46 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



William C. Strong, Chairman of the Committee on Publication 

 and Discussion, presented the following vote which was unanimously 

 passed. 



Voted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to Professor 

 Goodale for his ver}^ instructive and suggestive lecture upon Ferti- 

 lization and Cross-Fertilization, so generously delivered by him be- 

 fore the Society on Saturday, January 20. 



The following letter from G. F. B. Leighton, President of the 

 Norfolk Horticultural and Pomological Society, and a Correspond- 

 ing Member of this Society, was read by the Secretary. 



Norfolk, Va., Dec. 6th, 187G. 



To the Officers and Members of the 



MassacMisetts Horticultural Society: 



Gentlemen : — In response to the compliment of electing me a 

 Corresponding Member of your society, I most cheerfully note what 

 has passed under my observation during the past season. 



Windbreaks. I have one thousand Bartletts on the north side of 

 a thorough windbreak, reaching to the height of sixty to seventy 

 feet, and have on the south side of said break about seven hundred 

 of the same variety. The darkies pronounce the south side a jacket 

 warmer in the winter than the north side, and yet there was no per- 

 ceptible difference in the time of blooming last spring, while in the 

 maturing of the fruit there was the difference of one week in favor 

 of the south side ; the greatest value, however, is in the prevention 

 of premature dropping of fruit from gales, etc. 



Blight. Under the head of this insidious disease, I notice after a 

 wai-m spell in the spring, followed by cold nights and wann days, 

 that it makes its appearance, and the greater the difference of tem- 

 perature between the night and day, the more violent the attack. 

 When the difference was over thirty- five degrees, close watching 

 became necessary. 



From reports of several parties, I am quite inclined to the opinion 

 that the application of boiled linseed oil may in man}^, if not in all, 

 cases of blight, arrest the disease. I shall tr}- the experiment if 

 bhght is apparent next season, and as sulphur is so obnoxious to the 

 insect family I shall add that to the oil, on a portion. 



I predict a good run in the south for Clapp's Favorite. It proves 

 very healthy — fruit not as large as in its native state, — but of 



