LIGHT FROM THE SOCIETIES. 



189 



Henderson had a piece where he grew cabbage six years 

 in succession and had fine crops every year, I have 

 seen fields in New Jersey where cabbage and cauliflower 

 had been grown for twelve successive years without a 

 failure. They used wood-ashes and marl for fertilizers, 

 and trimmed the roots of the plants when set out, to 

 avoid club-foot. — Mr. Kinney before a Fanners' Meeting 

 in Boston. 



Canada Fruit-growers and the World's Fair. — The 



following was adopted at the last meeting of the Ontario 

 Fruit-growers' Association, viz : Resolved, That the 

 Dominion Government be requested to provide the cost 

 of transportation of our Ontario fruits to the exhibi- 

 tion, and for the maintenance and care, including box- 

 ing. Resolved, That the Ontario Government be re- 

 quested to provide the cost of making a collection of the 

 fruits of Ontario, and also for commissioners to super- 

 intend the same while on exhibition. Resolved, That 

 this Association send a delegate to Ottawa to co-operate 

 with the delegations from the Agricultural and Art As- 

 sociation and Stock-Breeders' Association. 



Apple-Growing in New England. — At a meeting of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society it was stated 

 that Dr. Hoskins raises his own apple trees, and con- 

 siders budded or root-grafted trees equally good, pro- 

 vided they are well-grown. On level ground he plants 

 trees 35x15 feet apart, removing every alternate tree at 

 the end of twelve years. His trees are largely of the 

 "iron-clad varieties," which come early into bearing. 

 He prunes so as to give them all the light and air pos- 

 sible, as this adds much to the beauty of the fruit. O. 

 B. Hadwen remarked that apples were very particular 

 as to their soil and location. The Yellow Bellflower 

 does well in many sections of New England. Apples 

 grown in grass-land keep longer than those grown in culti- 

 vated land. If apples are wanted to keep late they 

 should be grown in grass, but the land must be kept 

 rich enough for both crops. If top-dressing is properly 

 attended to, good crops of late-keeping apples can be 

 secured from grass-land. He plants his trees 40 feet 

 apart each way, and finds that this gives opportunity 

 for grass to grow, and for teams to carry away the crops. 

 He advises this distance on good land, but on less fertile 

 or hilly land he would plant closer. 



Iowa Fruits at Chicago. — The Iowa fruit-growers, 

 at their last meeting, elected the Hon. C. L. Watroug 

 superintendent of the horticultural display to be made 

 by that state at the Columbian Fair in 1893. The exhibit 

 is in good hands. 



Does Small Fruit Pay? — My experience leads me to 

 suggest that there is money in it for the thorough, in- 

 telligent, persistent, industrious grower, having a good 

 location, a fair market and reasonable shipping facili. 

 ties. The essentials are, good soil, well-drained, highly 

 fertilized and always well-cultivated ; a limited variety 

 of best hardy plants, producing large, firm, high-col- 

 ored fruit throughout the season ; proper mulching, 

 nipping, pruning, thinning of fruit, and winter protec- 

 tion ; a knowledge of fungous and insect enemies, and 



remedies for same ; neat, uniform packages, well-made, 

 fruit carefully picked, boxes well-filled, and above all, 

 of uniform quality throughout. — M. A. Thayer before 

 Wisconsin Horticultural Society. 



Practical Points Wanted.— What we are looking for 

 in reports of horticultural meetings, are points and sug- 

 gestions concerning cultivation, varieties, or general 

 management, as gathered from the papers and discus- 

 sions; not a list of the papers read, nor a general and 

 vague characterization or criticism of these papers. 

 Our kind friends, secretaries of societies, etc., who 

 favor us with reports, will please bear this in mind. 



On Grape-growing. — In pruning my grapes all de- 

 pends on the vine. I leave 25 or 30 buds on a vine. 

 Copper carbonate is the best remedy I have used. I 

 apply it about six times, beginning with the swelling of 

 the buds in the spring. Bagging is all very well for a 

 small area of vines, or if you want something nice for 

 exhibition. I used the Bordeaux mixtureon i, 100 vines, 

 the whole expense not exceeding %'] . — From Discussions 

 of the .Alton {III. ) Horticultural Society. 



Paper-making Wasp using Grape Bags. — For a num. 

 ber of years the practice of inclosing the clusters of 

 grapes in paper bags, to exclude the spores of black-rot, 

 has been generally followed in the vineyards in this 

 vicinity. In i8go a peculiar shredding and perforation 

 of the exposed sides of many of these bags was at- 

 tributed to the poor quality of the paper. Last season 

 a different and better quality of bags was procured, but 

 early in July I again noticed the same appearance of 

 wear. A few days after my sister announced that she 

 believed she had discovered the author of the mischief 

 in the rust-red social wasp {Polistes rubiginosus'). 

 Whilestanding near a grape-vine she had been attracted 

 by the faint sound of the tearing of paper. Supposing 

 it to be a bird, attempting to peck the fruit, she made a 

 motion to drive it away and was surprised to find that 

 instead of a bird it was the insect above-named. In a 

 few minutes, however, it returned, and alighting on the 

 same bag began again, with the utmost energy, stripping 

 off with its jaws, fibers and layers of the paper. These 

 were rapidly gathered, by the aid of the front tarsit, 

 into a compact packet and finally borne away. These 

 observations were, in the course of the next two weeks, 

 repeatedly verified. A critical examination of the fruit 

 at that time, still hard and green, revealed not the 

 slightest puncture, even when exposed through the holes 

 gnawed in the bags. The unavoidable conclusion, 

 therefore, was that this wasp had made the important 

 discovery that working over ready-made paper into nest- 

 building material was easier than to manufacture it de 

 novo from wood-fiber. It may be added that as the 

 paper used in the construction of the bags was probably 

 made from wood-pulp, the original material was the 

 same, but the insect in appropriating it reaped the ben- 

 efit of the initial processes of manufacture. No other 

 species of polistes or vespa have as yet been observed 

 to make use of the bag paper, nor have all individuals 



