1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
115 
EASTERN N. Y. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
A Successful Meeting. 
LONG ISLAND VEGETABLES.—The Eastern Hor¬ 
ticultural Society held its annual meeting at the 
American Institute, New York City, February 7 and 
8. There was a larger attendance than was antici¬ 
pated, for many members of the New Jersey Horti¬ 
cultural Society and the Connecticut Pomological 
Society were present. A number of interesting com¬ 
mittee reports were made, and an excellent programme 
was carried through. Mr. C. L. Allen made an in¬ 
teresting report on vegetables. He said that last year 
was the worst in the history of vegetables grown on 
Long Island. Profitable results in this trying season 
were due almost entirely to improved methods. On 
the average, he said, there was only half a crop of 
cabbage from the seed. Those who puddled the plants 
in setting never had better results. Some growers, in 
spite of the trying season, obtained good results; he 
told of farmers who grew several acres of cabbage 
producing 90 per cent of the heads that would bring 
$10 per 100 in market now. One grower with five 
acres of cauliflower netted $1,400, after paying for 
labor and fertilizer. One farmer with 60 acres of 
Spring cauliflower pricks out the plant twice before 
setting, and harvests in July One farmer has 25 
acres or early cabbage, and a handful of shell lime is 
put around every plant. This prevents club root and 
stem rot. Mr. Allen gave these examples to show 
that, especially in a bad season, it is the man who 
handles his crops skilfully who makes a profit. Most 
money, he said, is in good vegetables or fruits. One 
farmer on the Island sold two barrels of cauliflower 
each week in New York at $3 a barrel, while any 
quantity of cauliflowers were sold at 50 cents. 
FRUIT AND FLOWERS.—The display of flowers, 
fruits and vegetables was not large, but of excellent 
quality. Apples were shown in fine order, and the 
color effect, in rich reds and yellows, of these beauti¬ 
fully-ripened fruits, was very pleasing. There were 
many Newtown Pippins in as perfect form as it has 
ever been our fortune to see them. The largest apple 
was a Northern Spy, though the Baldwins crowded it 
very closely. For real beauty of coloring it was hard 
to determine between the Jonathan and Ben Davis, 
though there can never be any question about their 
respective eating qualities. Red apples may still hold 
sway in the markets, but a February exhibition brings 
out a host of high-quality varieties of other shades, 
some of which are exceedingly handsome, as well as 
good. Some Vergennes grapes, shown by the Geneva 
Experiment Station, which had been packed in flats 
on ripening, and preserved in an ordinary cellar, were 
in good condition and flavor. A number of little- 
known apples were also shown by the Station; Rome 
Beauty and Winter Banana seemed to be the most 
desirable. Some immense chestrfuts of Burbank’s new 
varieties, Coe and McFarland, were shown Dy J. H. 
Hale, Glastonbury, Conn. If they are as good as they 
are big, they will be notable additions to our limited 
list of nuts. 
CHOICE HOTHOUSE PRODUCTS.—Orchids formed 
a prominent feature of the floral display, and were 
much admired. A great vase of the new Liberty 
rose attracted great attention. This is the first really 
fine rich crimson rose, adapted to Winter blooming, 
that has been produced, and is evidently designed to 
have a long run of popularity. It is very handsome 
and highly finished, but is only faintly perfumed. J. 
L. Childs, Floral Park, N. /., had some interesting 
hybrids between the Chinese primrose and Primula 
obconica. They are very pretty, and look as though 
they could be easily grown. Nothing handsomer was 
shown than the various bunches of 100 violets com¬ 
peting for the prizes. A number of varieties are now 
before the public, but violet culture practically nar¬ 
rows down to Marie Louise, or, in some localities, 
Lady Hume Campbell, double, ana California, single. 
These combine the richest coloring with the most 
pleasing odor, and are preferred to all others. 
The vegetables exhibited were confined to those 
grown under grass. Cornell Experiment Station con¬ 
tributed some splendid forced rhubarb. The toma¬ 
toes were all of the Lorillard variety, or crosses of 
the same. In lettuce, Mignonette, a dark brown close¬ 
heading variety; Golden Queen, of similar habit, but 
of a pronounced yellow color, and the ever-reliable 
Grand Rapids, were all finely grown. Radishes, 
beans, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and spinach com¬ 
pleted this department. There was also a limited dis¬ 
play of horticultural requisites in the way of spraying 
pumps, tree protectors, hydraulic rams, etc. 
CATERPILLARS AND BIRDS.—Prof. E. P. Felt, of 
the committee on insects, spoke of the trouble from 
insects that live on shade and forest trees. The 
damage done by the Forest tent-caterpillar has been 
great. In some parts of the State the Sugar maples 
have suffered severely. We have received a letter 
from one man who owns what was formerly a very 
fine sugar bush. Insects have damaged the trees so 
much that he has been obliged to cut the trees down 
and turn them into timber. Prof. Felt says that this 
insect can be controlled by spraying with the 
arsenites where the trees are not too large. The con¬ 
ditions in forest and sugar bush are so different from 
those surrounding the ordinary shade tree that or¬ 
dinary methods will not answer. The Professor says 
that the value of birds must not be overlooked in 
fighting these pests. He says that the bird life in this 
State has decreased by about 48 per cent within the 
last 15 years. He gave a list of 20 birds that were 
known to feed on this Forest tent-caterpillar. He 
also spoke of the work of the Elm leaf-beetle, the 
Maple borer, and various other destructive insects. 
FRUIT DISEASES.—A very full report was made 
by the committee on fruit diseases in the Hudson 
Valley. Mr. F. C. Stewart, the chairman, gave an 
account of his investigations, and detailed some of the 
more common diseases of the year. He says that local 
reports often mix plant diseases with the work of in¬ 
sects. Oftentimes they will state that the fruit was 
destroyed by a disease, when it was really the work of 
a new or little-known insect. The past season being 
unusually dry, fruit of all kinds was remarkably free 
from disease. Apples were remarkably healthy. There 
have been heavy losses from decay after the fruit was 
picked, but this was apparently due to premature 
ripening. The very heavy frost of October 3 may also 
have hastened the decay. Some cases of sunscald 
were found, where the sun heated the bark in early 
Spring while the ground was still frozen. The bark 
was killed and the wood laid bare on the southwest 
side of the trunks. Orange rust has proved destruc¬ 
tive to blackberries. W. D. Barns & Son, of Middle 
Hope, have fought this disease by digging out and 
burning the affected plants, but even with this care¬ 
ful treatment there is more or less damage every year. 
It is recorded that blackberry canes affected with rust 
are much freer from prickles than the healthy cane. 
Wilson Jr., when rusted, was almost entirely free 
from prickles. In some cases rusted canes were ob¬ 
served without prickles, while healthy canes in the 
same plant had an abnormal supply. It was found 
that a so-called leaf spot of currants is often caused 
by the Four-lined leaf-bug. Some of the reports have 
stated that this leaf-spot was not affected by the 
Bordeaux Mixture. It was round that the injury was 
caused by the bug. This bug sucks its food, and hence 
cannot be poisoned. 
Cane blight is a singular disease of currants found 
in the Hudson Valley. The leaves of one or more 
canes in a hill suddenly wilt, and soon thereafter the 
canes die and become dry. The remedy seems to be 
carefully cutting out the canes as fast as they wilt, 
and burning them without delay. A root rot of goose¬ 
berries was found in one location, which was attrib¬ 
uted to the influence of a large Black walnut tree, 
but Mr. Stewart says that this was certainly not the 
cause. The new disease of the grape is known as 
black knot. The stems are covered with warts, some¬ 
what like the black knots on plum and cherry. Speak¬ 
ing of the body blight of pears, Mr. Stewart recom¬ 
mends that the trunks and large branches affected 
by it be scraped and then painted with thick Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture. A disease known as the “Marlboro 
raspberry disease” may be called cane blight. It is 
especially destructive to the Marlboro variety. The 
canes die and dry up about the time the fruit is ripen¬ 
ing. No suggestion can be made as to its treatment. 
PRODUCTION VS. QUALITY—George T. Powell 
read a valuable paper on the Foreign and Domestic 
Markets for American Fruits. He said one trouble 
has been that growers have looked for production 
rather than quality in apples. The result is that the 
markets are heavily stocked with inferior fruit. The 
varieties that are the hardiest, and have the toughest 
skin, usually have the toughest inside, and will stand 
transportation and handling best. This, however, is 
not the kind of fruit which the most desirable trade 
is looking for. Mr. Powell said that Ben Davis is now 
receiving more attention than any other variety. It 
is desirable in size, attractive in appearance, prolific 
in bearing, and stands rough handling and abuse bet¬ 
ter than any other well-known apple. This is all 
from the producer’s standpoint. From the consumer’s 
standpoint, however, the more Ben Davis is forced 
upon the market, the slower will be consumption. We 
must have a variety of apples in the fruit stands and 
grocery stores that will advertise itself. This one 
apple sold will create a demand for several others. 
Mr. Powell spoke of the Rhode Island Greening, prob¬ 
ably one of the best varieties ever grown. It has 
been pushed aside by the desire to produce a red ship¬ 
ping apple. He advocated larger plantings of the 
Rhode Island Greening. He said that there will be a 
demand for higher-grade fruit all along the line, but 
most of the better fruits will require high-class treat¬ 
ment. The Baldwin has met with much favor, and 
has been of great value to growers. The Sutton is 
on the whole better. It is similar in size and appear¬ 
ance to Baldwin, better in flavor, while the tree is 
equally productive, and less liable to apple scab. The 
fruit matures early, and is in good condition by the 
holidays, and yet holds well into the early Spring. 
Mr. Powell saiu that there are few consumers who 
understand and know the wide difference in quality of 
different varieties. No one can educate them except 
the growers themselves. For sale on the fruit stands, 
or as dessert apples, Mr. Powell instanced Fameuse, 
Porter, McIntosh, Jonathan, Spitzenburg, Swaar and 
Roxbury Russet. 
A CAMPAIGN OF EDUCATION.—No attempt is 
made to give consumers information as to the differ¬ 
ent points in the quality of the various kinds of 
fruit. Go into any family grocery store, and you will 
find that most of the different food preparations have 
a full description oj. the food, its uses and best meth¬ 
ods of cooking. The cereals and other foods are thus 
placed before consumers with full information. Some¬ 
thing of this sort must be done with our apples, and 
Mr. Powell spoke of a circular which might well be 
sent with every barrel of fruit. Some fruit growers 
claim that they cannot afford to educate the public, 
but every other successful business in food products 
has done this very thing. Mr. Powell also spoke of 
the foreign market for fruit, and gave some excellent 
advice about picking and shipping. Apples grown on 
light soils should, he said, be reserved for the home 
markets. Those grown on the heavier clays would 
better be sent abroad. One great trouble with foreign 
shipments is the manner of handling apples in the 
orchard. Such fruits should never be put in piles on 
the ground, to remain, sometimes, for several days. 
This practice is ruinous to the shipping quality. 
Fruit should be packed in barrels at once, or shipped 
immediately. In packing many growers are positively 
dishonest, putting in small and inferior fruit in the 
middle of the barrel. Mr. Powell is hopeful for the 
future, provided fruit of high Character is grown and 
put on the market. There is, probably, small hope in 
the future for poor fruit, or inferior varieties. An¬ 
other thing he spoke of was the necessity of properly 
caring for the tree. The tree produces the fruit, and 
it must be a healthy tree in order to produce perfect 
fruit. Spraying may not always give immediately 
good results, but the practice continued from year to 
year, the same as an insurance, will certainly pay in 
the long run. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Fire broke out In the business section of 
Dayton, O., February 1, destroying property to the value 
of $700,000. The firemen worked under great difficulties, 
the temperature being four degrees below zero. 
William Goebel, Governor-elect of Kentucky, who was 
shot January 30, died February 3. IJeut-Governor 
Beckham was immediately sworn in. An injunction has 
been issued restraining Taylor, Goebel’s opponent, but it 
has not been served.February 3, on arriving at 
his home at Centerville, Utah, Brigham H. Roberts was 
arrested on the charge of unlawful cohabitation, the 
Warrant having been issued while he was in Washington. 
. . . . A fire in the retail district of St. Louis, Mo., 
February 4, caused the death of one fireman and a loss 
estimated at $1,500,000.Many Indians on the 
Colville Reservation, Wash., are dying of smallpox. They 
refuse medical treatment.Charles E. Macrum, 
who was Consul at Pretoria, South Africa, arrived in the 
United States February 4, but declined to give any ex¬ 
planation of his flight from the Transvaal, which has 
been a matter of decided embarrassment to the Govern¬ 
ment.The flour trust is to be reorganized and 
incorporated anew in New Jersey.February 6. 
the Federal Grand Jury, at Brooklyn, N. Y., found 48 in¬ 
dictments against persons charged with fraudulent nat¬ 
uralization.A nitro-glycerln magazine near 
Findlay, O., was blown up February 5, killing one man. 
. . . . The Minnesota law, requiring barbers to be 
licensed, before they can work at their trade, has been 
declared unconstitutional.A great, fire occurred 
at Tampico, Mexico, February 7; loss $1,000,000. 
CONGRESS.—The Financial bill was taken up in the 
Senate February 1.The House Committee has 
decided by a tie vote that Roberts of Utah is not entitled 
to mileage, which he claimed.A treaty between 
Great Britain and the United States, canceling some sec¬ 
tions of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1350, was signed at 
the State Department February 5. Under this Great 
Britain guarantees the right of this country to construct, 
operate, maintain and control the Isthmian canal; the 
United States guarantees the absolute neutrality of the 
canal, and agrees not to fortify the approaches to it; the 
United States will police the canal, and it is guaranteed 
that in time of war the warships of helligerents will be 
allowed to use the canal, but not to remain in it more 
than 24 hours. The Senate appears to be developing a 
strong opposition to the treaty, the clause against forti¬ 
fication exciting strong objections.February 6, 
Senator Jones, of Arkansas, introduced an amendment to 
the Currency bill, directing the Secretary of the Treasury 
constantly to keep on hand an emergency fund amount¬ 
ing to $50,000,000 of United States Treasury notes, which 
may be issued to any citizen of the United States at a 
discount of 10 per cent, In exchange for United States 
bonds, the bonds to be held for not to exceed a year and 
the holder to pay six per cent interest.The 
Secretary of the Navy has sent to Congress deficiency 
estimates of $838,300 to meet increased expenditures inci¬ 
dent to the establishment of naval stations outside of the 
United States, and of $1,622,000 for the regular naval bill. 
. . . . February 6 , Senator Penrose introduced a bill 
extending the pension laws to persons who had served 
in the Civil War for only one month.The Phil¬ 
ippine question again occupied the attention of the House 
February 6, with a slight digression concerning the war 
in South Africa. The feature of the debate was the 
speech of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi, who presented an 
argument against the annexation of the Philippines from 
the commercial aspect, holding that the absorption of the 
Islands would be ultimately ruinous to the American pro¬ 
ducers of cotton, rice, tobacco, hemp and sugar. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—A great snowstorm oc¬ 
curred In England and France February 3, blocking rail¬ 
ways and interrupting telegraph communication. Severe 
cold prevails all over Europe, and a serious epidemic of 
influenza extends all over the Continent and Great Brit¬ 
ain.Intense heat is reported in South America. 
434 deaths from sunstroke being reported recently from 
Argentina.The famine In India is increasing; 
4,000,000 are now receiving government aid. The plague 
continues.At Nagoya, China, 60 girls were 
burned to death in a fire in a factory. At Seaveyuents, 
China, January 10, an explosion in a fireworks factory 
killed 200 Chinese.In South Africa, Kimberley, 
Mafeking and Ladysmith still hold out against the be¬ 
siegers. Gen. Buller has recrossed the Tugela, and Feb¬ 
ruary 5 captured a Boer position. Gen. Roberts and Gen. 
Kitchener have gone to the front, but their movements 
are kept secret. Fighting continues actively at many 
different points. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—February 1, cotton sold at 
Montgomery, Ala., for eight cents a pound. Overproduc¬ 
tion is feared the coming season; up to February 1, $32,000 
worth of fertilizer tags had been sold by the State, as 
against $13,000 worth up to the same time last year. 
The Central New York Horticultural Society held its 
eleventh annual meeting at Syracuse, N. Y., January 30. 
The following officers were elected: President, S. T. Betts; 
vice-presidents, E. A. Powell, A. D. Perry, J. William 
Smith, L. E. Marquisee, C. W. Snow and A. C. Chase; 
secretary, N. H. Chapman; treasurer, David Campbell. 
The Eastern Association of Nurserymen, at Its recent 
meeting in Rochester, N. Y., adopted a resolution depre¬ 
cating any attempt to amend the New York State law 
relating to the inspection of nursery stock. The law is 
satisfactory, they say, and they believe there has been 
too much scale legislation. 
The Texas Cattle Raisers’ Association will meet at 
Fort Worth March 13-15; secretary, J. C. Lovering, Fort 
Worth. 
The Oregon State Horticultural Society met at Corvallis 
February 10-15; secretary, E. R. Lake, Corvallis, Ore. 
The Minnesota State Poultry show was held at St. Paul 
February 5-10. 
The Live Stock Commission Merchants’ Protective As¬ 
sociation has been formed at Kansas City, Mo., to pre¬ 
vent the fraudulent negotiation of “cattle paper.” 
A serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease Is re¬ 
ported among cattle in Norfolk and Suffolk, England. 
