ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 213 



Mr. Jackson — Is not this rather expensive? 



Mr. Browne — I think not ; if by an expense of $30 or $35 we 

 •can save an entire crop of grapes, it will certainly pay, and some 

 one must try the experiment. We have found that it does not 

 pay to bag grapes for market. If the bags are put on right and 

 in time, they will preserve' the grapes, but even then the skin is 

 ,so tender that they will hardly bear handling. For family use 

 and for exhibition, bagging is all right, but for market purposes, 

 we must find some other means by which to get ahead of the rot. 

 Think Moore's Early and Worden are about the best market 

 grapes we have. Generally speaking, "W hite grapes are not so 

 good for market as Black ones. 



SMALL FRUITS. 

 Mr. Davis — Small fruits, like orchards and vineyards, are in 

 the very best condition. If the season remains favorable, the 

 question this year will not be how to get fruit, but where to find 

 a market. 



Mr. Jackson — On March 15th I burned off an old patch of 

 Sharpless and Miner strawberries, and they are now apparently 

 in splendid condition for a crop. 



Mr. Jno. Riggs — Mr. Vandenberg, of Jersey ville, has a patch 

 of red raspberries, principally Cuthbert, that are nearly all dead, 

 though the plants look strong and healthy. AVhat is the cause of 

 this? 



Mr. Browne — It is caused by a beetle that bores into the cane 

 a few inches above the ground and deposits its eggs in it. This 

 causes the immediate death of the cane. 



Mr. Jackson — I have a patch of Brandywine Raspberries that 

 are dead, but they were not killed by Xhe beetle. What caused 

 this? 



Mr. Browne — Guess your patch is an old one, and they have 

 exhausted the nutriment in the soil. . 



Mr. Jackson — I think this is the true solution, and I believe 

 that this is one of the principal causes of rust on strawberries. 

 When the patch gets old, the plants, having exhausted the plant 

 food in the soil, become weak, and hence fall easy victims to the 

 disease. 



