STATE P03I0L0GICAL SOCIETY. 49 



The "small fruit" industry has taken on such proportions, both 

 for the family and for market, that with our increased funds I 

 should like to see our executive committee hold a meeting the 

 first of July, at some point where this branch of farming receives a 

 good degree of attention, and offer a short list of premiums for 

 strawberries, and at the same time have a good speaker present, 

 thoroughly informed on the subject, and as time goes on I would 

 like to see other days set apart for other fruits, but we must be 

 content with one thing at a time. 



I would like to call attention to one of the many points for which 

 our retiring President has labored, and that is to continually press 

 upon the attention of all fruit growers and farmers the fact that 

 they cannot afford to buy their stock of plants and trees of irrespon- 

 sible traveling tree peddlers. If you want but few trees or plants, 

 find others that would like a few and put your orders together, send 

 to some reliable dealer for prices, then forward the money — it will 

 not take half so much — and you will get stock true to name and of 

 good quality. Do not let the peddler who knows absolutely nothing 

 about fruit growing tell you what you want and persuade you to 

 buy it, unless you have money to give away, and you want to give 

 it to this particular person, and in that case I would recommend that 

 you give him the money and let him keep the stock, as I am per- 

 suaded that you will get more satisfaction, in the end, out of the 

 transaction. Especially will that be the case, I am afraid, with the 

 comparatively new .Japan plums, where the utmost care must be 

 taken, or confusion in names and loss by worthless varieties will 

 be the result. 



The subject of spraying, which has engaged the attention of 

 some of our fruit growers for the past two or three years, is becom- 

 ing a necessity for all those who propose to make apple growing 

 profitable, as the "apple scab" has apparently come to stay, and its 

 destructive propensity has shown itself to a greater extent the 

 past year than ever before and the importance of giving the sub- 

 ject careful attention should be impressed on our Experiment 

 Station. They have performed good work for us in the past, but 

 they must still keep everlastingly at it, not only in finding a sure 

 and practical remedy for the "apple scab," but for the little fellow 

 called the Tripetea pomonella or apple maggot, although the 

 ravages of this pest have not been so bad in our section of the 

 State as in years past, still we want to conquer it if possible. 

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