STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 101 



I have before referred to an orchard in Hancock county planted 

 with varieties from Central and Southern Europe. In corupany with 

 Mr. J. T. Johnson, I visited this orchard again about the 20th of 

 September, and in a trip of seven miles, through one of the best 

 farming townships in the State, we did not see ten bushels of apples 

 until we reached this orchard, which we found moderately full of 

 handsome, high-colored fruit. The trees have passed safely through 

 the late crucial winters, and endured the fearful drouth of the past 

 summer well. Many of these apples are best in quality and beauti- 

 ful in appearance, and if the trees prove to be as hardy and product- 

 ive as they now promise, they will be very valuable for the amateur 

 orchardist. 



Specimens from this orchard will be found on the exhibition 

 table, and we hope that all interested in apple-growing will examine 

 them. 



About the first of June, just before the rot made its appearance 

 on my grapes, I sprayed them thoroughly with a solution of sulphate 

 of copper, for the purpose of testing this remedy. But in a few days 

 after the application the thermometer fell to 58°, a degree of cold 

 that kills the organisms that cause rot, and the experiment was, of 

 course, a failure. 



Some of the members of this society have visited the vineyard of 

 Prof. Standish, in Ualesburg, and seen the wonderful crops of mag- 

 nificent fruit that he annually gathers, and have learned that his 

 vineyard is almost a bank of manure. Acting on this hint, I have 

 for three years been trying the plan of covering the ground two or 

 three inches with manure in a small vineyard, with the very best 

 success, the vines bearing very heavy crops of large, fine fruit. 



What was the cause of the strawberry failure the past season? 

 The general opinion seems to be that it was caused mainly, if not 

 entirely, by insect injury to the bloom. It occurred to me at the 

 time that it might be caused, in part at least, by the more vigorous 

 growing pistilates, like Crescent, overgrowing and crowding out the 

 staminates, and that the trouble was caused by lack of fertilization. 

 This is a question that should be carefully investigated, and I hope 

 to get some light on it at this meeting. 



DISCUSSION. 



F. I. Mann — What is the proper proportion of London Purple 

 to use in spraying fruit trees? 



H. E. Van Deman — One pound to 200 gallons of water is 

 strong enough to answer the purpose. If of greater strength the 

 leaves may be injured. 



