FEB. 14 
THE BUBAL NEW-YOBKEB. 
408 
|nkstrial ^onrtirs. 
FRUIT GROWERS IN COUNCIL. 
New Jersey Hort’l Society. 
EVENING SESSION. 
(Rural Special Report.—Continued from last week ) 
The early part of the evening was devoted to 
the ornamentals. The Secretary read an anony¬ 
mous oontrlbutlon from a lady friend of the Society 
on “ old-fashioned Flowers " and one from P. B. 
Mead on the culture of plants in our living-rooms. 
There was also a brief essay on the Decoration of 
Small Places Discussion followed. 
Mr. Crane would caution against planting the 
Willow near a well, lie had one 20 feet distant 
from ft well 20 feet deep. Tho roots ran to the 
bottom, drank up the water, and tilled the well 
with line librous roots which had to lie cut out 
repeatedly, and made the water unfit tor use. [We 
know of a similar case where the tree was 100 feet 
from the well.— Eds ] 
Mr. Ward named the Chinese Arbor-vltie as one 
of the beautiful evergreens for ornamental pur¬ 
poses. 
Air. Lovett Indorsed all that was said as to Its 
beauty, but It was not hardy. He recommended 
Malden Hair tree, Magnolias Lennel and steUata, 
The majestic urandlilora, though popular at the 
South, la not hardy hero, but Mr. Parry cited a 
specimen near Philadelphia 20 feet high, nourish¬ 
ing and beautiful. [We think that that tree Is not 
living now.— Eds.] 
Tno best way to use Ice to preserve fruit was 
asked tor. 
Mr. Goldsmith used boxes holding a bushel each, 
placed them four deep on the Ice, and had gen¬ 
erally been very successful, 
Mr. Ward had found that the use of Ice under the 
fruit was only necessary lo cool oil the warm air 
arising from the earth. With a temperature of 
about Ai °, aud other favorable conditions, he did 
not see why Bartletts or any other pears could not 
he kept six or eight months. 
Air. capen asked what effect ibis frigid temper¬ 
ature had on the quality of fruit, ills Impression 
was that the fruit-houses of Maas, were not as suc¬ 
cessful as expected on account of impairing the 
quality of the fruit. Mr. Ward thought otherwise 
and desired the fruit to be tested then and there 
to settle the point if possible. 
Samples were distributed among the audience 
and Mr. Capen admitted It was better than he ex¬ 
pected. lie also distributed samples of his fruit of 
the same varieties, kept without ice, and the only 
noticeable difference was due to a different degree 
of ripeness, lie once sold 12 bushels of Bartletts 
for 51 a per bushel, but never expected to do it 
again. Would pears ever rule as low as apples ? 
Mr. Ward had sold Bartletts for $3? per bbl.; but 
the general average was $7 to $8. Was not certain 
but they could be grown as cheaply as apples, and 
maybe, sold as low at their natural season. It so, 
the profit could only be obtained by keeping them 
till tne market was bare, when one could get $ 2.60 
to $3 per bushel, Instead of $l or less In their sea¬ 
son. 
ai r. Crane alluded to the difference tn quality of 
fruits grown on different soils, which wasoiten 
quite upparent: and to determine positively the ef¬ 
fect of ice on the quality the samples should be 
grown on tho same soil, aud, If possible, on the 
same tree auJ gathered at the same time. He cited 
an instance of some Bartletts grown on different 
trees iurmahed by the late Air. Held, of Elizabeth, 
which, on being tested by that gentleman 30 as¬ 
tonished him us to make him doubt the variety, 
the difference was so apparent. 
The writer has known instances where the in¬ 
fluence of the stock affected the quality of the. 
fruit very perceptibly, and In making tests of this 
nature, care should be taken to have all the con¬ 
ditions as near alike as possible. 
riccoud Day—Morning Session. 
cun-ants was the flrst subject this morning. 
Air. Beebe read a brief paper contending that as 
a payinu crop, they must receive liberal treat¬ 
ment. AS a raucy red Currant, the Cherry heads 
the list, What It lacked in quantity was made up 
in size and price. Versallialse was nearly as 
large, more productive and less acid—a general 
favorite. As a Held crop Ked Dutch, with liberal 
treatment, would yield more pounds lo the acre. 
White crape tor table use. black Naples, the 
standard black variety, has now a rival In Lee’s 
Prolific. 
'lhe currant worm and lt3 methods of operation 
were described and shown by the aid of an admir¬ 
ably executed drawing. The most effective remedy 
is hellebore. For the comfort of the timid who 
object to this remedy because it is poisonous, he 
stated that he had saved 600 bushels last year by 
using three-quarters of a barrel of shel> lime 
dusted on while the bushes were wet with dew. 
Salt brine will also kill the worm, and Is easily 
applied, and a good fertilizer. For the borer, cut 
away the affected portions and burn them. Mr. 
Crime had a little patch of li 4 acre, In an apple or¬ 
chard which had been quite successful, and would 
have been more so It the trees had all been true 
Ked Dutch, which he purchased them for. But 
about oue third had proved untrue, be had planted 
them four by six feet, and manured the ground 
heavily with hog manure the year before planting 
—oue cannot get lhe ground too rich. Ho had 
found the shade ol trees beneficial—made the frtut 
later. The bushes ought to be renewed every six 
or seven years, lie had not been troilbled wUU 
worms or borers till two years ago. Old bushes, 
when taken out should bo burned to destroy any 
insects lu them. When the air Is still, blow a little 
hellebore among the hushes—It was effectual in 
killin g the worms which were very apt to be at 
work betore we were aware of It. He regarded 
Red Dutch as one of the beat varieties. It was 
important to keep the hushes open to let In light 
and sunshine. The open portion of the orchard 
did the best in apples; whether this was due to 
manure, culture, or both, he could not say. Ho 
had realized $150 for currants one year and $260 
for the apples on the lj£ acre, being more than 
he gained from the remainder of the 10 acres in 
orchard. 
The Effects of Tobacco Dust for destroying the 
worm were asked for. 
Air. Barclay had used It, but not to advantage. 
Mr. Ilale used stems as a mulch and thought 
them worth the cost, $15 per ton, for manure. 
Mr. Parcell had used the dust or snuff three years 
successfully. Apply wben wet. Two years ago 
he applied It after a shower, to 150 feet of row; 
next morning he counted 68 dead worms on a 
measured square foot of ground. 
Mr. Ward thought the worm had been a blessing 
in disguise, as It had discouraged so many from 
growing their own supply ; they had become pur¬ 
chasers and the prices had advanced so that grow¬ 
ers who took the trouble to Bave their crop, real¬ 
ized better prices for them. Mr. Crane was right 
as to distances to plant and the importance of at,, 
tending to the worms In time; then a little helle¬ 
bore was sufficient; when three or four days older 
it took more, and they were more difficult to de¬ 
stroy. He thought It best to remove all hut four 
or five suckers to renew the bearing wood. 
Air. Collins used a cart made wide to run between 
and over the rows for hauling on manure and off 
turnips, of which he grows large quantities amoDg 
the bushes. Ked Dutch was best, for market; 
White Grape for table—not salable In market, 
though white made a red jelly. 
Mr. Parry regarded Lee’s Prolific and Black 
Naples as alike, or nearly so. 
Air. Lovett had positively seeu a vast difference. 
Mr. Fuller regarded all the Victorias as Identical, 
—a large, long-bunched, late, red currant, cherry 
and Versallialse he thought one and the same. He 
and Mr. Downing spent years In Investigating the 
matter and came to this conclusion. 
Air. Koe could see no difference. 
The Secretary remarked that the subject was 
very much muddled, and had been for years. The 
Cherry or VeraatUalae seemed to be more sportive 
and less fixed in character than any Currant he 
was acquainted with, lie would venture to assert, 
U Mr. Koe or any one else would select a single 
plant of either kind, Cherry or Versallialse, and 
propagate from It a few years, he would find such 
a difference In the plants so propagated as to raise 
grave doubts lu the mind of the careful observer 
as to whether some mistake had not occurred. He 
had grown the two varieties side by side, when the 
difference In quality or the fruit was so appareat 
as to be detected by a stranger. 
Mr. Qiilun thought all were liable to he mistaken. 
He had watched these Currants for years, and was 
satisfied there was a difference, though they were 
somewhat similar. The especially distinctive 
characteristics In his grounds were apparent In 
the habit and form of growth of tho plants. 
Mr. Barclay grew the Versallialse very satisfac¬ 
torily; the only objection was the blank wood; 
i.wood without fruit buds. 
Mr. Fuller said that 25 years or more ago there 
was a true Versallialse Currant, a smaller fruit 
than the Cherry, but he did not suppose it was lu 
existence now. 
Mr. Parry read a long essay on Experience In 
Pear Growing, endeavoring to demonstrate that It 
was a miserable failure as at present conducted, 
quoting largely from the experience of others lu 
many sections of the country, to prove hla asser¬ 
tion. The cause of this disastrous failure was fire 
blight, but the mfiienlum was about to dawn 
through a new race of Pears, produced by crossing 
our best varieties on the Japan and Chinese Band 
Pears. This had already been uecompfished, and 
this new departure had produced a vigorous, 
healthy, hardy, productive, insect and bllght^proof 
race, on which pear growers could hang their 
hopes. The irult was large, luscious aud hand¬ 
some, commanding much higher prices in the mar¬ 
kets than our best varieties. Among the most 
pro misi ng of these were “ Kleffer’s Hybrid ” and 
“ Le Conte.” The first had done remarkably well 
on his grounds, and was the most valuable Pear 
yet introduced. It was destined to be among 
Pears what the Concord was among Grapes. (If 
we five we shall ace.—Kep.) 
Air. i^ulnn did not take much stock la the gen¬ 
tleman s enthusiasm. If pear-growing was such a 
failure as he had represented, he and many others 
only regietted it had not occurred before; but the 
facta are that Pears were never more plentiful in 
our markets than they were last rail, and never so 
low In price. At one time Bartletts could hardly 
be glveu away, He was sorry to hear these new 
varieties were as productive and commanded such 
high prices. In a few years he and other pear 
growers would not be able to sell their choice fruit 
unless they offered chromos as premiums for pur¬ 
chasers. He had grown the Chinese and Japan 
Pears for years. They were curious aud interest¬ 
ing, but the fruit was ouly fit to cook. For a time 
they resisted blight, but the last few years they 
took it badly—last year they were the worst cases 
on Ills grounds, and no others within 200 feet. He 
cfid not favor dwarf Pears. 
Mr. Ward look a brighter and more hopeful 
view of pear-growing than Mr. Parry had given, 
lie was confining his attention to about a dozen 
varieties. Tne Lawrence gave tugh promise a few 
years ago, but now It was not so popular. He 
placed tne Bartlett at the head of the fist for sum¬ 
mer aud fall use. 1 1 brluns more dollars and cents 
to U 10 pocket than any ot her. Beurre d’Anjou occu¬ 
pied the same position among the fall and early win¬ 
ter varieties. He had been somewhat discouraged 
with it a few years ago ou accouuc of lts not ripen¬ 
ing well, but had overcome this difficulty as shown 
by tho pears on thu table. Anolhur pear of great 
value was Dana’s Uovey. It was rather small, as 
was the Seckel, but tho quality was unsurpassed. 
He should plant it largely. He had not lost over 
6 per cent, of his trees by blight. Hod seen Bart¬ 
letts average is^io per bbl.; but the price had 
gradually declined. The future profit of pear¬ 
growing will he baaed on the price or apples, if 
they can be grown as cheaply, why not as profit¬ 
ably? But another point, was, what should he 
done with our large crops that ripen and come In 
competition with that queen of fruits—the peach ? 
In their natural season the pears on the table 
would not bring over a dollar a bushel; now they 
are worth $3 to $. 1 . This subject of keeping pears 
is an important one, and distributing the crop over 
a longer period enabled ua to realize something 
like a profit from our labor. He prolonged his 
sales of Bartletts two months, and could not see 
that the flavor was Injured tn the least. He sent 
loads to market In the fall, that did ilbt pay the 
expense of carriage; they certainly would not if 
sent by express, now long could they be kept at 
a profit? He thought they could and would he 
kept till April and May, and be In demand, and he 
hoped another year to keep them till then. It 
was very Important to pick at the proper time, as 
soon as mature. One of his orchards, about 12 
years old, was set 12 feet apart, dwarfs and stand¬ 
ards alternating, as ho Intended eventually to let 
the standards have all the ground; this had al¬ 
ready been done to some extent, the dwarfs not 
being a success. 
Mr. Fuller said that, notwithstanding what had 
been said against dwarf Pears, In a race of 10 or 15 
years for profit, he would take them and win On 
being asked If he would risk them on his sandy 
soil, he replied, yes, on any soil, but he would feed 
them well. He had never had a case of pear blight 
or peach yellows on fils grounds. 
Mr. Cay wood also had faith In dwarfs. He had 
planted 600, and should plant l,ouu more. He al¬ 
ways tested the union of bud and stock across hts 
knee; It not perfect, they would break square off. 
Such trees it was useless to plaut. He advised 
cutting three feet below the appearance of blight. 
Mr. Idell said the Le Conte hybrid pear mentioned 
was difficult to find sale for In N. Y. market; It 
was not as large as represented; it was a second- 
rate pear, and although Mr. Parry had quoted 
them as selling at M.su per bushel, plenty was sold 
at half that rate. w. 
Iflonrultural. 
GROWING PLANTS IN LIVING ROOMS. 
PETES B. MEAD. 
[Through the kindness of the Secretary, 
Mi.E. Williams, we are enabled to place be¬ 
fore our readers the following eutertaining 
aud instructive paper which was read before 
the late meeting of the New Jersey State Hor¬ 
ticultural Society.—Eds.] 
I am to say something about growing plants 
in living rooms, which, it was thought, might 
internet the ladies, who, I understand and am 
quite willing to believe, constitute the chief 
adornment of your Society ou all occasions, 
and especially on exhibition days. There is 
an eminent fitness in this, which many fail to 
perceive. The fact is, the ladies are an element 
of strength as well as of beauty in a Horticul¬ 
tural Society; at least, I have always found 
them to be so. Just think for a moment that 
where the girls are gathered together, there 
wilt the boys be also; but you must be sure to 
make the boys pay at the gate. 
I must say, by way of introduction, that I 
cannot do more than indicate, and that briefly, 
the conditions under which plants may be 
successfully grown in rooms, and furnish a 
small list of easily grown plants for a begin¬ 
ning. To go over the whole subject in detail 
would require a volume of no inconsiderable 
size. 
To show you that I have some right to speak 
on the subject, as well as to win your confi¬ 
dence, I will state that 1 have grown plants in 
rooms since I was a boy. In this way I have 
grown, of species and varieties, several thou¬ 
sands; indeed, I have more than once had 
upwards of GOO in the house at the same time, 
nearly every window being ornamented in this 
way. I may therefore he supposed to know 
what kinds of plants succeed best iu rooms. I 
will add that I have had no inconsiderable ex¬ 
perience ingrowiug plants in the green-house, 
and I am compelled to admit that to grow a 
plant well in a room taxes one’s knowledge 
and skill more than to grow the same plaut 
well in a greenhouse. There is, therefore, no 
occasion for the sneers that we sometimes hear 
about growing plants in rooms. 
Some of you may ask whether plants in 
rooms are detrimental to health. Speaking 
from my own experience, I must say they are 
not. I have even had my bed-room windows 
crowded with plants during the whole winter. 
It must be observed, however, that some per¬ 
sons have very delicate aud susceptible ner¬ 
vous systems, and canuot endure even the 
delicate fragrauce of lhe Rose. Such persons 
may be injured by, or suffer great inconveni¬ 
ence from, fragrant flowers. I bave known 
some such persons, however, to receive much 
pleasure from the cultivation of inodorless 
flowers. Aside from such cases, I know of no 
injury likely to arise from growing plants in 
rooms; but I know of a great deal of solid 
comfort and pleasure. 
Thus much on the score of injury to the 
health of the grower. I will turn next to the 
conditions best adapted to the health of the 
plants. Since the general use of hot-air fur¬ 
naces and base-burning Btoves, the difficulties 
of growing plants in rooms have been much 
increased. In parting with the fire on the 
hearth and the. wood-burning stove, we parted 
with a good deal of pure, healthy air. But we 
must make the best of it. and have reconrse to 
ventilation, and open windows and doors in 
connection with some expedients to be here¬ 
after noted. 
In regard to exposure:—a room facing the 
south is the best; next, east; next, west; and 
last, north. There are some plants that are 
very well adapted to either of these exposures, 
which will be mentioned in their turn. There 
are some “accessories" which are almost in¬ 
dispensable. A barrel or two of good soil 
should be put in the cellar, and not left out- 
of-doors. The best soil for general purposes 
is rotted sod. A good outfit would consist of 
rotted sod. leaf mold from the woods, old, 
well-rotted manure, and 6barp sand of any 
kind, except sea 3and. If rotted, sod cannot 
be had, get the best soil you can ; for you can 
make it good enough with the other materials. 
Next, something to stand the plants on. 
Have a box made 8} feet long, 31 feet wide, 
and three or four inches deep. and. if conve¬ 
nient. lined with zinc. Place this on a table, 
and fill it with clean sand, which should be 
kept moist. This will promote cleanliness as 
well as the health of the plant*. It will be a 
great convenience to have the table fitted with 
rollers, not only for roll'ng it back on cold 
nights, but for handling the plants when neces¬ 
sary to change or clean them. There is no 
necessitv for saucers on this sand table; but, 
if used, they should be inverted, except under 
Callas and similar water-loving plants. With 
this arrangement, the plants can be frequently 
syringed, which not only keeps them healthy 
and clean, but measurably prevents the accu¬ 
mulation of red spider and some other insect 
pests The drip is absorbed by the sand, and 
no harm is done to the carpet. The moist 
sand table has another advantage ; the evapo¬ 
ration that slowly but constantly takes place 
from its surface, greatly promotes the health 
of the plants. Perhaps the ladies will admit 
that a vaporizer is a good thing to have. The 
plants think so, and so do I. 
I can only allude briefly to the use and com¬ 
position of soils. Rotted sod, reduced with 
more or less sand, is well adapted for most 
kinds of plants. In the absence of rotted sod, 
a good compost may be made of any common 
soil, leaf mold, aud 6and, to which should be 
added, if convenient, a little well rotted ma¬ 
nure. If you bave no manure, then drop in 
the water occasionally a lump of carbonate of 
ammonia or a few drops of hartshorn. Do not 
at any time use guauo, either in the soil or in 
the water. For the Cactus and succulents 
generally, the soil should be light and sandy. 
Tn regard to watering, do not have any set 
time for this, but water a plant whenever it 
needs it. or as soon as the soil gets dry on the 
surface, and then give it enough to go quite 
through the ball of earth. Plants like the 
Calla. however, should be kept constantly wet. 
A plant in bloom needs more water than when 
not in bloom ; a plant in a dormant condition 
needs less than when growing; and some 
plants, when dormant. (Calla and Amaryllis, 
for example.) require to be kept quite dry. It 
would take too much time to classify these 
plants here. A good brass syringe, with dupli¬ 
cate roses, is quite a necessity, A watering 
pot about nine inches deep, seven inches in 
diameter, with a spmit 3J feet long, fltted with 
a couple of roses of different degrees of fine¬ 
ness, iB a very convenient thing for a lady to 
handle. The face of the rose should be flat, 
and made of copper. One rose should have 
very fine boles. The common handle is an 
awkward thing. Iustead of being placed on 
the top, and at right angles with the spout, it 
should start at the edge nearest the spout, and 
pass over the top to near the bottom of the 
pot. in a line with the spout. 
In placing the plants in position on the 
table, do not crowd them. No two plants 
should touch each other. No matter what your 
knowledge and skill, or how painstaking you 
may be, you can not grow good plants if you 
crowd them; not, at least, what I call good 
plants. You can not do it even in a green¬ 
house. much less in a room. It is much more 
satisfactory to have a few well-grown plants 
than to bave many poorly growu Place the 
plants, therefore, iu a proper position, aud so 
that eaeh may have a due share of sunshine 
and light. The spaces between the pots may 
be very prettily filled in with Selagiuellas, 
Ferns, Festuca glauca, Tradeseantia, und sim¬ 
ilar plants that like a little shade. Syringe or 
vaporize the plants frequently overhead. Open 
the windows at top or botioui wheu the weather 
is mild. On very cold nights pull down the 
shade, and roll the table back a little from the 
window. If you have but little fire-heat, you 
can, on cold nights, spread some papers or a 
sheet over the plants. Do not keep the room 
too warm. Iu brief, be thoughtful and obser¬ 
vant, and these and many other things will nat¬ 
urally suggest themselves.—To be continued. 
