118 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



varieties of pear were Flemish Beauty and Seckel, Vhich are peculiarly 

 subject to scab. The season was very dry, for weeks not moisture enough 

 in the air to form dew on the grass, if there had been any. The fungi had 

 little chance to grow. I watched the fruit on those trees with consider- 

 able care, but saw no sign of scab until after the first rain, along in 

 midsummer, and then very little. My first impression was that this 

 time I had made a success and no mistake. But later in the season, 

 when the fruit was ready for the harvest, by observation and reports from 

 my neighbors, I learned that their fruit was equally good as mine, 

 although they paid no attention to spraying. First conclusions are not 

 always correct. Perhaps, under different atmospheric conditions, the 

 results might have been widely different. 



As to spraying for the plum curculio, there is a wide difference of 

 opinion. Just how the poison will or can reach the larva when it begins 

 its work is somewhat a mystery. The female makes a crescent cut, 

 raises the flap of cuticle, deposits her egg, and replaces the skin. If 

 in this case the poison could penetrate the cut at all, it would probably 

 be before the egg had passed into the larval state, and would likely 

 become neutralized by the juices of the fruit before the larva was ready 

 to feed. As this process of stinging the fruit continues day by day 

 until the fruit is mature in size, there is little chance of protecting the 

 fruit in this way, unless the curculio herself takes the poison and dies, 

 which is somewhat doubtful. With such varieties as Lombard and 

 others of that class, that set three or four times as much fruit as the 

 tree can well mature, it is easy enough to save the crop by spraying; 

 but with those that set fruit more sparingly, the supplementary process 

 of jarring is essential to save the crop. 



Aside from protection to the fruit, spraying the plum trees with 

 Bordeaux mixture is doubtless a good protection to the foliage. Some 

 years ago, before I commenced spraying my trees, the foliage on most 

 varieties was attacked by a species of rust which caused the trees to shed 

 most of their leaves before the fruit was fully mature and hence lacking 

 in color and quality. Since I have sprayed my trees the foliage has 

 remained in a healthy state and the fruit matured in its proper condition. 



The countr}' is now abundantlj' supplied with theories and formulas 

 in regard to spraying, so that I need not, even if I could, add any addi- 

 tional ones. A few simple rules or directions should be observed. First, 

 the sprayer should provide himself with a good outfit, in the shape of a 

 well-tested force-pump; second, he should understand the most approved 

 proportions and the proper admixture of his spraying materials, and, 

 third, he should know when and how to make the application, and then 

 do it in a workman-like manner. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Morrill: A fine spray you consider more economical and reliable? 



Mr. Smith : Of course, it takes a good power to send a spray into the 

 top of a high tree, and you must have good weather, free from very high 

 winds. That is altogether a question of nozzle and pump. 



Mr. Judson: ^Vhat is the best solution to spray with now — Bordeaux 

 mixture, or Paris green and arsenic without the Bordeaux mixture? 



