use of paint or any composition to apply to the wound; it prevents the wood from hardening and induces decay.

Mr. Wilcox testified to having seen where friend Tuttle had made savage use of the axe, but the wood was hard and white, with no sign of a flow of sap.

Mr. Peffer presented a paper on the subject, "What Varieties of Fruits, Adapted to the Different Parts of the State, can be Raised Cheaply and Profitably."

PEARS having been mentioned in the paper read, Mr. Kellogg Isaid he wanted to amend his "five dollar" statement which had been quoted so much, and make it ten dollars, as the aggregate cost of every pear grown outside of the lake counties of the State..

President Tuttle said he had had forty or fifty pear trees, mostly Flemish Beauty, in his orchard for over ten years, and never lost but one by winter-killing, Had one Beurre tree that had stood for twenty-one years. At first there was no trouble from blight, but now great loss resulted from it. He thinks that with his location and soil, it pays to raise pears; if the blight kills the trees, he would plant more, being satisfied that they would yield enough to pay for themselves. Regards the Early Bergamot as very superior, yielding well and especially hardy; also has great faith in Clapps Favorite.

Mr. Adams agreed as to the value of Clapps Favorite; with him, it bore the winter of 1872-3 unharmed, while Flemish Beauty in the same orchard were nearly all killed.

Mr. H. Floyd of Berlin, said that he first began to cultivate pear trees twenty years ago; had set out trees four or five times since, and had been very successful up to two years ago; a few years ago he had one hundred and seventy five trees killed by blight. Did not regard Clapps Favorite as hardy as Flemish Beauty, for where grafted into Flemish Beauty, the grafts all killed out, while the trees were uninjured.

Mr. Peffer had tried both varieties, setting them out alike; the Clapps Favorite were all killed above the snow, the others were not injured. He understood that Mr. Barr, of Jefferson, had succeeded well in grafting Clapps Favorite on the Flemish Beauty.

Society adjourned.

WEDNESDAY EVENING, 7:30 O'CLOCK.

When the society had come to order, Mr. Stickney remarked that death had entered the household of two influential members of our society, and moved that a committee be appointed to express our sympathy with the bereaved. The chair appointed Messrs. F. A. Lawrence and J. M. Smith such committee.

On motion, J. M. Smith and J. S. Stickney, were added to the committee on Centennial Exhibition.

CRANBERRIES.-The subject of cranberry-culture was presented in a paper by Mr. H. Floyd, of Berlin.

At the conclusion of the paper, Mr. Floyd, in answer to inquiries, said he regarded it as very essential to success, to flood the vines; the water should generally remain on till about the first of June; some years, needs draining off earlier than others; if the weather is warm so as to warm the water, the vines will commence to grow before it is drawn off. The vines should not be uncovered until the danger from late frosts was passed. When the vines were flooded there was not much trouble from the cranberry-worm; sometimes it spread from the vines around the edges or patches not under the water; the fire-worm generally feeds on the tender shoots; it is very active, and will drop to the ground on the least disturbance. The eggs are deposited the last of July and the first of August; the miller is of a light, gray color, about the size and some like the codling-moth; they are sometimes found in the woods, away from the marshes. In setting, uses an adże, making a slanting cut, so that the ends of the vines set will lie on the top of the ground; usually gives two blows with the adze, so as to make a wider cut, and puts in two or three vines in each, spreading them so that they will start out in different directions, and the sooner cover the ground. If set three feet apart it usually takes three years to fully occupy the ground. No trouble in making the vines live, as they grow very readily from even small cuttings; can set at any time. He had seen the fruit-worm, but never suffered any loss by it. It is sometimes necessary to remove the old wood, as it loses its vigor by age; young wood bears all the fruit, and the yield is much better where the main vines are comparatively new. Some of the marshes near Berlin are less productive from the vines being too cld.

If sage gets into the marsh, it is necessary to remove it or it will

run out the vines; this is best done by scalping; can use a hay-knife, and by cutting the bunches of sage roots through and through, pull them out.

He much prefers to scalp the marsh before setting out vines. This is very readily done by a scalping-plow, cutting from sixteen to twenty inches wide, and from three to four deep. The sod can then be removed or turned over and rotted. By this process the grass is removed, which would otherwise retard the growth of the vines, and a smooth surface is thereby secured; this he regarded as of much importance, for the strength and vigor of the vines were greatly increased by their taking root from the joints at short intervals, and they will more readily do this on a smooth surface. In this way they will spread much more rapidly. He had traced a single vine for seventeen rods, rooting from point to point.

Would not gather the berries with a rake, as this greatly injures the vines. A good picker will average about three and one-half bushels a day, where the yield is four hundred bushels to the acre.

He considers eight hundred bushels to the acre a good crop. Mr. Mason gathered four thousand barrels this year; suffered a good deal from the August frost. Saved some of his berries by burning tar on the marsh; thought the smoke spread over the marsh and prevented the frost from doing as much injury as it otherwise would; thought he saved more than enough to pay the expense.

He said that there were many different varieties of berries on the same marsh, of different sizes, shapes, and colors; some ripen three weeks earlier than others; some are nearly solid, others more or less hollow; he thought selections might be made from these and much greater yield and better berries be obtained.

The soil of these marshes is a mixture of sand and peat; they were evidently the beds of lakes; the bogs or beds of peat in the different marshes were of different ages, and varied in maturity and consequently in their adaptability to cranberry culture, and in the facility with which they can be improved. When the marsh is scalped and set to vines, he thought the average cost was about $25 per acre. The cost of ditching, draining, making the necessary dams, varied greatly according to the lay of the land and the condition of the marsh.

Mr. Whittier gave many additional interesting items, illustrating the importance of a free supply of water and the requisite prepara

tion of the land by grading and ditching, so as to secure the proper control of it; also describing the special advantages of cultivating the cranberry, and other fruits adapted to the same localities, together. These points he promised to embody in an article for our volume.

Mr. Peffer said he had cultivated cranberries since 1853; found that they grew readily from cuttings, even on clay soil; had found difficulty in the frost heaving the ground, and covering the vines with muck where he scalped the marsh.

CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION.-The committee on Centennial Exhibition reported, as the result of their conference with the commission, that they had regarded our request for an appropriation of not less than $500, favorably, and it would be granted, in case the bill pending in the legislature passed, and they advised to go to work earnestly to prepare for the exhibition.

Remarks from a large number followed, showing a warm interest in, and a desire to see the work well done and our State fully represented in the approaching International and Centennial Exhibition.

On motion, the previous committee were continued, and the whole matter referred to them for the prosecution of the work. The society adjourned till Thursday, 9 a. m.

THURSDAY, 9 A. M.

The society met at the usual hour, when Mr. J. C. Plumb, gave his report for the second fruit-district, which was followed by the report for the twelfth district, by J. M. Smith. Both reports were very interesting and contained many valuable statistics and items.

FRUIT IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN.-At the close of his report, Mr. Smith spoke of some of the difficulties they had to encounter in their northern location in fruit-raising. Currents do well there, and will continue to thrive even though neglected and abused; grapes were a very sure crop, if properly cared for; had not known. but one failure in eleven years; certain varieties of apples can be cultivated with success, others cannot; much seems to depend on the kind of location and soil, as well as care; many trees that had borne well for years had lately been killed or severely injured; he

spoke of a number of instances where pear orchards had done well; one in particular had paid for itself many times in the fruit it had yielded. This orchard stood without any protection at all, in a very exposed situation, on the side of a ravine facing the north or northwest, with the sides so steep as to require terracing; the soil was poor, but the trees were well set and attended to up to the time when they came into beariug. Since that time the property has changed hands, and they have taken care of themselves, but have done well, yielding well and looking thrifty. The variety most used is Flemish Beauty.

The next paper read was entitled "The Observations of Novice," by Mr. A. L. Hatch of Ithaca.

HYBRIDIZING. Some of the suggestions in this paper on hybridize the common apple and the Siberian called out Mr. Peffer, who said that by using the pollen from the crab, the fruit resulting would be nearly all crab; he had a Golden Russet seedling fertilized by the Red Siberian, and the apples, while in form and outside appearance resembling the Russet, are no larger than the Red Siberian, and are nearly as crabby in flavor. The improvement should always be sought, by selecting the hardiest and best growing variety for the female, for we want vigor and strength of constitution, and for the male, the best variety we can find for the object we have in view, whether it is quality, earliness or lateness. This principle should be followed whether it is fruits, flowers, or any breed of stock that we desire. If Siberians are used for the female, there will be a great improvement in them, and these hybrids can be used as the female again and again to secure size, flavor or other desired qualities. By selecting the best on both sides in this way, he had faith to believe that we shall yet secure varieties, that will prove hardy in the greater portion of the State, and yield abundance of fruit.

Mr. R. J. Harney, of Oshkosh, read a paper on "Grape-Culture," giving much valuable practical experience on the subject, and which led to an interesting discussion.

GRAPE CULTURE.-Mr. Greenman thought the first requisite of success in the cultivation of the grape was to secure strong and healthy vines; if when first set they had but little vigor, few fiberous roots and a feeble growth of top, it would be years, if ever, before