Currants and gooseberries were nearly exterminated some time ago by the imported currant worm. From a want of feeding material the pest has rapidly diminished in number. It is now an easy matter to raise these fruits which bring remunerative prices (9 to 12 cents per quart).

A little watching for holes in the lower leaves, then a little spray of hellebore and water puts the embryo saw fly permanently to sleep.

Black Currant-Here we thought we had a plant sufficiently loud smelling to repel all insects. Vain hope. For the past three years or more this fruit has acted badly. The berries, little, insignificant things, dried up before ripening, and dropped off before fit to eat. The leaves began turning brown in patches. Patches grew until the whole leaf turned brown and fell off. New leaves then came out. The whole trouble was laid to fungi. In September last an affected leaf was put under a magnifier. When, lo! on its under side appeared a small army of straw-colored sappers and miners sapping away the life blood of the leaf.

The new pest probably belongs to the aphide family. There is an opportunity to experiment on the "little cuss" with kerosene emulsion, Pyrethrum, whale oil soap, hellebore, ad nauseum. Shall be glad to hear from the first friend who physicked him.

REPORT OF W. H. H. CASH, NEW LISBON.

I have over seven hundred apple trees, four acres of blackberries, three acres of raspberries, one acre of currants, two acres of strawberries, three hundred and fifty plum trees, two hundred cherry trees, besides gooseberries and other truck. I am growing 2,200 apple trees, and so on. Now, I am a special crank on plums. I have location by side of mill pond, covering about 1,000 acres, and while you climb hills to avoid frost, I am hugging that pond on sandy loam, and carrying my plums onto the bottom land and islands made from sediment

washed down from the bluffs, very rich land. My experience is that frost freezes clear on top of our hills before it touches my land, so I am wading in. By putting in a steam pump and raising the water twelve or fourteen feet I can irrigate every foot of this land, which I expect to do. Of plums I planted one hundred De Soto, forty Abundance, and about twenty of each kind Japans, twenty-five Golden Beauty, twenty-five Pottawatomie, forty-five Wild Goose, twenty-five Wolf, twentyfive Forest Garden, twenty-five Mariana, twenty-five Lombard, twenty-five Prince of Wales. I have not been able to find weaver, Miner, etc. What other kinds are there that would stand a show in my situation, and where can I get them, please?

DISCUSSION.

C. E. Tobey-I would like to ask Mr. Converse about the leaf roller; he speaks of its doing considerable damage.

D. C. Converse-The leaf roller did not make its appearance until the crop was nearly ruined by dry weather, but when it did come it settled it; it only troubled us on our old beds, our two year old beds.

M. A. Thayer-We have, in many of our reports the past season, the prediction, "We will have a good crop next year; there is a good prospect for it." I would like to ask these gentlemen if they have examined the fruit buds so that they know for certain? I would like to know if, after a dry season, the buds are not so harmed that they will not bear a good crop next season. On our grounds we do not expect a good crop of blackberries or raspberries next season because the fruit buds seem very immature. If we get a half crop we will be satisfied. The fruit stem buds do not seem to be matured.

M. Pierce, Minnesota-I have carefully examined the grapes, blackberries and raspberries in our section and I do not look for a good crop this coming year because the fruit buds are not well developed. I much doubt the strawberries also, they

have made so little crown growth. I do not expect a good crop of raspberries or blackberries. The year before last was dry and it spoiled our crop for last year. On the apple trees the buds are better and we may have a good crop. Grapes were very immature last fall.

A. A. Parsons-I have made a careful inspection of the fruit buds in my vicinity and I find the same lack that Mr. Thayer does. The buds are not full. I think the best show for fruit is on the blackberries, although they made small growth last fall. I look for light crops of small fruit.

D. C. Converse-I referred in my report to strawberries and raspberries only on my own grounds, and I found there, as I stated, that the buds are well developed. We all know that unless we get a good growth we shall get a small amount of fruit, but from the looks of the plants and the strength of them, I think we have reason to expect a good crop. The strength that would have grown into the berries last year, can be used for developing buds.

A. L. Hatch-Now, that suggests an idea, and that is, why wouldn't it be well to turn those bushes all over to the new growth? Prune them well so that they will concentrate their power for the production of fruit.

M. A. Thayer-I would suggest that they be severely pruned and not allowed to bear so much fruit.

R. J. Coe-I have tried that and it gives the canes a better growth.

The fruit prospects for next year, I consider good, at least they are with me.

J. F. Case-I have tried that on the Gladstone. I do not care for fruit on the first cane. I prune right down and get my fruit on the second cane. My prospect for a crop looks as good as ever it did, it was irrigated.

R. J. Coe-If we get a good growth we get plenty of fruit buds..

A. L. Hatch—The point I want to make is this, you must have maturity there or you will not get the fruit. It is not a question of the amount of growth, you must also have the ripening process.

I have made this statement here that a tree or plant can be grown past fruitfulness. That is the experience of many in New York as well as elsewhere. I do not care how plump your buds are, if they are not mature, it will indicate no fruit. A great many fruit growers have erred in that direction. Prof. Goff told me of a fruit grower in New York who had a large, and a fine orchard which he grew past fruitfulness, the wood of which did not mature, simply because the owner cultivated it too much and kept it growing. You must stop cultivating at certain seasons of the year to permit ripening. A few years ago a man published the fact that the terminal buds finish their development by the first of July. I find that it never fails. A terminal bud is at its best in July. There is a certain season for those things to grow. I never give a tree a stimulus beyond what its natural time in the year for growing is. I wouldn't cultivate after the first of June nor give an or chard any manure after that time. Prof. Bailey, who is one of the best authorities in this country, used to think other. wise, but has now changed his mind. You know what a great cultivator J. M. Smith was. He cultivated too much, and everything that would not stand his high cultivation he condemned; he grew right past the point of fruitfulness. You know that he only succeeded with one or two varieties of strawberries. He was like the old king you read about that had an iron bedstead and every one had to fit that bedstead. Any growth that comes after the middle of July is unsafe. If you can get hold of this as I have had to, by experience, you can get some good out of it. You can make money out of it. R. J. Coe-We try to get just as rank a growth as we can up to the first of August.

Chas. Hirschinger--If you stop cultivating your trees at the time Mr. Hatch advises, you certainly are going to get a crop of weeds unless you do as I have done in some of my orchards, get such a growth of blue grass that weeds will not grow. Discussion closed.

A. L. Hatch-I move that a chairman on the committee on legislation be appointed in place of Mr. Hirschinger.

Motion seconded and carried, and the chair appointed A. L. Hatch.

A. L. Hatch-I suggest that we invite the committee of the assembly, called the committee on forestry and horticulture, and the joint committee on claims to meet with us here.

Chas. Hirschinger-I would like to have the committee on legislation of the Society see those bills I have introduced. I saw the chairman of the joint committee on claims and asked him to meet with us; he said he would do so. The bill for our appropriation asks for $2,000.

bound volumes of our reports.

The other bill

asks for 4,000

President-If you will allow me I will suggest that you meet

that committee at 11 o'clock tomorrow.

Adjourned.

Tuesday P. M.

WHAT DO THE APPLE TREES OF WISCONSIN NEED

MOST?

F. H. Chappel, Oregon.

I am now going to give you a little of my experience in the work of apple growing. I have been for twenty-five years trying to find out how to grow apples. I do not claim to have learned much, but I have found that one of the first and most important things is to find a good location on soil that will retain enough moisture for the trees. This is very essential. Then we must understand how to give moisture. I would recommend the use of salt as a help to the moisture and as a preventive against blight. I will now speak of moisture. I want you to see the perfect wood of the apple tree that I am talking about (shows specimen of wood). It was a whip grafted into a Duchess, and has borne four crops of apples.

Moisture is the first point. We can use a clay loam, or even a sandy soil, if it be not too sandy, but good cultivation we