VOL. XXII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, DEC. 17,1887.
NO. 51
=z
INDIANA HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY
Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting.
Large Attendance, Important Papers and
Interesting Discussions.
Tuesday, the 6th, the opening d»y of the
State Horticultural Society was pleasant
and the sun shone brightly. A good number of members were in their seats when
President Sylvester Johnson called the
meeting to order, in the audience room of
the State Board of Agriculture at 1:30
o'clock p. m., and others came in during
the afternoon, and at the next morning's
session the room was filled.
The president in his address alluded to
the new home of the Society in the adjoining room, which had been set apart by the
commissioners for the purpose.
In this connection he gave a brief history of the building, and gave high praise
to Gov. Williams for his excellent choice
of commissioners, and to the commissioners for the faithfulness with which they
had performed their duties. He recommended the collection of a library and
that efforts be made to secure an increased
appropriation by the Legislature to enable
the Society to employ a permanent Secretary.   Regarding the
LIBRARY
ho said:
Now that we have a home and a suitable
place for a library, I recommend that
we at once adopt measures looking to the
building up of a horticultural library, such
as will prove, not only an ornament to our
hall, but of great utility to the members
of our society. I therefore recommend
the formation of a permanent Library
Committee, whose duty it shall be to
gather together and suitably arrange such
books, periodicals and other property that
may now' belong to our society, in the
place arranged in our hall for the same,
and to collect and add thereto during the
year from any and all possible sources.
At the close of his address he signified
his intention of declining re-nomination
to the office he had held for 11 yearfc, and
his determination to serve the society
hereafter as a private in the ranks.,
THE SECRETARY'S REPORT
was read as follows:   Por the year ending
Oct. 31, '87.
LHsbursements.
Postage .* 20 56
Printing and stationery    IB 23
expenses on reports, etc    IB 15
.  Miscellaneous     3 65
Salary 250 00
Total 30* 59
Receipts.
Received on salary *250 00
Received on expense account    54 50
Total 304 50
C. M. Hobjbs, Sec'y.
Sundry warrants amounting to $103.35
additional were reported. These were
mostly for premiums; 428.00 of the amount
was for the address of Prof. B. G. Northrop at last meeting, and §20 for the shorthand report of the meeting.
The report of the Treasurer, Daniel Cox,
corresponded exactly with that of the
1 Secretary, and showed a balance of $74.52.
Prof. J. Troop of Purdue made an interesting report of his experiments with
small fruits on the grounds of the University, from which we hope to make extracts
in a future number.
The paper on some desirable new fruits
by G. Cowing, of Muncie, on our next
page, came next.
In the discussion that followed it was
stated by one member that Summit proved to be of excellent quality, but this season had been a shy bearer. The Logan
was highly praised by several. The
Bubach  is  an  excellent  variety,  large,
oblong and fine in quality. Mr. Workman thought well of the Belmont, said it
is very promising.
Mr. Sanders spoke in high praise of the
Shaffer colossal raspberry. It is one of the
best he has, especially for canning. Growing on thin soil it is quite hardy, but
sometimes winter kills on rich loam. Mr.
Ratlilf cautioned the members against
heavy pruning of raspberries late in the
spring. Mr. Johnson dies all his pruning
in the spring. Dr. Gifford contended that
it was best to leave the canes of red raspberries unpruned. Mr. Hobbs cuts them
back in the spring. Mr. Sanders agreed
with him. Mr. Workman recommended
growing red raspberries on poor land,
rather than rich. Mr. Richie cuts his
raspberries back to 18 or 20 inches, and
needs no stakes or wires to support them.
Prof. Troop said the Xemaha is a prolific
and excellent variety. D. Cox succeeded
well with the Gregg on sugar tree soil,and
digs out every thing else. Mr. Richie
found it a poor variety on his farm in
Morgan county.   The Hopkins is better.
There was quite a diversity of opinion
as to the hardiness of the Gregg. Some
growers lost them regularly, but with
others they never fail. Mr. Chandlee
favors pruning Black Caps about fruiting
time. Later than that is injurious usually, as the weather then is apt to be dry
and hot. They are summer or fall killed, rather than wi»te> killed.
Mr. Sanders grows only Snyder & Taylor blackberries. The Taylor is a little the
larger. Dr. Purnas said he could always
count on having blackberries from these
two varieties. Mr. Hobbs said the Early
Harvest is a very tender variety. The
Wallace is hardy and of best quality. Mr.
Workman spoke a good word for the Stone's
hardy, and said it prolonged the season
considerably. Prof. Troop spoke highly
of the Minnewaska. The Agawam was
spoken of as an excellent and very early
variety, and hardy and productive.
The subject of revising the fruit list
came up and Mr. Ragan spoke in opposition to keeping up a star fruit list,showing
that there was a better way of securing
the desired information, by calling upon
practical fruit growers from different sections for the preferred list of fruits of the
various kinds. Mr. Johnson preferred
the revising of the Star List. It is a very
valuable publication and in most instances
quite reliable for the use of those desiring
to plant.   Mr. Hobbs coincided with him.
At the opening of the evening session a
discussion on the subject of mulching
strawberries was had.
It was argued by several that mulching
later in the spring insures a good crop,but
a late one. Mr. N. Ohmer does not mulch
so heavily as many do. Two inches is
enough.
Prof. Latta of Purdue, on the subject of
DROUTH AND  DRAINAGE
showed by means of several tables of figures
that the average rain fall is not affected to
any appreciable extent by either open or
covered drains—but that these preserve
the moisture in the soil for the benefit of
the crops.
He predicted that if records of rain-fall
were kept for the next fifty years the average for the seconu twenty-five would be
as great as for the first twenty-five. As to
the increase of drouth that might result
from the removal of the water in the soil,
he claimed that the amount of moisture so
removed was only about one-eightieth of
what was taken by the plant in ordinary
seasons, and that the benefits resulting
from drainage were far in excess of any
disadvantage that might result.
The subject of drainage and disease was
broached and considerable discussion was
indulged in regarding it, although entirely foreign to the subject of the essay.
DROTJTH AND TREES
was  the  subject  treated  most  ably by
Prof. T. J. Burrill of the Illinois Industrial University. He said that in the discussion that had resulted from the great
drouth of this year, its cause had often
been attributed to the drainage, destruction of forests and other causes close at
hand. As a matter of fact, the recorded
measurements from 1825 down showed
gradual increases and decreases of different periods amounting to 15 per cent
above and an equal amount below the
mean fall at different times. The necessary conclusion is that man's action has
little or nothing to do with it. The recorded rainfalls show that the rain is least
in January and increases rapidly till it
reaches its maximum in May and June,
after which it decreases with equal rapidity to September. The summer rain
does most for the support of plant life.
The winter rains fill the subterranean and
surface streams. In addition to the atmospheric evaporation, an immense
amount of water is thrown into the air by
the foliage of the plants. A large, well-
developed forest tree throws off about 40
barrels of water of 40 gallons each in one
dry, sunshiny day. Ten of these trees on
an acre of ground would give off four
hundred barrels. This seems incredible,
and yet it would only be one-twentieth of
an inch of water over the surface of the
acre, and the best authorities fix the ordinary evaporation from bare ground at
one-tenth of an inch of water or more. A
depth of soil of two feet in a dry season
contains half its weight in water, which
is three times what is needed for the plant
growth of the season. Some cause outside of plant life must be looked for to account for drouths. By numerous tests it
has been shown that more water evaporates from uncultivated land than from
cultivated land. There will be found
more moisture in corn land in time of
drouth than in pasture land or stubble
land. Experiments show that soil loses
water at night in dry seasons. Much of
the dew is water that escaped from the
soil and condensed on reaching the colder
air. Trees do not take up water from the
air by their leaves. They g-ve water
ont. Hence the importance of preserving the soil moisture. An excellent
means of doing this is by mulching.
Mulched ground always contains more
moisture than bare ground. Sprinkling
and watering does but little good.
Numerous favorable comments were
made upon the essays.
Mr. J. M. Smith,president of the Wiscon
sin State Horticultural Society, a practical
fruit grower, was introduced to the society, and gave an experiment in cultivating
a field of cabbage in a very dry season,
which showed the great advantage of this
plan. He averaged from 220 to 250 bushels
of strawberries to the acre by the most
thorough cultivation during all the season.
He uses a cultivator and goes only two or
three inches deep. His ground is well
underdrained. He forces the growth as
much as possible and takes but one crop
of strawberries, after which he plows it up
and puts in some other crop. He set a
quarter of a million of plants last season.
During the past season his crops had been
good, some of them very large, and he attributed his success to underdrainage and
cultivation. Artificial watering, as ordinarily done, is of very little benefit. He
found that to water an acre of cabbage or
strawberries in a dr,y time weuld require
30,000 gallons of water.
Mr. N. Ohmer, of Dayton, also corroborated the statement as to cultivation in
dry seasons. During this year's drouth,
and one some years ago, he had raised good
crops of blackberries by cultivation when
no one else in the neighborhood had any
berries. He cultivated to a depth of three
or four inches. Eight out of ten farmers
do not believe in frequent cultivation in
dry weather, and the result is that those
who do get better prices for their crops.
SECOND  DAY.
The revision of the fruit list was first in
order at the morning session. On motion
to reduce the Wilson strawberry to a lower place on the list, a spirited discussion
took place in which it appeared that this
noted berry had many warm friends in the
society who were not willing to see it dishonored. It was left in the same rank as
before. A vote on the Captain Jack stood 9
to 6 in favor of .keeping it on the list in central Indiana. Cumberland and Crescent
seemed to be about equally popular. Bubach
No. 5 was ordered put on the list for trial,
also, Itasca and Logan. Stone's Hardy
among the Blackberries was the only variety recommended for trial. The Gregg
raspberry lost a star in the southern division of the State. Souhegan was recommended for trial in the central, also
Cuthbert and Shaffer's, Hopkins and Ohio
and Nemaha. The Red Dutch was the
most popular currant. Fay's Prolific was
recommended for trial. Lee's Prolific was
recommended by E. Y. Teas as a prolific
black variety of excellent quality, especially for canning and cooking, and not liable
to the attacks of the currant worm.
The Worden Grape was put on the list
with two stars, and Moore's Early and
Clinton were on trial in the central division. The Ives was highly recommended
as a regular and full bearer and as nearly
rot proof as any variety and a very late
keeper. Pocklingtonreceived one star in
the central division. Vergennes and the
Niagara were put on trial, also Empire
State, Jefferson and Ulster Prolific. Mr.
Hampton said the Late Iden was very prolific. He knew on one vine were produced 200 pounds the third year after planting. It never rots, is tart but a good cooking variety. The Montmorenci, Dye House
and Eugenie plums werejput on the list
for trial. Prof. H. E. VanDeeman, U. S.
pomologist said the Japan plums were
mostly unworthy of cultivation here, being too tender for this climate. Prunus
Simoni was put on the list for trial. Dr.
Furnas said the Miner was nearly curculio proof and it was put on for trial.
Prof. R. H. Warder was absent and there
was no paper from him presented on the
subject of Forestry.
Prof. J. C. Arthur, of Purdue, read a
very interesting paper on "Fungicides and
Their Application." He said that until
lately sulphur had been the common substance used for killing all sorts of fungi,
but it was not destructive to all of them.
It is beneficial only for surface mildews,
and not all of them. It is used chiefly in
this region in hot-houses. The best method
of using it is to paint the hot-air pipes with
a mixture of sulphur and linseed oil. The
evaporated sulphurous acid gas destroys
the fungi. Sulphate of copper is a valuable fungicide. A solution of one pound
in 20 gallons of water, sprinkled on the
plants, will be found very beneficial. Sulphate of iron has had some reputation, but
it is probably not so good as sulphate of
copper. Hyposulphite of soda, in solution
of less than one pound to 10 gallons of
water, is beneficial for the fungi of apple
and pear trees. Sulphide of potassium, in
solution of a quarter of an ounce to a gallon of water, has been found useful for
several fruits.
Prof. Ragan passed some high compliments upon Prof. Arthur for the excellent
work he had done in his special field and
congratulated Purdue and the State upon
his accession to the faculty of that institution.—Concluded in Horticultural Department next week.
The State Bureau of Labor Statistics of
Ulinois is making arrangements to obtain
from every county in the State figures
showing the mortgages on real estate and
personal property, the object being to ascertain how great a proportion is held by
outside capatalists.