STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 27 



of the diseases which attack tree, plant, and fruit. Let us be unfal- 

 tering in our efforts to apply and improve upon the knowledge 

 gained. 



We have certainly learned that constant vigilance is the only 

 reasonable condition for success. 



Let us, then, plant no larger orchards than can be kept under 

 our own strict supervision, bestowing as much thought in systemati- 

 cally rearing and feeding our trees as we do in raising our fine live 

 stock: studying the special habits of each species and variety, and 

 adapting our treatment to suit the needs of each. 



Nearlv all the western orchardists have wisely banished the mur- 

 derous saw from their orchards, calling it into use only when a dead 

 branch is found. The practice of training orchard trees of all spe- 

 cies while young to throw out their branches near the ground, is 

 gaining followers every year, as this is found the only form in which 

 many varieties can be grown to secure a reasonably healthy con- 

 dition, and close observers have found such trees of all species gen- 

 erally more robust and hardy. 



The production of new varieties by cross fertilization has often 

 been urged upon the members of this Society; yet so much skill is 

 required in the artificial application of pollen grains to prevent the 

 ingress of pollen dust from without, when. ;is is usually the case at 

 the time the work must l)e done, the air is filled with them that suc- 

 cess is doubtful. Certainly any one may be fairly successful in 

 obtaining desirable varieties by planting the varieties designed as the 

 parents of a new race of seedlings, in close ])roximity to each other, 

 and yet far removed from all others of the same sjjccies. Seed from 

 fruit grown under such circumstances is very likely to produce some 

 plants which will combine the qualities of the parents. 



But I will not farther digress into special modes of ])ropagation 

 and culture. The reports of our committees will, I trust, cover all 

 this important ground. 



A careful selection of the most promising among hardy and pro- 

 ductive chance seedling fruits is a work in which we may all engage 

 with profit. The addition of such varieties as the Salome, the 

 Wythe, and others to our list of apples, and the Wager to the list of 

 peaches, should encourage us to persevere in this good work. It is 

 quite probable that ])y this course alone we may soon boast of a list 

 of varieties as valualde for the West as are the Baldwin, the Rhode 

 Island Greening, the Northern Spy, and the Newtown Fip]»in for the 

 East; the acquisition of the Salome is certainly a long stride in this 

 direction. 



In the cultivation of the small fruits our progress has been as 

 successful as we could reasonably hope. Nearly all species adapted 

 to our latitude are now grown in fjuantity and quality to suit the 

 reasonalde di'inands of l)oth grower and consumer. The hojic of im- 

 mediate profitable returns to the cultivator, together with the fact 



