198 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ALTON-SOUTHEBN 



Captain Hollister said rust was a fungoid growth, and if a 

 plantation was made with healthy plants they would remain healthy 

 until spores from outside alighted on the plants and took root. He 

 was of the opinion the rust was on the roots, and a plantation made 

 with roots from a diseased plantation would have the rust. He 

 thought the best way to make a plantation was to get the most 

 healthy plants possible and plant two feet apart in the row, and 

 watch closely for signs of rust as the plants begin to grow, and 

 promptly remove all that are effected. 



Mr. Riehl said plants grown from root cuttings were best. 

 Roots that had rust were weakened thereby, and when cut into small 

 pieces had not enough vitality to grow, and those that did grow 

 were free from the disease. 



Capt. Hollister recommended Taylor and Western Triumph. He 

 said they were larger than Snyder and fully as productive and 

 hardy, and compared well with Kittatinny in quality. 



Mr. Jackson said the Taylor had a tendency to overbear. 

 Young plantations were healthy, when old and neglected they became 

 subject to rust. He thinks the soil becomes exhausted of certain 

 elements necessary to their healthy growth, and then they become 

 subject to rust. He would, on that account, recommend that plant- 

 ations of blackberries be renewed as often as once every three or 

 four years. 



Mr. Browne — I do not believe exhaustion of the soil has any- 

 thing to do with rust. I have manured my plantations liberally with 

 barn-yard manure, but for all that they were destroyed by the rust. 



Mr. E. Hollard read a paper on the subject of " Pruning the 

 Apple." He considers June the best month to prune in, but it can 

 safely be done at any time of the year; recommended pruning trees 

 when young, so no pruning need be done when large. 



Mr. Hilliard said trees should be pruned and put into proper 

 shape while young; had tried pruning old trees, but it killed them 

 in a few years. 



Mr. Riehl said peach trees need more and different pruning than 

 any other fruit tree we grow; the main branches should not be closer 

 than three to four feet apart, and not more than six to seven feet long, 



