FORTIETH ANNUAL REPORT. 197 



When the scale was first discovered in our orchards we were advised to put up cooking 

 plants, possibly too large, but I think it paid. One year we depended on getting ours 

 cooked at a neighboring plant with the result that some days we could not get more than 

 two loads a day and at a time when the weather was right to put it on. We lost money 

 waiting for it. The advantage of the commercial article is that it is ready for u.se at any 

 time by adding water. Speaking further on the different brands of sulphur. Mr. Bassett 

 described how sulphur is prepared and said that powdered commercial sulphur 99i per 

 cent pure, if finely ground, is practically as good as any and costs much less. 



A joint meeting of the Saugatuck and Ganges Pomological Society with the Casco and 

 South Haven society was held at Leisure, February 8, 1910. One of the addresses was 

 given by Joseph Kelly of South Haven on the care and marketing of apples. Mr. Kelly 

 has practiced thinning apples and advised it. He uses shears to cut off the fruit. Said 

 the thinning of apples is not such a stupendous job as one would think, as the work can 

 be done quite rapidly after a little practice. He would thin to'five or six inches apart, 

 cutting off the poorer fruits. Mr. Kelly said that thinning protects the trees from severe 

 storms and encourages annual bearing. Nor is the job so very expensive as much of the 

 cost is saved in picking and packing the apples, besides getting nearly all No. 1 fruit. 

 He favors scraping the trunks of the trees with a steel bru.sh rather than with a hoe or 

 other edged tool, also advises moderate annual pruning. He advocates absolutely straight 

 packing and putting the grower's name on both firsts and seconds. In gathering the 

 fruit only bullets should be picked in bags, and careless picking may injure the succeeding 

 crop by breaking off the fruit spurs. Michigan apples require no decorating in order to 

 sell them when they are grown, picked and packed as they should be. Fennville alone is 

 being more advertised than the famous Washington district because buyers find up-to- 

 date growers here with good orchards and they tell others that Fennville has good orchards 

 We have the best apple state in the union and we should make the most of it. 



A largely attended meeting and one of unusual interest was held in Fennville March 5, 

 1910, the matters treated being spraying appliances and machinery. In opening the 

 meeting President Edward Hutchins said the interest in this as well as other meetings 

 shows that there is a horticultural awakening among the fruit growers of this, as well as 

 other places in' Michigan, and it is a source of much gratification to see the interest that is 

 manifested. Never was the outlook for the fruit grower better and never was there a time 

 when co-operation in gaining knowledge of methods of growing good fruit, purchasing 

 supplies and marketing is more necessary. The Society now has the largest paid-up mem- 

 bership that it has had in several years. 



C. E. Bassett had obtained a large collection of spray nozzles which he displayed and 

 gave a brief description of each. The Vermoreal is an old nozzle and has been in use for 

 years. The Bordeaux and the Seneca are practically the same, but made by different 

 manufacturers. The Cyclone, Lenox and graduated Vermorel are of one style. Of late 

 we have had introduced a different type of nozzle with steel discs of dift'erent capacities 

 which can be changed for different kinds of materials, and which can be replaced at a 

 cost of only 60 cents per dozen, thus adding materially to the life of the nozzle. Another 

 style was one with an angle neck, with which a person can spray at different angles by 

 turning the spray rod. There are also crooks that may be used with the straight nozzles 

 and working thus in a similar manner. Still another type of nozzle is the Mistry, which 

 produces a fine spray. 



A number present were using the Friend and liked it very much. The Calla and Bor- 

 deaux are in use in the large apple trees where a nozzle is required which carries the spray 

 to a considerable distance. 



Speaking on the subject of pumps Edward Hutchins said it is important to get one the 

 proper size. A mistake was made in the earlier pumps in getting those that were too large 

 and pumping too much liquid through the relief valve, thus causing unnecessaiy wear 

 and trouble with that device. For a power pump a double pump with a 2h inch cylinder 

 and a four-inch stroke is about right for two men. Another important matter is to get a 

 pump in which the wearing parts are easily accessible. There is considerable wear to the 

 plunger packing and cylinder, especially where Bordeaux or other sprays with much lime 

 are used, and these parts require frequent renewing. Get a pump in which these can be 

 readily got at. 



Geo. W. Griffin gave a very interesting talk on engines. The question of power, he 

 said, depends on the use that is to be made of the engine. Many want one both for spray- 



