The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1908-10-15
MEETING OF COUNTY
H0RTICULTU TURAL SOCIETY,


The talks and the discussions were good.
In the forenoon Supt. w. J. Hamil.
ton Of Two Rivers gave very instruc'
tive talk on the orchards of Western
New York, particularly those of the
Genessee Valley. The fruits raised
there are largely apples, pears, peaches,
and ounces, perhaps half of the acreage
being given to apples. 1t is also a great
wine producing region, following next
to California and Ohio New York
leads in apples, the second state being
Pennsylvania, and the third Ohio.
The essentials of fruit culture were
classified as follows: Proper climate con-
ditions, good drainage, proper cultiva-
tion, careful pruning, transplanting,
and grating, ~ d thorough spraying.
In all these New York is ahead of Wis
consin rs the people are more careful re-
garding their orchards, chiefly because
they are their main source of income
while in our state fruit culture is &C.
condary consideration. The New York
or studies his fruit problems more than
we do here
The varieties of apples raised in New
York are different from those raised
here. Some, however. are the same
such as the Red Astrakhan and the snow
apple. The pears and the ounces are
very important fruits for export
There are many ways of disposing OF
fruit in New York state that are not
common in the west. There are large
evaporation plants in which apples are
dried. Apple butter is manufactured in
large quantities and exported. Besides,
much fruit is canned.
One bad feature connected with the
sale of fruit and of which Wisconsin
should beware is letting speculation
come in, buy up the fruit, and thus drive
out the local buyers. In this way the
spectators get things there own way
and the fruit grower must be governed
by them.
Mr.. Hamilton also spoke of the i'm.
portance of organization in this line Of
work and gave as an illustration the
work of the Genesse County Horticul
tural Association, through whose work
the Genesse brand has become known,
throughout the country. In this same
way by uniting the efforts of the fruit
growers of this county the Manitowoc
fruit may be known on the market as
the Manitowoc peas are now known.
In the afternoon Secretary Cranefield
of the State Society spoke on The Buy.
ing of Nursery Stock" He said that
there are honest nursery men although
some of them are dishonest. One great
drawback to the nursery trade is the
fact that many of the agents who sell
nursery stock are dishonest and many
others know nothing of what they are
selling. They know nothing about the
characteristics of the fruit they are sell
ing and can give no advice in regard to
the care of the trees. To this fact is
due much of the failure in fruit culture
The honest agent who sells good trees
at fair prices is public benefactor
The fact that less than one half of the
fruit trees planted every year live is due
to carelessness and ignorance in taking
care of the trees rs we'll rs to poor stock
There ought to be a system of educa-
ton established so that people would
know what varieties would be likely to
thrive and that the best known methods
might be employed in their care and
cultivation. Standard varieties should
be planted ami not novelties.
Mr.. Cranefield advised people to avoid
the contract orchard scheme as the
stock purchased was always too expen.
sive and those firms scarcely ever did
what they promised. Another individ
ual to avoid is the one who represents
himself rs representative of the Horti-
cultural Society or the Department of
Horticulture. These institutions do
not send out men for such purposes.
Snch fakirs have been at work both in
WaIworth and Barron counties They
should be reported whenever they come
into community. The "catalpa spark
is another character to avoid
There are go nursery firms in Wiscon.
sin, each having from 1 to 12O acres.
Many firms outside of the state are also
reliable, and the purchaser should al
ways he sure that the company he deals
with is reliable
j. S. Anderson gave a talk on the
three great families of plum trees,-the
American, the European, and the Japa-
nese. He described the characteristics
of each family. The American is the
native wild plum from which several
marketable varieties have been produc-
ed among them the Chickassw and Wild
Goose. The tree is hardy, very thorny
and widely distributed. The tree is Of
ten used for grating purposes.
The EuropeaL plum has development
extending back thousands of years. The
tree is handso meand the fruit very de-
licious. 1t is, however, subject to dis.
ease, such as blight, bitter rot. and in
sect enemies
The Japanese differs greatly from the
other two varieties. 1t wAs introduced
bv Burbank and is fast growing in fav-
or The tree is ornamental and q proli-