ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i99 



Throug-h the efforts of Mr. J. H. Putnam of "Fernwoocl 

 Farm," an active member of the Society, a fruit growers" insti- 

 tute was held in the beautiful town of Litchfield on Tuesday, 

 March 19th. 



Owing to the unpleasant weather and very muddy condition 

 of the roads, only a small number were in attendance at the 

 town hall when the meeting was opened at 10.45. 



Vice-President J. C. Eddy of Simsbury presided, in the 

 absence of President Piatt. 



After Worthy Master Tharp of the Litchfield Grange had 

 welcomed the visitors. Dr. W. C. Sturgis, of the Connecticut 

 Experiment Station, gave a very instructive address on "The 

 Spraving of Fruit Trees." The Doctor said in opening that 

 the growing of fruit is the oldest branch of farming. Spraying 

 is most essential ; there is no money now-a-days in fruit grow- 

 ing without it. The grower sprays to fight the parasitic fungi 

 that attack his crops. 



The speaker then, by means of charts, explained how fungais 

 troubles develop through spores which multiply and spread very 

 rapidly, making these diseases exceedingly hard to conquer. 

 The black knot of the plum and cherry was taken as an illustra- 

 tion of such diseases. 



One way to keep our orchard trees healthy is to clean up 

 and burn every bit of refuse and decayed fruit, for it is through 

 these that the spores often spread. He explained how covering 

 the foliage and fruit with copper solution, or other mixtures, 

 will make them proof against the spores. This is where the 

 value of the well known Bordeaux mixture comes in. We 

 should spray only as an emergency. Rather we should try 

 to carry out healthy methods of culture before it becomes 

 necessary to spray. Vigorous trees will always be less suscep- 

 tible to diseases, so w'e should aim to give attention to pruning, 

 cleaning the trees, feeding them, and thinning the fruit. 



The selection of the stock is an important point to remember. 

 We have been striving for large fruits and lots of them. Hardi- 

 ness has not been thought of enough. In future we must select 

 those kinds that are less subject to disease. 



The apple is the great standard fruit for New England, but 

 the scab is a serious enemy of this fruit. It attacks the leaves, 

 which are the lungs of the tree, and they fall; then the apple 



