WINTER MEETING, 1877. 2^ 



Irrigation in liorticulture is in its infancy, iiud we need to know how, und 

 liow niiicli it will pay. We have yet to learn how to raise peaches in frosty 

 locutions, what plants are best for hedges and screens in our latitude, and 

 how much it will pay to tiiin frnit. 



'J'lie great (juestions of pearhliglU;, and yellows in the ])each, arc unsettled aa 

 to tlieir causes or cure. In tlie destruction of insects there is an endless 

 amount of exj)erimental work to bo done. In the deterioration of certain 

 crops, and the remedies by cross-fertilizatioii, and changing of seed, are ques- 

 tions yet in their infanc}'', and although Uarwin has opened a grand field for in- 

 vestigation in this direction, he has but stepped into it. 



The im[)rovcinent of our native fruits is a matter of tlie greatest importance 

 in our county, and there has almost nothing been done in tliis direction. Al- 

 though wo arc rich in native species that might be improved by cultivation, still 

 nearly everything in the fruit line that we grow is of foreign importation. 



The Professor dwelt at some length on the ini})ortance of crossing fruits, and 

 quoted the experiments of Rogers and Arnold in fruits and grains, Presi- 

 dent Wilder, George Campbell, and a dozen others, in various plants. There 

 are but few good workers in this field, yet every one who has worked well has 

 brought out something of real worth. It takes a long time to get accurate re- 

 sults, but they are worth something when established. The future will bring 

 greater exhaustion of soil and more insects, so that experiments of this sort will 

 be required, and still the work will grow no easier with the added years. 



President T. T. Lyon then read an address as follows, upon 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS-IIOW THE CATALOGUES OF OUR 



SOCIETY SHOULD BE ARRANGED. 



This society, in the discharge of the duty it may be assumed to owe to the 

 people of the State, seems, almost from the time when it came into existence, 

 to have realized the great need, to the public, of better information on the sub- 

 ject of varieties of fruits best adapted to meet the wants of the planters of our 

 State. 



Up to the present time its efforts in this direction have been mainly devoted 

 to the preparation of lists of varieties, calculated to more or less fully meet the 

 varied circumstances under which planting is to be done, — certainly a very im- 

 portant object, in view of the well known fact that, as a rule, the compositioDi 

 of our orchards may be said to have been determined very largely — in many 

 cases almost entirely — by the dictum of irresponsible tree peddlers, or of tree 

 growers; both, obviously, having interests in the matter often quite diverse 

 from those of the orchardist or gardener ; and hence not just the parties to 

 whom a judicious and careful planter should apply for advice in a matter of 

 such moment, and involving steps which, once taken, must become more 

 or less operative for a lifetime. Even when such advice is honestly and wisely 

 given, however, in dealing with any but trustworthy parties, the planter not 

 unfrequently learns, after nursing his plantation up to the period of fructifica- 

 tion, that, either through the carelessness or dishonesty of the dealer, varieties 

 not ordered, and not unfrequently spurious or worthless ones, have been foisted 

 upon him. 



To the question — Is there not a remedy for this difficulty? We can only 

 repeat the oft reiterated reply — learn well what you want, and buy directly 



