THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
^^roin Various points. 
Immense orchards of peaches, pears and plums are being 
planted in Central Georgia by N. G. Albaugh, F. G. Withoft and 
J. H. Hale. 
Reports from all sections indicate that the cherry crop of 1892 
was a good one where the weather was fair during blossoming 
time, and that in many places the yield was reduced by rains and 
damp weather at that critical time. 
President O. B. Potter of New York presided at the fifty-third 
annual meeting of the New York State Agricultiu’al Society, at 
Albany, .January ISth. It was reported that pears were of uneven 
yield. No profit accrued in grapes, owing to the great amount of 
mildew. Strawberries were not ns plentiful as last year. Cherries 
rotted badly. Many plum orchards were ruined by black rot. 
Peaches werie a light crop in nearly all sections. 
A number of valuable papers were read before the twenty- 
second annual meeting of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture 
at Topeka, .January 12th. One of the most important subjects 
presented was the necessity for the establishment of a sub-experi¬ 
ment station in the western part of the state. The altitude of the 
Manhattan station is less than 1,000 feet, while the counties in the 
western portion of the state rise to an altitude of nearly 4,000 
feet, which materially changes the agricultural conditions. The 
farmers of Western Kansas are making a noble fight for the 
redemption of the country from its original state of prairie sod to 
one of productive fields and fruitful orchards, and they feel that 
they should receive the aid accorded to others. 
Steps are being taken in Geneva to form a corporation with a 
capital stock of $150,000 for the purpose of manufacturing sugar 
and syrup Horn sorghum. Many of the leading nurserymen there 
are subscribing largely, especially those who have large land 
interests in and about the town. They will endeavor to push the 
thing through to a successful end, thus establishing an indusHy 
which will not only be profitable in itself, but will open a way to 
utilize many hundreds of acres of land that has produced trees 
until rendered unfit for anything except fai*ming purposes, in a 
way that will be more profitable than growing wheat at seventy- 
five cents per bushel. The great question seems to be, will the 
old nursery lands produce good sorghum V Dr. Collier of the State 
Agricultural Experimental Station thinks they will. 
At the meeting of the Iowa State Agricultui’al Society in Des 
Moines, January 12th, it was decided to hold a state fair this 
year, notwithstanding the counter attraction of the World’s Pair. 
Secretary Shaffer’s report on fruits stated that it was apparent 
trhat the condition of fruit was much lower last year. The average 
per cent, of crops for the state was 83, of which apples had (34 per 
cent.; pears, 52; plums, 45; grapes, 85; blackberries, 100; rasp¬ 
berries, 94, and strawberries, 82. Southwest Iowa ranked high in 
the apple crop, and heavy shipments were made to the eastern 
market. The total is 249,758 barrels or 665 car loads, or eighty 
train loads The fruit croj) of the United States was damaged not 
less than $50,000,000 last year by blight, mildew, rot and yellows. 
Major,!. W. McMullen, of Oklaloosa, was re-elected president,and 
John R. Shaffer, secretary. 
At the third annual meeting of the Southern Illinois Horticul¬ 
tural Society valuable papers on apples, pears and gooseberries 
werg-read. It was shown that the Ben Davis apple is still in the 
lead among Southern Illinois orchardists ; other favorites are .Jona¬ 
than, Minkler, Rome Beauty, Willow Twig and Wine-sap. The 
Aiken apple, a seedling, is rapidly coming to the front in Rich¬ 
land and adjacent counties. The original tree, quite old, is still 
living near Olney, and bears large cimps annually. It is a red 
apple of excellent quality, a late keeper, but perhaps, by some, 
considered undersized. Stark Bros., of Louisiana, Mo., are propa¬ 
gating it extensively. The York Imperial and Mammoth Black 
Twig are coming forward with favorable reports where fruited. 
In the extreme southern part of the state more attention is paid 
to early apples. Although the fruit crop was almost a total failure 
last year, the outlook for continued heavy planting in Illinois is 
promising. E. G. Mendenhall, of Kinraundy, was elected secre¬ 
tary and treasurer for a third term. The next annual meeting 
will be held at Belleville, in November. 
An unusually large attendance and valuable discussions char¬ 
acterized the twelfth annual meeting of the Colorado State Bureau 
of Horticulture at Denver, January 12 and 13. Among the papers 
read was one by W. S. Coburn on “Fruit Culture on the Western 
Slopes.” Mr. Coburn said : Ten years of experience on the western 
slope has established the fact that there is no better section of the 
United States for the successful growing of all the fruits of the 
temperate zone than the three counties of Montrose, Delta, and 
Mesa. The adaptability of soil and climate are so perfect and the 
freedom from disease and insects have not only been a great boon 
to the fruit growers but have enabled them with no extra expense 
to produce fruit that has no superior and very few equals. I am 
inclined to the opinion that many of our western planters are 
making some mistakes in planting largely of a few of the most 
prolific varieties of the apple without regard to quality, and the 
few who anticipate this and plant largely for quality will always 
find a ready market at good pi’ices. 
At the annual meeting of the Missouri Horticultural Society it 
was declared that the varieties of apples best suited to commercial 
purposes in that section are : Jonathan, Winesap, York Imperial, 
Minkler, Willow Twig and Ben Davis. The Alberta was pro¬ 
nounced the best peach, six acres of three-year-old trees having 
produced, last year, a crop which sold for $1,800. The Wild Goose, 
Louisa and Abundance plums were recommended. It was said 
that five grains of calomel injected under a cross section of the 
bark of a pear tree while the sap is running, would cure or prevent 
blight. It was believed that the state display of fruit at the 
World’s Fair would equal or exceed that of any other state. A 
car load of apples is in cold storage in Chicago. J. K. Guynn, 
World’s Fair Commissioner for Missouri, reported that the space 
secured at Chicago for the state’s horticultural display is twice as 
large as that given any other state and in the most desirable loca¬ 
tion in the building. Two car loads of choice plants and flowers 
have been sent to be used in embellishing the grounds and 
verandas of the Missouri building, and Missouri now has a larger 
display in this line than all the other states combined. 
The twenty-third annual meeting of the Michigan Horticul¬ 
tural Society was one of the pleasantest and most profitable in the 
history of that organization. The spacious court house at Ann 
Arbor was well filled with members and their friends. There 
were present several distinguished horticulturists from a distance. 
Much time was devoted to the consideration of the exhibit at the 
World’s Fair. As there was no member of the State Columbian 
Commission possessing a recognized acquaintance with or sym¬ 
pathy for horticulture, efforts were made to place the horticultural 
exhibit in the hands of the state society, as the latter includes in 
its membership a large proportion of the best horticultural experts 
of the state. These efforts appeared to be ignored by the Colum¬ 
bian Commission of the state, but before the meeting adjourned 
an amicable arrangement was effected with the state commission. 
One of the most interesting papers of the meeting was that read 
byS. D. Willard, of Geneva, on “Possibilities of Fruit Growing in 
Michigan.” He regards that state as one of the best fruit grow¬ 
ing sections of the counHy, and predicts that farmers there will 
substitute fruit growing for wheat growing largely in the near 
future. President James B. Angel of the University of Michigan, 
in a short address advocated elementary instruction in horticul¬ 
ture in the primary schools of the country, as is the custom in 
Germany and other countries. A committee consisting of C. J. 
Monroe, of South Haven, L. B. Rice, of Port Huron, and J. N. 
* Stearns, of Kalamazoo, was appointed to procure the enactment 
by the legislature of a law preventing the adulteration of fruits. 
Dr. Erwin Smith of the national agricultural department advo¬ 
cated the destruction of peach trees at the first appearance of the 
yellows as the only safe method of stopping the spread of the dis¬ 
ease. President T. T. Lyon and Secretary E. C. Reid were 
re-elected. 
