is one of not a little expense to every experimenter; and if we 

 ■could have these sub stations as part of our Experiment station, so 

 that everything new could be at once tested, it would be the saving of 

 thousands of dollars to our fruit men all over the State, and be of un- 

 told value to every grower. 



The matter of spraying and its results still is an unsettled ques- 

 tion, and we want a careful and exact series of experiments begun and 

 carried out for a series of years in a business-like way. This the Station 

 should not fail to do. 



We want our Paris green and London purple tested, so we may 

 know how strong it may be and just how to use it. 



We want our fertilizers analyzed, and the results given us in shape 

 that we can use them ; know how and what to feed our plants for 

 growth and for fruit. 



We want to know if certain fertilizers will give quality to our 

 fruits, or quantity. 



We want to know if other fertilizers will produce growth of fruit- 

 buds or growth of wood. 



We would like to know if we can feed the strawberry so that the 

 fruit will be firmer than it otherwise would if not so fed. 



