ANNUAL MKETINCJ IOWA STATE HOKT. SOCIETY. \',l 



two year old vines would answer, lie would cultivate shallow and 

 thoroutifhly, and keei) the y^round rich. In laying^ down it is not 

 necessary to cover all up, but be sure to cover the cut portions of 

 the vine. 



Prof. Budd found on the colleg^e g-rounds at Ames that Roj^fer's 

 Hybrids when pfrown with Concord, Worden and Moore's Early were 

 hardy and prolific, but grown by themselves shy bearers and not 

 hardy. 



One fact mentioned by Silas Wilson in "New Iowa Plum Culture"' 

 was that our best native plums often bring^ in the markets of Den- 

 ver and Salt Lake City double the price of the best plums of the 

 domestic type, thus showin<^ their superior value for cookin<r pur- 

 poses. Among- new plums he would name the Wyant and Hawkeye, 

 but would not recconimend any new variety that might be the pet 

 of particular persons to the exclusion of such good varieties as 

 Desota, Forest Garden, Rockford, Wolf, Cheney and many others. 

 He thought the Russian varieties unsatisfactory. Good cultivation 

 and high manuring were a necessity. Mr. Terrj'- would use pits of 

 native varieties for stock; wash them and plant in the fall; bud in 

 August or graft in spring. "Is the Tree Pedlar a Necessity" was 

 the subject of a paper of J. C. Ferris. He did not believe in the plan 

 of agents, but under existing circumstances in this age of sharp 

 competition they were a necessity. Co-operation would be better. 

 There are two classes of agents, the man of two sticks who lives 

 by humbugging the public and the man who is honorable and fair 

 in his dealings. 



Capt. Speer's paper "Six Best Facts Learned in Thirty Years Ex- 

 perience" was long and interesting. He thought all soils under- 

 laid with blue clay with some exceptions unfit for fruit growing. 

 All American varieties were worthless root-grafted on such soils, 

 but the most of them could be successfully grown topworked on Vir- 

 ginia Crab. Thaler, Repka Kislaga, Vassil's Largest, Resonant and 

 Gipsj^ Girl could be successfully grown root-grafted on our poor- 

 est orchard soils. Others of the Russians were very promising. 

 Of Russian cherries he had found No. 23 Orel, Spate Amerelle and 

 Brusseler Hraune hardj- and productive. Apple orchards in heavy 

 bearing should be manured and mulched. Three years ago a row 

 of old Fameuse trees that had been previously manured heavily 

 was mulched with spoiled clover hay from six to eight inches deep, 

 and last year a large crop of smooth, well developed apples was 

 picked from them which will keep several months longer than the 

 little starved Fameuse apples which grew on trees where the ground 

 was neither manured nor mulched. 



One thing was noticable in the discussions and jiapers: Some 

 persons who seem to have had good opportunity for knowing all 

 the facts in the case place the Russian varieties of fruit far ahead of 

 our American varieties as far as hardiness and general desirability 

 are concerned, while others, equally good authority, would reject 

 everything Russian, proving to the satisfaction of j'our delegate 

 that where a person uses good judgment in the adaptation of varie* 

 ties to soil and climate both are desirable. 



