Professor L. R. Taft, H. C. Irish and J. C. Vaughan made some brief remarks on the work of the National Council of Horticulture. Adjournment was had at 5:15 to the auditorium room of the Inside Inn and on invitation of Messrs. Rawson, Pierson, Kendel and Vaughan the delegates as a body proceeded to the balcony cafe of that hostelry, where fifty persons sat down to dinner at 6:00 o'clock. Warren H. Manning presided and J. C. Olmsted and Mrs. Olmsted were guests of honor. EVENING SESSION. Professor S. A. Beach of Ames, Ia., in the chair. Beginning at 7:30 the following papers were read: "Civic Horticulture," by Warren H. Manning, Boston, Mass. "Landscape Gardening," by John C. Olmsted, Brookline, Mass. "Schools and Experiment Stations," by Dr. A. C. True, Washington, D. C. "The Horticultural Press," by Leonard Barron, New York City. "Government Aid," by Dr. B. T. Galloway, Washington, D. C. "Federation and Co-operation," by J. C. Vaughan, Chicago, Ill. The discussion of these valuable papers, particularly those of Messrs. Manning, Olmsted, Drs. True and Galloway, was very general and continued until nearly 11 o'clock, when the general Congress adjourned. The following were noted among those in attendance: Wm. B. Alwood, Charlottesville, J. L. Hartwell, Dixon, Ill. H. Augustine, Normal, Ill. J. Lyman Babcock, Norfolk, Va. G. B. Brackett, Washington, D. C. Chas. S. Crandall, Urbana, Ill. W. T. Flournoy, Marionville, Mo. L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Mo. Wesley Greene, Des Moines, Ia. U. P. Hedrick, Geneva, N. Y. H. L. Hutt, Guelph, Ontario. W. R. Lazenby, Columbus, O. A. McNeill, Ottawa, Ontario. Mrs. John C. Olmsted, Brookline, F. R. Pierson, Tarrytown, N. Y. F. W. Rane, Boston, Mass. Dr. A. C. True, Washington, D. C. H. E. Van Deman, Washington, J. Van Lindley, Pomona, N. C. C. L. Watrous, Des Moines, Ia. MORNING SESSION. Chairman Vaughan: Gentlemen, it becomes my duty to call to order this. Congress of Horticulture, the organization of which is due to Mr. Warren H. Manning more than anyone else. Through him, the authorities of the Jamestown Exposition saw fit to call for a Congress of Horticulture, and incidentally asked the National Council of Horticulture to arrange for this Congress. I hardly need say that on national occasions like this a great exposition is made of what man has done with things material. It has been thought wise to have meetings which consider the laws according to which these things are made, and which may be produced again at will. The Congress of Horticulture will seem to be as important as an exposition of plants, fruits and flowers. At this Congress we aim to bring down to date a résumé of what has been accomplished since our last Congress; to survey our chosen field, horticulture, on all sides and at each to summarize in a broad way about as follows: First, where are we? Second, what are we doing? Third, what are our prospects? The papers which will be presented to you have been prepared in the main on these lines, and I believe will not disappoint those who have traveled far to be here, nor that world-wide audience which will later read them. Originally the program was intended to cover two days, but finding a possible conflict the last day with the opening session of the Pomological Society, which is holding its regular biennial session here, the program committee arranged to close with the evening session. ADDRESS OF WELCOME. S. A. ROBINSON, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Horticultural Congress, it is a pleasure to welcome a body of such men as you to the State of Virginia, and it is eminently proper that the first meeting of this Congress should be near the spot upon which probably grew the first domestic fruit trees brought to this continent. It would be very interesting to know how many of the 78 varieties described by Ray in 1686 were imported into this country about 300 years ago. No doubt many of them were. I hope some of you learned delegates will enlighten us with regard to what they were and when they were brought here. We, of Virginia, have such an abiding faith in horticulture that we propose to get into close company with the best of you, and to know you better and to have you know us better. Virginia was fourteenth in the number of trees at the last count of apple trees in the states of the Union, but only fifth in the production of apples, so it is doing pretty well. I am confident that she can produce as choice fancy apples and as many to the acre, within her area, as any state in the Union, so you ought to feel that you are in a country where you are at home. That is just what we want. I am going to make the claim which some of you may dispute, but I do it for the purpose of learning; namely, that Virginia has the record of the world for the length of time the trees have been growing and the commercial value of the output. There is an orchard of fifteen trees at Covesville, Albermarle County, in Virginia, whose trees have been bearing for over eighty years. One year a single tree produced 22 bushels of apples which were sold for $5.00 per bushel at the tree. The fifteen trees have produced $700.00 worth of apples in one year. Those old trees are bearing to-day. I visited them about four days ago and they are worthy of being handled by the Hood River Apple Growers' Union. Their apples will average $50 a tree this year. Until within three years, they were never sprayed, never properly pruned, never fertilized in any way nor cultivated, and had no attention whatever. Those men planted trees and trusted to Providence and the favorable soil and the genial climate of that part of the state to secure them a remarkable profit. Much of our area will produce good commercial fruit, but there is no part of the country that has a very large area that will produce the choicest fancy fruit, which fact you probably know better than I. Leaving this question of rivalry aside, which I merely bring up to show what has been done, I want to say that you are most welcome here, and I want to tell you that the hospitality of Virginia shines brightest in its homes. You must visit us at our homes and come under the enchantment of the sweet voices of the graceful, beautiful and winsome women of this state in order to feel the full spell of the hospitality of Virginia. If you will linger long enough to do that, you will indeed taste of the lotus of Virginia's hospitality and we shall expect you to return, because those who once tasted, hunger for it ever after. ADDRESS OF WELCOME, J. TAYLOR ELLYSON, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, you had the courage of a very lofty aim when you undertook to have a Congress, a National Congress of Horticulture, but you had an aim worthy of your best endeavors, and you have come together. in the hope of achieving results that will redound to the greatest good of that which you represent. We have long ago learned, certainly men of my age, that strength and usefulness are not always in numbers. Who can tell who commanded at Balaklava the army of men in that famous charge who in Tennyson's poem have won an immortality of fame? And so it is, whether on the field of battle or in the more peaceful contests in which we are now engaged, it is the men who do something that will count, and the men who have done great things, although not always recognized, have been the men who sit before me and those whom you represent. Look about you. If a member of this organization who happens this morning to be your presiding officer desired you to know what he has done he would have to adopt the motto of Sir Christopher Wren and say: "If you wish to see my monument, look about you." And you will find in the beautiful creations along the line of his chosen work on these grounds some of the most charming results of that most charming department of work, landscape gardening. I am very glad to be able to welcome you on the part of the Exposition. I feel that it will not be fair to occupy your attention today, or to interrupt your discussion, more than to tell you that we are glad to see you and to express the hope that you will remain with us until you have known something of what we have here to show you, and I think that when you shall have done that, you will be able to say of many of the departments, what was said of our historical collection by one of the most eminent men in this country who had the pleasure of visiting it a few days ago and who is a high authority on such work, that there never had been gathered in this country a finer collection of historical material than we have in the History Building on these grounds, and so you will find it in other collections. Take time to look at it, and I am sure that you will enjoy it. Above all, be certain that whatever else may befall, you will not fail to have had a warm and generous welcome on behalf of the Jamestown Exposition Company. Chairman Vaughan: Mr. J. H. Hale, our chairman for the first session, being absent, Mr. Warren H. Manning has consented to preside. Chairman Manning: We will take up the papers consecutively, and call upon Professor F. H. King, Madison, Wis., for his paper on "Soils." I wish to say that Professor King and Professor Babcock were the pioneers in the study of soils, and it is largely from this investigation that the Government Department of Soils has grown, and those who know the vast amount of benefit that comes from the Department publications to all who have to do with outdoor affairs will recognize how important this pioneer work was. Professor King's book on soils, in the Rural Science Series, and also the many pamphlets in the Government Department upon the same subject are also an authority upon farm buildings, ventilation, and other matters, as well as upon soits. SOILS. THEIR PRODUCTIVITY AS INFLUENCED BY COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE. F. H. KING, MADISON, WIS. Soils are an aggregation of rock and mineral fragments carrying an admixture of organic debris, together with substances in soluble and colloidal condition. The productivity of soils is determined by their composition, by their structure, by their climate, and by the life activities within them. By composition we refer to their mineral and chemical nature; by their structure we refer to the size of the soil grains and the segregation of them; by their climate we refer to their water content, their temperature, their aeration, their drainage; by life activities we refer to the interaction of the roots of plants and micro-organisms upon one another, upon the soil grains, upon the organic matter, upon substances in solution and upon colloids. COMPOSITION. The composition of soils, and their structure so far as it influences weight, determines the absolute amount of plant food elements per unit volume, per cubic foot, per acre-foot or per acre-four-feet, which is the depth to which most crops are able to feed, to which they send their roots if all the factors of productivity are at their best. Composition, therefore, determines the endurance of a field, the outermost limit of its productive capacity. This statement is not in accord with the teaching of our national Department of Agriculture where it affirms: "That practically all soils contain sufficient plant food for good crop yields, that the supply will be indefinitely maintained and that this actual yield of plants adapted to the soil depends mainly, under favorable climatic conditions, upon cultural methods and suitable crop rotations." It is safe to say that no statement in recent years, designed to direct agricultural practice and issued by high authority, is further from the truth than this. Few statements could be more misleading and land agents are using it, both in good faith and unscrupulously, to sell at high price low grade lands. Much nearer the truth is the statement: No soils contain sufficient plant food for maximum yields when all other factors are at their best; and the best cultural methods, with rotation of crops, only hasten the exhaustion of soils. The Department's teaching has resulted from confusing plant food elements with plant food. Analysis has demonstrated that primary rock, crushed to the fineness of soil, may carry per acre-four-feet 78 tons of potassium, 250 tons of calcium, 133 tons of magnesium and even 8 tons of phosphorus. So, too, an acre-four-feet of good soil may carry as much as 100 tons of potassium, 45 tons of calcium, 35 tons of magnesium and even 12 tons of phosphorus, and there is this much foundation in fact for the statement criticized. But these enor |