LIGHT FROM THE SOCIETIES. 



507 



yards a grass-plat stuck full of broom-handles and hop- 

 poles. " Symmetry is not the essence of beauty. If it 

 was, then a new umbrella would be one of the most 

 beautiful things in the world. Two of a kind does not 

 constitute beauty. If we take out of the problem of 

 door-yard decoration the two items of symmetry and du- 

 plication, we knock out the main props that sustain your 

 neighbor in his burning ambition to excel in door-yard 

 pruning. — L. B. Pierce, Summit County Hort. Society. 



The American Association of Nurserymen met for its 

 seventeenth annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia, 

 June I. This is one of the most important of the 

 trade societies, and its meetings are usually interesting 

 and the results commensurate. The Atlanta convention 

 was the first visit of the association to the south, and for 

 most of the members the trip was a journey into a new 

 land. The Governor of Georgia and the Mayor of 

 Atlanta welcomed the nurserymen at their opening ses- 

 sion in the beautiful capitol building, and the usual 

 felicitous remarks followed. In the absence of the 

 president, J. Van Lindley, ex-president N. H. Albaugh 

 was called to preside. The programme was gone 

 through with rapidly, a few papers being omitted, and 

 the active work of the meeting was concluded by noon 

 on Thursday, June 2. 



The boycotting tactics of California nurserymen in 

 their attempts to keep out, by fair means or foul, the 

 nursery stock of the east, was discussed and vigorously 

 denounced. Col. U. B. Pearsall, of Fort Scott, Kansas, 

 was the expositor of this matter, and at his motion a 

 resolution was adopted threatening the California fruit 

 growers with retaliation on their green fruits if the pres- 

 ent regulations were not greatly modified. The resolu- 

 tion is as follows ; 



We, your committee, appointed upon ttie subject of tlie Cali- 

 fornia quarantine laws, hereby respectfully recommend the passage 

 of the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That the secretary of this association notify the 

 president and secretary of the California State Board and other 

 proper officers, that the people east of the Rocky Mountains con- 

 sider the present inspection laws of California a measure uncalled 

 for and a great discrimination, and demand their prompt repeal. 



Resolved, That in the event of a refusal to repeal such obnoxious 

 jaws, we pledge ourselves to make a united effort to have our several 

 states pass strict inspection laws relative to the importation of 

 green California fruits. 



Resolved, That in the event of having to pass such laws, the ex- 

 ecutive committee be requested to employ a good attorney to draft a 

 uniform law to be passed by the respective states east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, and one which shall be so framed by a schedule of fees 

 as to be no expense upon the states. 



Papers were presented on the following topics : 

 " Duty of American Nurserymen at the World's Fair," 

 by Hon. N. H. Albaugh ; " Fruit Tree Packages," G. J. 

 Carpenter, Fairbury, Neb,; "Grading and Assorting 

 Nursery Stock, " W. F. Heikes, Huntsville, Ala.; "In- 

 terstate Shipment of Nursery Stock, with Reference to 

 the California Monopoly," Col. U. B. Pearsall, Fort 

 Scott, Kan.; " One Way of Preparing a Nursery Cata- 

 logue, "J. Horace McFarland, Harrisburg, Pa.; "Who 

 Makes the Most Money, Nurserymen or Fruit Growers?" 

 J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury, Conn.; " Suggestions to 



Nurserymen," Prof. P. J. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga. ; 

 "How to Eat Other People's Watermelons," W. L. 

 Glessner, Americus, Ga. 



Very little work was done outside the programme, and 

 there was less discussion than usual upon the papers as 

 read. A committee was appointed to memorialize the 

 postmaster general to arrange for the mailing of cata- 

 logues, etc., at a pound rate of postage, without stamps. 



Henry Augustine, of Normal, 111., was elected presi- 

 dent, and Z. K. Jewett, of Sparta, Wis., vice-president. 

 The city of Chicago was selected as the place of meeting 

 meeting in 1893. 



About 120 of the nurserymen were taken on Thursday 

 afternoon to Fort Valley, 106 miles south of Atlanta, to 

 see the wonderful development of peach-growing in that 

 vicinity. They were shown thousands of acres of trees, 

 many covered with beautiful fruit, and entertained in the 

 hearty southern style. On Saturday a party of about 40 

 were given a special train on the Georgia Southern and 

 Florida railroad, and taken 105 miles south of Macon to 

 yet another fruit-region in the vicinity of Tifton, Cyclon- 

 eta and Poulan. This proved to be a most agreeable 

 and instructive trip, and aided the nurserymen in form- 

 ing an idea as to the wonderful capabilities of the 

 Georgian climate and soil for early and fine fruits. 



The meeting was a great success in that it introduced 

 into a practically undeveloped region of great possibili- 

 ties an important association, representing over $25,000,- 

 000 invested in horticultural work. Good must surely 

 come from the Atlanta meeting. 



Can Insects Survive Freezing? — It is usually supposed 

 that most worms and insects which hibernate in the 

 ground can be killed by simple exposure to freezing. 

 Fall plowing is the means, therefore, frequently recom- 

 mended to secure that end. In a paper read before 

 the Entomological Society of Ontario, H. H. Lyman 

 gave some interesting data showing that caterpillars and 

 other insects can stand a good deal of solid freezing. 

 From the entomological appendix to the "Narrative" of 

 Sir John Ross' second Arctic voyage, he quotes the fol- 

 fowing : ' ' About 30 of the caterpillars of Laria Rossii, 

 a species abounding in the Arctic regions of this conti- 

 nent, were put into a box September 15, and after being 

 exposed to the severe winter temperature of the next three 

 months, were brought into a warm cabin, where, in less 

 than two hours, every one of them returned to life and 

 continued crawling about for a whole day. They were 

 again exposed to the air at a temperature of about 40° 

 below zero, and frozen hard. In this state they remained 

 a week, and on being brought again into the cabin only 

 23 came to life. These were, at the end of four hours, 

 put out once more into the air and again hard frozen. 

 After another week they were brought in, when only 11 

 were restored to life. A fourth time they were exposed 

 to the winter temperature, and only two returned to life 

 on being again brought into the cabin. These two sur- 

 vived the winter, and in May an imperfect laria was pro- 

 duced from one and six flies from the other." That a 

 caterpillar infested with parasites should have been able 



