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THE GENESEE FAKIIER. 



Tlie frost on the 4tli of June and again on the 

 10th of the same month, will long be remembered. 

 Instances of its terrible ravages are related to us 

 from evcrv quarter. The most protected situations 

 eutiered mo-^t, while open, exposed bill-tops, where 

 the wind had free scojie, escaped with little or no 

 effects from it. Succulent jilants, and those in the 

 rapidly growing state and filled ■with sap, were cut 

 to the ground, while those naturall}^ more tender, 

 but in a dormant state, were not touched. The 

 extreme western counties of this State and of Penn- 

 sylvania, and the eastern counties of Ohio, proba- 

 bly suli'ered as severely as any other section. Ap- 

 ples, pears, cheri'ies, &c., were frozen stiti on the 

 trees, and totally destro3-ed. The grain and grass 

 crops were in some places cut to the ground. The 

 foliage of grai)e vines, in many places, was cut off, 

 but the young wood survived ; and although such 

 vines are barren the present season, they are mak- 

 ing a good stock of wood for next year. 



Raspberries were greatly injured by the severe 

 weather of the winter at the same time the peach 

 buds were killed. In this vicinity a large propor- 

 tion of the canes were destroyed, and the crop 

 consequently is a light one. We learn from this 

 the value of bending down the canes in the 

 fall, and protecting slightly with leaves or straw, 

 or even throwing a spadeful of earth on the end 

 of tine canes when bent to the ground, which, with- 

 out anything farther, seems to answer every pur- 

 pose. The Latcton blackberry thus managed last 

 winter is now bearing an abundant crop — the 

 bushes are weighed down with the immense num- 

 ber of berries. 



Strawberries have been a successful and profita- 

 ble crop, although the June frost destroyed many 

 of the late blossoms. 



Newly transplanted trees broke very strong soon 

 after setting, but a deficiency of I'ain during the 

 spring and the severe dry weather during the first 

 half of July have caused quite a failure among them. 

 We heai* reports of this character, especially from 

 young ])lantations of peach trees. Too much care 

 can not be taken in planting young trees to puddle 

 the roots well in the hole while setting, and to 

 mulch well after. 



"We tibserve trees on nnderdrained land to do 

 much better this season than those not so situated. 

 A block of i)ear trees, in a nursery, that daily comes 

 under our notice. f)n uiidrained land, turned yellow 

 by the middle of June wiihout having made more 

 than three or four inches of growth, while a short 

 distance from them, on precisely similar soil, but 

 well underdrained, the trees in another block have 



made a growth of three or four feet, and are yet 

 growing rapidly. Cherry trees have uniformly 

 borne a large and fine crop of fruit. Apple and 

 pear trees, generally, are carrying good loads, and 

 promise a plentiful harvest; and, notwithstanding 

 the vicissitudes of the past eight months, the fruit 

 crop, on the whole, about Rochester, is such as to 

 amply satisfy the desires of horticulturists. 



FRUIT GEOWERS' SOCIETY OF WESTERN N. Y. 



The June meeting of the Fruit Growers' Society 

 of Western New York was held at tlie Supreme 

 Court room in this city, upon the 23d ultimo. The 

 exhibition of fruit was, in spite of the severe frost 

 of the 4th of June, very fine, and, combined with 

 the fruits and flowers of the Genesee Valley Hor- 

 ticultural Society, made up a spectacle rarely en- 

 joyed in June in any city. 



After the usual formalities of organization, sub- 

 ject No. 1 was read by the secretary : " Are there 

 any benefits to ie derived from the practice of ring- 

 ing^ ligatures^ girdling^ tfic, 'of the grape vine; 

 and^ if so, what are they ? 



Increase in size was spoken of first as a lenefit, 

 and some very fine large bunches were mentioned 

 which were shown at last September's session. 



Cases were mentioned by Messrs. Townsend and 

 HoAG, of Niagara county, Aixsworth, of Ontario 

 county, and Smith, of Onondaga county, where 

 vines, or branches of vines, had been accidentally 

 girdled or ligatured, and where in every case the 

 size was very much increased, sometimes doubled : 

 while generally the flavor was improved and the 

 maturity hastened. 



Judge Laxgworthy, of Monroe county, re- 

 marked that ligating branches of api)les, ])each 

 trees, &(!., accelerated the period of ripening mate- 

 rially, and, reasoning from anak)gy, it ought to do 

 the same witli gra[)es. 



Mr. S. II. AiNSWORTn, of Ontario county, stated 

 that he knew from experience that bunches above 

 the girdled parts of the vine ripened fully two 

 weeks earlier than any others on the vines. Judge 

 Laxowortuy's inferences were thus shown to be 

 correct. 



The proper time to ring or girdle was thought to 

 be soon after the fruit had set, and that only a 

 narrow ring of bark needed to be removed. The 

 object was more to obstruct tlian to prevent tlio 

 return flow of the sap. One way, is to tightly 

 twist a small annealed wire around the branch, and' 

 after a few weeks remove it; much of the eftect 

 will thus be produced, while but little injury can 

 ensue to the plant. 



P. Barry stated that this practice was by no 

 means a new one ; that we read of it among Ro- 



