1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
155 
LAWS NEEDED BY HORTICULTURISTS. 
[Abstract of a paper read at Albany, N. Y , by W. D. Barns, of 
Middle Hope.] 
“Pony” Apple Barrels. —All will concede that 
the amount of a product delivered should be the same 
as has been sold. No one will defend giving short 
weight or measure. Yet in our market, we find apple 
barrels that differ more than a peck in their capacity, 
and so-called quart packages that would require forty 
to hold a bushel. Aside from an ethical point of view, 
such conditions demoralize business, and react upon 
the communities and individuals that furnish pack¬ 
ages varying in size while claiming to be the same. 
In relation to apple barrels, Mr. Charles Forster, of 
New York City, in the Eastern Horticulturist for Oc¬ 
tober, very clearly shows how what are known in the 
trade as pony barrels, demoralize the market, injure 
the pecuniary interests of the grower, and turn the de¬ 
mand for apples for foreign markets away from the 
State of New York. His statements are recognized as 
facts by the most intelligent apple growers. The 
American Apple Shippers’ Association, of which Mr. 
Forster is a member, has recognized and recommended 
“ as the standard barrel for apples, a barrel that is of 
the capacity of the flour barrel, which is 11% inches in 
diameter of head and 28 % inches in length of stave, 
and bilge not less than 64 inches outside measure¬ 
ment.” The Association wants this to be made the 
legal barrel. I suggest that this Society indorse the 
work of the American Apple Shippers’ Association 
in having the standard apple barrel defined by law. 
Also to commend to the committee of that Association 
a provision to be inserted in their bill making it oblig¬ 
atory on all makers of apple barrels that are of less 
than the standard size, that they be plainly marked 
on the outside of the barrel with some word like Pony 
or Short to designate them as being less than the 
standard size, under a prescribed penalty for failure 
• to mark each such barrel manufactured. 
Small Fruit Packages. —In Eastern New York, 
small fruits are sold in what are known as half-pint, 
pint and quart baskets, Some of these contain what 
they purport to hold, while more of them are much 
smaller. So much difference in sizes exists that it has 
seriously injured the business of the grower, and is a 
constant source of trouble to the dealer and dissatis¬ 
faction to the consumer. A special committee of this 
Society has prepared “ An Act to Define the Size of 
Small Fruit Packages,” which has been introduced in 
the Assembly, and will, probably, be reported favora¬ 
bly. I believe this bill, if enacted, will go far toward 
securing uniformity in size of these packages, will be 
easily enforced, and will antagonize the interest of 
no one. 
Reasons for having^a legal standard adopted for the 
size of peach baskets and grape crates are the same as 
for apple barrels and small-fruit packages. In fram¬ 
ing laws of this kind, great care should be taken to 
make them clear and definite, and at the same time 
subject manufacturers and dealers in the standard 
packages to as little trouble and expense as possible 
in carrying on their business. The principle introduced 
in the bill now before the legislature, providing that 
those making, using or dealing in packages that are 
of less than standard sizes shall be put to the trouble 
and expense of marking all such packages, I believe 
can profitably be incorporated in all laws defining the 
s'ze of fruit packages 
Injustice of Game Laws. —The so-called game 
laws have been revised, remodeled and amended an¬ 
nually for so long a time that the officers appointed 
specially to enforce them are, in many cases, in doubt as 
to their real meaning. I believe that in all the counties 
of this State, English hares and rabbits are not to be 
hunted or destroyed during a great part of the year— 
but that during certain named months they may be 
hunted. North of the Highlands, on both sides of the 
River, are many hares which, during the Winter, are 
very destructive to young fruit trees. They gnaw 
the branches within reach, of apple and peach trees, 
and tear strips of bark from the bodies of many young 
trees. Rabbits have always been destructive, gnaw¬ 
ing the bark from the bodies and limbs of orchard 
trees. For the protection of his own interests the 
farmer and fruit grower should be allowed to destroy 
these pest3, at any time, in his own way, on his own 
land. Now by the law a man is barred from destroy¬ 
ing either hares or rabbits during the greater part of 
the year, even when they are engaged in injuring his 
property. The whole theory of the game laws seems 
to recognize only the desire of those who wish to have 
game preserved for their own amusement. The own¬ 
ers of land where game is found, whose property has 
contributed to its protection and growth, are put to 
the trouble and expense of placarding their property, 
if they would have it protected from trespass and in¬ 
vasion by strangers, who come to secure and remove 
animals and birds fed from the farmers’ own property. 
The annoyance and injustice do not end here. In 
many cases hunting is a mere subterfuge for pilfer¬ 
ing. Men or boys may not be ejected from a man’s 
premises if they carry a gun and claim to be seeking 
game in season, .unless the premises have been pla¬ 
carded according to law. These tramps, by courtesy 
called hunters, soon tire of seeking live game, and 
forage vineyards and orchards promiscuously. It is 
strange how many men, otherwise decent and respect¬ 
able, act as though the possessions of a fruit grower 
were com anon property. Men who would arrest a 
child for purloining a paper of pins from a store, will 
deliberately sit down in a vineyard or orchard and 
appropriate pounds of valuable fruit. 
A Heroic Remedy. —These facts are well known 
to farmers and fruit growers. In the interests of 
both, this Society should not only protest against 
these conditions, but should ask such a radical change 
in legislation that the proprietor of inclosed land 
shall be secure in its possession, and that the privi¬ 
lege to come on it for game may be obtained only by 
his written consent. I feel deeply the injustice and 
annoyance to which farmers are subject by the pro¬ 
hibition from protecting their property from destruc¬ 
tive animals, and from legalized tramps. Therefore, 
I would suggest that we ask our lawmakers to enact 
the following : 
An Act to protect the interests of owners of farm lands and of fruit 
growers. 
Section 1. The owner of any inclosed or occupied farm lands 
in this State' may of himself or by his authorized agent hunt 
and kill rabbits and English hares on his own premises at any 
time he may see fit to do so. 
Sec. 2. No person shall go on any of the inclosed or occupied 
lands in this State to hunt for game of any kind without the 
written consent of the owner or owners of such inclosed or occu¬ 
pied lands. 
Sec 3. Any persou violating the provisions of Section 2 of this 
Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction 
THOS. J. DWYER. Flo. 53. 
thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction shall be subject 
to a fine of ten dollars for each offense, and shall stand com¬ 
mitted to the county jail until such fine and costs are paid. 
Sec. 4. One-half such fine shall be paid immediately after col¬ 
lection, by the court to the complainant in the case. 
Sec. 5, All laws or parts of laws not in accordance with the pro¬ 
visions of this Act are hereby repealed. 
Sec. 6 . This Act shall take effect immediately. 
Since the above was written, an act has been intro¬ 
duced in our legislature to prevent trespassing on 
farm lands. The evils to be abated are thus recog¬ 
nized, and it is appropriate for this Society to consider 
both proposed enactments, and recommend the pro¬ 
visions of each that may commend themselves as most 
efficient and most readily enforced. 
THE SAN JOSE SCALE IN MARYLAND. 
Prof. W. G. Johnson, of Maryland, spoke of the 
great danger from the San Jose scale. If left unre¬ 
stricted, he says, it will prove the most destructive 
insect ever known in America. It is more dangerous 
than many other insects, because it attacks the trees 
rather than the fruit. Given the same general distri¬ 
bution as the Codling moth or the Plum cureulio, and 
the resulting damage could hardly be estimated. 
Fruit growers often ask whether any one has ever 
really seen a tree that was destroyed by the scale. 
Prof. Johnson had pictures of peach and pear orchards 
showing the horrible work of this insect. The upper 
parts of the trees were dead—there was merely a thin 
fringe of leaves around the lower parts. 
Prof. Johnson says that the scale can be held in 
check or destroyed as easily as the Codling moth. The 
State of Maryland has fought this insect harder and 
more carefully than any other State in the Union. 
During the past season, over 900 pounds of cyanide of 
potash were used for fumigating, and 3,051,901 peach, 
651,000 apple, 193,450 pear, 150,550 plum, 17,450 cherry, 
4,600 quince and 584,000 ornamental trees were treated. 
Prof. Johnson believes thoroughly in the use of hy¬ 
drocyanic acid gas for treating both nursery stock 
and bearing trees. A description of his method with 
pictures will soon be given in The R N.-Y. 
Prof. Johnson says that Maryland ha 3 done more to 
suppress and control the San Jos6 scale in her or¬ 
chards and nurseries, than any other State in the 
Union, While the loss to several individual growers 
has been very great, nothing has been left undone for 
the destruction of these infested areas. The trees 
have been grubbed up and burned. All slightly in¬ 
fested orchards are visited twice each season, and all 
suspicious trees are either fumigated with hydrocy¬ 
anic acid gas or sprayed with whale-oil soap or di¬ 
luted kerosene and water from 30 to 50 per cent. 
Maryland now has in operation a system of inspection, 
backed by the proper State legislation, with an an¬ 
nual appropriation of $8,000, that is not surpassed, if 
equaled, by any other State. 
By the organization of the Maryland State Horti¬ 
cultural Department, not only the orchards, but the 
nurseries of the State are personally visited and in¬ 
spected every six months, by the State officers in 
charge of this work. In addition to these semi-annual 
inspections, every tree grown or handled by the nur¬ 
serymen of Maryland is required by law to be fumi¬ 
gated with gas before it is sent out. There are now 
in operation 36 fumigating houses in the State, under 
his immediate supervision. The houses are inspected, 
and when approved, they are measured, and all neces¬ 
sary chemicals weighed out accurately in his labora¬ 
tory and distributed, thus eliminating the possibility 
of error in weighing materials by unskilled workmen. 
They have proved, by repeated experimental tests, 
that no living insects, especially the San Jose scale, 
can withstand the deadly fumes of this gas when prop¬ 
erly handled. 
In addition to semi-annual inspection (other States 
inspect but once a year), they give with Maryland 
nursery stock a more reliable guarantee in fumiga¬ 
tion, as no inspection can be so perfect that there is 
not a possibility that a scale has escaped detection. 
Jt has been, and is their present policy to destroy, by 
burning, every infested tree found in a nursery,- 
whether one or 10,000. They have, by this system of 
persistent and energetic work, in three years reduced 
the San Jos6 scale to such small numbers, that there 
is no other section of equal area, with like horticul¬ 
tural interests, in any of the scale-infested States, of 
which there are 33, that has so little scale as Mary¬ 
land i certainly none of them is doing as much to keep 
clear of it. 
The best Ben Davis apples come from Colorado. 
Mb. Powell likes a wheeled spring-tooth cultivator for work in 
the orchard, to be followed by the weeder. 
Lauiiel green is not recommended. Green arsenite of copper 
is considered a good substitute for Paris-green. 
Tiie question was asked whether apples can be dipped in Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture as potatoes are dipped, to prevent scab. No one 
has tried the experiment. 
Prop. Slingkrland says there is no use trying to spray squash 
vines to destroy the bugs. Hand-picking is the only sure remedy 
for the stink bug. Tobacco dust is useful. 
Mr. Forster said that the finest apples in the world can be 
grown near New York, but that, if we persist in using “pony ” 
barrels, they will never bring the highest price. 
Speaking of the fumigation of nursery stock in Maryland, Prof. 
Johnson said that nurserymen in that State like the law, and 
many of them say they wonder now how they got along without it. 
The question was asked, How can we give our orchards 
thorough cultivation, and at the same time make use of clover 1 
Mr. Powell does this by cultivating constantly during the grow¬ 
ing season of the trees. This season is over by August 1, and 
then he sows Crimson clover, letting it remain until the follow¬ 
ing Spring. 
The question was asked whether nitrogen gathered by legumin¬ 
ous crops is wasted from the soil. It was stated that, in the 
drainage water from an acre of ordinary land, about 37 pounds 
of nitrogen are lost during the year. Most of this loss occurs in 
the early Fall, and can be largely prevented by growing some 
crop like rye or Crimson clover during that season. 
Gov. Roosevelt said that he wanted to try to find out what 
legislation farmers really desire. It is easy for him to go to 
New York or elsewhere and meet the representatives of large 
mercantile interests; but it is not so easy to meet the farmers 
collectively or individually. He invited all who had an idea of 
what legislation is needed to speak freely and tell him what they 
want. 
The question of spraying strawberries with Bordeaux Mixture 
to cure the blight was not satisfactorily answered. No definite 
conclusions could be given. Mr. Chapman said that, just after 
fruiting, he mowed the vines and then covered the rows by plow¬ 
ing a furrow on both sides, bringing the ridge over the row. 
Then he harrows crosswise of the ridges. In this way, a healthy 
new growth starts, which will not blight. He does not believe in 
burning the vines, as this is likely to injure the crowns of the 
plants. 
Prop. Johnson, of Maryland, say3 that spraying for the San 
Josd scale in his State has not proved a success. The only safe 
way is to dig up and burn. Leave one tree, and the scale will 
spread. Kerosene kills the tender wood as well as the scale. 
Where you'do not kill the tree, you will reduce its vitality. Whale- 
oil soap is better. A mixture of lime, sulphur and salt has given 
good results in California, where there is little or no rain to wash 
it off. Do not use kerosene on cloudy days, as it should evapor¬ 
ate quickly. 
