PLANT breeders' AUXILIARY, SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT. 69 



promiscuous seed planting- is past. Those who take the trouble 

 to sow seed should have sufficient interest to take hold of the mat- 

 ter in an exact and careful way, so that the results had may be 

 something of a guide in future efforts. 



The Malinda seed sent out by the society appears to have done 

 remarkably well, only a few failures being reported and many men- 

 tioning gratifying success. While this work of seed distribution by 

 the society should certainly be continued, we urge upon our mem- 

 bers that they select their seed so far as possible from their own 

 grounds, where they have a perfect knowledge of the varieties' which 

 may have entered into and made up the strain of seed sown. 



It should not be forgotten also that our best plant breeders put 

 great stress upon the proper nourishment of the parent {)lant while 

 perfecting the seed, insisting that it inclines them to break from 

 primitive forms and develop improved characteristics. 



Our auxiliary society appears to have struck a popular chord 

 among our members and begins the second year of its existence 

 with the prospect of enlisting a large number of new members, and 

 by instructing them so that the work of plant breeding for the 

 benefit of our northern section may be carried on with a cer- 

 tainty of bringing forth improvement in our horticulture that will 

 give it rank among the most beneficent agencies of the present 

 date. 



The Barrel the Standard Package. — At home and abroad, editorial 

 representatives of this magazine have been told that dealers, except in a 

 restricted way, do not want anything but the barrel. A barrel of regulation 

 size is best, the flour barrel or its equivalent; (diameter of head 17^ inches, 

 length of stave 28^^ inches, outside measurement, not less than 64 inches cir- 

 cumference). The secretary of the International Apple Shippers' Association 

 is authority for the statement that apples packed in a good flour barrel or 

 second-hand regulation size barrel will bring as much money in any market 

 in the world as in an absolutely new barrel. 



Equipment for Gathering Apples.— No one ladder will answer all 

 purposes in apple picking. At least two types will be found useful. The 

 stepladder is indispensable. It should be strong, light, provided with a plat- 

 form, and should have three legs instead of four. A stepladder with three 

 legs is perfectly safe and will stand steady and solid on ground so rough and 

 uneven as to make it impossible to use one with four legs at all. Longer 

 ladders made strong and light, with broad rounds for the taller trees, should 

 be of sufficient length to reach the tops. The side pieces should be united or 

 jointed together at the top like the letter V inverted. The ladder can then 

 be shoved up among the branches when necessary. It may also be used 

 by laying it flat against a number of small branches on the outside of the 

 head of the tree. 



