392 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



growing of sod in the orchards of Ontario to prevent winter-killing, 

 but when he explained that in fourteen years the orchards of that 

 section have never suffered from drouth, the peculiarities of the case 

 were apparent. The general concensus of opinion was in favor of 

 clean cultivation and a dust blanket. 



Professor L. H. Bailey thought that it was often necessary to 

 renovate the individual before the orchard could be renovated. He 

 spoke on the peculiar horticultural conditions prevailing in Califor- 

 nia. He said that commercialism increased as you go west and 

 thought that the eastern states offered as good opportunities for suc- 

 cessful fruit growing as California. 



R. iNIorrill, of Michigan, referred to some horticultural sayings 

 which had almost become proverbs, such as "Spray or surrender," 

 "Horse leg irrigation," "Dust blanket," "Renovate the man, and 

 the orchard will be renovated." He also said that spraying when 

 continued would often remove many other pests than those at which 

 it was aimed ; that regular spraying with Bordeaux mixture would 

 remove oyster shell bark louse. 



Professor Webster, entomologist of the Ohio Experiment Sta- 

 tion, gave an excellent address on spraying. He thinks that the re- 

 sults generally obtained by individuals are poor and that there is 

 very little really thorough spraying. He has been making very 

 elaborate and careful tests of mixtures of oil and water. He finds it 

 difficult to get a machine that will give a uniform mixture. He says 

 the safety line is between twenty-five and thirty-five per cent of 

 crude oil. He has killed peaches with twenty-five per cent under 

 some conditions, and has used fifty per cent crude petroleum with 

 safety. This reminds me of our experience at the Central Experi- 

 ment Station this last summer, where we used a forty per cent mix- 

 ture of kerosene on our Scotch pine without injury, although it was 

 in July, and they were growing rapidly. 



Professor Alwood, of Virginia, gave an address on fermenta- 

 tion in fruit juices. He referred to fermentation being produced 

 by yeast organisms and to each kind producing its peculiar affect. 

 He said that the manufacturers of wines and the brewers took great 

 pains to cultivate just the organism that would give them best re- 

 sults in their liquors. This is akin to the use of starters in the ripen- 

 ing of cream. 



Professor Fletcher, of Ontario, gave a most excellent talk on 

 the fertilization of flowers by bees. He said that scarlet and red do 

 not attract bees, but the lilac blue is most attractive to insects ; that 

 the Arabs kept male flowers of the date palm over for one year to 



