1871 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



turist8 and others, and was one of the most ani- 

 mated and interesting tlie Society ever held, and 

 much praise is due the Professor of the State Agri- 

 cultural College, and the citizens of Manhattan, and 



the Press. 



* » * 



Report or the Ad Interim Committee. 



Mr. President : Having been appointed at our 

 last meeting one of the Ad Intcrndn Committee 

 we beg leave to submit the following report : 



The past year has been remarkable for its ex- 

 tremes of cold and heat also moisture and dryness. 



The winter wa.s mild and dry, yet it was marked 

 with sudden changes injurious to some of the fruit. 

 On the 16th of January, and from the 18th to the 

 20th of February, the temperature suddenly sunk 

 respectively 51 and 58 degrees, which destroyed 

 nearly all the budded Peaches, as CO degrees is the 

 maximum of a sudden change the peach will 

 endure. 



The apple and all other fruits came through the 

 winter safely as they will endure in their dormant 

 state a much greater change without injury, but in 

 a partially developed state will endure no more, as 

 the following instance will show : 



April opened warm and continued mild until the 

 13th, when a strong wind set in from the southwest 

 and increased to a gale on the 13th, and prevailed 

 up to the 14th, which raised the temperature to 87 

 degrees and prematurely developed the fruit-buds, 

 when the wind suddenly changed to the north- 

 west which reduced the temperature to 18 degrees 

 before it ceased. 



This sudden change of (i!) degrees destroyed nearly 

 all of our apples, pears, plums and cherries, more 

 than half the strawberries, Concord grapes and 

 other small fruit, also the balance of the peaches 

 left, except those just about ready to open their 

 buds, and the few apples found in the same condi- 

 tion as the Hooker. We were not only deprived of 

 a crop of fruit but soon after it came another disaster 

 which appeared at one time to threaten the destruc- 

 tion of all our ijear trees and also many of the apple 

 trees. 



This disease called the hliyht made its appearance 

 among us about 5 years ago ; and has apparently 

 been on the increase. 



From observations made here we find it has 

 shown its worst stage between the 10th of May and 

 the 10th of June. To ascertain 'if possible the 

 cause of its being more particularly confined to that 

 period, we resorted to our meteorological observa- 

 tions in hope of finding something peculiar in the 

 atmospheric influences confined to that period, 

 which we believe the following table will show : 

 In 1866 it rained during above period 8.39 in. 

 " 1867 " " " " 7.15 " 



" 1868 " " " " 6.86 " 



" 1869 " " " " 7.57 " 



" 1870 " " " " 7.01 " 



The average amount of rain for 5 years being 

 7.39 inches which had fallen within a period of four 

 days at a mean temperature of 04.5 degrees. 



Now if we take the average of May for the same 

 period of time, we find but 5.63 inches, and if we 

 take the mean temperature of June we find but 5.23 

 inches of rain. Here we find in the result about 

 two inches more rain-fall during the period of the 

 blight than we do either immediately before or after 

 it. 



Whether this excessive rainfall had anything to 

 do with the blight it is not our purpose now to dis- 

 cuss, but there is one thing, however, very peculiar 

 about it. Previous to 1865 there was nothing 

 known of the blight in Kansas, neither is there any 

 record of as much rain during the same period of 

 time^ 



From observations made at Ft. Leavenworth for 

 20 years previous to 1860 the average amount of 

 rain was for the spring 7.33, summer 13.03, fall 7.57, 

 winter 3.42 ; total 31.34 inches. From observations 

 made by us the last 5 years we find the following : 

 spring 10.95, summer 16.29, fall 8.54, winter 6.82, 

 total 43.60 inches. Here we find an annual increase 

 of rain of 11.36 inches in the last 5 years distributed 

 as follows : 



Spring 3.63, summer 3.36, fall .97, winter 3.40 

 inches. 



This increase of rain is not confined to Leaven- 

 worth County but in common to the whole State. 



At Ft. Riley previous to 1860 the mean amount 

 of rain was : spring 5.62 summer 10.68, fall 5.87, 

 winter 2.73, total 34.90 inches. The last 5 years at 

 Manhattan it was: spring 6.03, .summer 13.96, fall 

 6.83, winter 2.54, total 30.35 inches. 



Here we have an annual increase of rain in Riley 

 county of 5.45 inches for the last five years, corres- 

 ponding very nearly to what it was 10 years ago in 

 Leavenworth county when blight was unknown. 



If excessive moisture has anything to do with the 

 blight it could not have existed in Riley county 

 previous to the last five years, and should not exist 

 even now. 



Although the past season was, in some respects 

 very disastrous, yet it gave us much valuable 

 information which we could not have procured 

 otherwise, as regards the soil and location, also the 

 varieties to plant, 



We find that locations which retard the early 

 spring-unfolding of the first buds are in general the 

 safest and best for orchards. Soils which are dry 

 and well drained and not too rich, are the most 

 exempt from blight. 



Varieties which make a slow, mature growth are 

 not so subject to the disease. 



All kinds of stimulation to hasten *ood growth 

 increases the liability to blight, and whatever has a 

 tendency to retard it has the opposite eflfect. The 

 past season was very favorable to the ripening of 



