WESTERN NEW YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 473 



plow under in the spring. I applied potash and never have grown peaches of so high 

 a color and good quality. 



What is best for an orchard of Northern Sj)y eighteen years old, that has not 

 fruited a barrel of good apples'/ 



Mr. Willard: Cut off and graft over to something that will bear. 

 Mr. P. H. Plumb, Westtield, Mass.: Northern Spy is a sterile variety. Graft it 

 partially with a non-sterile variety. 



WJiat success has attended the top u'orJcing of iceak-groiving varieties of pears upon 

 the Keiffer.' 



Mr. Willard: So good that we don't want anything better. Mr. Powell has had 

 the idea that by working the Bartlett on the Keift'er he could retard the ripening of the 

 Bartlett. I told hitn he was perfectly safe, because if it was a failure he could saw off 

 the graft and still have a good pear. 



Does any one know anything about the Fodder Plant.' 



Mr. H. Frost said it was " Polygonum Sachalinense;" described in a French catalogue 

 as " a perennial plant, growing to a height of twelve feet, with heart-shaped leaves 

 which come to sixteen inches in length and twelve inches broad; color dark green, 

 largely maculated in places by dark purple; bears white flowers in groups. One of the 

 finest ornamental plants.'" The Garden and Forest speaks of its introduction ioto 

 Russia some years since as an ornamental plant. It is a vigorous grower, has large 

 leaves and is rather a handsome plant with leaf stalks of cardinal red. Its inconspicu- 

 ous flowers produce a good deal of nectar and are much frequented by bees. This 

 Polygonum has especial interest just now as a forage plant, since it has been recom- 

 mended in several European journals for that purpose. It is said that the young plant 

 quickly pushes up fresh shoots in all directions and will soon occupy an area a yard 

 square. These shoots when young are edible, and when blanched can be used as 

 asparagus, though not of as high ijuality. When they have grown from three to four 

 feet these shoots can be cut and fed to cattle, which seem to relish them very much. 

 It IS propagated by division of rhizomes, and if set out a yard apart the surface of the 

 soil will be covered in a year or two with abvmdance of forage from wliich three or 

 four crops can be taken every seasoo. Its yield of green fodder is said to range from 

 thirty to fifty tons per acre, and it might prove a valuable crop for ensilage. It pro- 

 duces six or more crops (or cuttings) per season after the first year. When not cut, the 

 plant attains a height of six to ten feet with alternate cordate leaves eight to sixteen 

 inches long, and six to eleven inches wide. It should be cut twice during the first 

 season whenever it reaches a height of three feet. After that it should be permitted to 

 go to seed. It will remain green and leafy until frost and withstands drought very 

 well. The annual amount of green fodder produced is very large. The agricultural 

 department of the United States has written to France, asking the price of several 

 hundred sections of roots for distribution among the different agricultural stations 

 throughout the country. 



A Member: Can it be excavated? 



Mr. Frost: It will he hard to get rid of. 



What is the Columbian raspberry/ 



Mr. Parmer: The Rural New Yorker says it is the same as, or no better than 

 Shaffer's. 



Mr. Taber: They say it does not differ very much from Shaffer's, yet that it is a 

 little lighter in color and of a little better flavor. After seeing the fruit here last year 

 I procured a half dozen plants from the originator. They were good ones; btarted into 

 'growth quickly and one went over eight feet in length. I set them in a grape-row from 

 which the grapes had been taken out, and tied them to the wires. I laid them on the- 

 ground to root for tips. So far, I am pleased with their growth, and hope they will be 

 better than the Shaffer. The juice is lovely, m my opinion. 



Mr. Farmer: The Rural Neiv Yorker, speaking of the Columbian and the Shaffer, 

 says if you have one you do not need the other, so I don't think it is worth while to 

 pay out big money for the Columbian. 



Pres. Barry: I went to see it last summer when covered with fruit. It is a strong 

 grower; a great yielder; and of the Shaffer type. The impression I gained was that it 

 was belter than Shaffer, but I should want to see the two grown together to form a 

 correct idea of their value. Shaffer's has a peculiar color, and I don't know whether 

 this variety would be an improvement over that or not. It is lighter in color than the 

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