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LIGHT FROM THE SOCIETIES. 



returns ? Two hundred dollars would be a fair result. 

 No, that would be below the average. — Henry W. Ash, 

 before the Iowa State Horticultural Society. 



The Pleasures of Horticulture. — The man who makes 

 his thousands in a single deal in real estate, who has 

 added nothing intrinsically to the value of the land, 

 may, because of his dollars, cut a wide swath in the 

 community ; but I count of far greater value to the 

 world one who, through the study of nature's possibili- 

 ties, brings out an added flower or fruit of value to man- 

 kind ; and while dealers in stocks and bonds and lum- 

 ber and land, may laugh in derision at our enthusiasm 

 over a new peach that fills a place in the succession of 

 fruits, or a new chrysanthemum with added attractions 

 of form or color, we can in our ecstasy sorrow a little 

 that so few of the people in this world know how to get 

 the highest pleasure out of life by living near to nature's 

 heart. — From Charles A. Garfield' s address to the Grand 

 River Valley Horticultural Society. 



Missouri State Horticultural Society. — The follow- 

 ing officers were elected at the recent meeting : Pres- 

 ident, J. C. Evans, of Harlem ; vice-president, N. F. 

 Murray, of Oregon ; secretary, L. A. Goodman, of 

 Westport ; treasurer, H. Nielson, of St. Joseph. 



West Michigan Horticultural Society.— The elec- 

 tion of the new ofiBcers resulted as follows : President, 

 J. Lannin, of South Haven ; vice-president, F. J. Rus- 

 sell, of Hart ; secretary, C. L. Whitney, of Muskegon ; 

 treasurer, W. A. Smith, of Benton Harbor. 



How the Family Fruit-Garden Pays. — A patch of 

 ground as large as an ordinary kitchen-garden — say an 

 eighth of an acre — if given the same care that is usually 

 bestowed on a well-kept garden, planted with the differ- 

 ent kinds of berries (including currants and grapes), 

 will furnish all the fruit of that kind a family can use 

 during their season, and enough to can for winter use. 

 Now, have you a piece of ground on your farm five 

 times that size, that will repay you so well for the labor 

 bestowed upon it, and furnish you and your family so 

 much pleasure, profit and luxury, providing as it does 

 a healthy life-giving, invigorating and luxurious diet ? — 

 A. D. Selby, before the Columbus (C.) Horticultural 

 Society. 



Low-Pruning of Fruit-Trees.— This has the follow- 

 ing advantages over high-pruning : i. There is no dan- 

 ger of the trunk and larger limbs becoming sun-burned 

 and infested with borers, which will, in time, destroy 

 the usefulness of the tree, if not kill it. 2. The fruit is 

 nearer the ground, not requiring so much labor, a sav- 

 ing of fifty per cent, in the cost of harvesting the crop. 

 3. The lower branches are the oldest and produce fruit 

 first. If cut away to raise the "head" of the tree it 

 does not come into bearing as soon. 4. A low-branched 

 tree will furnish the largest bearing surface in a given 

 time. It will be the largest tree at a given age. 5. It 

 is less at the mercy of winds, not so likely to have its 

 branches broken and it will never blow over. 6. When 

 the outward-inclined branches of the main limbs are 



trimmed off as they should be, the plow and cultivator 

 can work as close to the tree as is possible under any 

 other method of pruning. 7. High-pruning has been 

 the cause of more loss and disappointment to fruit- 

 growers of California than any other one cause. — Byron 

 O. Clark, before the California Pomological Society. 



Dreading the Peach- Yellows. — The Horticultural 

 commissioners of Yuba county, California, have issued 

 the following circular : " It is of the utmost importance 

 to the future of fruit-growing in California, that every 

 purchaser of peach trees, or prune, or other trees, grown 

 on peach roots, should know that the stock is grown on 

 this coast from home-grown pits. The most insiduous 

 and deadly foe to peach-growing, the yellows, is rapidly 

 spreading over the peach-growing region of the east, 

 causing the ruin and abandonment of all orchards where 

 it once obtains a foothold ; and, if trees are imported 

 from those sections, we will most assuredly get the 

 disease with them, and quite likely also the peach- 

 borer." 



Fanner's One-Acre Fruit-Patch. — A farmer's home, 

 with house-plants in the window, flowers in the yard, 

 and a succession of fruits, planted, pruned, and cared 

 for by you and the boys, will do more to make them 

 love the farm and keep them on it than all the advice 

 ever given. In managing your one-acre fruit-patch there 

 are certain essentials you must follow. The ground 

 must be rich and well prepared. The plants and trees 

 must be young and adapted to your needs. The roots 

 must be well spread and earth firm about them ; the 

 ground frequently cultivated and free from weeds. Win- 

 ter protection for small fruits is an absolute necessity 

 for best results. 



West Michigan Fruit-Growers Discuss Orchard-Fer- 

 tilizers. — Mr. Sheffer: I have tried ashes for peach 

 trees but never found any advantage. A neighbor has 

 bought ashes hy the carload, but I could never see any 

 advantage from it. I would sow rye with clover, and if 

 I could get muck I would compost. Mr. Houck : I 

 have had some experience in raising the fertility of soil. 

 I put on ten loads of ashes^two barrels of hen-manure, 

 and one barrel of lime to the acre. If a man fertilizes 

 with ashes he must put something else with it. Two 

 crops of clover plowed under go a great way in this di- 

 rection. Some of our land does not need manure. You 

 should make the soil good before setting out trees. Mr. 

 Hutchins : You can not make soap from grease alone, 

 and you must supply the missing one or more of the three 

 elements that the plants need — potash, phosphates and 

 nitrates. Ashes is a valuable fertilizer, and if you see 

 no good result, then your soil certainly needs some other 

 elements. Mr. Wadsworth : I have made some efforts 

 to use muck on heavy clay, and I found it a grand good 

 thing. Mr. Morrill : I have found that on sand, ashes 

 are valuable, and it may be soon heavy clay. I can get 

 a good catch of clover by following ashes with clover. 

 Mr. Whiting : I do not believe we should throw away 

 one pound of manure. They used to say in Illinois they 

 did not need manure. Now they are buying. 



