Strawberries are grown to great perfection, so also apples, and in a fair season many thousands of bushels find their way to market from here, and to the drying houses and cider mills.

W. H. Stout, Schuylkill county, reports the poorest apple crop for some time. "The general failure is owing to indifferent care, want of fertilizers, trimming, spraying and injury from insects. I had a very good crop, an exception in this county." Pears and plums a fair crop. Peaches a large crop. Says American plums most profitable. Mr. Stout is very successful with the Iron Mountain peach. Vegetables poor. Causes, protracted drougth, fungi and injurious insects. Cultivation improves both size and quality of fruit.

Jno. F. Boyer, Snyder county, reports three-fourth crop of apples which he attributes to favorable weather during blooming. Pears and plums fair yields. Peaches a good yield. Cherries are grown successfully and Yellow Spanish, Black Tartarian, Windsor and Gov. Wood are named as best varieties. In this county "Nature Study" is receiving increased attention. To control San José Scale, trees are cut down and burned. Commercial fertilizers preferred. Cultivating peach orchards is practiced extensively. Mr. Boyer says that rot in the peach orchard was more prevalent than ever before. The trees are covered with dried up fruit which will no doubt work mischief next year. Needs were beyond control. The apple crop was the best in five years.

O. P. Shaver, Somerset county, says very few apples in the county this season. Heavy rains and cloudy weather during pollenization, and leaf curl are assigned as the causes of failure. Pears a fair crop. Peaches a very large yield. Plums a medium crop. Cherries successfully grown, but only for home use. Grapes a large yield. Vegetables did well and insects and fungi caused less damage than some seasons. "Nature Study" in the schools to some extent. Feeding orchards is practiced to some extent with good results; they were the only apple orchards that had any fruit this season. Notices a vast difference in size and quality of fruit in cultivated orchards.

R. S. Searle, Susquehanna county, reports a very small yield of apples, due to season and failure to care for the trees. Pears onehalf crop. Evidently there is little spraying, tillage or cultivation in this county.

S. M. Baker, Tioga county, reports apples almost a failure. Fruit wormy. Pears fair yield but of poor quality. Peaches reasonably good. Plums good. No orchard cultivation and no spraying. He says "the farmers of Tioga county don't seem to think that fruit needs any attention; this is a mistake. Keep the orchard plowed, grass and sprouts down, spray trees, use wood ashes, and less heavy trimming, will do the business."

Dr. Geo. G. Groff, Union county, reports apples a good yield, of excellent quality and keeping well. Success depends on the more careful study of local varieties. The New York varieties do not do well here. Pears a light crop. Peaches, trees were full. Plums, trees set full of fruit. Best plums, German Prune and Lombard Quince succeeds well. Sour cherries a success, sweet varieties rot more every year. Educators are advancing "Nature Study." Spraying is resorted to in order to control San José Scale, but says it cannot be eradicated. Orchard cultivation but little practiced, but improves the fruit.

Willis Cowan, Warren county, reports small crop of apples, of poor quality. Peaches, pears and plums a small yield. Cherries a good yield. Some spraying with good results.

Theodore Day, Wayne county, says crop of apples very small, some orchards almost none, very few orchards with fair crop. Fruit generally of poor quality. Cause of failure, poor season, neglect, increase of fruit and tree diseases, and injurious insects. Pears from nothing to full crop. Peaches good crop, but little grown. Plums light crop, trees nearly all quickly die; Japans the best. Only a few bearing trees and are short-lived. Ornamental trees decreasing on the farms but increasing in the towns. Spraying practiced by only a few; results good. Feeding but little practiced. Cultivation, almost none. Fruit from cultivated orchards much larger and better.

Mr. Day makes mention of a little maggot in apples, called railroad worms; they destroyed a large portion of best, tender, sweet, as well as sour apples. Nice apples looking all right at gathering time, had maggots in, and soon rotted. He also says "I was very much interested in watching nearly total destruction of the tent caterpillar by disease I mentioned last year, for five miles or more around Raven creek, Columbia county, so they did no practical damage there this year, and the moths deposited few eggs."

Daniel H. Pershing, Westmoreland county, says apples about onefourth average crop, of good quality and keeping very well. Short crop due to a wet May, followed by drought. Pears, a good crop. Peaches very good. Plums good; American most profitable. Cherries grown successfully. Grapes a very good crop. But little spraying and cultivation not general. Fertilizers more satisfactory for orchards than stable manure.

Mr. Pershing says "for destroying insects I use torches at night, placing them in a tub one-fourth full of salt pickle. The moths are attracted by the light, fly in, have their wings singed, drop into the pickle and drown. Try it and be convinced (better and cheaper than spraying). Oil barrels cut in two make good tubs, and last many years if cared for. One tub will suffice for one acre. These torches

are death to the curculio and all night flying insects. I work on the principle that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Place your torches in the orchard shortly after the blossoms fall; every warm night in June will suffice. Torches should be slightly higher than top of tub. Place tub a foot or two from the ground."

Col. J. A. Stahle, York county, reports a medium crop of apples. Most injury from caterpillars. Pears and plums a small crop. Peaches a large yield. Quinces no success. Cherries and grapes good crop. Bees and wasps did much damage to early peaches, plums and grapes.

J. G. Patterson reports apples a yield of 25 per cent. The causes of short crop were heavy rains, preventing the distribution of pollen, codling moth and the caterpillars. Pears a light crop. Peaches a big crop, and but little "yellows." Plums from light to excellent yields. Grapes can be grown successfully by using Munson system. Mr. Patterson says to control scale, trees are sprayed with heavy doses of lime. Top dressing on apple produces as good results as cultivation.

E. H. Conklin, York county, says apples a light crop in general. Attributes failure to caterpillars this season. Pears, a large yield, especially Kieffer. Peaches an immense crop, but damp and foggy weather caused rot. Less "yellows" than usual. Plums a large yield; Japan most profitable. Abundance best of all. Cherries are grown successfully. Grapes a fair crop, but must be sprayed. Best variety, Concord in big letters. Spraying is practiced and results food. A great deal of San José Scale. To control, trees are cut down or sprayed. Cultivation favors size and quality of fruit. J. Donaldson, Armstrong county, reports one-third crop of apples, not up to standard. Short crop partly due to cold and wet spell at time of blossoming. Trees promised a good crop, but fruit dropped badly. Pears a good crop. Peaches a fair yield; "yellows" on the increase. Plums good crop; American most profitable. Small fruit culture somewhat on the increase. Spraying is on the increase; result, better fruit and more of it marketable.

M. L. Makin, Cambria county, says apples were a small yield. Pears and peaches yielded well. Plums poor crop. Cherries and grapes fair.

R. L. Watts, Cambria county, reports a small crop of apples of inferior quality. Failure due to cold and wet weather during blossoming. Pears, peaches, plums, cherries and grapes practically a failure. Tillage makes large fruit; has same effect as manure.

No

Clem Chestnut, Fulton county, says some orchards were loaded while others had no fruit. The most uneven crop he ever saw. theory to offer for this condition. Pears poor crop. Peaches a

light crop. Plums a good yield. Quinces and cherries are grown successfully.

J. B. Johnston, Lawrence county, says apples were less than onefourth crop. No cause assigned for failure. Pears a full crop, Kieffer almost the only variety that survives the attack of the blight. Peaches a full crop, never had much "yellows.' Plums enough green fruit, but few ripened. Only variety that ripened much fruit was the Blue Damson; rot never troubles it. Frost and rot make cherries so uncertain that but little cultivation is attempted. Of spraying, he says "any one who sprays once keeps at it, for he sees that it pays."

DISCUSSION.

Mr. Creasy: I find German Prune the best variety of plum and brings highest price. The Japan plums may be all right, but are not so profitable.

Mr. Snavely: Japan plums have a place in my orchard, and I grow them with other varieties. Wild-Goose is not self-fertile but will bear if planted with Miner. We can sell Japan plums when we have no German Prune. Several years since I ordered some German Prune trees, but got some other variety under that name. Have nerer been able to learn what it is, but it will outbear German Prune three to one. Trees are good growers, uniform in shape.

AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION.

The Chair: In June, 1890, a conference of agricultural organizations of the State was held at State College to formulate plans and outline the preliminary work of presenting their claims for legislation to the next General Assembly. Several bills were drafted and presented to the last Legislature but failed to pass. Work in this direction is to be continued as will be seen from communications which will be read by the Secretary:

"Department of Public Instruction,
"Harrisburg, Pa., November 19, 1901.

"To the Secretary of the State Horticultural Association:

"Dear Sir: In accordance with the authority vested in their Executive Committee by the Conference of Agricultural Organizations held at State College, Pa., June 4 and 5, 1900, another conference is hereby called to meet at Harrisburg, Pa., Tuesday, January 21, 1902, to hear the report of the Legislative Committee and to further consider

"The Promotion of Agricultural Education in all its Branches in Pennsylvania.' We earnestly hope that your Association will either authorize its former delegates to represent it at this conference or appoint new ones, as may seem best to it. This is a question of the highest importance to the agriculturists of the Commonwealth and every agricultural organization should be represented in its consideration.

"For the Executive Committee.

"Respectfully yours,

"NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER,

"Chairman."

"State College, Pa., December 7, 1901.

"Mr. E. B. Engle, Waynesboro, Pa.:

"Dear Sir: You have doubtless received before this a call issued by Dr. N. C. Schaeffer for a second conference of delegates of agricultural organizations upon the subject of agricultural education, to be held at Harrisburg, January 21, 1902, the day preceding the meeting of the State Board of Agriculture.

"While the efforts of the allied agricultural organizations of the State to secure greater recognition by the Commonwealth for the cause of agricultural education have not as yet accomplished the desired result, the events of the last eighteen months have demonstrated that the agricultural interests of Pennsylvania are united as never before in the determination to secure such recognition. There seems every reason, therefore, to take courage and to anticipate final success.

"In the meantime, it seems highly important that the representatives of the various agricultural organizations should confer together with a view to formulating plans for the future. The strength of the movement up to this time, has lain in its union of all the agricultural interests. If we desire ultimate success, this union must be continued and consolidated. I hope, therefore, that you will use your influence to ensure that the State Horticultural Association shall be represented at this conference by active and earnest workers in the cause of agricultural education.

"My belief in the importance of the subject is my excuse for thus calling your attention to it.

"Very truly yours,

"H. P. ARMSBY."

The Chair: I would suggest that before the close of this meeting a legislative committee be appointed and that they be authorized to attend said conference. I cannot too strongly urge the importance

8-7-1902