Horticultural Society

H/4/1880-2-

The winter tho' so mild was very hard on strawberry beds and some complained of having lost roses. One member had potatoes plowed out when the garden was plowed which had kept perfectly and another found Dahlia roots and tuberose bulbs alive and ready to grow and several had madura roots to live out.

Our specimen tables were very interesting and our dis-play of flowers has seldom been sur -passed at this early meeting. They were brought by the members from Longwood, Falling Green, Hermon White Hall, Riverside, Norwood, Avalon Rock Spring, Alloway Sharon and Brooke Grove and by our guests from Clifton Mt. Olney (and Riverton?) The Geraniums were splendid and the Hyacinths Pansies Callas and Narcissus of several varieties were lovely. The vegetables were, from Hermon Tomato and cabbage plants Longwood cabbage, beet and lettuce White Hall, leeks, Rockland radish -es lettuce, peas 3 inches high, cabbage tomato 7 inches high. Brooke Grove cabbage, lettuce and radishes and from Alloway lettuce.

H/4/1880-3-

Poultry

Brooke Grove 7 chickens Falling Green 25 Rock Spring 15 Avalon 10 Rockland 145 Longwood 75 Riverside 85 Alloway 40 Norwood 45 Hermon 4 Edgewood 26 Sharon 9 Olney 24 White Hall 27 549

Fair Hill 60 Bloomfield 27 Sherwood 30 Clifton 147 Mt Olney 27 291

Showing a great increase over last April the total then being 84

Questions

1 Does it injure raspberries to cul -tivate them in the spring? It seems to be the general custom to do so but it is thought it might be best to work very slightly in the spring and manure and mulch in the fall; some cut out the old canes and cut down the new to a foot or 18 inches in the fall.

2 Is it proper to set sweet potatoes for planting in a hot bed? Plant

H/9/1899 -2-

Mary C. Moore a visitor told of a calf killed at "Clifton" by eating the leaves of an oleander.

Roger B. Farquhar who had recently taken a trip through Howard & Carroll counties spoke of the abundance of apples in the latter districts and told of seeing a fair crop of peaches in the section beyond Fredrick A good deal of discussion followed which resulted in the opinion that the trees did better there because of the high elevation. [Joseph L. Haines|Jos. L. Haines]] had kept some healthy and vigorous by the use of a mixture of Rainet and water raised to the boiling point then poured on the trunks, and allowed to run down in the roots.

The Committee on Forethought urged us to more generally raise spinach advised the sowing of cabbage seed, the latter part of this month for wintering over and spoke of this as the right time for starting plants for winter blooming.

Noon temperature 73° Sharon 78° Woodburn

The report of exhibits present showed a great variety and particular attention was called to a curiosity in the shape of a sweet potato bloom.

H/4/1988 - 3 -

Beds should be prepared for seed planing. Carrots, peas, should go in. Not long after second rows should be planted. Late in the month, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes can go in. Asparagus patch should be weeded and fertilized. Nitric of soda or sodium nitrate on asperagas is recommended. Lawns should be fertilized but not mowed until 2 inches tall. Special care should be taken with any weed killers one plans to use.

Peter Conlon provided the Meteorologist Report. In March we had 2.52 inches of rain. The peak temperature was 79 degrees on the 24th and 25th. The low was 12 degrees on the 22nd. The questions regarding whether the weather had been warmer than normal, wetter than before, and the winter shorter than usual, the consensus opinion was non-committal with patches of cloudiness. In closing Peter Conlon promised a descriptive graph of the winter's statistics to be handed out at the May meeting.

Leslie Rogers passed the exhibits. Quailhill offered daffodils. White japonica came from Roslyn. There was daffodils, hyacinth, and heather from Lea House. From Jackpine came hyacinth, jonquils and forthysia. Riverside brought daffodils, grape hyacinth, myrtle, blood root, iris, violets, bluebells, spyrea, phlox, candy tuft, ivy & weeds arranged tastefully, and woodruff. Lakeview had daffodils, forsythia and mahonia. The Earps offered flowering cherry, magnolia, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, andromeda, daffodils, and primrose. Clifton brought narcissi and spirea.

The report on birds brought up a mention of an influx of crows near Lydia Haviland's. Attention was drawn to the buzzard hanging out at Quailhill. Peter Austin protested that he wasn't feeding them any failed efforts at raising sheep but that the black ugly birds had been kicked out of the Springdale woods by construction there of large opulent houses. Quailhill was the closest low-rent area for them to move into...much to Peter's discomfort and esthetic chagrin. Peter Conlon was along the Arkansas River in Colorado and saw hawls, eagles, thousands of ducks & teals and in trees, 30 pair of nesting blue herons. Purple Martins were reported back in the Area on March 15 - if you didn't get them this year better luck next.

The redundancy Cmmitee under John Hartge's guidance and impetus wowed the gathering with an impressive showing of its winter data organizing efforts. 11 years of old Society minutes have been digested and the program is progressing nicely.

Forethought started the advice to trim evergreen candles to make the growth thicker...to block out the visual scourge of encroaching housing developments, for instance. We were told that nothing is dormant and that when transplanting, prune to balance root system and foliage. Don't cut bulb greens. Divide and replant spring blooming perennials. Spray peonies if necessary. Prune spiria drastically after blooming and prune magnolia sparingly. May is a good time to layer plants. Rhododendrons need a shot of holytone and need pruning after blossoming. Sendyour house plants out and cut your grass high. Be on the lookout for the Holly leaf miner - apply sevin or diazanon now and orthene in June. All veggies should be seeded or otherwise ensconced in the garden in May.

The forethought was followed by Peter Conlon's meteorological report. It was mentioned that on the Sweetbriar compound in Ashton the high for the Month was 79 degrees - 63 being the average high. The low was 30 degrees - 39 being the average low. April's rainfall was 3.04 inches. Peter also brought graphs detailing rain and snow fall as well as temperatures throughout the 1987-88 season. These will be entered with the minutes.

The exhibits came next: The Lawrences brough bellwort, juge, sweer woodruff, white and yellow violets, phlox, lunaria, sweetbria, dog wood, lilac, red bud, and apple blossoms. From Clifton came 2 kinds of forgetmenots (snowflake and lucage), columbine, lilac, pulmonaria (lungwort), lillies of the valley, bishop's cap, armeria, phlox dicaricata, and an unkown bulb flower. The Earps brought lilac, jack in the pulpit, primrose, scilla, wisteria, jacob's ladder, azalia, wood hyacinth, iris, daffodil, and lungwort. From Amersley came lilacs, tulips and azalea. The Chance's brought lilacs, tulips, bleeding hearts, clematis, daffodils, viburnum, dog-toothed violet, and virginia bluebells. Rose Hill offered wisteria, lilac (white and purple), redbud, bleeding heart (white and pink), columbine, and iris. Jackpine brought azaleas, bleeding heart, tulip, and a mysterious array of flora called "et al" The Cedars brought azaleas, dogwood, candytuft, tulips, mint, strawberry blossoms, bleeding hearts, and pansies. Riverside brought lilacs, tulips, wisteria, candy tuft, azalea, kerria, columbine, springwort, and chhives.

The questions opened with an inquiry on gypsy moth control. For the month of May a band of sticky tape (brand name Repel-3) around afflicted tree trunks was recommended. Caterpillars get hung up on the band where they can be killed and their progress thus arrested. Tent caterpillars were also inquired after. Their harmfulness was downplayed and if the colonies are out of reach they should be abandoned to the appetites of coocoos. Mary Seller asked after the least offensive and economical weed killer for lawns. Since the problem weedes included everything, some of the suggestion were to plow, pave, or turn the lawn over to an effortless meadow-in-a-can. On the other hand, Weed-be-gone or 2-4-D was mentioned.