WISCONSIN STATE HORT. SOCIETY, ANNUAL MEETING, I9O5, II 3 



over the question as to whether the phim curculHo could be defeated 

 by spraying; the general opinion seemed to be that they could be 

 destroyed in a large degree. 



A spirited debate occurred over the McMahon apple and was 

 participated in by nearly every member. McMahon is one of Wis- 

 consin's best known seedlings and is well known in Minnesota, 

 though not extensively grown. The general opinion seemed to be 

 that although poor in quality and late in coming into bearing Mc- 

 Mahon was still a valuable market variety owing to its fine appear- 

 ance. One member said it was a dismal failure for a cold storage 

 apple. In this discussion it developed that Wisconsin growers are 

 not nearly as interested as we in seeking for winter varieties. They 

 hold that we should stick to the fall varieties, as we cannot hope 

 to compete with New York, Michigan and Missouri apples. 



Prof. Blair, of the Illinois Experiment Station, has given special 

 attention to the construction of small cold storage plants for the 

 farmer, and delivered a very instructive illustrated lecture on the 

 subject. A trial storage was built at a cost of $3,400, capacity 2,600 

 barrels ; required sixty tons of ice, at a cost of $138 ; including inter- 

 est, each barrel was charged 19 cents, pro-rated cost. Smaller 

 storage houses could be built and maintained with a proportionate 

 investment. By exhaustive experiment they have found that min- 

 eral wool has the highest insulating value, represented by 100 per 

 cent, while cinders have a value of only 34 per cent ; the combination 

 of building paper and dead air spaces came about half way between 

 in value, varying according to the number of cells used. 



The entire staff of officers were re-elected, including T. E. 

 Loope, president ; George J. Kellogg, vice-president ; F. Cranefield, 

 secretary, and L. G. Kellogg, treasurer. An important revision 

 was made in the constitution of the society, making the secretary- 

 ship appointive by the executive committee. The president, secre- 

 tary and treasurer are designated as a board of managers to conduct 

 the business of the society, subject to the executive committee, 

 which is composed of a member from each congressional district. 



