PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 145 



Mr. Gale corroborated the statement of the good effects result- 

 ing from pinching the tops of tomatoes and lima beans. 



Mr. Steele. — The same principle applies to all kinds of vines. 



GRAPES AND DWARF PEARS. 



Dr. Houghton, of Philadelphia, stated that in that neighbor- 

 hood they had not arrived at any satisfactory results in the cul- 

 tivation of native grapes. They had suffered severely from 

 mildew, vine-bleeding, late frosts in the spring, and early frosts 

 in the fall. Most of the good native grapes in the Philadelphia 

 market come from Cincinnati. He considered them the least 

 profitable, least certain, and least useful of the fruits. The cul- 

 ture under glass he considered more reliable, and consequently 

 more economical. As to dwarf pears, upon the quince stock, 

 with proper treatment they do well. His own orchard, contain- 

 ing 3,000 trees in a good condition, upon the quince stock, was 

 planted for marketing purposes, and he had great conjSdence in 

 it. There is not a borer in the whole orchard. The method of 

 keeping them out is this. He plants the quince root about two 

 inches below the surface of the soil. To protect the tree, the 

 beetle must be prevented from going down to the quince root. 

 The motion of the tree by the wind would soon, in ordinary soil, 

 leave a space around the trunk suliicient to enable them to go 

 down; but if the tree is surrounded with pulverized charcoal, 

 that will sift down and keep this aperture filled up. But from 

 the middle of June to the middle of Jul}', when the • beetle 

 deposits its egg, he applies a further preventive. By means of 

 a bellows, constructed for the purpose, he throws a powder con- 

 sisting of Scotch snuff, Cayenne pepper, and pulverized white 

 hellebore, around the trunk of the tree, first mixing it with a 

 little plaster or airslacked lime, under the belief that any insect 

 coming there and finding such substances in his way would con- 

 sider it a notice to leave. The charcoal tends also to keep up 

 the moisture in the quince root at the junction with the pear, so 

 that the sap shall flow freely up into the tree. The apple re- 

 quires further protection, since they will enter the tree anywhere, 

 if prevented from entering at or below the surface of the ground. 

 His method was to protect the tree a few inches above the 

 ground with charcoal dust held in place by a wrapping of tarred 

 felt or of pasteboard. At the close of the season this being 

 taken off, the borer will be found to have penetrated not more 



[Am. Inst.] J 



