I would say in general that the black walnut can be grown as a small to medium size shade tree in northern Wisconsin.-Prof. L. S. Cheney.

The President then introduced Mr. C. O. Drayton, who spoke as follows:

I do not

Mr. Drayton: It gives me great pleasure to be present in this meeting this afternoon. I live in southern Illinois, in a land of apples, and I have the honor of being a life member of the Horticultural Society of the State of Illinois, so I am deeply interested in the problem that you are discussing here this afternoon. I do not mean by that that I am a scientific horticulturist, I am afraid there is a great deal about it I do not know. I happen to be in your state representing the interests of our Society. I presume some of you have heard of the American Society of Equity. One of the objects we have in this movement is the intelligent distribution of crops to the consumers. know how much you have discussed that phase of the question here today as to the marketing of your apples, but it does seem to me that is a very important phase of the subject. I saw in the papers the other day that they have formed in Delaware a $5,000,000 apple trust. I wonder what that means? I wonder if that is a combination of growers or buyers or consumers; it is some kind of combination. It is nothing unusual now-a-days to hear of the formation of a new trust, but we farmers generally are very shy on that subject of trusts. The American Society of Equity is an organization of the people, not a combination to put high, extortionate prices upon the consumers, but to drop the buyer that is in between, that robs both the producer and the consumer. I say, that is one of the objects that we have, Let me give you briefly an illustration of what I mean from actual facts. In 1906 we had a fine crop of apples, the quality was good also. The growers hauled apples into Greenville, Ill., where I now live, and the buyers picked out everything almost that was not perfect, then gave us sixty and seventy cents a barrel for our apples; it cost ten cents a barrel to put them in barrels and put them on the cars at Greenville, Ill., that made eighty cents for our apples, the barrel was 30 cents, which made $1.10; the freight to St. Paul was about 51 cents, so that our best apples laid down in St. Paul ready to retail in 1906 only cost $1.61 a barrel, but if you will go up to St. Paul and find out what the

retailers actually paid, you will conclude at once as apple producers that there was too much difference between the producer's price and the consumer's price. I only bring this subject before you as a suggested one today, that you may think about it and discuss it. The American Society of Equity has for its principal object the intelligent distribution of all crops to the consumers. We believe the consumers very often pay so much for our apples that the price actually becomes prohibitive, therefore there ought to be some way by which we can have an intelligent system of distribution from our orchards, our large commercial orchards especially, to the consumers. Now, one way that I would suggest, it is a problem that we are working at, we do not claim to have solved it, but we are organized for the purpose of discussing these questions and solving problems-one way that we have tried is that of our members at Interlaken, N. Y., who have shipped to the local union direct in St. Croix, and some other counties of this state, and in this way we have been able to get the producer 80 cents a barrel more for his apples and the consumer gets them $1.00 a barrel cheaper. We believe there are too many organized forces in between the producer and consumer and that by an organization upon this plan, that the producers, not only of apples, but other farm products can break the power that is in between. Before I leave, I would like to know if there is present in the house a member of the American Society of Equity. Yes, one, two three, four, five-eight.

The President: I want to thank the gentleman for the able manner in which he has presented this subject to us. I think there is a strong inclination to know more about it and about the extent to which that society is helping the producer and I think the consumer also.

Mr. Drayton: I hope I have created curiosity enough for you to want to kiow more, that is what I wanted to do.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE WEST.

W. W. CLARK.

"My impressions of the west' are not more than impressions, they were obtained in a stay of some two and one-half months, mainly near the head of the Willamette valley. This valley is in the western third of the state which is watered by the rains sufficiently to produce satisfactory crops without irrigation. vegetation is somewhat similar to that of Wisconsin.

The

The rainfall around Creswell and Eugene is about 36 inches, nearly all of which falls during the months of September to June, leaving a dry season of two to three months. This was the season which I observed. The rain is generally not severe, being more like Wisconsin mist. During the summer dry season crops can be grown in the field and garden without irrigation of any kind by suitable methods of cultivation. There is no doubt but that small fruits would do better during this time with artificial watering, however.

Tree fruits do very well without irrigation provided the soil moisture is conserved. It is claimed, in fact, that they do better because of the dry season during their ripening period than they would otherwise. This seemed to be true.

Agriculture in this portion of Oregon is in a very backward condition as regards modern methods, etc. The same land has been cropped without rotation for decades in many instances and appears nearly exhausted. Eastern farmers are introducing modern methods of rotation and handling, but these are not kindly accepted by the "native Oregonians," who fail to see how the eastern farmer can know anything about conditions in Ore gon. As a consequence of the influx of settlers from the middle west and east, Oregon is waking up to her resources and oppor tunities, however, and the entire state is experiencing a "boom."

In horticulture, modern practices in spraying, pruning, planting and cultivating are followed closely. This is perhaps from necessity, it being almost impossible to raise any edible apples without careful spraying. As a result many home orchards are of no value to their owners, whatever; the marketable apples coming from those growers who understand their business. The contrast with Wisconsin conditions is especially marked, since

here many of our apples come from these "home orchards' which are given no attention whatever.

Prunes are an important crop of western Oregon and Washington, bringing in excellent profits. They require less care than most fruits grown there. Cherries are an important product early in July. Pears and peaches are increasing rapidly and make an excellent showing, fine peaches being produced on threeyear-old trees. Small fruits are important also, the home demand being greater than the supply of raspberries, Loganberries, etc. These small fruits grow and yield luxuriously, especially when artificially watered. Their quality is excellent. Walnuts are still an experiment, notwithstanding the fact that plantations of walnut trees are set out and cared for by some enterprising corporations, for eastern buyers.

Fruit of excellent quality has been grown in western Oregon for many years but only recently has it been possible to market it with profit. This condition has been brought about by fruitgrowers' unions. No enterprising grower now tries to market his fruit in any other way.

My impressions of Oregon during my short stay were most pleasant. The cost of living is no higher there than here, in general. Houses may be built for half what they cost here and the same is true of all wooden buildings. The summer climate is tempered by regular sea breezes for seventy or eighty miles from the coast, so that discomfort from the heat, even when working in the field is rare. It does occasionally get hot, however. No ploughing is attempted usually before the rains soften the ground.

After leaving Oregon I visited the irrigated regions of western Washington for a short time. Here, as was to be expected, the growth of young orchards was much more rapid than in the non-irrigated Oregon lands. The climate, however, was execrable to one coming from the east or from the coast. Dry, hot, dusty, windy, barren-the newly developed irrigated tracts seemed very unattractive. The fabulous tales of immense yields and $2,000 land seemed probable enough, however. This last season had been very unfavorable and unusual one from all reports. No peach crop was harvested in the Yakima valley and the apple crop was much reduced.

Leaving western Washington, the return trip was via the Canadian Pacific. Tales of the magnificence of western scenery

were found not to have been exaggerated, but the green trees and lawns, the yellow cornfields dotted with golden pumpkins and the freshness and civilization of Minnesota and Wisconsin seemed very welcome to eyes wearied with western wonders.

THE SMALL FRUIT PLANTATION.

R. L. POST.

The conditions which determine the location, planning, and management of a plantation for small fruits are so numerous and varied that it will be possible to give only a few scattered suggestions as to some of the factors which enter into the successful management of such a plantation.

In presenting the following suggestions I shall consider mainly the plantation which supplies a local market.

In this brief paper I shall make no attempt to define a sysem of laying out the plantation, because that will depend to a greater or less degree upon the extent and topography of the land, and upon the character of the soil. Neither shall I give advice as to the varieties that should be grown, since this depends even more upon the peculiarities of soil and climate, also upon the methods of culture and upon the kind of market.

The first suggestion which I wish to make is this-that as a general rule a large number of fruits, together with other crops, is preferable to an excess of any one fruit. By this I do not mean to convey the idea that special emphasis should not be placed upon a certain crop, or crops, but for reasons which are to follow there should be a liberal sprinkling of other crops. Of course it cannot be denied that decided advantages arise from specialization, but I believe that for a retail market it is much more profitable to adopt the plan which has been indicated.

In the first place it necessitates the proper handling of the soil, or, in other words, it brings about the practice of rotation, with all the benefits accruing therefrom. One of the most important things to consider in this connection is the combating of insect and fungus pests, for by varying the crops on a given piece of land the life processes of these pests are seriously interrupted, if not entirely suspended, thereby decreasing materially