94 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



are rather weak in growth. As noted in the bulletins last year, many 

 of the varieties that have been introduced as novelties, such as Wine- 

 berry, Loganberry, Mayberry and Strawberry-raspberry, have little, or 

 no, value and excepting the Strawberry-raspberry, are lacking in hard- 

 iness, and that variety instead of being a hybrid between the straw- 

 berry and raspberry, is a wild Japanese species of raspberry; the plants 

 sucker freely and are likely to become a pest, while the fruit, although 

 large and showy, developes on a very large receptacle, and, as a result, 

 has a cavity nearly as large as that in an ordinary thimble, while the 

 flesh of the fruit is but little thicker than the walls of that useful arti- 

 cle. The flesh is dry, with large seeds and acid flavor. 



During the heavy rains of August, although the land was under- 

 drained, the w^ater stood so long upon a portion of the raspberry plant- 

 ation that many of the plants were killed. 



The blackberries, although unprotected, came through the winter 

 without injury and bore a full crop, which, owing to the moist season 

 ripened without injury from drought. The results obtained with the 

 different varieties of small fruits will be published in the bulletins. 



VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



As in the previous years, all of the most promising novelties brought 

 out by the seedsmen, were planted for trial, as were many of the 

 standard kinds, for comparison. During the season we were consid- 

 erably troubled by numerous insects, but most of them were kept in 

 check by the prompt use of insecticides. Several fungous and bacterial 

 diseases that had not appeared to any extent developed during the warm, 

 moist weather of the past summer and may prove troublesome in the 

 future. Among these was a bacterial disease which attacked the cauli- 

 flower and some of the cabbages. For this the best thing is to destroy 

 the diseased plants and thoroughly clean up any refuse that may re- 

 main upon the ground, and to use new land the following year. In sec- 

 tions where the disease has not appeared it would be desirable to soak 

 the seeds, for half an hour, in a weak solution of copper sulphate, or 

 liver of sulphur at the rate of one ounce to three gallons of water. 

 Arrangements were made to make a comparative test of the different 

 varieties of celery but the plants were destroyed by standing water. 



SPRAYING. 



As noted above, the season was favorable to the development of in- 

 sects, particularly plant lice and potato beetles, and fungi, and the fre- 

 quent rains throughout the season made it difficult to use applications 

 for their destruction. Plums, cherries and other fruits were seriously 

 injured by the aphides and a number of remedies were tested for their 

 destruction, including tobacco water, kerosene emulsion, zenoleum, 

 whale oil soap, etc. The best results were obtained from the strong 

 tobacco water. In spraying for the various leaf -eating insects, the arsen- 

 ites were used and the principal reliance was placed upon Paris green 

 and white arsenic. Although it varies in different years and different 

 places, white arsenic can generally be secured for little more than one- 

 half as much per pound as Paris green, and, as the latter only contains 

 a little more than 50 per cent arsenic, the actual cost of arsenic as a 



