yCHT^?5?S0CIET!ES 



BEINQHATTER "mATDESERVES 

 <^ To BE WIDELY KNOWN, 



Pruning Pear Trees. — The 



standard pear needs but little 

 pruning, but I would recom- 

 mend cutting back nearly two- 

 thirds of the young growth of 

 dwarf pears. If this is not 

 done, and they are not planted 

 ij3^ii^^^§ deep enough to become half 



standards, they will become top-heavy and tip over. — 

 Michigan State Ilort. Society. 



Raspberry Lore.— It is a curious fact that the rasp- 

 berry canes grown latest in the fall stand the winter bet- 

 ter than those of earlier growth. Gregg should be 

 pruned down to i8 inches in height. If an old patch of 

 raspberries is to be destroyed, a good plan to increase 

 the size of the fruit is to cut away all the new wood as 

 fast as it forms ; this throws all the strength of the plant 

 into the fruit. But the plan is more successful when 

 practiced on canes grown in orchards than on those 

 growing in the sun. — Grand River Valley Hort. Society. 



A New Insect Pest. — At the last meeting of the Wis- 

 consin State Horticultural Society Wm. Toole exhibited 

 specimens of the Ithycerus curculionoides. It belongs 

 to the same order as the plum curculio and apple gouger, 

 and is one of the largest representatives of the family. 

 The insect is gray in color, having upon each wing-cover 

 four white lines, interrupted by black dots. Its length, 

 when the snout is extended, is about of an inch. It 

 is a voracious feeder, and strips leaves from trees by cut- 

 ting off the leaf-stalk ; it also eats the bark from young 

 shoots. Where they infest large trees, the insects might 

 be captured by jarring trees under which a sheet has been 

 spread. 



Cultivation of Insect Diseases. — Considerable atten- 

 tion has been given by Professor Forbes and others to 

 the contagious diseases to which some of our insect ene- 

 mies have shown themselves to be quite liable. These 

 diseases have at times assumed an epidemic character, 

 and have proved highly beneficial in arresting serious and 

 widespread ravages. Experiments have lately been 

 made in Minnesota and Kansas to utilize a fungous dis- 

 ease with which the chinch-bug has been recently at- 

 tacked in some of the western states, for the timely tak- 

 ing off of healthy bugs in other districts. In Kansas 

 numbers of diseased bugs were collected and, confined 

 with apparently healthy ones, readily communicated their 

 malady to them. Diseased bugs were distributed at va- 

 rious points along the railroads of the state and other 

 principal lines of travel. It is claimed that in almost 

 every one of these localities the disease subsequently 

 made its appearance, and it is believed that it was con- 

 veyed and quite largely extended through this distribu- 

 tion.— Z)r. /. Lintner, X. Y. State Agricultural 

 Society. 



An English Fruit-Grower's Views on Marketing — 



As most of the fruit grown is consigned to salesmen, I 

 would try and discover some one who bears the character 

 of honest dealing, and trust him. Do not dodge about 

 from one to another ; this often has led to getting ' ' out of 

 the frying-pan into the fire." If the fruit be honestly 

 packed, giving good measure, customers soon discover 

 this, and inquire for the goods, with the result that full 

 market-price isobtained with little difficulty. I find it to 

 be a good plan, as a rule, to have a continuous supply of 

 the same kind of fruit. In sending, say loo bushels of 

 apples of one kind to market, I would not send them all 

 at once, but begin with 15 or 20 bushels, increasing the 

 quantity as the customers seemed to appreciate them. 

 On the other hand, do not send a small quantity of a large 

 number of sorts, which is very bewildering to the sales- 

 man, who finds such consignments a great nuisance. 

 Let all fruit be in marketable condition when sent, 

 or it will probably be left for days or weeks before find- 

 ing a purchaser, and then only at a low price, alike un- 

 satisfactory to the salesman and the grower. One great 

 advantage of the fruit from abroad is this, ' ' that when 

 placed upon the market it is fit for immediate use," 

 which seems to suit the circumstances of most buyers, 

 who say, "we do not want fruit to keep, we want it to 

 sell." We must, therefore, try and supply not only the 

 article they want, but supply it also in the condition in 

 which they require it. — 0. Hamynond, before tiie British 

 Fruit-Growers' Association. 



Chestnut-Culture. — The chestnut is one of the most 

 valuable of our American nut-trees. It thrives equally 

 well on either poor or rich soil, While its home is on 

 the sandy ridge, it does well in our clay bottoms. Most 

 nurserymen keep chestnut-trees for sale ; we, however, 

 went to the woods and dug up trees from two to three 

 inches in diameter, topped them eight feet high, and set 

 them as you would a sugar-tree. They bore the third year 

 from setting, and have borne regularly since. In trans- 

 planting them from the forest to places where they are 

 more exposed to the sun, the bark is liable to blister on 

 the south side of the trunk, and should be shaded by 

 boxing. The borer is never found on the north or shady 

 side of the tree, and by shading the side of the trees exposed 

 to the midday sun we protect them from blistering and 

 the borer. This is true of all trees subject to attacks 

 from the borer. Chestnuts differ greatly in variety. 

 While at Woodbury, this fall, Mr. Terry showed me a 

 tree that for years has been noted for the great size of its 

 chestnuts The tree is now on the decline, but although 

 this was a very dry fall, its nuts were the largest I have 

 seen, at least twice the size of ordinary chestnuts. Usu- 

 ally there are from one to three chestnuts to the burr, yet 

 I saw another tree near Woodbury that had from three to 

 six, and some burrs contained as many as eight good- 

 sized nuts. The American chestnut is sweeter than for- 

 eign sorts, and our nurserymen should propagate our 

 best and largest varieties. — L. A. Freeman, Kentucky 

 Horticultural Society. 



The Ideal Tree. — Trees grown according to my ideal 

 would have a trunk about three feet long, according to 



