PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 181 



variety which, but for one thing, would take the lead— the old Kittatinny, 

 if it did not rust. 



Prof. Taft: The Eldorado is promising. Last year our crop was 

 destroyed by spring frosts, and this year the crop is not ripe, but the 

 plants are fully as hardy as Snyder; and with us last winter was quite 

 severe on all the raspberries and blackberries. 



Are ants in a peach and apple orchard, a pest ? If so, ivhat is the remedy ? 



Mr. Cook : In my observation, they do not have anything to do with 

 injury. 



Mr. Smith: They appear to feed on the foliage, especially the tender 

 growth; and they appear to burrow near the root, about the collar of the 

 tree, and run over the whole top. Are they pest or anti-pest? 



Prof. Taft: I think there is generally something in the trees for which 

 they are looking. Whenever you see an ant running up a tree, there is 

 something wrong with the tree. 



Mr. Morrill: Have you ever noticed the leaves curling and dropping? 



Mr. Smith: I have noticed that some in the peach. 



Q. On the cherry? 



A. I haven't noticed it there. In the apple, the tips and tender growth 

 of the sprouts are eaten, when there are no canker worms about, but there 

 are ants, and it seems that they do it. 



Mr. Morrill : Look on the under side and see if the ants are not asso- 

 ciated with little green lice. 



What about the new varieties of currant f 



Prof. Taft: I think North Star is a promising variety, and it is far less 

 injured by borers than Fay and others, and has the same strong growth. 

 I think North Star is a particularly promising new variety. We have had 

 it four years. Last year frost caught us again, but this year they are 

 bearing very full. The plants are strong and seem free from the borer, or 

 comparatively so. 



Q. Do they grow as large as Victoria? 



Mr. Morrill: They are rather larger than my Victorias, and even 

 stronger growers. 



Ai-e currants and gooseberries a paying crop f 



Mr. Boynton: Not in 1896. I speak particularly of th.e gooseberry, 

 and I think that in 1896 they will not pay. I do not know the reason, 

 except that the crop is very prolific, and there seems to be more of an 

 over-production in that than in wheat and a good many other commod- 

 ities. 



Mr. Eeid: Without knowing exactly what may be the trouble, I sur- 

 mise that the too early picking of the gooseberry has much to do with 

 it; for, on visiting Chicago recently, I saw thousands of cases of goose- 

 berries that were withered from too early picking. They were not much 

 more than half size, or half the size that mine are, either Smiths or 

 Downings, and I would not think of picking either of these until the first 

 of next week. Any person purchasing a crate of this sour and immature 

 fruit would not want any more, and perhaps that influences the market as 

 much as anything else, especially as the quotations say that good ones are 



