SC Ul TO OO 
SE ee 
THE SUMMER MEETING. 
The summer meeting was held in the Town Hall, Old Niagara, on Tuesday evening, 
July 8th and Wednesday, July 9th, 1890. 
The President, A. M. Smith, Esq., called the meeting to order at 8 o’clock on Tues- 
day evening, when an address of welcome was read by Mr. R. Courneen, President of 
the Niagara Fruit Growers’ Association. 
The President replied to the address in fitting terms, and declared the meeting open 
for discussion, suggesting that the Venerable Archdeacon McMurray, of Niagara, should 
address the audience. 
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION. 
Archdeacon McMurray.—I was very much delighted when I heard that the pres- 
ent meeting of the Fruit Grower’s Association was to be held in this town, having long 
thought that one of its meetings ought to be held here. I have vary carefully followed 
the various meetings of the Association in different parts of the province by means of its 
publications, of which I am a constant reader, and which I think should be taken and 
read by every person at all interested in the growing of fruit or in horticulture. I am 
delighted that you should have met here, and anything I can do or say in furtherance of 
your objects I shall do most cheerfully. A most interesting paper was recently read 
before the society here by Mr. Billups, on the curculio, of which he exhibited numerous 
specimens. I should like to hear that paper repeated during the course of the present 
meeting. The curculio is an enemy we have to strive manfully against and I am afraid 
will attack our peaches as well as plums. I think we may learn something practical dur- 
ing this meeting regarding gooseberries. I have some fine gooseberries, but almost all 
mildew as the trees get older, and the only thing I can see to do is to keep plantations 
coming on. After a tree is six or seven years old it is almost certain to mildew. 
‘ 
GOOSEBERRY MILDEW AND APPLE SPOT. 
The Secretary.— Regarding the gooseberry mildew to which the Ven. Archdeacon 
has referred, I may say that I have been studying very carefully the reports of the United 
States Experimental Stations, at which a series of careful experiments have been in pro- 
gress connected with mildew and other fungoid diseases, and I believe that means will be 
found of stopping mildew without having recourse to cutting down the bushes or destroy- 
ing them. Experiments are being made with copper solutions, which are found success- 
ful in combatting fungi, and one of them, which is being very successfully applied to apple 
spot, I hope may also prove useful for mildew, that is the ammoniacal carbonateof copper. It 
is prepared in this way : an ounce of copper carbonate precipitate is dissolved in a quart 
of ammonia and diluted with twenty-five gallons of water. I think we should keep care- 
ful track of these remedies and try them ourselves. I am this year trying this ammcniacal 
solution of carbonate of copper for apple spot and I think I observe some benefit from it 
already, although I did not begin so early in the season as I ought to have done. It 
should be applied before the buds open at all for apple scab, and also, of course very early 
for mildew, because these fungi live through the winter in some way and the action of 
these copper solutions is preventive rather than curative. The reason [ did not apply it 
as early as would have been desirable was that our locai druggist did not keep it in stock, 
it being an article not in demand at present and it was not until after a good deal of urg- 
ing that he wrote to a wholesale druggist and succeeded in procuring it. 
4 (¥.G.) 
