and lime-sulphur combined would you recommend? How much of each?
Mr. Dunlap: In 100 gallons of water we put three gallons of the
concentrated solution of lime-sulphur, as we buy it commercially, three
gallons to 100 gallons of water, that is, for the summer spray, and for
the arsenate of lead we use four pounds of arsenate of lead to the 100
gallons.
Mr. Dyer: In connection with that I would like to ask if you have used
or would recommend pulverized lime-sulphur?
Mr. Dunlap: I haven't used any.
Mr. Dyer: Do you know anything about it?
Mr. Dunlap: I think it is a more expensive proposition.
Mr. Dyer: I never used any myself. I thought perhaps that might work
better in connection with the arsenate of lead than the liquid.
Mr. Dunlap: I couldn't say, I have always followed the policy of never
departing from well-established lines of work until I am satisfied that
the new one is absolutely all right. I have seen in our state men
destroy the fruit from a forty or eighty acre orchard by taking up some
new thing that was highly advertised and looked very attractive. It is
not the same proposition, of course, but they tell us the devil comes in
very attractive form. He comes with a swallow-tail coat and a red
necktie and a buttonhole bouquet, and he looks very attractive. So it is
with a lot of these things advertised; they look attractive but for our
own good we ought to stick to the things we know and let the state
experiment station try them and report upon them.
Mr. Huestis: Does Mr. Dunlap attribute the general dropping of apples to
the scab fungus?
Mr. Dunlap: Not entirely.
Mr. Huestis: Do you think that it weakens the stem of the apples?
Mr. Dunlap: Yes, sir, the droppings of the apple is largely due to the
scab fungus. Of course, some of the dropping occurs as the result of too
much rain or too much dry weather, something of that kind, that is not
attributable to scab fungus.
Mr. Kellogg: Does spraying injure the bees?
Mr. Dunlap: I have never had anybody prove to me that the bees were
especially injured by spraying in the bloom. We do not practise spraying
in the bloom, that is, we spray when we have about one-third of the
bloom left on the trees. I have never had any injury, and we have
orchardists who have bees in their orchards, and they go on spraying the
same way. I do not believe bees are poisoned by the spray. Maybe I am
mistaken about it, but I have never seen any conclusive proof of the
bees being poisoned by the spray. It is possible they might collect it
and carry it into the hives and might poison the brood in the hive. I
don't know. I thank you. (Applause.)
The Value of Horticulture to the Farm.
MRS. CLARENCE WEDGE, ALBERT LEA.
It is pleasant to have a good roomy subject. E. S. Martin said in
Harper's Weekly as Christmas time approached, "There are just two places
in the world, and one of these is home." I will paraphrase it by saying,
"There are only two places in the world, and one of these is the farm."
So the value of horticulture to the farm is a large subject.
I passed a farm last summer that I shall never forget. It was quite
unattractive, I believe, so far as variety of contour was
concerned--quite level and commonplace. Right across the road from the
house was a half-grown windbreak of golden willow. Against that as a
background blazed out row upon row of the most brilliant flowers,
graduated down to the edge of the road, and extending as far as half a
city block or more. Think what a beautiful surprise for every one that
turned that corner. I think the occupants of the house must have enjoyed
sitting on their porch watching the people in the cars start with
pleasure and turn to look as they flew past. That farmer (or his wife)
knew something of the value of horticulture to the farm. Perhaps it was
a device of the farmer's wife to divert the gaze of the passer-by from
the porch, for you know we do stare shamelessly when we are on a joy
ride. At any rate, that farm would not be forgotten by any one that
passed it. The advertising that beauty spot gave his place would exceed
in value a column a week in the county paper, and not cost a tenth as
much.
Lowell remarks, "Nature with cheap means still works her wonders rare."
And there she stands with arms extended, offering the farmer all the
wealth and beauty he will put forth his hand to take.
Last fall I passed another farm down in Iowa, whose owner had tried to
make his place conspicuous by putting a concrete wall and gateway in
front of his house, and making lavish use of white paint in decorating
his buildings and grounds. He succeeded, but I cannot help thinking that
if he had put the money that useless concrete work cost into shrubbery
and vines, it would have made his place twice as attractive. I dislike
pretentious adornments to the farm, especially where the rest of the
place doesn't measure up to them. Like Senator Blaine, who, at the time
the Queen Anne style of architecture became popular, on being asked why
he did not have his old fashioned house Queen Anned, replied that he
did not like to see a Queen Anne front and a Mary Anne back.
A farm home can be something better than a city park. One of the
beautiful things that I shall always remember about Berlin was a way
they had of bordering their parks and the enclosures of public
buildings. They take tree-roses trimmed up to the height of a fence with
a hemispherical head. Then they plant them around the edge of their
grounds a rod or two apart, festoon chains from the top of one rose
stalk to the top of the next, and where the chain touches the ground
midway between them, they plant a little ivy which climbs up and
conceals the chain and gives the appearance of festoons of vines between
the rose trees. I thought them so lovely that when I married a
nurseryman I thought I would persuade him to do something of that kind
on our grounds, but he has convinced me that while that is all right for
a city park, it would not be in good taste in a country place. It would
look too artificial. The charm of a country place is its natural beauty.
For the same reason we do not have any trimmed evergreens or hedges on
our place. Moreover, the man who makes his living from the soil finds
the upkeep of those decorations too pottering, and if he had money to
hire it done he would rather put it into his automobile or into other
improvements.
The natural beauty that can be set about the farm home will become it
better. Wild grape vines or woodbine draping the wire fences tempt the
eye of the passer-by to linger, and they cost nothing. Once planted,
they are there for a life-time. A walnut tree in a fence corner will
grow to a fair size in ten years, in twenty it becomes a land-mark. A
catalpa of a hardy strain will do the same thing in about half the time
in our part of the state. Take an elder from your woods and plant it in
an angle of your house, and it makes a luxurious growth that rivals the
castor bean of the city park and does not need to be replaced the next
spring.
It certainly pays to go in for some kind of horticultural adornments for
the farm. They are so easy and inexpensive to obtain and make such a
happy difference to the farmer's family and to all who pass his way.
When you have a specially prosperous year on the farm, save a little of
the surplus for new trees or shrubs.
But I remember passing another farm, all of twenty-five years ago, where
horticulture may once have been of value to the farmer but had become a
burden to him. There was a dense grove of willow down at one side,
through which the drive leading to the barn was kept wet and muddy by
the shade. On the other side rose a high grove of trees casting a gloomy
shade on the house and poultry buildings, and a few odd shrubs straggled
along the roadside and gave the place an unkempt look. Of all things,
have sunshine! City people often have to sacrifice it, but no farmer is
too poor to have it in plenty. Don't let your trees tyrannize over you.
It is, perhaps, unnecessary to mention the value of a windbreak to a
farm. If it has not been provided by nature it is an absolute necessity
to plant one as a matter of economy. It saves fuel inside and gives
comfort outside. The cows give more milk, and all the animals put on
more fat, if they have a sheltered place to take their airing. It is
also a good thing to set some bushes or small spruces along the
foundation wall of the house on the windy side. They are ornamental in
summer, and in winter they catch the snow and tuck the house in against
the wind.
When it comes to the garden, the "Value of Horticulture to the Farm"
depends largely upon the farmer's wife, for a garden needs mothering as
well as fathering. Few farmers have time to do more for a garden than
the actual labor of plowing, planting, and cultivating, and digging the
root vegetables in the fall. Somebody must watch the garden, go through
it nearly every day, poison the cabbage worms and potato bugs, keep the
asparagus and cucumbers picked, watch for the maturing of peas and
beans, and dispose of any surplus either by canning or sending to
market. To visit the garden only when you wish to gather some particular
vegetable is like milking the cow only when you happen to want some
milk.
A garden well tended puts the farm far ahead of the city home for
luxuries of the table and cuts the cost of living in two. Fresh
vegetables and cream are expensive articles in the city, inaccessible to
any but the well-to-do, but it does not take a very thrifty farmer to
have them, providing he has a thrifty wife. But to be a real helpmeet
she must have an overall skirt and a pair of rubber boots. Then the dewy
mornings will be as much of a pleasure to her as to her husband, and she
can do her garden work in the cool of the day.
A garden is especially valuable to a farm, because the farm is usually
somewhat isolated and must depend more or less upon its own resources
for freshness and variety of food. A good garden on the farm will almost
abolish the tin can, and strike off a large part of the grocer's bill,
to say nothing of making the farmer live like a king.
The Strawberry Weevil.
As strawberries are about to blossom, it would be well to keep a
look-out for a shortage in the number of blossoms, for this is the first
indication of the work of the strawberry weevil. Because of the
diminutive size of the insect, few are acquainted with it, so that the
shortage of blossoms or failure of the crop is often attributed to
frost, hail, climatic conditions or some other agency. Upon close
examination, the buds will be found to be severed from the stem, some
lying beneath on the ground, others being still attached by a few shreds
in a drooping manner. Further examination around the buds may reveal a
small snout beetle, which is the cause of the injury, it being about
one-tenth inch long and marked with two dark spots on each wing cover.
The females oviposit in the buds, and then cut them off when oviposition
is completed, in order to protect the larva within, which later develops
to the adult beetle.
[Illustration: Showing beetle of strawberry weevil and the damage it
inflicts.]
The strawberry weevil has been especially injurious around the vicinity
of Hopkins the past summer. It was not uncommon to find fields with from
forty to ninety per cent. of the buds cut, and as the earliest and most
mature buds, which would be the first to ripen, are among those cut,
the losses inflicted may be quite serious. The weevil not only injures
the cultivated strawberry, but is found to attack the buds of the red
raspberry, dewberry and wild strawberry. It is a singular fact that only
the staminate varieties are injured, especially those which furnish
considerable pollen, since this constitutes the chief food supply of
both larvae and adults.
_Life History._--The weevil appears as soon as the buds begin to form
and soon after deposits an egg within the bud. She then immediately
crawls down the stem and proceeds to sever the bud. The eggs hatch
within five or six days, and in about three or four weeks the footless
grubs become full-grown, coming out as adults about five days later.
This new brood, upon emerging, will attack the leaves, making numerous
small holes on the under surface, soon after picking time. As early as
August 25 the beetles were found to go into hibernation last summer,
within the strawberry fields, being found especially among the dead
leaves. The older beds were found to be more seriously infested because
of the fact that they wintered over in the small fields.
_Control._--Since the weevils do not disperse readily, and since they
hibernate within the fields, the one crop system and the plowing up of
the beds immediately after picking would probably do away with the
injury entirely. This one crop system could be followed for about two
years, when it might be advisable to return to the two crop system if
the weevils have disappeared.
On April 18, 1916, the weevils were located by the writer underneath the
straw, and beginning to move about. From observations last year, it
would be advisable to remove the straw from one or two rows in order to
hasten the maturity of the buds, and keep the straw on the remainder of
the patch in order to force the weevils to the uncovered row. They could
then be destroyed either by plowing under or burning.
Some recent experiments by Prof. Headlee, State Entomologist of New
Jersey, appear to have been successful against the strawberry weevil. A
dust spray of a mixture of arsenate of lead one pound, and sulphur one
pound, was used as a repellent, giving almost perfect protection. The
material was applied twice, April 30th and May 6th.
The writer will be glad to co-operate with the growers, if they find the
presence of the weevil in their strawberry beds.--S. Marcovitch, Section
of Economic Entomology, Division of Economic Zoology, University Farm.
Secretary's Annual Report, 1915.
A. W. LATHAM, SECRETARY.
Twenty-five years is a long time to look forward to, but it does not
seem so long when you look back, and yet when I review the changes that
have taken place in the Horticultural Society since I assumed the
position of secretary twenty-five years ago the way seems long indeed.
In the year 1890 very nearly all of the old members of the society,
those who had contributed their time and money to bring it into
existence and keep it alive for its first twenty-four years were still
on the membership roll and doing loyal work for the association. As year
by year passed these veterans of the association one by one dropped away
until at the present time the number of those in that class who are
still with us here are so few in number that it becomes almost a
vanishing point. In the year 1897 a photograph was taken of "ten
veterans of horticulture," a copy of which is hanging in the secretary's
office, and of these ten the only one now with us is that loyal friend
and supporter of the society, Seth H. Kenney, of Waterville, now eighty
years of age and too feeble to attend this meeting. Going back to a date
still earlier, covering the first few years of the association, the only
working members of the society as far as the secretary recalls are J. M.
Underwood, C. M. Loring and himself. This is the order of nature, and we
should remember only with gratitude and affection those who have served
before us and with us and passed on.
At the close of this, the forty-ninth year of the society, we find the
membership roll somewhat larger in number than at any previous period in
its history, there being on the annual roll 3,079 members, and on the
life roll 311 members, of whom 30 are honorary. There have been added to
this roll the past year one honorary life member, Mr. Lycurgus R. Moyer,
of Montevideo, and 20 paid life members. The number of deaths appearing
on this life roll during the past year is fortunately only two, Mr. E. A.
Webb, editor and manager of "The Farmer," who had been a member since
1906, and V. A. Neil, of Minneapolis, whose death occurred prior to the
1914 annual meeting but had not been spoken of heretofore.
As usual a considerable number of sources have contributed towards this
large membership roll. The auxiliary societies, of which there are 10
have brought upon this roll in all 878 members. One new auxiliary
society has been added to the number this year, organized in St. Paul
under the name of "Horticultural, Poultry and Improvement Association of
West St. Paul." An auxiliary society maintained at Crookston for a
number of years seems to be no longer in existence and should probably
be taken from the list of auxiliaries. The farmers' institutes have not
contributed as largely to the membership roll as some previous years, on
account in part of the fact that the work heretofore done by farmers'
institutes is being done in farmers' clubs and schoolhouse meetings of
farmers, which does not offer as good an opportunity for securing
memberships, though the service to the cause of horticulture is probably
even better. Through this source the society has received this year 146
memberships. Many of the nurserymen have contributed liberally to the
membership this year, memberships that were given by them to their
customers in accordance with an arrangement made with this office. In
all from this source have come upon our roll 172 memberships.
The State Fruit-Breeding Farm continues to be the object of permanent
central interest in our association. Unfortunately the frosts of last
spring interfered with the fruiting of the thousands of trees which
under other circumstances would have borne fruit, many of them for the
first time, so that practically few advances have been made the past
year in breeding new tree fruits except in preparation for the future.
In small fruits it was different, and the list of these worthy of trial
which are standing the climate well is a growing one. Our membership are
exceedingly interested in these new fruits as manifested by the large
number called for through the distribution of plant premiums. In all
there were sent out this year 2,594 lots of these plant premiums.
There is a growing interest in top-grafting late-keeping varieties of
apples as indicated by the large number of calls made on this office for
scions for this purpose the past season.
The seedling contests continue and the interest in growing seedlings
continues as well, there having been a call during the past year from
this office for a considerable number of packages of apple seeds by our
membership.
So far no apple seedling has appeared to which we could award the $1,000
prize offered by the society for a winter apple. Referring to the
seedling contest inaugurated some years ago, the first $100 premium in
connection with which should have been awarded three years ago, it
appears that the time limit for the fruitage of these seedlings was
made too short. The fourth premium comes due at this meeting, but no
claimants have as yet come forward for any of these premiums. Probably
it will be thought a wise thing to do to continue these awards during
later years when these seedling trees will come into bearing.
The "acre orchard" contest entered into a year ago last spring in which
there 35 entries finally materialized into a smaller number than
anticipated, reports having come into the office last year from 23
contestants. The reports for the current year are now being received but
not all at hand.
The executive board provided conditions under which these orchards
should be conducted and the prizes awarded, which conditions will be
found published in the 1914 report of the society on page 45.
Trial stations are continuing their work and are being used principally
now as far as new material is concerned in testing of fruits from the
State Fruit-Breeding Farm. To this list has been added the government
station at Mandan under the management of A. W. Peterson, reports from
which point will also be made to our association from time to time, as
well as from the trial stations connected with University Farm, all of
which stations have been added also to our society list.
Arrangements are being perfected for the purpose of extending to our
membership opportunity to use the books from the society library, which
is now increased to about 3,300 volumes. This list has been published in
the 1915 report of the society, and we shall be prepared early in the
year to send out books to all who desire them according to the
regulations, which will be published in an early number of our monthly.
The society is maintaining its card indexes and adding year by year to
the amount of material which they represent. One of these cards indexes
contains the names and titles of all the articles published in the
society's annual reports and is indexed also with the names of the
writers, the index being prepared in this double manner. Another card
index contains the list of books in our library, and the third one,
indexed by subjects, the bulletins on horticulture coming from the
various state experiment stations and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. These indexes are invaluable for their various purposes and
may be used by the membership at their volition.
The society maintained an office at the late state fair, at which a
considerable number of memberships were received and a large number of
members met by the secretary and other officers of the society. We
believe this was an excellent move and should be continued in the
future.
As to the horticultural exhibit at the state fair, while the secretary
has no official connection with it, it should be spoken of as a very
satisfactory exhibition indeed and well handled. The building as a
whole, covering all branches of horticultural work, was a real credit to
the various interests represented and well deserves all the time and
expense lavished upon it.
Probably the most important event of the year with which the secretary
was officially connected was the effort made to secure an appropriation
from the state legislature in session last winter for the construction
of a building for the uses of the Horticultural Society. The building
committee, with which the secretary served, held a number of meetings
with members of the Board of Regents and various committees at the state
legislature, at which a considerable number of our membership besides
those regularly on the committee were in attendance and took part in
appeals in the interest of the building. The secretary's service in this
connection was largely the effort made to enlist the co-operation of the
membership in the way of getting them to write letters or talk
personally with the members of the legislature upon the subject, and an
appeal was sent out through the mails to all of our membership with this
object in view. The response was a most liberal one, far beyond our
expectations. Some of the members of the legislature received over
thirty letters from their constituents asking their support to this
measure. There was not a single member of the legislature who did not
receive some communications about this matter. In all there were sent in
this manner to members of the legislature 1,594 letters. While our
efforts to secure this building failed, it was, as we believe, largely
on account of the prevailing and unusual sentiment for economy which
permeated the legislature to an extraordinary degree, and we have
reasonable assurance that a similar effort with the next legislature
will bring us success. In regard to this matter the chairman of the
building committee speaks more fully.
The financial report follows and to this your attention is respectfully
requested.
Secretary's Financial Report, 1915.
A. W. LATHAM, SECRETARY.
RECEIPTS.
Balance $91.62
G. W. Strand, Treasurer 685.96
Life membership fees 190.00
Books sold 14.10
Cuts sold 7.50
Banquet tickets sold at 75c each 138.00
Garden Flower Society, account premiums 65.00
Annual fees, 1914 8.00
Annual fees, 1915 3,004.00
Annual fees, 1916 263.00
---------
$4,467.18
DISBURSEMENTS.