i62 State Horticultural Society. 



able soil, where the air is always dry, and sunshine 300 days in the year, 

 where fungous diseases are unknown, and the fruits always mature. Ir- 

 rigation is practiced, and we produce perfect trees and fruit. Codling 

 moth is our only pest. 



Col. Bracket's report on new fruits will have to be read in full to be 

 appreciated. He said that we did not need nSw varieties so much as im- 

 provement of old ones we now have. 



"New Light on the Apple Blight," by Prof. H. H. Whetzel, Cornell 

 University, was fully illustrated. These two papers, with several other 

 valuable ones, will appear in the printed reports of this Society. 



The following officers were elecetd: President, L. A. Goodman, 

 Kansas City; Vice-President, T. V. Munson, Denison, Tex.; Secretary, 

 John Craig, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Treasurer, L. R. Taft, Agricultural College, 

 Mich. 



In Prairie Farmer. Alma Z. Moore. 



THE BEST TALENT IN SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL HOR- 

 TICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES IN CONVEN- 

 TION AT KANSAS CITY. 



(By M. J- Wragg.) 

 WHAT IS A PERFECT APPLE? 



On Wednesday the report of the committee on grading the exhibit- 

 ing fruit was taken up, but the committee asked for further time for mak- 

 ing the report. Mr. Williamson of Illinois, chairman of this committee, 

 was questioned while on the floor to give a definition of a "perfect apple," 

 or one first-class, to grade No. i on the market. "Normal in shape, 

 normal in color, free from worms, with no break in the skin; must be 

 hand-picked and free from fungus; must range in size from two and. a 

 quarter to two and a half inches in diameter at its widest part to be in 

 the No. I grade. 



The subject of cover crops came in for much discussion. The most 

 successful fruit growers advocated some kind of a cover crop. In Mis- 

 souri it was cowpeas, vetch, clover or any plant that would completely 

 CQj/er the ground, giving uniform moisture and keeping the soil from 

 drying out. Many argued that the developing and maturing of the crop 

 of fruit was such a heavy drain on the water supply that, if not pro- 

 tected, and the evaporation lessened by a cover crop, your fruit would 

 necessarily be smaller. J. A. Burton of Indiana said that crab grass in 



