THE RURAL NEW 
grees greater was maintained where no mulch 
existed. This he thought proved that mulching 
strawberry-beds is disastrous. It prevents ab¬ 
sorption of heat duriog the day and radiation at 
night. As to the use of smoko, while it keeps the 
temperature up in a house where it can be 
confined, he does not cousider it of any spec¬ 
ial value in the open air. Mr. Rogers, New 
Jersey, ‘‘From five to seven degrees is the 
difference in favor of bare ground I think. 
This has been a long settled fact in my State.” 
Mr. Scott, Michigan, “I have tried the 
smoke in the field; it’s a pretty sight, but of 
no practical value.” 
A Dote from F. K. Pbcenix, Wisconsin, on 
the same subject was then read, though it 
contained no new suggestions of special value. 
Speaking of using explosives and the vibra¬ 
tion of noises, be said, “I don’t know how 
much it would take to scare off the Frost Devil, 
but noise is cheap in America. I most pro¬ 
foundly believe in the human mastery and 
control of earthly elements and conditions.’ 
Mr. Morrill, Miehigau, ‘*1 prefer to mulch; 
it brings profit in dollars and cents. It keeps 
the blossoms back later, thus protecting them, 
even though the temperature under the mulch 
falls lower.” 
Mr. Pierce, of Ohio, then read a paper on 
the “‘Conduct of State and Local Horticultural 
Societies.” He opposed addresses from out¬ 
side speakers, and thought the fairs and ex¬ 
hibitions should be held.iu the country around 
the fruit growers, rather than in the towns 
and cities. Secretary Garfield then made a 
few remarks on the same subject, agreeing 
with Mr. Pierce with regard to having ex¬ 
hibitions in the country. ‘“The whole family, 
everybody, should be interested,” he said. 
“When the father plants the tree, let the wife 
hold it, and the children stand ready to 
water it.” 
“Lessons of the World’s Fair” was the 
title of the next paper, read by Mr. Goodman, 
of Missouri, Secretary of the State Society 
there. Flat tables, and five apples or pears 
to aplate, a glass structure lighted from above 
as well as the sides, were among desirable 
features for fruit shows he thought. Better 
rules for judging were also urged, a certain 
scale of points being desired, by which to de¬ 
cide. He found Missouri could raise just as 
good apples as Miehigau. “Our Ben Davis 
grown on the 87th parallel, is much better 
than yours at the North. I don’t wonder that 
you despise this apple as it grows here. I 
think some of our Southern varieties would 
become good keepers at the North. The pear 
exhibit at New Orleans was poor. We have 
no genuine winter pear in the West. I have 
learned that.” Among other lessons learned 
at New Orleans, Mr. Goodman said was 
patience; they had to wait and wait, and 
and were still waiting, at least for the prem¬ 
iums promised. He also alluded sharply to 
the cold storage facilities promised by the 
management, which exhibitors never got, and 
he spoke of many blunders and shortcomings 
there, going out of his way to arraign the 
management with sarcastic bitterness, so much 
so in fact as to bring Parker Earle, Chief of 
the Horticultural Department, at New Or¬ 
leans, promptly to his feet at the close of the 
paper. He defended the management court¬ 
eously and manfully. Said he, “I’ve listened 
with satisfaction to the paper. It contains 
many good suggestions; but some of the state¬ 
ments are based upon misconception. The 
cold storage promised was fully provided, and 
it was the best on the continent. If my friend 
did not use it, that is no fault of the manage¬ 
ment. There was no charge for cold storage. 
The exposition has enough real faults to 
auswer for without having matters that are 
untrue imputed to it. As to the character of 
Horticultural Hall there, everybody was sur¬ 
prised at its peculiar adaptation for the preser¬ 
vation of the fruit. The oranges kept admira¬ 
bly; the apples remained in perfect preserva¬ 
tion for over four months.” Mr. Goodman ac¬ 
cepted the rebuke good-uaturedly, and Presi¬ 
dent Barry thought it hardly worth while to 
spend any more time on the exposition now. 
Mr. Lyon then read a short paper on the 
“Proper Nomenclature of Fruits.” Pomo- 
logy having increased in commercial ini. 
portauoe of late, a more simple, direct 
nomenclature Is ueeded. Brevity is every¬ 
where desirable. The name of originator or 
introducer will rarely be found inappropriate, 
neither will the name of the place of origiu. 
More than one simple word will rarely be 
found needful. Characterizing words should 
be honestly used and rigidly adhered to, 1 ke 
names of new fruits should be submitted 
to this society or its committee for approval. 
A postal card from John J. Thomas on the 
same subject was then read. Names should bo 
compact and expressive. The name of the 
originator or of some eminent pomologist, 
would be appropriate. Not so somebody’s 
“Prolific” “Giant,” or any such bombastic 
title. President Barry added a few words of 
1 like nature. He said the society bad already 
the trees, or in marshy or wet places at a dis¬ 
tance. Here they may pass the Winter and 
even live for years. They are borne in the 
air, when dry, by the wind, or carried up by 
evaporation. Then, coming in contact with 
the moist surface of tender twigs or the center 
of the flower, the germs find entrance to the 
tree, and thus the reproductive process goes 
on. We have proved absolutely that the 
germs only cause the pear blight, and, fur¬ 
ther, that the germs are of a specific kind.” 
The scientific name of the specific bacteria, 
which produces the pear blight, he said, is 
Micrococus amylororus. The pear tree is 
especially liable to blight by reason of its suc¬ 
culent habit of growth. Apple trees, being 
of more solid growth, are not usually attack- 
course they are utterly useless in destroying 
the internal parasites.” At the conclu¬ 
sion of the paper the reader was applauded, 
and received a formal vote of thanks. 
At the morning session of the second day a 
paper on the same subject was read by Prof. J. 
C, Arthur of the N. Y. Experiment Station, 
the reader, however, confining his remarks 
more especially to blight. He said experi¬ 
ments had shown that blight, could he intro¬ 
duced into heatbly pear limbs by minute par. 
tides of diseased tissue, or the viscid substance 
accompanying the disease. A week after 
such insertion the bark begins to blacken, but 
the leaves show no affection until the limb is 
practically dead, which will not be for two or 
three weeks; then the leaves die very sudden- 
pass their heads through between them. 
Cleats with V-shaped slots in them form the 
bearings at the adjustable rack. When the 
latter is in position to close the sheep-rack, it 
stands vertically up against the front vertical 
boards. 
One of the troubles in raising sheep is to 
prevent the injury done to their wool, when 
feeding on hay, by the seeds and matter 
dropping on and settling in the wool around 
the shoulders. Sheep, in feeding on hay from 
above their heads, are fond of pulling the 
hay out from the crib or rack in large quanti¬ 
ties, which not only allows a great abundance 
of seed and dirt to fall into their wool, but 
also causes a great deal of bay to be trodden 
under foot and wasted. 
Mr. Stapleton, the designer of this rack, 
bad in view the prevention of such difficulties. 
When the sheep are to be fed, the pin which 
holds the loose rack in place is withdrawn, 
and the latter is allowed to fall on to the trough 
(as shown in Fig .4(30.', and the weight of it keeps 
the hay compact and prevents the sheep from 
tearing out more at a time than they can eat. 
As they have the hay beneath them, the seeds 
and foreign matter cannot fall and settle into 
their wool. When it is wished to prevent the 
waste of hay, the loose rack may be placed in 
the slots of the rear cleats (Fig. 461) when any 
waste hay must necessarily fall into the space 
between the loose rack and front board. The 
front board may extend down to tbe ground, 
in which case, by placing a number of sheep 
racks contiguous to each other in a circle, a 
cheap and strong sheep pen and rack combined 
may be formed. 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
TWENTIETH BIENNIAL MEETING. 
(RURAL SHORT-HAND REPORT.) 
The evening session of the society on the 
first day was taken up by a popular lecture 
on “Injurious Fungi,” delivered by Dr. C. E. 
Bessey, of tbe Nebraska State University, 
His paper was illustrated by a series of charts, 
and the members were deeply interested in 
what he said, and yet be failed to add greatly 
to the list of preventives aud remedies. He 
spoke first of the bacteria family, which ex¬ 
ists everywhere within a few thousand feet of 
the earth. The housewife in her process of 
canning simply excludes the air to keep out 
bacteria. The family of mildews was next 
alluded to; a cross-section of mildewed Con¬ 
cord grape leaf being shown;as the resting- 
spores of the grape mildew are Id the leaves 
which fall to the ground in the Fall, it would 
be a good plan to burn the leaves. Blight 
was the next family described; not the disease 
known by that name, but the fungi producing 
it. These were fully illustrated, and their 
method of operation was explained. The 
black fungi, he said, is perhaps the most inju 
rious family, next to bacteria. In the mil¬ 
dews reproduction is both by non-sexual and 
sexual influences; viz.: by breaking off and 
separating into individual spores in the first 
case, and by the falling of the resting-spores 
with the leaves, thus carrying the fungi over 
the Winter in the latter instance. Speaking 
of the black-knot in the plum and cherry tree, 
he said that in the Spring the parasitic 
threads multiply in tbe bark and finally burst 
out, the surface at first being a lot of little 
spores; then the trouble is very infectious. 
Resting-spores carry it over the Winter. 
Ergot on rye and strawberry rust also belong 
to this family. But beyond the first or early 
stage of this black fungi he knew nothing— 
did not know what it did the rest of the year, 
hence could not take care of it. “There is 
great need," said he, “of finding out the whole 
life history of these fungi. Somebody with 
plenty of time and money should take up this 
subject. It must be borne in mind that fun¬ 
gus is a plant. It grows. It may be killed 
by poisons or stimulated by favoring condi¬ 
tions. Remedies for the diseases thus pro¬ 
duced are almost impossible. You cannot re¬ 
store a plum limb affected with black-knot; 
you can only cut it off. Fungous diseases call 
for the surgeon, and not for the practitioner, 
who restores by remedies. The knife is the 
only remedy, though it may take the whole 
tree, and even the orchard at times. 
Regarding preventive measures it is very 
important that all parasitic fungus should be 
gathered and destroyed. Nearly every fun¬ 
gus produces restiug-Bpores; these come 
when the fungus is dying. If destroyed then, 
of course the trouble is removed. This then, 
is the time to attack it. Burn up the dead 
leaves and twigs lest they afford shelter to 
these spores. As poisons, or fungicides, many 
things can be used; sulphur aud its compounds, 
borax, salicylic acid and several other things 
might be mentioned. But all must be brought 
in direct contact with the fungus, hence of 
ed or injured to any great extent. 
Various pertinent questions were asked by 
different members at tbe close of the Profes¬ 
sor’s instructive paper, but be was unable to 
give any very conclusive answers. For in¬ 
stance, in replying to the question, "What 
shall we do to prevent the pear blight?” he 
said: “While I was studying tbe disease, half 
my orchard blighted before I knew it. I 
know of no remedy so far. An antiseptic over 
the growing shoots, if it could be kept there, 
would, of course, protect them, but the rains 
would wash it off.” 
Mr. Moody had used sulphur and lime for 
some years past, and had not been troubled 
with blight during the last live years, in au 
orchard of 10,000 trees; but Prof. Arthur has 
no faith in it as a preventive. In his opinion, 
ly, most likely duriug hot weather or a warm 
rain. He had only succeeded in inoculating 
the d isease through the leaves by using tbe 
very youngest leaves, and then only with 
much difficulty. He watered the roots with 
countless billions of pear blight germs, but 
could not introduce the affection that way, 
nor in any matured branch, but he had suc¬ 
ceeded almost invariably with the young and 
succulent growth. After the bark and outer 
portion of the branch are blackened with the 
disease, the sap of the tree continues to pass 
through the center of the limb for a time; 
hence the prolongation of life in the leaves 
aud ends of the branch. Blight can be propa¬ 
gated only by natural processes; tying af¬ 
fected branches in healthy trees failed to im¬ 
part the disease. It lives in the branch 
no washes or applications to the soil can ha\ e 
any influence upon the blight. “Do not fer¬ 
tilize heavily; don’t let the trees grow too fast,” 
he said. “To get the best fruit, we waut the 
trees to grow as fast as possible, but to pre- 
ent the blight, they should grow as slowly as 
possible.” 
It was with great difficulty that the 
pear blight questions ami discussions were 
shut off by the chairman, so great was the 
interest manifested in the Bubjuct, 
A paper on “Protection from Frost” was 
then read by Prof. Lazenby, of tbe Ohio Ex¬ 
periment Station. In the comparative tests 
between mulched and bare ground, it was 
found a temperature of from three to five de- 
through the Winter. Disease germs enter 
the tree through the tenderest tissues at the 
ends of the branches and in the flowers, 
usually in early Spring, but where they come 
from is yet a mystery. Germs will grow in 
perfectly' dead matter of almost any kind, 
especially in any starchy or analogous sub¬ 
stances. A particle of blighted pear twig 
placed in a solution of corn meal and water, 
boiled, would fill the liquid with germs in a 
day or two. The course of the disease is 
usually about as follows: “The germs in a 
diseased tree escape to the surface in a sticky, 
exudation; washed free by rains, they drop 
to the ground, and multiply iug indefinitely in 
decaying vegetable substances, either beneath 
