SUMMER MEETING, 1871). 99 



one ounce instead of one pound, us printed in the volume. This mixture is 

 especially recommended by Prof. Tracy for curing wounds made in removing 

 large limbs. I used it as a grafting wax, and it proved worthless for this pur- 

 pose ; it worked nicely when put on, the weather being cool, but under the in- 

 fluence of the hot weather, which succeeded, the mixture speedily relaxed and 

 melted away, leaving the stubs exposed, so that I was obliged to re-cover them 

 "with a more enduring material. I have found that a wax made of a mixture 

 consisting of 4 lbs. of rosin, 1 lb. tallow and 1 lb. of beeswax, works very satis- 

 factorily ; more beeswax is an injury. A wax made of 6 lbs. rosin to 1 pt. lin- 

 seed oil is equally good — using less oil if the weather is warm. My experience 

 in pruning, the i)ast year, is somewhat suggestive. Mr. Parmelee recommends 

 fall or winter pruning, and acting on his suggestion I went into the orchard 

 one pleasant afternoon about the 30th of last November, and pruned a few 

 snow-apple trees which had been grafted the previous spring. I did not prune 

 any more until the following March, during which month I did all the remain- 

 der of my pruning. As a result, the trees which I pruned in the fall are nearly 

 dead, while those pruned in the spring in the same manner — of the same age 

 and varieties — evince no signs of injur3\ Out of upwards of a hundred twelve- 

 year-old grafted trees, those that I trimmed in the fall are the only ones which 

 show signs of having suffered. 



So that this experience would seem to lead to the conclusion that it is not 

 best to prune newly grafted trees in the fall or winter, at least in this locality. 



Another thing I have observed recently, which is, that it is not best to cut 

 your newly set grape roots back to two buds, unless you dig about them con- 

 stantly to destroy the cut worms ; for the worms will eat out the buds and also 

 cut off the sprouts which start from the root as soon as they appear at 

 the surface. I find the better w'ay is, when the soil is infested with cut worms, 

 to let all the buds remain and all start that can and when the growth is suffi- 

 ciently hardened to resist the cut worm's attack, remove all except those which 

 you wish to have for canes. 



CHOICE APPLES. 



I am inclined to regard the Northern Spy and the Red Canada as exception- 

 ally valuable, and not universally so, as is the Baldwin. The former generally 

 does well, and in some locations is enormously productive. Some growers, as 

 Mr. Hathaway of Little Prairie Konde, find it the most profitable sort, but he 

 does not advise every one to grow it. I am aware that the Red Canada pos- 

 sesses great excellence as a fruit, is perhaps superior in quality to the Baldwin, 

 and in the eastern part of the state is a uniform and great bearer, but accord- 

 ing to my observation here, it is not as productive as the Baldwin. The only 

 orchard of this sort in this vicinity that seems to bear satisfactorily, is that of 

 John Haines, in Porter township, which has a number of full grown trees orig- 

 inally brought from Plymouth in this State, but I notice this last spring that 

 some of his neighbors who were grafting their orchards were setting Baldwins, 

 and I asked why they did not set red Canada. Well, they thought the Baldwin 

 more sure and profitable ; they felt certain that they were not taking any 

 chances on the Baldwin — like the Concord grape it possesses every one's confi- 

 dence. No more just decisions in pomology have been made than those which 

 awarded the Greeley prizes to these two fruits as the best for general culti- 

 vation. 



I notice that the Michigan catalogue makes no mention of the Henrick 

 Sweet. I am familiar with the apple, having seen much of it in Oswego and 



