394 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANKAKEE 



W. S. Hawker spoke of a new strawberry bed which had failed 

 to produce fruit. The plants for this bed had been taken pro- 

 miscuously from a bed three or four years old, which when plant- 

 ed consisted of Crescent, with Sharpless every few rows for a 

 fertilizer. It was supposed that the Crescent had increased so 

 much faster than the Sharpless, that none of the latter had been 

 transplanted into the new bed. The Crescent having no fertilizer 

 had become unproductive. 



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DECEMBER MEETING. 



Leon Hay, in response to a request to give the Society a report 

 of the horticultural display at the Paris Exposition, said that the 

 fruit and flower display was renewed every two weeks during the. 

 Exposition; that he saw nothing in that, however, that was su- 

 perior to the production, of our own country. One bunch of 

 grapes was shown that weighed six or seven pounds. The arti- 

 ficial fruit was so perfect that an ordinary observer could not dis- 

 tinguish it from the genuine. The forestry display was very 

 elaborate, especially that made by Norway and Sweden. Only 

 the Eepublics of the world exhibited at this great show. He 

 spoke of the roads of France made of flint rock. They are hard 

 and smooth at all times of the year, and are lined with trees ten 

 or fifteen feet apart. 



Paul Bonvallet, of St. Anne, gave a short talk on grapes. Of 

 some forty varieties that he has grown he recommended the Con- 

 cord for general planting and profit. Martha and Delaware have 

 been fairly successful with him. The grape crop of the past sea- 

 son was light but of fair quality. He has lately experimented by 

 grafting a number of foreign varieties on strong stocks, and this 

 season grew some fine specimens equal to California fruit. He 

 prunes his vines in the fall when laying them down and covers 

 them. 



A. Mellen stated that some fifteen years ago he planted Miner 

 and Wild Goose plums. For about eight years the Wild Goose 

 bore but little and the Miner were a failure. He then planted 

 among them wild plums and since then the yield has been satis- 

 factory. He has marketed as much as a bushel per tree some sea- 



