portion of their districts. To obviate this, I would recommend that printed blanks, containing instructions on all points on which information is desired, be furnished them to send out to different parts of their districts.

Dr. J. A. Warder, of Cincinnati, Ohio, has requested me to call attention to the subject of Forestry, and to secure the coöperation of the society with the American Forestry Association in obtaining legislation in congress on this subject. It is a subject of great importance, and is justly receiving much attention throughout the country. Resolutions requesting our representatives in congress to favor the granting of the aid sought, should be passed, but it will, perhaps, be best to have whatever action is taken, be done in joint convention. In this comparatively new country, we do not perhaps see the necessity for immediate action in the cultivation and preservation of our forests; but those who have witnessed the wholesale destruction that is going on, especially in the northern portion of the state, are convinced that the time is not far distant when we shall feel its practical importance. The axe is rapidly destroying the work of centuries; but this is not all; fires set by railroad engines, by careless hunters, by Indians, and settlers, for the protection and improvement of their clearings greatly enhance the evil. Thousands of acres of timber are annually consumed in this way. Nature herself would soon remedy the evil by resetting and recovering the devastated lands with timber, but fires sweep over them every two or three years and are gradually but surely reducing them to barren, sandy wastes. Cannot this work of destruction be stayed by legislative action? The field of horticulture is a wide one, and includes many questions intimately connected with the wants and necessities of the present, and also with the welfare and prosperity of the future. In considering the questions of the present hour, let us not overlook those of wider bearings and of greater importance, inasmuch as their influence will extend to all time.

HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION.

A. L. HATCH, ITHACA.

Horticulture has a wider scope of meaning than its literal definition, "the art of gardening." It includes the art of fruit and flower culture, with that of tree growing, especially with reference to their ornamental use. Education, in its fullest application, includes not only the acquiring of information, but a training of the

intellect with a view to develop its capacities and to invest its possessor with skill, thus combining in one individual, knowledge, mental powers, and ability to perform. From these considerations it is plain what we mean by "Horticultural Education."

HOW IS IT OBTAINED? Among the people generally there is no such thing as Horticultural Education. It exists in a fragmentary, not comprehensive way. Indeed there is among the most of our people a dense ignorance of some of the most practical and elementary principles of fruit culture and flower growing. Horticulture is not taught in our schools, and the natural sciences upon which it is based as an art are almost wholly ignored. Text-books or manuals upon almost all branches of horticulture may be found in the book stores. Periodical literature, devoted wholly or partly to horticultural topics, is cheap and abundant. Horticultural societies, with their exhibitions, fairs, meetings, discussions and published reports, add to the means and chances for learning fruit and flower culture. Besides this, the doors of that universal school called the school of experience are always open, and if tuition is often high, truth only is taught. However ample these means for learning horticulture may appear to the professional fruit and flower grower, it is a fact that they do not reach and educate the masses, the people themselves. Nurserymen, florists and seedsmen may continue to publish and scatter broadcast their catalogues and circulars, describing their varieties, and setting forth the beauties of horticulture, but such information will always be regarded as coming from interested parties, and will not therefore have full acceptance.

NEGATIVE KNOWLEDGE. The love of fruits and flowers is almost universal. There are very few home-owners who have not made some effort to grow them. Failures often occur, and then the conclusion is at once formed that ours is a forbidding climate; that we cannot grow fruit here profitably. Too many are averse to mental effort to inquire into the philosophy of things; it is easier to conclude from one observation and experiment. Failure teaches to many, nothing but negative knowledge.

COMMON SCHOOLS. The generality of the people are educated at the common schools. All the schooling received by the great body of our people is through that channel. It is probable, therefore, that any educational influence that can reach the main part of the people must come to them through these schools. Two considerations present themselves prominently regarding school studies. The first is system. All subjects taught and all textbooks used are systematized and systematic. Everything taught is first reduced to a plan, so as to be imparted scientifically. Unfortunately horticulture and much of natural science has not been systematized. It has not been published in common text

book style, all bent down to scientific exactness. Will it ever be, or will school education ever change, and give us less of science and more of nature? The second consideration is that scientific and obstruse studies are persistently taught with the claim for them that they furnish the best discipline for the mind. For the purpose of adding what are termed "accomplishments" a great deal is often taught that is not practical, seldom being used in ordinary life. We believe it far better to learn less than to learn so much of no use; and that the learning of natural and practical sciences furnishes all the material necessary for mental discipline and intellectual "accomplishments."

BOTANY.-Vegetable philosophy is the natural science upon which horticulture is based as an art. In the form it has been presented to the public as a study, especially as published for use in schools, botany is terribly burdened with technicalities. However appropriate and exact they may be to scholarly and scientific minds, it is plain they present a very serious barrier to the pupil or learner. Dentate," for example, may be a little more euphonious than toothed, "hirsute" a little nicer than hairy, but they are not any more exact or explicit. If botany could only be taught in simple, plain, common English, it would assist in making it more popular. Much of it deals with outward forms and characteristics. If we could have less of that and more of the philosophy and methods of growth, the elementary principles of varieties, it would be more useful.

The design and spirit of the Wisconsin Horticultural Society is primarily educational. It aims to gather the best progressive thoughts and studies upon horticulture. Its members are enthu siastic lovers of the good and beautiful in nature. They believe in Wisconsin homes and home making, and that one of the best adjuncts of life's employments is fruit and flower culture. It is no presumption on our part to assume that they desire a better horticultural education to prevail among the people; that they shall at least know the primary operations of transplanting, pruning and culture of fruits. In what way horticultural education may become general is a problem we have not endeavored to solve, but only to present considerations pertinent to it. Let larger brains and longer heads than ours study it out and present the public with feasible ways and means.

A higher education is, meantime, demanded of leading minds. Many things pertaining to horticulture are still imperfectly understood. As suggestive of one direction in which investigation promises valuable knowledge, we would name that of varieties. Each sort has its characteristics of leaf, and branch, and bud; of bark, color, form and habit. Do not each of these suggest features of vitality, fruitfulness, hardiness, etc.? Such knowledge has not

been systemized. Can it ever be? Is it practical? For professional horticulturists the field of study is ample. To the amateur it is inviting. To be valuable as a study it must be practical.

Believing, as we do, that the restless spirit of the times and the bad state of public temper is produced by too much leaning to speculative and professional employment, we can conclude that the wholesome influence of horticulture among the people is very desirable. It is especially desirable that homes be made more attractive, and that the development of good from nature be encouraged. As a people we cannot well forego the influence of horticulture as an element in home-making, or as furnishing cheerful, profitable employment, making dissipation and idleness less probable.

SMALL FRUITS FOR THE FARMER.

C. H. GREENMAN, WAUWAtosa.

One who regularly enjoys the luxury of all varieties of the small fruits in their season cannot readily account for the fact that not one farmer in a hundred, in this state, has more than an occasional dish of berries or other small fruits on his table. With many farmers, this is in consequence of the opinion, which generally prevails, that professional skill is required to raise small fruits; but all are easily grown when the requisite conditions are complied with. No farmer would think of raising a good crop of corn or potatoes without first thoroughly preparing the soil, securing the best seed, and good after culture. He does not expect

that at harvest time his cribs and bins will be filled without much care and labor on his part through the whole season. The same care and attention in the preparation of the soil, selection of plants and vines, and cultivation, will supply the farmer's table with an abundance of strawberries, raspberries, currants, grape, etc., and with these varieties, he will have a succession of fresh fruit, from the middle of June up to the holidays. No class of people have so great facilities for securing these luxuries as the farmers, yet many of them depend upon a few quarts of wild strawberries from the meadow, or raspberries from old fence rows, for their supply during the year. Will not a few simple directions on the methods of cultivation of these fruits induce them to plant freely for home use?

Strawberries succeed best when planted in good soil. The bed should be thoroughly prepared. In setting make the rows three

feet apart, and set the plants one foot apart in the row. A bed from four to six rods long by two rods wide would furnish a good supply for any ordinary family; keep the bed clear of weeds and grass; let all the runners take root, and late in the fall cover the bed with marsh hay or straw; one inch deep will be sufficient to protect the plants during the winter; remove a portion of the covering late in the spring, spreading it between the rows. Set a new bed each year, and plow up the old one after the second crop has been picked, for no bed of strawberries will pay after the second season. Plant the Wilson, and success will be almost sure to follow. There are many other desirable varieties, but the Wilson stands at the head of the list for general cultivation.

Before the strawberries are gone, the raspberries commence to ripen. A few square rods of land set to these will ensure a good supply for family use. Tips of the black cap variety should be planted in rows six feet apart and three feet apart in the row. Raspberries respond best to generous cultivation. The red varieties are propagated by suckers, and should be treated the same as the black caps, but may be set a little nearer in the row. A plantation of raspberries will do well for a number of years. Mammoth Cluster and the Doolittle are the standards for the black cap variety, and the Philadelphia is the most successful of the red varieties. Every farmer should plant liberally of raspberries, as none of the small fruits are more desirable for home use, while fresh, and they are easily and cheaply kept for winter use by canning, as no sugar is necessary to preserve them.

Currants are easily grown and are quite generally cultivated, or rather allowed to take care of themselves as best they can. With very many farmers they are the only small fruit that finds place in the garden. Give plenty of room, cultivate thoroughly, manure well, and a bountiful yield of fruit will reward you. Improved Red Dutch, Victoria, and the Long Bunch Holland are the most desirable of the red varieties, and White Dutch and the Grape are the best of the white ones.

Where blackberries can be grown they are a very desirable fruit, and fill out the season with fresh fruit until grapes begin to ripen. With a little protection the Ancient Britain will yield crop two years out of three.

Cherries can hardly be classed among small fruits, owing to the size of the trees, but in many sections of the state they can be raised successfully, and are valuable for use while fresh, or for canning or drying. The Kentish and Richmond are the most successful kinds with us, and usually bear heavily every other

season.