PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 11 



The secretary read a letter from Erwin F. Smith, of Ann Arbor, asking 

 that the botanical department of the University be furnished with data 

 regarding the spread of grape rot in the State. 



The following discussion then took place upon the next topic: 



FERTILIZERS. 



Mr. Moore, Toledo : In our nursery, near Toledo, Ohio, we find com- 

 mercial fertilizers cheaper and better than stable manure. We like bone 

 meal the best. That which we use costs thirty-five dollars a ton, and is made 

 by the Cincinnati Dessicating Manufactory. We apply it in spring, mixed 

 with muck or barn-yard manure by means of Kemp and Burpee's No. 2 

 spreader, at the rate of 600 to 800 pounds of the meal per acre. After it is 

 spread, it is cultivated in, and the effect lasts two or three years. The soil is 

 a sandy clay, with clay subsoil. 



C. W. Garfield: In orchards, how near the trees should manure be placed? 

 Mr. Niles, Blissfield: The best effect is when it is placed under the ends of 



the limbs. 



T. T. Lyon: After ten or fifteen years the roots fill all the soil, and the 

 manure should be applied broadcast. Whether it should be applied only 

 to the surface, or plowed in, depends on the soil. In clay soil the roots run 

 near the surface, and the orchard, when old, should be plowed very shallow, 

 if at all. 



B. W. Steere: I have obtained the best results in old orchards by applying 

 stable manure liberally over the whole surface, and plowing it in. The best 

 time to apply it is fall or winter, and the plowing should be done early, as any 

 injury to the roots does much less harm to the tree then than later. 



K. Baur recommended cow manure as mulch for grapes. He keeps chickens 

 among his grapes until the fruit begins to ripen. 



Mr. Griffin inquired the cause of the bursting of the bark in young trees, 

 whether it was caused by too rapid growth. 



T. T. Lyon replied that trees could not grow too fast early in the season. 

 Bursting of the bark was common with trees which grew late, but in them, not 

 until after growth ceased ; grows beans in his orchard, stopping cultivation just 

 before wheat harvest. 



D. G. Edmiston : I have a large quantity of hard wood ashes. How shall I 

 use them ? 



W. W. Farnsworth : I have applied thern to wheat and grass without results, 

 but have doubled a crop of raspberries by their use. What shall I apply to a 

 field of newly set strawberries this spring ? 



A. B. Mason : I have had good success, near Toledo, by the application of 

 two parts ashes and one of hen manure to poor, sandy spots. 



Mr. Niles : I have found L. L. Crofer's fertilizer, Buffalo, N. Y., costing $40 

 a ton, to be good for newly set strawberries. 



A. B. Mason gave an example of the value of old leached ashes. Had known 

 raspberry roots to run nine feet to a pile of them. They are useful to soften 

 clay soil. 



C. W. Garfield : The best market gardeners near Grands Rapids haul manure 

 from the city stables at a maximum price of a shilling a horse a month, and 

 store it in large flat piles not over three feet deep. Care is taken to have no 

 part of the heap higher than the rest to act as a chimney and cause it to burn. 

 It is turned about twice; each time as soon as it begins to heat, the frequency 



