STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 79 



that this disease which has caused such fearful loss to grape grow- 

 ers, can be iu a measure, if not entirely, controlled by the intel- 

 ligent and proper use of fungicides. 



From what I have seen of the effect of the Bordeaux mixture I 

 am of the opinion that it is more effective when used for grape 

 "rot" and possibly for apple scab, than the Eau Celestia mixture, 

 but it clings so persistently to the stem of the apple, and grape, 

 and shows so plainly among the berries of the latter, as to greatly 

 injure their appearance, and I think it quite possible that sulp- 

 hate of copper and lime may not prove to be a healthy diet. But 

 no doubt we will yet learn to so prepare it, that this objection may 

 be overcome. 



On the 30th of May and the 1st of June I mulched an acre, of a 

 nine year old orchard with straw, using sixteeu loads on a heavy 

 crop of clover, covering the entire surface ten or twelve inches 

 deep. The apple crop was very light, scarcely a tenth of a full 

 crop and I did not expect any results this season, but the hot dry 

 weather of August and the first half of September caused apples 

 to- drop badly, when the good effect began to appear. And when 

 the fruit was gathered the last of September, the mulched trees 

 yielded thirteen bushels of picked apples while the same number 

 of trees, equal in every respect, standing by their side only yielded 

 seven bushels, the balance being on the ground. This, however, 

 is an incidental benefit. But if, as many of us think, drouth, 

 lack of cultivation and starvation are the principal causes of 

 the deterioration and death of our orchards, we here find the 

 remedy for them all. 



If this experiment is persistently followed up at least at one 

 station in each district and its influence on the growth and health 

 of the tree; retarding blooming; increasing or preventing insect 

 depredations; the quality and general appearance of the fruit 

 as well as causing it to cling to the tree, carefully noted, a fund of 

 information may be gained that will be of incalculable benefit to 

 the Pomologists and farmers of the State. 



STATION NO. 6, F. I. MANN, DIRECTOR. 



Apple trees set in the spring of 1889: Ellis, Arkansas Black, 

 Sims, Black Twig, Dark Red Seedling, Light lied Seedling, 

 Ozark, Elkhorn. These have all grown, and most of them have 

 made a good growth and ripened well, and are in good condition 

 for winter. 



Varieties top grafted : Glendale, Woodmansee, Babcock No. 4, 

 Babcock No. 3, Wetwood, Wilkinson Seedling, Jordan's Seedling, 

 Jones Seedling, Babcock No. 7, Trumble Co. Beauty, Babcock 

 No. 5, Duncan, Johnson Seedling, Coffelt, Babbit, Carson, Belle- 

 ilower Seedling, Nero, Leeper's Beauty. These have all made a 

 good growth and have ripened their wood well, except Duncan, 

 Babbit and Nero, the latter making the largest growth. (This 



