The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-03-06

| found 1t was due to bacterial trouble
Last year | made visit to that planta
ticn and found quite serious condition
there. The owner had perhaps eight OF
ten acres Of strawberries in one of hii
patches. and about one-third of his
plants had been killed. | presume
there is no doubt that we have in the
state bacterial disease of the straw
berry, unlike anything else.
There are two or three pests that
presume you are familiar with in 6
small way. The strawberry leaf curl
which may do damage, but usually
does not. The strawberry leaf blight
In the Willamette valley nearly always
does do damage, but not seriously
The two last mentioned in the straw
berry sections of the East have been
controlled by moving the vines and
burning them when the crop is of,
The two borers / spoke of, and which
consider the worst pests in the state
cannot be cured. There is no remedy
for them, because they are inside the
plant. The only thing to do Is ia
destroy the plant as soon as you see il
is infested, or dying. 1t would be well
to do 1t before the first of May. The
only object in destroying the plants is
TO destroy the insects with them, to
keep them from spreading.
This concluded the professor'ss speech.
The question of grubs found in manures
and their effect on plants was brought
up. The professor said that these
grubs are harmless to plants, and man.
ures can be safely used. There is an
other grub closely resembling the man.
uregrub which does work in plants in
some localities, and this has led to the
suppositious harmfulness of the COM
mon white grub.
Mr.. Williams described the use OF
castor oil pomace in connection with
one of his peach orchards in the East,
and said in effect that wherever this
pomace wis used no borers infected The
trees, while on other rows of trees ad-
Joining they were numerous. He asked
whether or not some powdered form OF
this castor bean might not be used for
borers In strawberry plants. The an
swer was that no experiments have
been made along this line.
A. G. Staten - Please give ingre-
dients of spray for strawberry pests.
Prof. Cordley-I would use Bor-
deaux mixture first. Apply just as the
new leaves are started. The plants
should be kept covered with this up to
the time the blossoms begin coming
out. Do not spray while in blossom;
1t might keep away the insect pollen
iZers.
At the evening session, Monday, H.
T. Williams of Hood River read an in
teresting paper upon the following sub
ject:
DECORATION OF COUNTRY HOMES.
In these days of thoughts of practical
utility and strife for financial gain from
our farms, it seems to me there is much
to be derived, aside from great financial
gain, in the proper decoration and orna-
mentation of our country homes. A
handsome row OF shade trees in front of
q farm will cause that farm to sell for
enough more to pay for those trees than
it would without; and think of the large
dividends of comfort and pleasure year
after year while you live there enjoying
the work of your hands. People do not
like to part with beautiful trees; and
many tree has enhanced the value of
land far more than the tree itself has
cost even with years of care. A citizen
of Geneva, N. Y, who has a valuable
tree that was marred and disfgured by
the acts of men putting up telegraph
wires, promptly sued and recovered the
sum of $l85 for the value of that one
tree to his place. What more beautiful
object in nature than beautiful tree2
A story is told OF some little children
born in New York who had never seen
the country, and when they were given
q summer outing in one of the children's
free excursions, they were lost in amaze
ment and delight at the sight of the
green grass and the beautiful trees. One
little child was so blessed with the sight
she went up to one of the trees, threw
her little arms around 1t and hugged
and kissed it in delight of ecstasy. 1t
seemed being from heaven to her
adoring heart. We live surrounded by
such blessings; why not use them to
our best advantage, enjoyment and hap
pinessY Why should we not give to our
children such coveted pleasures as this,
and let them grow up surrounded by
objects of beauty on every side, which
will cause them ever to think of home
as the dearest place on earth to themP
No child ever forgets the first objects Of
beauty it beholds; and the ornamental
tion OF your country homes brings you
three-fold value in the pleasure to your
self, contentment and enjoyment of your
family, and sufficient financial gain in
value of your property to cover all
the sums you spend in their embellish-
ment.
l doubt not if all the streets and ave-
nues OF the valley, lovely as they are,
we're lined with ornamental shade trees,
the value of property would be increased
in worth and estimation fully % per
cent in the thoughts of visitors. When
once you begin to entertain thoughts of
decoration, choose something of real ele-
gance, creating satisfaction.
For street trees, | would choose the
Norway maple. Always massive and
noble In its proportions, it never fails in
giving good value for your esteem. If
you can afford 1t, there is something
still better, a royal tree, called Schwer-
iler's purple leaved maple, a variety
which has all the beauty of form of the
Norway, but its young shoots and
leaves are of purplish or crimson
color, which changes to purpled green
IS the lower leaves olden. This is a
royal tree in magnifcence.
If | was to choose one tree alone for
he front yard, with something of ele-
gance and surprising beauty, II would
be the Colorado spruce. In all the
realm of evergreen life l do not know
)f anything that surpasses this beau
,e0us gem of creation. Finished, conf
1lete In all its stages of growth, its
caves of glowing, silvery blue, more
md more glorious as the years go by,
{ sqrpasses description In its natural
.ttractiveness. l do not believe there
ire adjectives enough 10 a worthy die
ionary to do II justice. One or more
rees of this kind between your house
md the road will attract universal ad-
niration.
II your grounds are ample enough,
md you desire TO plant something OF
unusual value and striking beauty,
plant along the sides of your lawn lead
ng from the front, one side, row of
he new double lilacs, such as Rotho-
rubia, Emile Lemoine, Pres