No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 589 



Several letters were written iu response to inqniries ooncerninjj;- 

 improvement of forest land. This is a gratifying and hopeful sign. 

 There is no good reason why a farmer's woodland should not be 

 more productive. As a general rule such lauds are left entirely to 

 themselves and as a consequence, returns are haphazard and 

 meagre. Several things should be done and done systematically. 

 All old, mis-shapen or diseased trees should be cut out and utilized 

 for firewood or other purposes. This will open the way to seeding 

 and growth of new trees and of the more desirable kinds, such as 

 white pine, Avhite oak, etc. Similar trees which stand too close to- 

 gether, or the sprouts upon cut-over land, should be judiciously 

 thinned out, affording a supply of fuel and providing for a stand of 

 timber of better quality and size. The increasing scarcity of wood 

 for various purposes and the higher price and the uncertainty of ob- 

 taining coal for fuel when it is desired should waken us up to the 

 better conservation and utilization of our wood supplies. With our 

 improved methods of producing power and of handling bulky ma- 

 terials it is feasible iu mauy cases for the farmer to use wood fuel 

 profitably. The proper care and handling of woodland has thus be- 

 come a matter of renewed interest to all land owners. 



Plant diseases naturally come in for some attention. Unfortu- 

 nately, inquiries of this nature come with such meagre explanation 

 and so late, commonly after the danger is done, that but little can 

 be accomjilished, except to diagnose the case, and thus put one on 

 guard should there be a reappearance. Nowhere is the old proverb^ 

 '^a stitch in time saves nine," more appropriate than in the treatment 

 of the diseases of plants due to insects or fungi. Their action is, in 

 most cases, so rajud that their progress once established cannot be 

 stayed; they must run their course. But their spread may be pre- 

 vented or delayed, and something can be done, if taken in time, 

 toward cultivating a resistant condition; for it is the weaklings 

 which are first attacked and succumb the soonest. Intensive culti- 

 vation by gardeners and florists is having its difficulties, in that 

 fungus diseases are often propagated and carried along year after 

 year unless pains are taken to renew the soil or thoroughly sterilize 

 it. Quite a number of cases of this sort have come to light. 



Some fungi are spreading because they can grow on native plants, 

 as, for instance, the hollyhock rust, a recent introduction into this 

 country, was last year noticed for the first time upon the common 

 round-leaved mallow; it is thus fully at home and even were it 

 eradicated from the hollyhock, it will not continue upon the various 

 plants of that family. It may probably get a foothold upon the 

 cotton plant; in Avhich case it could do immense damage. The as- 

 paragus rust is another case of a fungus which was unknown in this 

 State until a few years ago. Although it is apparently now well 



