At a recent meeting of the Columbus (O.) Horticultural Society, this subject was discussed. Mr. F. P. Dill, a successful orchardist, said of the apple: "Buy trees of a home nursery, selecting straight, sound trees. Plant carefully in well-prepared soil. Keep stock out of orchard. Fertilize and mulch bearing trees. Spray just after blossoms fall. I use about ten ounces Paris green to a barrel of water, adding a quart of soft soap to each barrel. This makes the poison stick better, and it is also less liable to burn the foliage. For Central Ohio would recommend the following varieties for home use: Early - Early Joe, Red Astrachan, Golden Sweet. Fail - Chenango Strawberry, Maiden's Blush. Early Winter - Pickaway Rambo, Northern Spy, Carpenter's Sweet, Grimes' Golden, Baldwin, Peck's Pleasant. Late Win-ter - Ben Davis, Stark, Fink." Mr. Bonebrake said that crowding the roots of a tree in a small hole was not planting. Prepare ground carefully. If tree is bent, put top to west, and if straight lean to west, so that wind will not bend it too much to east. Trim top to correspond to amount of roots.

Three things are to be observed in pruning : (1) To add to symmetry of tree ; (2) to remove limbs which cross each other and rub; (3) not to trim bare, but simply to remove superfluous wood.

In discussing the place of the pear in the family fruit garden, Mr. W. J. Green said that during recent years this fruit has been doing much better than formerly, and that it could be grown with comparative safety now. The trees should be planted in much the same soil as apples; but must not be fertilized when young, as it stimulates too rapid growth and induces blight. In general it is better to plant standards than dwarfs. There are only two varieties that are safe to plant as dwarfs - Clapp and Angouleme. Of the varieties to be grown as standards the following are good for home use : Summer Doyenne, a small but very early variety; Osband's Summer, superior in appearance to first named, but poorer in quality ; Bartlett; Seckel; Clapp's Favorite; Angouleme ; Lawrence and Anjou, the last two being good, reliable winter pears. Keiffer is good for canning. Vicar should not be planted. A good pear orchard can be depended upon for a crop every year.

Professor W. R. Lazenby discussed the strawberry, in an excellent paper on Don'ts for Beginners in Strawberry Culture." Among the points noted are the following : Don't commence strawberry culture on a large scale. Don't plant largely of untried varieties. Don't try to see how large a strawberry bed you can have, but rather resolve to produce the greatest amount of fruit from the smallest possible area. Don't be content to raise any but best quality of fruit for the family. Don't plant strawberries in the shade of large trees. They resent shade, and the roots of the trees rob the plants of moisture when it is most needed. Don't use highly nitrogenous manures, or you may have a rank growth of foliage at the expense of fine fruit. Don't plant too deep or the crown will rot, nor too shallow or the roots will be too dry. Plant just the right depth, and don't fail to press the earth firmly about the roots. Don't fail to start the cultivator and hoe about as soon as the planting is over, and persist in their use, always keeping a mulch of loose soil about the plants. Don't keep an old strawberry bed after it is infected with insect enemies. Plow or spade it up.

Don't fail to select varieties for home use from the following list: Bubach, Haverland, Sharpless, Jersey Queen, Cumberland, Crescent and Warfield. Don't plant Belmont, Bomba or Mammoth. - Secretary.

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