go STATE POMOLOCICAL SOCIETY. 



SPRAYING IN BLOSSOM. 



Mr. Beach made an interesting report to the Western New 

 York Horticultural Society on the value or damage of spraying 

 trees in bloom. 



The New York experiments agree with all careful observa- 

 tions everywhere in the conclusion that it is worse than useless 

 to spray trees when in blossom. There are some circumstances 

 which may partially excuse such a practice; but unless very 

 extraordinary conditions prevail, such spraying does no partic- 

 ular good, and it usually does a great deal of harm. It is a 

 direct damage to the fruit-grower, without any reference to its 

 effect on the bees, and it is apt to be disastrous to the bees. Some 

 fruit-grcwers are still in doubt about the value of bees in their 

 business ; but in our estimation they are indispensable. 



ORCHARD CROPS. 



"Crops ni the Orchard" was the title of a paper read by W. R. 

 Wilkinson who pronounced apples the first and best orchard 

 crop, then hogs. As he had made a success of both, and is now 

 more entliusiastic than ever, despite the loss of nearly his whole 

 crop of apples by bitter rot, all were anxious to learn his methods. 

 He grovvs and markets his hogs without the use of any corn 

 whatever, growing such crops as supply an all-the-year-round 

 ration to hogs, while they assist materially in the growth of the 

 orchard. He keeps his orchard in plats of twenty to thirty acres 

 in a plat, sows some of these witli red clover for hogs, but would 

 not grow clover more than two years in succession on the same 

 ground. He sows Dwarf Essex rape early in spring, either in 

 drills or broadcast, and finds hogs do better on it than on clover. 

 This orrows well in fall also, and stands the cold about like tur- 

 nips. It does not add any fertility to the soil, but this is balanced 

 by the hogs, which harvest their own feed. He sows winter 

 barley, and finds it a good crop to turn hogs in and to harvest for 

 themselves. Of course, grow crops to suit the condition of 



