The Portland daily press., 1888-02-24
THE FRUIT GROWERS.
Proceedings Of the Second Day OF the
Meeting at Gloucester.

The second days session Of the Maine
Pathological Society and Board Of Agricul-
ture opened at 10 o'clock yesterday morning
at New Gloucester. There was an increased
attendance over Wednesday, the afternoon
meeting especially opening with large au-
dience present, including number Of ladies'.
A paper by Mr.. E. w. Dunbar of Damaris-
Gotta on "Plums and their Culture" was
the first exercise OF the forenoon. In the alb
sence OF Mr.. Dunbar the paper was read by
Mr.. NJ. c. Hobbs Of West Pennington. The
following is an extract:
L do not know how to prevent the black
knot All do for it is to cut off the knots as
soon after they.appear as possible, and dress
the trees heavily. OF all the varieties have
grown. the Niagara is the only one that has
escaped thu. disease. have cut off the limbs
OF trees that were largely covered with knots
and they are sending out new branches
Whether they will ever recover and become
worth cultivating remains to be seen. / be-
lleve 1t Is generally admitted by cultiYators
that no remedy has ever been discovered.
The curculiO Is little insect of brown
color with spots of white. They appear as
soon as the fruit forms and continue until
about the middle of August. 1t Is supposed
they fly from the ground. They puneture
the plum and lay an egg in the wound. The
and before the plum falls from the tree, usu-
ally before it is half grown. Some cultlvators
recommend the jarring tree suddenly, In the
morning and evening, when they viii fall
and can be caught on a cloth and destroyed.
have been troubled but little with the pest.
keen hens in the orchard and no grass or
weeds grow around my trees. l think the
hens and clean cultivation will prevent near
ly all trouble from this insect.
Mr.. ID. p. True Of Leeds followed with a
paper on the subject, "Notes on Plum Gull
ture." In the course of this paper, which was
very aOle, he said:
An old Damson tree that was covered with
black knots / cut down. 1t sent up vigor-
GUS shoots that bore fruit. | have learned
the lesson that il is as necessary 70 burn the
black knot as to cut it off the tree. 1t will
send off its spores as readily after being cut
as when on the tree. In plum growing, prop
er location Is Of greater consequence than in
most other fruits. A good elevation and a
heavy, compact soil are necessary. l think
most highly Of hard, stony soil as pro-
lection from the curculio.
Adiscussion upon the points brought up
in the papers was participated in by num-
Der of those present and full exchange Of
views took place.
Mr.. z. f. Starrett suggested as remedy
for curculi, dry corn cobbs, soaked in sweet
ened water and hung on the tree.
S. r. Sweetsir, of Cumberland, gave an
experience with the hens in preventing cur
culio He concurred in the opinion of Mr..
Dunbar.
Mr.. Nelson gave his experience with the
use Of salt on plum trees. He did not rec
ommend it.
Hon. p. NJ. Anger said: "a saturated So
luton of salt as a strong brine is dangerous
when applied directly to the roots Of tree.
would not recommend 1t. A remedy for
the curculi that have great confidence in
is wash Of coal tar. 1t works well. There
is no remedy for the black knot. 1t is the
only thing we dread. In Connecticut for the
last four or five years there has been an cpl
demic."
The programme of the afternoon opened
with very able paper upon Trees for or
nament and shade" prepared and read by
Mr.. S. L. Boardman of Augusta. 1t was
followed by paper by ID. Fl. Knowlton Of
Pennington, upon the topic of Arbor Day
and its observance.
OF the relations Of the Pathological Socis-
ty toward the day, the speaker said:
Nothing is more apparent than that the
Maine Pom0l0gical Society would De among
the foremost advocates of tree planting,
both for ornament and utility. Our name
does not imply anything beyond the growing
of fruits, but 1t has always been our custom
to consider the cultivation of flowers,
shrubs and trees as forming part of our le-
gtimate field of work.
The Board of Agriculture should lead in
this work. You have noted that 1t was a
board of agriculture that first instituted a
general observance Of Arbor Day, and in my
opinion, the board could not find better OPP
portunity for useful work.
A discussion followed. which was partici-
pated in by Messrs. Atherton, Gilbert,
Merrill, Andrews, Starrett, Prof. Anger and
others.
Some excellent music was furnished by a
quartette choir under the direction Of Mr.. ID.
G. Mcintyre Of New Gloucester.
The evening session was attended by a
large audience. Mr.. l.. +. Starrett Of Rock
land read an original poem entitled In
| spiration."
The address of the evening was an Illus
trated lecture by Professor Carl Brann Of
Bangor upon "Insects injurious to Vegeta-
| tion."
At the close the hearty applause of the
audience testified to the pleasure which this
lecture had Afforded.