iO 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ January, 



Recording Secretary — D. W. Seller. 



Chemist aud Geologist — S. S. HaWeman. 



Assistant Chemist'and Geologist — Hugh Hamil- 

 ton. 



Librarian— W. H. Egle. 



The following was then adopted : 



"Resolved, That a committee of seven (including 

 the President and two .Secretaries) be appointed by 

 the President, to whom shall be intrusted the general 

 charge of the society during the interval between 

 the stated meetings of the Executive Committee, in- 

 cluding the invitation of proposals for holding the 

 next annual fair of the society — the selection of loca- 

 tion, inclusive of the dates thereof, the issuing of 

 premium list and general arr.angemeut6 for said ex- 

 hibition. Also, that when this committee adjourns 

 it adjourn to meet on the third day of the next 

 annual exhibition, at such hour and place as may be 

 designated by the official head of the society." 



A circular from the National Agricultural Con- 

 gress, which is to meet in Chicago in September 

 next, was read, aud Messrs. Smull, Kennedy and 

 Knox were appointed delegates to attend the meet- 

 ing. 



Dr. Kennedy offered the following, which was 

 adopted : 



"Resob'ed, That we regard the instruction in theo- 

 retical and practical agriculture allbrded by the 

 Pennsylvania State College, as the distinguishing 

 feature of the institution. 



"Jiesohed, That we cull upon the authorities of the 

 college to perfect said institution t« its fullest extent, 

 and that a committee be appointed to correspond 

 with them on the subject, and report to the Exe- 

 cutive Committee." 



Messrs. Kennedy, Rhey and Kirkpatrick were ap- 

 pointed as a committee on the subject. 



After the passage of a resolution authorizing the 

 Executive Committee to employ a competent person 

 to canvass the State to secure exhibits at the annual 

 exhibition, and some other miscellaneous business, 

 the society adjourned. 



PENNSYLVANIA FRUIT GROWERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The eighteenth annual meeting of the Pennsylva- 

 nia Fruit Growers' Association was held at Lancas- 

 ter on January 17th and 18th , in the Board of Trade 

 room. Tables reach ine the ent re length of the 

 room were well covered with fine apples, several of 

 which were comparatively unknown and attracted 

 great attention, particularly the "Ewalt," from H. 

 M. Engle, and the ".Major" from A. S. Sheller. 

 The meeting was called to order at two o'clock, p. 

 m., by the President, Mr. E. Satterthwait, of Jen- 

 kintown. H. M. Engle, of the general fruit com- 

 mittee, read a very iiileresting report, in which he 

 noted the fact that the first meeting of the socety 

 was held in Lancaster seventeen years ago, and 

 some extracts were given from the inaugural address 

 of the first President, in which the work to be done 

 was outlined. 



Mr. Engle reported the apple crop of 1S76 as be- 

 ing one of the largest for many years, Kambo, York, 

 Imperial and Smith's Cider having been among the 

 best varieties; but that notwithstanding the large 

 crop, apples are now being shipped into the State in 

 large quantities. The pear crop was reported as 

 badly injured by blight; peaches were good in some 

 sections, and their cultivation should be encouraged, 

 especially in the valley of the Susquehanna river; 

 Mixon, Stump, Early and Late Crawford and 

 Smock, are among tlie'best varieties. Plum culture 

 was reported as on the increase, but the curculio 

 manages to have his "trade mark" in almost every 

 orchard. Grapes were abundant, with Concord as 

 the most popular variety, and Martha, Telegraph 

 and Ives constantly growing in favor; other small 

 fruits were generally abundant. 



The greatest enemy to the fruit crop is the apple 

 tree borer, for the destruction of which the knife and 

 wire were recommended. But little has been done 

 to cheek the codling moth, which is a grave mistake. 

 After the reading of the report, the best method of 

 destroying the moth was pretty fully discussed, and 

 the general opinion seemed to be that almost the 

 only eflTectual method of killing the insect is to trap 

 it while in the pupa state, by placing bands around 

 the trunk of the tree, and killing the insects found 

 under them. 



The subject of changing the name of society from 

 the "Pennsylvania Fruit Growers' Society" to "The 

 General Horticultural Society of Pennsylvania," was 

 then taken up, and after an animated discussion was 

 decidedly negatived. 



Mr. W. P.Brinton, of Christiana, then read a 

 very interesting and exhaustive essay on " Peach 

 Culture" In "the discussion which followed, Mr. 

 Briuton said that he would always plant his tree? 

 on high ground, and plant shallow. Mr. Brady said 

 he would dig a hole two and a-half feet square, and 

 one and a-half feet deep, so the roots would have an 

 abundance of mellow soil ; he would not plant the 

 tree deep, and would prune off all the branches. 



Mr. Engle said a verv common reason for plant- 

 ing deep was to keep the tree from being blown 

 over, but that the roots would hold the tree more 

 firmly if planted in their natural position. 



Mr. Gkover said that in fixing upon the depth at 

 which to plant, we should follow nature as seen in 

 the seedling, and plant the trees at about the same 

 depth at which they had grown. 



Mr. Meehan objected to the cultivation of the 

 peach orchard. His own orchard is in grass, which 

 is mowed twice during the year, and receives an an- 

 nual top-dressing, and always bears well. 



For the best varieties, Mr. Brinton recommended 

 Crawford's Early, Old Mixon, Stump and Crawford's 

 Late. 



Mr. Killer had found Old Mixon and Crawford's 

 Late the most profitable ; Crawford's Early, Ward's 

 Late, Troth's Early, Hale's Early aud Susquehanna 

 had all done very poorly with him. 



After some further discussion, the society adjourned 

 until evening, when the subject of pruning peach 

 trees was taken up and pretty thoroughly discussed, 

 the general opinion being that about one-third of the 

 previous year's growth should be taken off. 



Mr. Meeh.in advocated close pruning on weak 

 trees, but less upon stronger growers. 



Mr. Satterthwait pruned histrees to make them 

 grow fan-shaped, so that he could cultivate between 

 the rows, but shortened in the branches but little. 



After some further talk during which the "yellows" 

 and the effects of frost were touched upon, the sub- 

 ject of " Blackberry Culture" was introduced, and 

 an essay ou the subject by Wm. Parry was read, and 

 will soon be published in the Farmer. The essay was 

 so complete and exhaustive that little remained to be 

 said on the subject, and Mr. Meehan proceed to give 

 a report on " Fruits at the Centennial." Although 

 Pennsylvania is one of the best fruit growing States in 

 the Union, she made almost no display at the Cen- 

 tennial, but Lancaster county made the finest display 

 from the State. The speaker then gave a very in- 

 teresting outline of the work which had been accom- 

 plished in improving our fruits during the past cen- 

 tury. One hundred years ago we had no strawberries 

 excepting a few inferior English varieties. 



Among the first of the improved varieties was 

 Ilovey's Seedling, introduced about fifty years ago. 

 Longworth did much for the improvement of the 

 strawberry by the discovery of the pistillate and 

 staminate varieties, and caused almost a strawberry 

 mania — but the later discovery of the Wilson's 

 -\lbany, a hermaphrodite variety, caused a great re- 

 volution. Many excellent varieties have been in- 

 troduced recently, but the Wilson still holds its 

 place. Among currants the Ked Dutch, although it 

 has been propagated by cuttings for more than 3,000 

 years, is still the best. One hundred years ago we 

 had none but wild blackberries, and even thirty years 

 ago few were noted in the nurserymen's catalogues. 

 The present fine varieties have been developed entirely 

 within the last century, and much the same may be 

 said of the raspberry. Gooseberries and peaches 

 have been impioved but little, though some advance 

 has been made in peach culture by the introduction 

 of earlier and later varieties. Pears have been im- 

 proved more than any other fruit ; the varieties of 

 1776 having almost entirely disappeared. American 

 grapes are the product of the century, and varieties 

 now in cultivation equal any of the foreign ones. In 

 cherries but little improvement has been made, and 

 plum culture has been abandoned in many part of the 

 country on ticcount of the curculio. Apples have im- 

 proved but little in quality, but many new varieties 

 have been produced, which, by their adaptation to 

 particular localities, are of great value. Crab apples 

 are due to American cultivation, and chiefly to the 

 .attention given them in the Northwestern States, 

 where many valuable varieties have been produced. 



On Thursday morning. President Calder, of the 

 State College, gave an interesting account of the 

 present condition and work of the college, and Mr. 

 Carter of the work done on the Experimental Farm 

 at West Grove. 



Mr.Stauffer then read an essay on "Noxious 

 Weeds," which elicited considerable discussion. 



The report of the Centennial Committee was then 

 presented. The committee held several meetings, 

 and applied to the Legislature and to the State Cen- 

 tennial Board for a small appropriation, to pay 

 freight on such fruits as should be sent, the com- 

 mittee offering to give their time, aud to defray their 

 own expenses while making the display, but no aid 

 was granted them and consequently no display was 

 made. The report concluded as follows : "We at- 

 tribute our failure to the usual indifference of our 

 State Legislature as a body, in regard to all agricul- 

 tural and horticultural Interests" — words which 

 should make every member of the Legislature blush 

 with shame. 



A letter was read by Mr. Hoopes, asking the society 

 to state what legislative action should he taken to 

 encourage the planting of forest trees, but the mem- 

 bers differed so widely in their ideas on the subject 

 that the matter was dropped, with the understand- 

 ing that at the next meeting Mr. Meehan should 

 read a paper against legislative action, and Presi- 

 dent Calder one in favor of it. ' 



The "Apple Tree Borer" was then talked of at 

 some length, the general experience being that the 

 knife was the only remedy, though Mr. Bissell said 

 he had succeeded in protecting his trees by the use 

 of a thick wash made with soap suds, clay and lin- 

 seed oil, applied each spring. 



At the opening of the afternoon session, Mr. 

 Sands, Secretary of the MaryLand Horticultu-al So- 

 ciety, on behalf of his society, invited the Pennsyl- 

 vania society to meet with them at the next meeting 

 of the American Pomological Society, to be held in 

 Baltimore, on September 12, 13 and 14. The invita- 

 tion was accepted, and a committee was appointed 

 to collect fruits for an exhibition at the time. The 

 following officers were elected for the ensuing year : 



President — .Josiah Hoopes, of West Chester. 



Vice Presidents — H. M. Engle, of Marietta; Geo. 

 H. Small, of Harrisburg ; John I. Carter, of West 

 Grove. 



Recording Sec. — E. B. Engle, of Marietta. 



Cor. Sec. — W. P. Brinton, of Christiana. 



Treasurer — Geo. B. Thomas, of West Chester ; and 

 the place for the next annual meeting was fixed at 

 Williamsport. 



"Cheap Fruit Houses" were then discussed and 

 several plans for their construction were proposed, 

 but all agreed in the necessity for having ice to keep 

 the temperature low. Mr. Lint aud others had suc- 

 ceeded in keeping fruit well in a common spring 

 house. 



On the subject of "Trees for Windbreaks," the 

 society was pretty evenly divided, some members 

 valuing them highly, while others thought them a 

 disadvantage. 



After some talk on the best methods of keeping 

 winter vegetables, the potato question was taken up, 

 most of those taking part in the discussion regarding 

 the Early Rose and Peerless as the best varieties. 



At the evening session Prof. Rathvon read a very 

 interesting essay on "Insect Longevity" and Mr. 

 Miller one on "Fruit Culture," both of which we 

 shall give to our readers soon. The remainder of the 

 session was occupied by a miscellaneous discussion. 

 The meeting was one of the most interesting ever 

 held by thesociety, the attendance being large, aud 

 the essays and discussions unusually interesting. 



Mr. Hiller, of the Committee on Fruit, submitted 

 the following report : 



Apples : H. M. Engle & Son, 20 varieties ; Prof. 

 I. S. Geist, 1 ; Levi S. Reist, 22 ; all from Canada, 

 and 11 varieties of his own growing; Peter Lint, 1 ; 

 A. S. Sheller, 3 ; Hiller & Son, 0; John Brady, 3 ; 

 James Huber, 2 ; Dr. J. P. Eshlemau, 6 ; J. Frank 

 Landis, plate of fine home-raised lemons; Thomas 

 Harvey, 1 variety, for a name ; Geo. D. Stitzel, 

 pound pear ; Reuben Weaver, 4 varieties apples ; ,J. 

 N. Engle, 2 varieties for name. The Rome Beauty 

 is a very showy, desirable fruit. Ewalt is the finest 

 apple in apperance on exhibition, and is worthy of 

 planting. The York Imperial has no superior in 

 this section, in bearing and keeping cjualities. The 

 ".Millport Sheep-Noses," from Mr. Reist, are a 

 beautiful apple of medium size, and are extra- 

 ordinary yearly bearers. The "Major" fully retains 

 its reputation as to quality of fruit and annual bear- 

 ing ; it is especially worthy of further trial. 



Casper Hiller, 

 Alf. S. Sheller, 

 Henry M. Engle. 



The report was unanimously adopted and the com- 

 mittee discharged. 



Mr. Hoopes oflTered the following resolution 

 which was unanimously adopted. 



Resolved, Th.at the thanks of the society are due 

 and are hereby tendered to the Lancaster County 

 Agricultural and Horticultural Society for their 

 kindness and hospit.ality, not only to the individual 

 members of our .association, but to the Society at 

 large, for furnishing us with a commodious and com- 

 fortable room to meet in, aud every convenience for 

 displaying our fruits. Also, to the press of Lancas- 

 ter city for so kindly noticing our meetings and the 

 very tliorough and courteous manuer in which they 

 have reported our discussions. 



President Satterthwait ca,lled upon Professor 

 Rathvon to give a history of the codling moth saying 

 that there was no subject of deeper interest to pom- 

 ologists than the destruction of this moth. The 

 Professor, in response, spoke at length as to the ori- 

 gin and habits of the moth, saying that he believed 

 it difficult to catch them when fully matured. I 

 will briefly relate its history. Those that survive 

 the winter are in the pupa or quiescent state, spun in 

 a sort of cocoon under the loose scales of bark on the 

 trunks of trees, or any other cover that is accessible. 

 These evolve in early summer, as soon as the fruit 

 is as large as a common "marble," in the form of a 

 small moth. When the femalt becomes fertilized, 

 she seeks the young apple and deposits one or more 

 eggs in the lower end of the fruit. There they 

 hatch, and one, sometimes two, enters the apple 

 from that point and feeds therein until its larval 

 condition is-fully matured. At first it is a minute 

 white worm, but as it approaches its pupal period 

 it becomes of a pinkish color. It then cuts its way 

 out of the apple, whether it is hanging on the tree 

 or lying on the ground, and seeks a shelter under 

 which to pupate. Then is the time to set a trap for 

 it. whatsoever the form may be. A straw band 

 around the trunk of the tree affords a good shelter 

 for pupation. This is renewed about every ten days, 

 and the old one, containing the pupw, is burned. 



For this straw-band some have substituted a band 

 made of any kind of old woolen, linen, or cotton 



