LESSONS FROM PRUNING. 293 



tion of tree wax. That is an important point that should not be for- 

 gotten. 



Mr. Bentz : In our section of the country the orchards that 

 produce the most fruit are not pruned at all except where it be- 

 comes necessary by the limbs interfering with each other, and it 

 would be utterly impossible to get beneath an apple tree unless you 

 crawl on the ground, and they have apples in abundance. 



Mr. Emil Sahler : I always cultivate my trees until they are 

 five or eight years old. In order to get around that and save hand 

 picking of weeds it was my theory that there should be no weeds 

 there at all, no pigeon grass, no ragweed and no June grass grow- 

 ing around those trees and for that reason, to get close to the tree, 

 I trim all my trees about four feet or a little higher. 



Mr. Oliver Gibbs : The last speaker laid upon the table a little 

 box of wax. Will he kindly tell us how it can be obtained or how 

 it is made? 



Mr. Sahler : Yes, sir, I will do that with pleasure. This tree 

 wax you can keep it in your pocket and it will not melt. Take 

 three pounds of beef tallow and pine pitch or tar and to that add 

 about one-third of a pound of beeswax, and then put it in some 

 old kettle which you will think you will never want to use any more, 

 and when you get through with that kettle put it away some place 

 where you can find it again and use that same kettle. And I would 

 advise you to build a little fire out doors and be careful the fire does 

 not get into the pot. The tar smells very strong. Melt the whole 

 contents together and let it get cold, and you can put it in any kind 

 of vessel. 



The President : I think it might be of interest since we have 

 gone over the question of fall pruning and spring pruning to ask for 

 a show of hands as denoting a preference. 



(A show of hands indicated that i was in favor of fall pruning, 

 25 in favor of spring pruning and 12 in favor of June pruning). 



THE NEW HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PRINTING LAW 



AN ACT pertaining to the reports of the Minnesota Horticultural 



Society and appropriating money for printing the same. 

 Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Minnesota : 



Section i. There shall be annually printed and bound four thou- 

 sand (4,000) copies of the report of the Minnesota State Horti- 

 cultural Society ; provided, the number of printed pages of the same 

 shall not exceed five hundred twenty (520). One thousand copies 

 of the same, more or less, as requested by the executive board of 

 said society, shall be printed in monthly installments and bound in 

 paper as a monthly report to be distributed among the members of 

 said society. 



The remainder shall be bound, at the close of the year, in cloth, 

 and shall be distributed by the society as follows : 



