sary to successfully combat scale and other pests and to avoid damage by frauds. I think none of our members have invested any great amount of wealth in the seedless apple, and in this connection, I wish to express my appreciation of the work being done by the agricultural and horticultural press, and especially the Ohio Farmer, Farm and Fireside and the Rural New Yorker, to protect the interests of the farmers. FRUIT AND FORESTRY SPECIAL. The Ohio State University, in connection with the B. & O. S. W. R. R., had arranged for a fruit and forestry special train, from which we were anticipating good results, but the high waters caused it to be postponed. The benefits of advising the consuming public of the value of fruits as an essential part of their daily diet was discussed briefly at our last annual meeting, and immediately thereafter I took up the matter. Believing that the work should be of a national, rather than a local nature, I communicated with men who are doing national work in horticulture, with the result that we now have a national bureau of publicity, which is supplying to the press items calculated to furnish information as to the value of our products, and encourage a more general use of them. A few weeks since it was my good fortune to attend the splendid meeting of the Michigan Horticultural Society, at Battle Creek. As the society was being shown through the works and offices for which that city is famous (health foods), I felt that their phenomenal growth and prosperity was due mainly to three causes: 1st, the production of a good article; 2nd, putting it up in neat and attractive packages, and 3rd, educating the public as to the value of their wares. It occurs to me that these are the three essentials for horticultural success also, and while we have been carefully studying the first and giving a little thought to the second, we have almost ignored the third. SPRAYING MATERIALS. The wholesale buying of spraying materials which was authorized by the society at the last annual meeting proved very successful. Nearly five thousand dollars' worth of material has been purchased, and the only complaint has been that a part of one shipment went astray, and this will soon be corrected. This material went all over the state and the buyers saved a considerable amount in price, beside being assured of securing something which would accomplish the work for which it was applied. FIELD MEETING. The field meeting held last October at North Amherst, in co-operation with the experiment station, was a decided success, in spite of the unfavorable weather, and proved the value of these object lessons. I believe the great majority of those who attended it went home firmly determined to do better spraying next year. A HARD GRIND. The criticism has sometimes been made that our meetings are devoted too exclusively to hard work and visitors sometimes wonder at the length of our sessions and the amount of information elicited and business transacted in two days. I take it, however, that the most of us come here to secure information, rather than for a "junket," and the progress which our fruit growers have made, and are making in the practice of spraying and other lines of our work, is proof that our time has been well spent. Our reports are eagerly sought for by every state in the Union, as well as by foreign countries. FERTILIZER EXPERIMENTS. You were informed at our last meeting that plans were being formulated for testing chemical fertilizers by the experiment station, in co-operation with fruit growers throughout the state. Upon entering into the problem, it developed such complicity and magnitude that it was thought best to defer it a year. I believe arrangements are now completed to commence operations this spring on a very thorough series of tests, in which the stations of Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as the fruit growers of these states, will participate. The fruit grower, even on rich level land, often finds it difficult to secure as much stable manure as he needs, and he also wonders if it might not be better for the color or flavor or keeping qualities of his fruit, or for the hardiness, productiveness or longevity of his trees, if he used more mineral fertilizers. If this problem presents itself to those so favorably situated, what shall we say of the grower in the hilly and less fertile portions of the state? "He who causes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before," is acknowledged to be a benefactor to humankind and to the state, and we believe a similar work is before us in an effort to cover the hills of southern Ohio, many of which are now yielding very scant returns, with orchards of palatable, wholesome and profitable Grimes' Golden, Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Ben Davis. Anything which develops and utilizes the wasting resources of our state, and makes them yield a profit which shall build up happy and prosperous homes on every hillside is deserving of the highest commendation and encouragement. The success of a few orchardists in Lawrence and other southern counties has encouraged others to try and they are eagerly seeking for information, which it is our duty to supply. The West is irrigating its arid lands, Holland is dyking and reclaiming her swamps, and France and Switzerland have long since terraced and made tillable their hillsides; all to appease land hunger. And let us follow their example and help to clothe the hills of Ohio with forests and orchards, and add to the resources of the state and to its wealth of money and its greater wealth of happy homes. With this in view, we must not only be able to inform them what varieties to plant and how to prune and spray, but a very knotty problem presents itself as to fertilization. Barnyard manure cannot be secured in quantity, and cultivation and cover crops are impracticable on account of damage from washing in most cases, so that we must apparently turn to commercial fertilizers and mulching. Some of our people have been investing in orange groves in California and Florida, or in peach orchards in Georgia or Texas, and overlooking the "acres of diamonds" (otherwise known as apple orchards) which are possible in our state. In conclusion, I wish to state that our division has been given every courtesy and convenience possible by the state board and I believe the work is now outlined and begun, and if sufficient means are placed at our command in the future, so that the work may be continuous instead of during the winter months only as at present, a vast amount of good may be accomplished. The people are demanding more and better fruits and vegetables and more refined and attractive home surroundings, and it is our purpose to assist them in gratifying these desires. Respectfully submitted. W. W. FARNSWORTH, Chief of Horticultural Division and Secretary of Ohio State Horticultural Society. Upon a motion by Mr. Montgomery, seconded by Professor Selby, it was ordered that the report of the Secretary be received and placed on file. The President: The next on the program is the report of the Awarding Committee on the essays as to "Dietetic Value of Fruit." Professor Lazenby: I am not a member of this committee, but the committee has given to me for reading, a brief report. Seven essays were handed in under various nom de plumes, and the judges did not know who the competing essayists were. The essays have been ranked by the committee as follows: Horticola, first; Flora, second; Esculent, third; Appleseed, fourth; Henry, fifth; John, sixth, and Ceres, seventh. Horticola is first. I put in that essay, but as all of the others were students of the University I want to withdraw from the competition. I had no knowledge whatever of how the marks would go, and I am sure that the committee did not know I had competed. I want also to say that I did not stand first unanimously, but I am very glad to withdraw; if there had been more of the older members in competition, I should not have withdrawn. So the first prize will go to Miss Anna M. Noyes, who wrote under the name of Flora. She is a senior in the Domestic Science course in the University. Second prize goes to Mr. J. H. Gourley. He also is a senior in the University. Third prize goes to Mr. G. L. Parks, who is a student also, and has made a specialty of horticulture, but is not in the Horticultural course. (Upon motion,duly seconded, it was ordered that the essays be published in the year book, and that the report be received, and placed on file.) Mr. Waid: I just want a little credit for this winning essay, and would say that the student who took first used to be in my Sunday school class up in New Hampshire. Mr. Shirer: And did she go out in the afternoon after Sunday school and hook apples? The President: We will now hear the report of the Committee on Resolutions. Thereupon the Committee on Resolutions, through its Chairman, submitted the following: Resolved, That we ask the Legislature to make an appropriation to establish a substation in Northwestern Ohio, the object of which shall be largely to work in the interest of horticulture. 2. Resolved, That this organization, in the interest of the citizens of the State, in the interest of the farmers and dairymen in having pure cream and ice cream, call upon the Legislature of Ohio at this session, to enact a law making a standard the same as Congress has made for the District of Columbia and interstate commerce, which is 18 per cent. butter fat in sweet cream and 14 per cent. for ice cream. 3. Whereas, we believe there was a vast amount of good derived from the field meeting in Amherst, Ohio, in 1907, be it Resolved, That we request the Executive Committee to arrange for a similar meeting in July, 1908, at some point where a thorough test of different makes of spraying machinery can be made for the benefit of those in attendance. 4. Be it Resolved, That the State Horticultural Society go on record as favoring a próvision at the earliest possible time for a building suitable to the needs of Horticulture and Forestry at the Ohio State University. 5. Resolved, That we favor a suitable appropriation in favor of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station that will enable it to carry on co-operative experiments in Horticulture for the improvement of Horticulture in Ohio. (Signed) S. R. GILL, Mr. Pierce: I move we accept all of them except the one on the dairy business. If not out of order, I should like to explain why I oppose it. If the dairy people of this state should put a resolution through their meeting asking the Legislature to pass a law that we should brand our apples or strawberries with our own names, we would think they were meddling. I think we are meddling with something not horticultural. It does not look in good faith for us to do it. A Member: I second the motion. Mr. Gill: I was the means of the introduction of that resolution, and for this purpose, that throughout the State generally there has been a sort of dope made and sold as ice cream. Now I think that the citizen generally wants what he pays for, and wants it pure, wants what he pays for, and wants what he expects to get. The National Government has established a standard for interstate commerce between the states, and also for the District of Columbia. In Indiana they have adopted a very much lower standard, and in this State they are about to adopt something of the kind, and I think it will be a disadvantage to all interested, the citizen as well as the farmer. I am asking this with a view of having each of the bodies who are interested pass such a resolution. We are interested in dairying along with the fruit, in getting thẹ manure that comes from the dairy cow. Now a resolution from the different organizations at this time will have, I feel, a good deal of effect on the Legislature. I think they would be more apt to take up a thing of the kind, and bring it about for the good of the citizens at large, as well as for the dairy interests, and that was the reason for my introducing it. (The motion above made, having been put by the President, was carried.) Mr. Shirer: I move we adopt the resolution as to the standard for cream and ice cream. Mr. Phelps: I happen to know something about the ice cream business of this city, and I know there is a great deal of ice cream made here with very little cream in it. My son has been in business here for two years, and I assist him a good deal, and we found out that the low price of ice cream came from the fact that there was very little cream used. There was something else used which makes it stand up and appear like cream. We know this to be a fact, and that very fact has driven many men out of business in this city, men who wanted to make pure cream and couldn't afford to sell the ice cream at the price it was sold at. There was a good deal of cream here sold at fifty or sixty cents a gallon, and no man can make ice cream as it should be for less than seventy-five cents, and make any profit at all. We know that, because. we were in business, and were driven out of it, and that is the reason. Mr. Shively: I think if the action of this Society in passing upon that resolution would cause the dairymen to pass a resolution compelling us to brand our fruit, that the passing of this resolution would be the best act that we could do. I think we fruit growers would be better satisfied if we had such a law, and therefore I believe we would put better fruit in our packages. A vote being taken the second resolution was adopted. The President: The next thing is the election of officers. I wish to say myself that I thank you very much for giving me this little boost, although it came accidentally. The Secretary, when he resigned, put me in. I was not expecting anything of that kind. I believe the hope of this country is in the men who are doing something for the country. I believe you should help some of the other men with this position, and I ask you to put in some one else at this time. Mr. Shively: If nominations are in order, I would nominate our present President as a candidate for the office for another year. Mr. Hutchinson: I move that the nominations be closed, and that the Secretary be instructed to cast the vote of this Society for Mr. Cox as President. |