WESTERN NEW YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 429 



AGRICULTURAL, AND HORTICULTURAL LITERATURE. 



There is nothing that will tend to make home more pleasant and attractive than a good 

 library, and especially in the case of the farmer and fruitgrower, who during a portion 

 of the year have much time to spare indooi-s. A good weekly horticultural and agri- 

 cultural paper is a necessity. The reports of the experiment stations, as well as those 

 of the department of agriculture, should be obtained and read carefully. These pam- 

 phlets are prepared with great care and embody the latest information on questions of 

 the highest importance to every tiller of the soil. Most of these publications are sent 

 free on request, so that a library can be started easily and inexpensively. The experi- 

 ment stations, too, should be consulted whenever questions difficult of solution present 

 themselves, and much time and experience will be gained in that way, und expensive 

 errors avoided. 



PROGRESS MADE IN CONTROLLING INJURIOUS INSE0TS AND FUNGOUS DISEASES. 



The great losses which have been sustained the last few years in consequence of inju- 

 rious insects and fungous diseases, have almost discouraged' fruitgrowers; but, thanks 

 to the scientists, relief is at hand. Effectual remedies have been proposed and applied 

 with success. Spraying is now practiced quite generally and with satisfactory results. 

 The codlin moth, or apple worm, bud moth, tent caterpillar, canker worm, plum cur- 

 culio, currant worm, cherry and pear slug, apple scab, black knot and grape mildew are 

 all recognized, understood, and controlled. It is surprising how effectually and inex- 

 pensively the work can be done by those who have had some practice. I can not allow 

 the occasion to pass without referring to the agricultural department, under whose 

 direction so many experiments have been made, and so many successful remedies sug- 

 gested. The value of various kinds of insecticides and fungicides has now been fully 

 determined and established, so that the different formula? can be relied upon. But not 

 until the practice has become more general will the results be noticeable; every owner 

 of a fruit farm, qr even a fruit tree, should procure a spraying machine and learn how 

 to operate it. Apathy, prejudice and ignorance should no longer prevent the adoption 

 of remedial measures. 



A systematic treatment should be carried on throughout the state. Nothing will be 

 gained unless a general effort is made. Let there be concert of action on the part of the 

 growers and let the work proceed in such a manner and on such a scale as will secure 

 the desired results. Let there be no pest breeding places. If our neighbors are not 

 sufficiently aroused to the necessity of prompt action, appeal to them and show them 

 the danger and losses which they will incur if they do not join in the work. If the 

 multiplication of parasitic fungi and insects continues, and no attempt is made to hold 

 them in check, efforts in the other direction will be unavailing and all will be obliged 

 to give up fruitgrowing. Bulletins 48-60 of Cornell University experiment station on 

 "spraying of orchards" should be consulted and kept at hand for ready reference. 



THE EYE SPOTTED BUD MOTH. 



Among the most serious insect pests which have caused great injury to fruit trees is 

 the eye spotted bud moth ( tmetocera ocellana). I referred to this pest in my address 

 of 1892, and quoted the remedies suggested by Dr. Fernald of the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural experiment station (in bulletin No. 12). During the years 1892 and 1893, Mr. 

 Mark V. Slingerland of Cornell University, traced the life history of this insect and 

 studied its habits, and published the results of his observations and investigations in 

 bulletin No. 50, March, 1893, a pamphlet I advise all to secure. This pest seems to have 

 made its first appearance in this country in Massachusetts, about 1841, and is now widely 

 distributed. For a number of years it has done considerable damage, but not until 

 recently have the evidences of harm been so marked. Mr. Slingerland says this pest 

 makes its presence known early in the spring, as soon as the bnds begin to open, usually 

 about the 1st of May, on early varieties, and a week or ten days later on late varieties. 



The caterpillars work in opening fruit and leaf buds, often eating into the buds, espe- 

 cially the terminal ones, so that all new growth is stopped. Such work, in all but a few 

 buds on a nursery tree,especially, soon checks and disfigures its symmetry of growth and 

 often spoils the tree, for marketing. He recommends spraying about the middle of 

 April to combat the pest successfully. 



EXPERIMENTING IN PREVENTING LEAP DISEASES OF NURSERY STOCK IN WESTERN 



NEW YORK. 



During the seasons of 1891 and 1892 several experiments were made by Mr. D. G. 

 Fairchild, of the department of agriculture, at Geneva, with a view of preventing the 

 various leaf diseases in nursery ^tock. The object of these experiments was to deter- 



