The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1905-01-06

Report VI Ine vlCe-PfcSl0eut VI
the Maryland Horticultural
Society for Cecil
County.
The past season has been marked by an album
dant crop of all ordinary fruits and vegetables in
this section, except backberries and raspberries,
unless we also may say that ounces seemed to be
scarce, but as this last is not very important
fruit, its want is not observable as that of our
staple crops.
The severe frosts of winter have injured the
fruiting canes OF blackberres and raspberries and
for this the only remedy is to lay them down and
cover the canes with protecting mulch of litter
and earth.
Plums, apples and Keiffef pears have been too
abundant to be profitable crops. Peaches gen.
orally yielded bounteous harvest and brought
fair returns to the growers where orchards were
in thrifty condition. There are numerous trees
where the s'yellows' shows its malign influence,
and the fruit of such is always poor, but we have
never had it proven that there is anything poi
sonous to mankind in peaches SO affected
With the first three fruits mentioned the supply
is only In excess of demand because OF improper
facilities for preserving it. Our population is SUIT
fcient to consume every bushel now grown IT it
can be kept and placed upon the market. either
in fresh or preserved state, as wanted for
consumption.
This county has not been noted for its horticul-
tural products recently, though it was pioneer
in commercial peach growing but 1t is rehec-
ton upon our economic management that we
have to send away and buy the fruit for our home
market that should be raised here. This il espec-
tally the case with apples, and our hill country
does produce fruit in quantity and quality that
is unexcelled by any grown elsewhere.
We have been visited with but few of the enc
mics that New York growers have to contend
with and know of no effort at systematic spray
ing for Cooling Moth or other pedatory insects.
1t is true that the section more especially repre-
sented by the writer Is prominently dairy
country and our perennial springs of running
waterand abundance of natural pasture grasses to
feed our herds. where they are given fair chance
to develop and supplement our cultivated forage,
invite us all to stock up with cattle and manu-
facture the best of home made fertilizer and thus
maintain the standard desirable for success with
any crop. All that section embraced in the
aluyial soil common to the Peninsula is deficient
in these small springs that we find so essential
where cattle are kept, and wind mills or rain
water pools are poor substitute.
With all our advantages and our 'cattle on the
thousand hills" wes yet have room for more
diversified industry, and fruit growing extends a
promise of greater benefits tor the labor bestowed
than any one thing, when we have home mar
ket at our doors Because we can have an abun-
dance of milk isno reason why we should be de-
prived of the. honey. for it requires the honey
with the milk to make up the balanced ration"
for the human animal, and 10 the ordinary
mortal the fruit fills very desirable and econom
ical adjunct to healthful living, even if it is not
complete substitute for honey. I simply call at
tention to the fact that there may be more money
made in devoting all our energies to a few spec
ialties, but that money is not always the most
necessary thing If health and happiness are sac
riiced to obtain 1t, and it may be q very poor
policy to neglect to provide an abundance of
wholesome fruit for our tables, even if 1t can be
cheaply bought.
Taking the ordinary fruits in order of the season
strawberries made a fair crop. Japan plums
were very abundant and escaped the curculio
and this common fungoid rot at ripening time,
sufficiently to mature more than was good for the
trees. The work of the curculio was decided
benefit in thinning the fruit, but the past season
destruction. The larger and finer qualities of
fruit suffer most from this fungoid rot at time OF
ripening, yet we have not tried to check its raw
ages by spray applications. Give us home
market for this crop in the shape of canning or
preserving the surplus, and the plant
Ing of this new type of fruit will be vastly in
creased. as well as more care given to bringing |
the crop to perfection.
~
Ing is an old story. The need of judieious thin
ming of this fruit was never more apparent. and |
the cash returns for the labor were evident |
The "yellows' is still the great enemy that cuts
short the lives of orchards and trees that are
broken by their fruit seem to be especially ex-
posed to this disease the following season.
Good marketable cherries seem to be more |
scarce here than years ago. and we need to renew
our paintings and secure more vigor and long
evity in the trees rather combination of weak |
nesses and severe fosts of winter in recent years
have killed many.
The apple crop was an ample one the past year /
yet not such as to cause the breaking down OF |
these orchards by overlooking. When peaches |
we're in the market there was no demand for even |
the best of fruit and there was ample opportunity
10 prove the value Of fruit as food for hogs. 1t
seems to have been again demonstrated that pork |
,an be made as cheaply with apples as the staple |
food as by any other method.
have not made an individual effort to bring or |
END to your meeting general collection OF |
apples this year. My efforts in that direction in
she past have been appreciated and have proven
The value of cold storage in connection with the
crop. This falls experience in the State again
,alls attention to the desirability of providing
cheap cool storage to tide over the warm Indian |
summer weather and hold good ripe fruit in con-
iition to be kept through the winter without any
elaborate or expensive storage facilities 1t seems
% be well proven that ordinary house cellars |
here are entirely unfit for fruit storage during
he tall and early winter. and that any building
more above ground where the thermometer will |
lot drop below 200 will keep them if closed up in
barrels or boxes.
have had satisfactory results the past winter
n keeping apples and pears in a substantial stone
pring house, made for dairy purposes originally |