Arizona republican., 1897-10-16
ARIZONA AGRICULTCRIsTS.
Opening of the Third Annual Sassi n
 of hesAssociation.

of thesAssociation
 The third annual session Gf the Ar- Zona Agricultural association was opened in the district court room yes- terday morning by President William Stowe Devoi. In the absence of the secretary, Charles w. Pugn, James H. McClintock was made secretary pro tenn. The room was appropriately decorated with the products of the i field, the garden, the orchard and the i vineyard. At the side of the judges desk a dozen stalks of green corn rested against the wall. They were contributed by E. G. Frankenberg. and in their extreme leng b and l wealth of ear they rivaled the pro- ducts of the Mississippi valley. The i display Of fruits and flowers was ez- cellent.
 i The first subject for discussion was ] "Date Culture" The discussicn vas led by Mrs. s. D. Louno and E. l.. ! Arthur. It was participated in by many other members Of the associa- ! tion and occupied the greater part Of the forenoon. The conclusion reached was that the soil and climate Of the Salt River valley are admirably adapt ed to the growth of the date, which may be carried on with profit
 i Dr. N H. Claflin rad an, in (. est 1 ing paper on varieties of grapes for Arizona and Chaplain Winfield Scott submitted an extensive cne upon the best peach, the best pear and the be t apricot for Arizona. Both paper s produced wide discussi5n.
 | cc o-t was precipitated by Professor James Tourney of the university. Joseph Pet Ter, the Mesa orchardist, treated the matter at considerable length. The crown root knot, he said. was the greatest menace to the fruit industry in this valley It is the cause of death of nine-tenths of all the trees that de. Unless the spread of the disease can be checked, Mir. Beftder believed that fruit growing here had better be abandoned The knot, he said, is nct f1ngoid growth, as is generally sup posed, but is a germ disease Its at tacks are net confined to the top of the root, but it sometimes appears on the trunk or even the branches. The knot may be killed by being skillfHlly cut out or by painting it with mix tune composed of the sulphates of cop : per and iron and lime.
 "The Canaigre Industry Comm ercial- ly Considered" was the subject of a paper received from c. B. AHaire, con- nected with an extracting D ant a. Deming, N. M. Canaigre culture, MT Allaire believes, cannot Ee prCfitably carried on on a small scale or at a great distance from manufacturing plant. This view had been previously reached by the director of tha expe. l. mental station
 I. E. Solomon of So1omcnvi1'e e sent a paper on the varieties of corn fo1 Arizona. The discussion which en- sued took a wide range MT. Solo- mons opinion, which was also en- tertained by other members of the as sociation was, that while corn may not grow as luxuriant1y in the valleys of Arizona as in the great corn belts it is seldom cultivated property here At the beginning of the caring period it should receive thorough irrigation in the absence of rain or damI weather. The natural soil of Arizona valleys, while rich in chemicals, is lacking in nitrogenous chemicals nsc- essary to the perfect growth of corn These may be supplied by fertilizers and may be partially supplied by blowing in alfalfa It was agreed thai a corn crop should follow an alfalfa crop, though care should be taken il blowing to kill the latter. The dis cussion wandered at this point from corn to trees and the effect of a pre- vious crop of alfalfa upcn theil growth.
 w s. Johnson of Mesa had prepared paper on water distri button, but i had grown so late in the afternoon when it was reached on the programme that it went over Mr. Johnson wa: unable to be present at the evening session.
 The evening session was taken III with discussions upon Tobacco In sects'' and the Sugar Beet," the for mer by Professor J. W. Tourney, ant the latter by Professors w. s. Devo and R. H. Forbes Of the university Speaking of sugar beets, Professor Devol said that while the experimen conducted in this territory had beer quite satisfactory, the full measur, Of success desired had not been at tained by reason of the lack of culti vation and general poverty of informa tion on the subject.
 An invitation had been extended tt Governor McCord to be present ant address the association last night. Or account of his recent return from Cal ifornia the invitation did not reac1 him until yesterday afternoon and h. was consequently compelled to de cline.
 The association will meet again thi: morning, when the annual election C.