150 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the sucking insects, which feed merely on the sap of the plant, may be 

 smothered by clogging the delicate breathing apparatus at the side of 

 their bodies with soap or kerosene emulsion ; and the scale insects must 

 be dealt with by salt lime and sulphur washes. The most detailed of 

 these natural history papers urges farmers to acquire, with or without 

 the help of a small magnifying glass, an acquaintance with the different 

 orders of insects, which will enable them to determine what is the best 

 way to extinguish the particular enemy they may be called on to fight. 



The general opinion of the meetings was that liquid spraying was 

 infinitely more effective than the dust spray which is sometimes 

 recommended, but good results from dust spraying were recorded in 

 cases where the water supply was deficient or too far away to be used 

 profitably. 



In certain cases winter spraying was recommended, though some 

 objectors urged that it might prove to have been a mere waste of time 

 and material. They mentioned cases where the dormant blossom was 

 really killed by frost during the late autumn or winter, and either did not 

 open at all or eventually proved unfertile. The following are the cases 

 in which winter spraying was advised : — 



For peach leaf curl, which is caused by a parasitic fungus, spray with 

 Bordeaux mixture in March. 



For leaf blister, spray before the buds open with whale-oil soap, 

 kerosene emulsion, or salt lime and sulphur mixture. 



For early leaf-eating insects, spray in winter with salt lime and 

 sulphur wash. 



It must be remembered that in any case winter spraying is not to be 

 looked upon as a substitute for spraying foliage and fruit. Girdling fruit 

 trees to make them bear was suggested in cases where the trees made 

 rampant growth without blooming ; and one speaker advised planting 

 a young orchard twice as thick as the trees were eventually to stand, and 

 cutting out the intermediate ones when more space was required. Wagner 

 was mentioned as an excellent nurse-tree, from its precocity and from its 

 manner of growth. 



The dewberry was much recommended as a paying crop, 100 bushels 

 to the acre having been picked by one reporter. Bartel was the variety 

 recommended, being free from spines. The plants should be protected 

 in winter (in Iowa) and well cultivated, and pruning should be carefully 

 attended to. As soon as the stems are 2 feet long they should be cut 

 back, when they will throw out laterals and flower on these, and the plants 

 should be gone over two or three times during the growing season. The 

 dewberry roots deep and is not affected by drought. 



The papers on grape-culture are interesting and enthusiastic, and 

 contain lists of perfectly hardy varieties. 



Several papers bewail the thriftless fashion in which many parts of 

 the United States have been denuded of trees, thereby affecting the climate 

 in some districts, reducing the water supply and causing the destruction 

 of valuable land through erosion during heavy spates. Judicious 

 replanting under expert advice is earnestly urged to reduce these evils, 

 and the actual money benefit to the farmer of such plantations is also 

 insisted upon. — M. L. 11. 



