92 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
be remembered. Those who observed the march of events 
will remember that the trees were touched 
THE OPENING by unusual warmth quite early in the 
of spring. season. Fortunately, this was not suf_ 
ficient to burst the buds. Then came a 
long period of low temperature, during which development 
was slow but of a substantial preparatory character; then 
came the warm rains accompanied by higher temperatures; 
then came the true awakening of the trees. Who has ever 
seen a more beautiful blooming season? Not only was the 
season itself exceptional in the amount and luxuriance of 
bloom, but the individual blossoms were extraordinarily 
beautiful. This was particularly true of apples and pears. 
In Central New York, Japanese plums and peaches were 
injured here and there, slightly it is true, but sufficient to 
mar the normal abundance of the bloom. 
This is the season of the year, when one can forgive the 
effusions of the spring poet, when one can read the inspiring 
words of Emerson or Ruskin, with deep satisfaction, when 
one can feel with Kingsley that he is never alone. “On the 
heaths and moors where I have so long enjoyed the wonders 
of nature, I have never been, I can honestly say, alone, be¬ 
cause when man was not with me I had companions in every 
bee and flower and pebble; and never idle, because I could 
not pass a swamp or a tuft of heather, without finding in it 
a fairy tale, of which I could but decipher here and there a 
line or two, and yet found them more interesting than all the 
books save One which were ever written upon earth.” So 
we feel with Lowell that: 
“In June it is good to lie beneath a tree, 
While the blithe season comforts every sense, 
Steeps all the brain in rest, and heals the heart, 
Brimming it o’er with sweetness unawares, 
Fragrant and silent as that rosy snow 
Wherewith the pitying apple trees fills up, 
And tenderly lines some last year robin’s nest.” 
A good deal of space is accorded to this subject in recent 
issues of the agricultural journals. The discussion has been 
revived because of the statement of Professor Alwood, late 
horticulturist of the Virginia Experiment 
WHITE LEADING Station who announces that he had suc- 
young fruit cessively coated the stems of a consicler- 
trees. able number of young fruit trees with 
white lead paint and that no injurious 
effects had resulted—further that borers were prevented. 
“The Rural New Yorker,” has interested itself quite warmly 
in this scheme of heading off borers and mice. There, how¬ 
ever, seems to be a conflict of experiences by those who have 
tried it. One man from Pennsylvania reports that 100 four 
or five years old orchard trees so treated, promptly died. On 
the other hand, there are others that assert that no ill results 
have followed. The originator of the painting method, hedges 
to the extent of saying that only pure white lead is to be used 
and that this must be mixed with linseed oil of the best quality. 
It also appears that painting during the dormant season is, 
if not the only time, the best time to apply it. This is in 
contradiction to the experience of some who have used coal 
tar which has proven destructive when applied during the 
dormant season but not injurious if applied in the spring just 
about the time that the growth commences. In other words 
the growth activity seems to throw off and prevent the tree 
from absorbing any injurious influence of the tar; whereas, 
if applied during the dormant season this absorption and 
injury is likely to occur. Why this is not so in the case of 
the paint is not clear. The whole question is yet an open one 
and we would advise those who think of trying it to do so on 
a small scale to begin with. 
Doings of Societies. 
CANADIAN NOTES. 
The Toronto Market Gardeners’ Association held a very successful 
banquet on March 13th. 
The vegetable growers from Toronto and the vicinity of Hamilton 
met recently and effected a tentative organization to be known as the 
Vegetable Growers’ Association of Ontario. H. B. Cowan, Toronto 
editor of the Canadian Horticulturist, is provisional secretary. The 
draft of the constitution prepared will be submitted to a general meet¬ 
ing of the representatives of the vegetable interests of the province 
to be held later. 
Canadian Grape Interests: A number of leading Canadian grape 
growers recently met and held a conference with the provincial min¬ 
isters of agriculture of Ontario, with a view of inaugurating a series 
of careful experiments for the suppression of grape pests such as 
insects and fungus diseases. The black rot of the grape has been par¬ 
ticularly injurious in the Niagara district for the past year or two, 
and growers are becoming somewhat discouraged. 
A movement is on foot among the fruit growers of the Niagara dis¬ 
trict making for the establishment of a horticultural school and ex¬ 
periment station for their especial benefit. The fact that the experi¬ 
ment stations and the college of agriculture are situated in districts 
where the fruit possibilities differ radically from those obtaining in 
the Niagara district strengthens the argument and contention of those 
who are promoting this enterprise. The Ontario Department of Agri¬ 
culture has been petitioned to further the proposition. 
The prospects for a fruit crop in the Niagara district, where peaches, 
pears, plums, and grapes are the leading crops, are excellent. The 
buds came through the winter in excellent condition, and the blooming 
period was attended by weather of a favorable character. 
MEETINGS REPORTED AND PENDING. 
The Florida Horticultural Society met at Jacksonville, May 9-11. 
The attendance was large, and the meeting profitable. Aside from 
the papers and discussions, a visit by the members of the society was 
made to a fertilizing plant, where the different brands of fertilizers 
were made, and where the various processes connected with their 
manufacture were exhibited. Mr. G. V. Taber positively declined to 
continue in the office of president, which he had held for nine 
years. The new officers are : President, C. T. McCarthy, Eldred ; 
vice-presidents, F. D. Waite, Geo. W. Wilson, Dr. Geo. Kerr ; secre¬ 
tary, E. O. Painter, Jacksonville ; treasurer, W. S. Hart ; executive 
committee, Rev. Lyman Phelps, E. S. Hubbard, Geo. L. Taber. 
The Country Gentleman schedules the following Horticultural 
societies for meetings from June 13 to August 16 : 
Missouri, Versailles, June 13, 15. 
American Nurserymen, West Baden, Ind., June 14, 16. 
National Seedsmen’s Association, Alexandria Bay, June 21, 22. 
Apple Shippers, Put-in-Bay, O., Aug. 2, 3. 
Indiana, Henryville, Aug. 9, 10. 
American Florists, Washington, D. C., Aug. 15, 18. 
New York Fruit Growers, Penn Yan, Aug. 16, 17. 
Southern Nurserymen, Norfolk, Va., Aug. 16, 17. 
The Fruit and Truck Growers’ Association of Texas holds a special 
session in Tyler on June 23, 1905. This meeting is for the purpose of 
welcoming the excursionists brought into the country by the Cotton 
Belt Railway. Tyler is located in the center of the most important 
fruit belt in Texas, where a large number of the big orchards we hear 
about are located. An interesting session is expected, and the ex¬ 
cursion through the fruit region will undoubtedly be most profitable 
and pleasant. 
