Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-21
By Worcester Agricultural and
Horticultural Societies.
Secretary Sessions of state Board Gives
a Paper On Gypsy Moth-Prof. LSF.
Kinney On Rural Economy.


very instructive and entertaining paper
on "The war against the gypsy moth. .
He said in part:
Fifteen years ago the trees in the
town of Medford began to be afflicted
with this vora cions kind of caterpillar.
In 1889 the evil had reached such pro-
portions that a town appropriation of
$500 was made to stay its increase, but
without success; and since then the
state has been obliged to appropriate
| vast sums, which have amounted to
about SITS 900.
Notwithstanding these apparently
abundantly appropriations, the uneven
ness Of them has handicapped the COM
mission in point of paying regular sala-
rieS, and that has had its effect upon the
| results accomplished.
Burlapping has been found to be the
most effective method of treating the
infested trees, although the labor in
volved is great and the progress neces-
sarily slow.
! The speaker cited the case Of one tree
on which there were by accurate COM
putation, 1242, 900 eggs, weighing about
! two tons. Last year 361 men were en-
ployed and many colonies of the moths
| destroyed The committee thinks that
an appropriation of $780, 900 will enable
them to successfully consummate the
mated. An inadequate appropriation is,
however, worse than useless.
| In reply to a question from Mr.. Had
wen, Mr. Sessions thought that para
site might be imported to accomplish
the desired end, but considered 1t safer
to continue On the same lines as hereto
fore. Specimens OF the moths and their
eggs were shown. Ledyard Bill of Pax
| ton severely criticized the work OF the
commission, and considered that it's eff
forts mad inded in almost utter failure.
Mr.. Wheeler of California was in favor
| of combining the two plans Of burlap-
| ping and importing a parasite. At the
close of the meeting a unanimous vote
of thanks was extended to Secretary
Sessions for his address.
| Prof. L. F. Kinney, formerly Of this
city, but now attached to the Rhode
Island agricultural experiment station,
spoke on Rural economy" at the after
noon session. The meeting was called
| to order at 2. 80, by President o, B. Had
wen, who pleasantly introduced the lee
turer. Prof. Kinney said in part:
| Science consists largely in the collec-
| tion and classification of facts. Viewed
| in this light it cannot be said that we
| have as yet a science of horticulture,
| although about 90 men in our country
are studying the subject scientifically.
We have proceeded in this study far
enough, however, to be privileged to say
something about rural economy. Civil
| iZation is the offspring of economy, and
economy consists in the judicious eX-
penditure of labor and capital. Conse-
quently, real economy demands that the
| production of the necessaries of life
shall be accomplished by the shortest
and quickest methods. AS an example,
we have the history of lettuce culture in
| this country, in which the price has
been reduced one-haf in 80 years, and
the consumption of that vegetable in
creased probably twentyfold.
Fifty years ago "early lettuce was
the so-called winter lettuce, planted
| in the fall and cut about May. 1t was
| tough and not much superior to cabbage
| in flavor In 1860 lettuce began to be
grown in cold frames, but the quality
of the product was not materially i'm
proved; and the market for it still re-
mained small. The next step in the
evolution was the introduction of the
hot frame, where the heat was supplied
by stable manure; and this was fol-
lowed by the modern greenhouse,
where three crops can be raised from
September to April. The result has
been that lettuce is no longer a luxury,
but a common article of diet. Over pro-
duction has flooded the market, and to-
day there is little profit in the busi-
ness.
The culture Of celery was next dis
cussed, "a vegetable which was un-
known until modern times, and was al
ways grown in trenches until 1884. At
that time the two self -blanching varie-
ties-the "Paris Golden and the white
Golden were introduced, and since
with these varieties, the blanching was
done by boards instead of by the la
briously heaped trenches, the industry
has received great impetus. For a
short time the retail price remained the
same, and the pioneers in the new pro-
cess grew rich; but now reproduction
has ensued and only in the most fa-
vored localities is celery grown at a
profit
The speaker then. passed to the dis
cussion of various subjects pertaining
to rural economy. He was much in fa-
vor of good roads for the country, al
though the problem really is, "Will the
labor set free by the good road be great
er than that expended to make the
road?" He thought macadam was too
expensive for the smaller roads, and
advised the use of cheaper material
Trees should be planted along the
roadside. Not only do they make the
country attractive for pleasure seekers.
thus Indirectly helping the farmer
but houses will be built along such at
tractive roads He discouraged the use
of expensive machinery for small
farms, which wears out by disuse and
neglect in winter so rapidly that its
utility in summer is not adequate COM
pensation.
The discussion was opened by Presi-
dent Hadwen, who said that the farmer
often realized the truth Of Senator
Evarts' reply to the poet, Coleridge, on
the occasion Of their visit to Mount
Vernon, The poet said that he had
heard that Washington was great ath-
lete, and could throw a dollar across
the Potomac. THAT may have been so,"
replied the senator, ''but in those days
a dollar went much farther than now"
Barnum Frcst of Belmont said that he
was a conservative in farming, and par
ticularly opposed to the commercial fer
tilizers.
He related a story of two rival deal
ers in these articles, each Of whom had
given him ton of fertilizer, on the
condition that he, grow a half acre Of
celery with it. He also planted half
acre of celery, which he fertilized in
the good old orthodox way of our fore
fathers. When the crop was ripe, the
two dealers came TO photograph the re-
suit; and, with one accord, both photo
graphed the celery grown on the old
principle. Consequently, with the old
fashioned fertilizer, he is prepared toI
raise celery in competition with any
body.
j. W. Pierce of West Millbury, Chas.
A CARD