^ '■'ESTERm bank KOTE 1 E" l//~lC{^ -^^f^-C-^ LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLIISJOIS STA.TE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR 1869, BEINt; THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING HELD AT OTTAWA, DECEMBER 14th, Uyru, IGth, and 17th. WITH PROCEEDINGS OF LOCAL SOCIETIES, ETC. New Series — Volume Lll ST. LOUIS: E, P. STUDLEV * CO., PRINTERS AND LITHOGRAPHERS, 221 NORTH MAIN STREET. 1870. " The breath ot orchard, big- with bending fi'uit, Obedient to tlie breeze and beating ray, ■ From the deep-loaded bough a mellow shower Incessant melts awaj^. The jnicy pear Lies in a soft profusion scattered round, A various sweetness swells the gentle race, By Nature's all-refining hand prepared, Of temper 'd sun, and water, earth and air. In ever-changing composition mix'd. Such falling frequent through the chiller iiight. The fragrant stores, the wide-projected heaps, Of apples, which the lusty-handed year, Innumerous o'er the blushing orchard shakes. A various spirit, fresh, delicious, keen. Dwells in their gelid pores: - * * Where Autumn basks, with fruit empurpled deep, My pleasing theme continual prompts my thought : Presents the downy peach ; the shining plum ; The ruddy, fragrant nectarine; and dark, Beneath his ample leaf, the luscious fig; The vine, too, here her cui-ling tendrils shoots. Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the south, The vineyard swells refulgent on the day, Spreads o'er the vale, or up the mountain climbs, Profuse; and drinks amid the sunny rocks." TuoMPSO^f's Seasons. C 0 N T E N T S Introductory v I. Ollicers ;uul Committees, 1870 Ti II. Members for 1870 ix III . Constitution and By-Laws xi IV. Law.s affecting Horticulture xii V. Pomological Ilules, etc XV VI . Horticultural Districts xvi VII . Proceedings of Executive Committee xvii VIII . Proceedings of Annual Meeting I IX. Reports, etc 23'i X . Horticultural History 237 XI . Correspondence 245 XII . Transactions of the Northern Illinois Society 249 XIII . Transactions of tlie Central Illinois Society 303 XIV . Transactions of other Societies 337 APPKNDI.X. XV . Fruit Lists 1-25 XVI. Index 27-30 ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Benj . D . Walsh Frontispiece. Plum Curculio 83 Curculio Catcher of I)r . Hull 80 Wood Cell 99 Blight Cells 100 meanors in the county where the otlense is committed, or the tine may be recov- ered in an action for de]>t before any justice of the i)eace of such county. Api'KOVed Fehkuaky 20, 18(U.' An Act for the Protection of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Shrubbery and Vegetable Products. Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That if any person or i)ersons, in this State, shall willfully, maliciously and without lawful authority, cut down, root up, sever, injure, ])eel or destroy any fruit or ornamental tree, cidtivated root or plant, fruit or othei" vegetable production, grape, strawberry or cranl)erry vines, currant, gooseberry, raspberry, or <'Ulti\ated lilack- berry bushes, standing or growing on or being attached to the laud of another, or shall, willfully and without lawful authority, cut down, root up, destroy or injure any fruit or ornamental tree or shrubbery, i)lanted or growing on any street, lane or alley, or public grounds in any city, borough or incorporateil town in said State, every such person so offending, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be piuiished by a tine of not more than tiAc hundreil dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail of the county not exceeding three months, or both, at the discretion of the court, and shall, moreover, be liable in double the amount of dam- ages to the party injured . "This law to take ettect from and after its passage. Approved February 15, 1805. An Act for the Protection of Growing Fruit. Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That if any i^erson or persons shall, hereafter, enter the enclosure of any person, without leave or license of such owner, and destroy, or carry away any part or portion of the fruit of any apple, pear, peach, plum, or "other fruit tree or bush, such person or persons shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, may be; lined in any sum not less than t«'n nor more than tifty dollars, and may be imprisoned in the coiuity jail for any period of time not exceeding twenty days. The i)enalties incurred l)y a violation of this act may be enforced by indictment in any coui-t having jiu'isdiction of niisilemeanors in the county where the otlense is com- mitted, 01- the tine may be recoveri^d in an action of debt before any justice of the peace of such comity. Approved February 16, 18G5. An Act for the Protection of Orchards, and to prevent the destruc- tion of Small Birds. Section 1. Be it enacted by the pieople of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That it shall not be lawful, in this State, for any person to shoot, or in any other manner to kill or destroy, or to entra]>, ensnare or otherwise capture any of the following description of birds, to wit: The blue bird, swallow, martin, musquito XIV TKAiSISAGTIONS OF THE ILLmOIS hawk, whip-poor-will, cuckoo, woodpecker, cat bird, brown thrasher, red bird, hang- ina; bird, rice bird, sparrow, wren, humming bird, dove, goldHnch, and mocking bird. Sec. 2. Every person who willfully \-iolates the provisions of the preceding section, or who shall willfully destroy the nest or eggs of any of the birds herein before desig- nated, shall be punished by a fine of not more than tive dollars for each offense. This Act to take eflect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved February 24, 18p9. All Act making an appropriation in aid of the State Horticultural Society of Illinois. Section l. Be it enacted hy the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly^ That there be appropriated for the use of the State Horticultural Society, to be expended in the payment of premiums, in publishing the Transactions of said Society, procuring scieiililic investigations relating to Horticulture, and paying expenses of Ad Interim Committees, the sum of two thousand dollars per annum. Sec. 2. The said sum of two thousand dollars shall be paid to the Treasurer of said State Horticultural Society, on the order of the President and Secretary of the same. Approved February 28, 1867. An Act for the Protection of Consignors of Fruit, Grain, Flour, etc., to be sold on Commission. Section 1. Be it enacted hy the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assemlly, That if any warehouseman, storage, forwarding or commission merchant, or his or their agents, clerks or employees shall convert to their own use the proceeds or profits arising from the sale of any fruits, grain, flour, beef, porkj or any other goods, wares, or merchandise, otherwise than as instructed by the consignors "of said goods, and shall on the demand of the consignor fail to deliver over the proceeds or profits of said goods, after deducting the usual per cent, on the sales as commission, shall be found guilty of a misdemeanor. And any person or persons who shall be found guilty of retaining or embezzling any money prohibited in this section, not exceeding one hundred dollars, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the jail of the county iiot exceeding three months, or both, at the dis- cretion of the court, and shall, moreover, be liable in double the amount of damages to the party injured ; and any person or i^ersons who shall be found guilty of retaining or embezzling a greater sum than one hundred dollars, shall be punished by fine, not more than fiv^^ hundi-ed dollars, or imprisoned in the jail of the coimty not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court; and shall, moreover, be liable in double the amount of damages to the party injured. Sec. 2. This act to take eftect from and after its passage. Approved March 4, 1869. An Act to permit the planting of Shade and Ornamental Trees along the Public Eoads. Section 1. Be it enacted hy the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assemlly, That it shall be lawful for owners or occupants of lands, bordering upon any public road in this State, to plant shade and oi-namental trees along and in such road, at a distance not exceeding one-tenth of the legal width of the road from its margin. Sec. 2. This act shall be deemed a public act and be in force from and after its passage . Approved March 25, 1869. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. XV POMOLOGICAL RULES. As adopted, with additions from American Pomological Societ}'. 1. No new seedling IVuit shall he entitled to the i-eeommendation of this Soeicty until its qualities shall bt- asi-ertained by at least live years' experience in more than one locality, and which is not at least equal to any similar variety of the tirst rank alreadv known ; or which, if only of second rate flavor, is superior in vigor, hardiness, productiveness, or other important ([uality or characteristics. •2. No new fruit shall be t-ousidered, as named, until it has been accurately described by some person or committee, known to be conversant with existing varieties; anil such description shall have been published in at least one horticultural or agricultural journal, or some pomolotcical work of acknowledged standard character. o. The originator, or'he who tirst makes known a new variety, shall be entitled to name it. ;i nd such name, if suitable, shall be adopted by the writer describing the fniit for the tirst time. But if the name proposed is inappropriate, or does not come within the rules ot nomenciattu-e, the describer shall be at liberty to give a name. AVhen two persons have named or described a. fruit, the name and description first published, if according to the rules, shall have the priority. 4. In giving names to new varieties, all harsh, vulgar, or inelegant names, such as *'Sheepsnose,'' "Hogpen,'" etc., should be avoided, and no name should consist of more than two words, excepting only when the originator's name is added. Charac- teristic names, or those in some way descriptive of the qualities, origin or habit of fruit or tree, shall be preferred. They may either be of intrinsic properties, as Golden Sweeting, Downer's Late, etc.; or of local origin, as Newtown Pippin, Hudson Gage ; or the season of ripening, as P:arly Scarlet, First Gage ; or the form and color, as Golden Drop, Blue Pearmain ; or which commemorates a particular place or person, as Tippecanoe, La Grange. Baldwin, or any other titles which may be signiflcantly applied. 5. The description of new varieties of fruits shall embrace the following particulars: First. An account of their origin. Second'. The fruit— its size, form and exterior color, texture and color of the flesh, flavor, and time of ripening, with the addition on stone fruits of the size of the stone, adherence or non-adherence of the flesh, form of the suture, and the hollow at the stem, and in kernel fruits, of the size of the core and seeds, the length, position and insertion of the stalk, and form of the eye. TJu'rd. The tree— its marked characters of growth, young and bearing wood, foli.age and blossoms. In peaches, the fonn of leaf, glands and size of blossoms. In straw- berries, the character of the blossoms, whether staminate or pistillate. In grapes, tlie fonn of the bunch or berry. 6. No variety of fruit, vegetable, tree, flower, or other horticultural product, shall be placed ui)on," or taken from the lists of the Society, unless it receive a majority of six votes, of persons residing in the district for which it is recommended ; and it is recommended that no person vote upon the question unless he have personal experi- ence or observation of the qualities of the variety in question. Xvi TEANS ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS FEUIT, OR HORTICULTURAL DISTRICTS. I. NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 1. Fox River Distnct— Boone , Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee. Kendall, Lake, LaSaUe, McHenry, and Will.— 12. 2. Jioch Hive)' IHstrict—Bmea,u, Carroll. Henry, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Putnam Rock Island, Stephenson, Whiteside, Winnebago.— 11. Total, 23. II. CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 3. Illinois River District— Ad&ma , Brown, Cass, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Knox, McDonough, Marshall, Mason, Mercer, Menard, Morgan, Peoria, Pike, Schuyler, Scott, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Woodford.— 21. 4. Gratid Prairie District— Gh&m^dAgn, Christian, Coles, De Witt, Douglas, Edgai-,. Ford, Iroquois, Livingston, Logan, McLean, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Sangamon, Shelby, Vermillion.— 17. Total, 38. in. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. 5. Gentralia, or Wabash District— Glavk, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Jasper, Jefferson, Lawrence, Marion, Richland, Wabash, Wayne, White. — 17. 6. Alton, or KasMslia District— Bom\, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin. Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Randolph, St. Clair, Washington.— 13. 7. Grand Chain District— Alexander, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Williamson.— 11. Total, 41, Grand total, 102, STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. XVll MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Bloomington, June Ist, 1869. At a called meeting of the Executive Committee of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, held at the Ashley House, in the city of Bloomington, on this day, there were present Tyler McWhorter, President ; A. M. Brown and Elmer Baldwin, ex-Presidents, and W. C. Flagg, Secretary. Absent — Parker Earle, ex-President. The place and time of the next winter meeting were first discussed, and it was then voted to meet at Ottawa, December 14th, 15th, 16th- and 17th, 1869. The matter of offering premiums for fruits, etc., exhibited at the winter meeting, which had been referred to the Executive Committee for their action, was next taken up, and it was voted that no pre- miums be oflPered, but that a full exhibition be solicited, and that a committee be appointed to make a special report on all fruits, etc., exhibited. Appropriations being next acted upon, the following were voted : To Dr. E. S. Hull, State Horticulturist, the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars ($750), with the understanding that he perform what service he can during the year for that compensation. To the Ad Interim Committee, to pay traveling expenses, an amount not exceeding two humlred and fifty dollars ($250). To W. C. Flagg, Corresponding Secretary, for ofiice rent an amount not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100). To the Executive Committee the actual expenses of each member in attending this meeting. Several essayists and topics for discussion at the next meeting were named, and the Secretary instructed to correspond with the persons suggested, and to invite their attendance. Adjourned sine die. TYLER McWHORTER, President. W. C. FLAGG, Secretary. PEOCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING, At Ottawa, December 14-17, 1869. [George Bulkley, Phonographic Repoi'ter.] CIRCULAR. Office Corresponding Secretary, ) Illinois State Horticultural Society, Alton, Novemher \UTi, 1869. ) The Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Illinois State IIokticultural Society will be held at the Court House in'OTTAWA, on Tuesdaj', Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, December 14ch, loth, 16th and 17th, 1869, comniencing at 9 o'clock, a. m., ou Tuesday. Delegates are cordially invited from other State and Local Horticultural and Agricul- tural Organizations, and a general attendance of the Farmers, Fruit Growers, Nursery- men, Gardeners and Florists of Illinois, is earnestly solicited. Contributions of Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables, fe'cions. Seeds, Wines, Ciders, Horti- cultural Implements, &c., «.tc., are solicited for the purpose of making a Winter Exhibition. No premiums will be awarded; but all articles will be examined by competent committees, antl their merits caretully reported upon. The Chicago, Rock Islanil and Pacific Railroad Company will furnish return tickets at one-fifth fare on presentation of the Secretary's certificate to the agent at Ottawa. The Chicago & Alton Railroad Company will furnish return tickets at one-fiftli fare to meml)ei's presenting the Secretary's certificate to their agents at Joliet, Bloomington and Normal. Tlie Illinois Central will retiu'n members paying one-fifth fare on prtssen- tation of the Secretary's certificate to conductors. The Chicago, Burlington antl Quincy Railroad will return free members who go over their road "via Mendota, AVyanet, or Galesburg. on presentation of Secretary's certificate to conductors, but no reduction will 1)0 niade in favor of parties going or returning via ('hicago. Persons unable to attend can become members for 1870, and receive the transactions for 1869, l>y remitting two dollars to tlie Trt'asurer, Jonathan Huggius, "Woodburn, Macoupin county, or to the Secretary. Secretaries of liOcal Ilorticultiu'al" Societies are requested to report to the Secretary of this Society, a list of their oflicers, ami an abstract of their proceedings for 1869. Contributions to the volume of transactions for 1869 are solicited, especially from the old settlers in reference to the early orchards, nurseries, &i'., of Illinois, and from those who have had valuable experience with old or new methods of horticulture. TYLER MCWHORTER, President. W. C. FLAGG, Secretary. riEST DAY— MOENING SESSION. In accordance with the call contained in the above circular, the Society met in the Supreme Court, at Ottawa, Tuesday morn- ing, December 14th, and were called to oi\ier by President Tyler Z TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS McWhorter. Prayer was offered by Eev. Mr. Lewis, of the Ply- mouth Church. Hon. Elmer Baldwin delivered the following address of welcome r On behalf of the citizens of Ottawa, I welcome yoii to our annual reunion. We meet you as representatives and exponents of the refining and ennobling art of Horticulture, and we expect to derive much -pleasure and profit from this meeting. Your Society has done much to awaken an interest on the part of the people in those pursuits which it was designed to foster; and in carrying out the objects of the Society to a useful result you have done more than was ever accomphshed before in this State, and have paid back a hundred fold what you have received from the State. Combining, as it has done, the experience of the leading fruit culturists of this and adjoining States, it has accomphshed more for this State than anything else ever done for the benefit of Horti- culture and the i-ural arts. We expect much pleasure from intercourse with you, and we anticipate that Horticulture will receive an impulse here, as it has elsewhere, wherever you have been. The part you have taken in the selection of fruits has done much to point out the peculiar conditions of soil and climate necessary for the success- ful cultivation of each kind, and has been of great benefit to the State, and placed it years in advance of what it would have been but for the existence of your Society. The regular succession of fruits from early June until the golden time of Autumn, increases the wealth, the health, and the happiness of our people. Thousands of bushels of small fruits, imnoticed before, have of late years been shipped, and this fact can not, in its influence, be over-estimated. We have a soil which for ease of cultiva- tion has no equal, yet it is a naked plain in its natural condition, Avithout a tree or shrub to adorn it, and the condition of the landscape is but an unpleasant and forbidding sight. It requires the hand of intelligent culture to embellish and adorn ; to plant the Spnice and the Fir, tlie Evergreen hedge, the Maple and the Holly, and to embellish it with rural art ; to dress the land and deck it with exotic and native shrubs, where the birds can sing, and children laugh and play, amid scenes of sylvan beauty. Such influences educate the taste of those who dwell among them. This rural art i» ennobling and refining in its character — it elevates the individual and tends to the formation of social happiness, public morality, virtue and patriotism. Mankind natur- ally love their country, but to develop the full force of this love, that country should be made loveable. The Swiss, lining in their happy homes, become passionately attached to their country, and removed from it, they pine away and die of home-sickness. I trust your society will never cease in their efi'orts in this direction until every dwelling and every farm house and every shanty on the broad expanse of our Prairie State shall be thus adorned. I welcome you to our city, I welcome you to the hospitality of our citizens, to the social converse of our families, to our homes and our firesides. We thus expect to form pleasant acquaintances and learn more of the noble art which you practice, and we expect you will do us good. President McWhorter replied as follows : In behalf of the Illinois Horticultural Society, over which I have the honor to preside, I will say this very kind and genial welcome, so nobly expressed, by one whom we have long kno^vn as a horticultural brother, is most cordially appreciated. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. tJ We have come togetlier as a Iloitieultural Fraternity. We feel gratified with the interest you oxpi'css in the object of our association — we love to meet with genial minds ; and we trust the courtesy and generosity of yoiu" citizens will be gi'atefully remembered. We have come together from every portion of our extended State to meet with you here, to form the pleasant acquaintance of your citizens, to enjoy the social hospitalities of your firesides, and to discuss subjects relating to the health, com- fort and embellishment of our homes and the refinement of our lives. Again thanking you for this generous reception, we will proceed to the business for which we are convened. A SIDE SHOW. Mr. Wier suggested the propriety of inviting Professor Powell to deliver a lecture before the society. He said in support of the sugges- tion : " It is the most interesting lecture I have ever had the good fortune to hear ; and I think it would be of interest to all of us. We can get him here by Thursday night if desired. We shall have to appoint a committee to arrange the matter and select a suitable room,- To-night he lectures at Cincinnati, but could be here by Thursday. Mr. Flagg — On Thursday night vs^e have an address from a man, who perhaps more than all others, would interest this society, Mr. Thomas Meehan, of Philadelphia ; and though I should be glad to hear Professor Powell, providing it could be done without interfering with the business of the society, yet it appears to me it would not be possible to give up Thursday evening for that purpose. On Wednesday evening there is a vacancy caused by the death of our late State Entomologist. Mr. Wier — It would be impossible for the Major to be here on Wednesday night. Would it not be possible to arrange so that Mr. Meehan could take Thursday afternoon, and leave the evening for Major Powell? Mr. Earle — Perhaps that change could be effected. I should be glad to hear a lecture so full of interest as that of the Major ; but it is not horticulture, and I do not think we have ever yet seevi the time when we could spare a full evening for a matter that was entirely foreign to the subject under discussion, and I do not think we shall have time now. Mr. Daggy — It seems to me this would be a little in advance of our position — to invite a lecturer here without first conferring with the citizens of Ottawa. 4 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Flagg — I move that the matter be referred to the Executive Committee, with instructions to report after dinner. The motion was unanimous!}^ adopted. TREASURER'S REPORT. Mr. Huggins, the Treasurer, then presented and read his annual report. STATEMENT OF TREASURER OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIBTT. RECEIPTS. Balance in hand per statement of account, Dec. 15th, 1868 $1,512.52 Membership, fees for 1868-1869 (J. Huggihs received $135, W. C. F. $80.25) .... 215.25 Donations from the State for 1869 2,000.00 Whole total. $3,727.77 EXPE^^DITURES. Cash paid as follows : Dec. 16th, 1868— M. L. Dunlap, on order of the President .$ 6.50 Dec. 17th, 1868—0. B. Galusha, on order of the President 24.50 " " " —B. S. Hull, on order of the President 147.70 Dec. 19th, 1868 — W. C. Flaa:g-, on order of the President 174.35 Jan. 24th, 1869 — W. C. Flagg. on order of tlie President 15.00 April 5th, 1869 — E. S. HuD, on order of the President 250.00 May 15th, 1869 — On vote of the Society, B. L. Kingsbury 41.75 ' ■ " " _ On vote of the Society, J. A. Warder 25.00 Aug. 10th, 1869 — Prairie Farmer Co., Chicago, on order of President 1,369.39 Oct. 19th, 1869 — E. S. Hull, on order of President 500.00 Whole amount paid. $2,553.19 — $2553.19 Leaving in the Treasmy the sum of -$1,174.58 JONA. HUGGINS, Treasurer. Ottawa, December 14, 1869. Mr. A. Bryant moved that the report be accepted. Carried. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Mr. McWhortei'; the President, then addressed the meeting as follows : Friends of ike Illinois State Horticultural Society : Most cordially I gi'eet you all, and congratulate you that we are again convened to enjoy that reciprocal good feeling by which horticultural gatherings are so much char- acterized. And I trust there will be no abatement in our zeal in in-\'estigating those interesting subjects, so intimately related to the higher advancement of our ci-\alization, the improvement of oiu- landscapes, the charms of rural life— in short, to our whole domestic prosperity. It is with much diffidence that I assume the position to which you have elected me— a position which was to me quite unexpected, and I will add, unsought. If I fail to STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 5 meet your expectations, I will tnist that the same spirit of liindncss and persona] respect that have ever been manifested towards me, will induce you to bear with my incompetency. We are assembled together to hold our foiu'tcenth annual meeting, here in this inter- esting town of Ottawa, sm-roiuided by the picturesque scenery of timbered bluffs and rocky promontories, that call to mind the memories of Indian legendary. ' With the older members of this association it is but natural to recall the fact, that the original foundation of our present Society was the Northwestern Fruit Grower's Association, organized in the autumn of 1851. Sitting before me are some familiar faces of those who were among the founders of that primiti\'e organization ; and inadvertently the mind recalls the memory of those who then participated in oiu- gatherings, but have since passed away. In looking back over the field of our past labors, we have abundant reason to con- gratulate ourselves on the practical progress we have made. A spirit has been awak- ened in the public mind until tree planting and fruit growing have been carried to an extent that at that time no one could have anticipated — even in some instances the spirit of planting has out run people's judgment. Over the broad prairies where the wild winds and prairie tires had free sweep, we have lived to sec it dotted with valua- ble homesteads, surrounded with groves and orchards and lines of hedges. We see an increasing tendency to improvement in homestead arrangements, in which the rich and enlivening effect of evergreens begin to appear. Lauds formerly deemed worthless, have been brought i)ito valuable requisition, and extensively applied to fruit culture. During the fruit season, loaded fruit trains are moving over our railroad lines, until well filled boxes and baskets are heaped and piled in the markets of our larger towns, and the markets of nearly every railroad town in our State are perfumed with the aroma of our fruits! Grape culture, from a state of nonenity, has been sprung into being, and by a spirit of enthusiasm is being extended over our whole country ! But it is not to regale ourselves over what we have accomplished, that we are come together ; but to consider earnestly the work that is before us. Too well I understand the character of the men whom I address, to suppose I can satisfy you with floiu'ishes of rhetoric. You will expect from me practical suggestions on the subjects of our investigations. As a horticultural society we have a field of investigation scarcely equaled by any other State. True, we have not the diversity of mountain ranges or inland lakes. The hilly range extending across the southern portion of our State, the lowness of our river bluffs, the changes in our underlying geological formations, the diversity of our black prairie soils and thinner soils of our rolling lands, constitute the principal topo- graphical features, having any local influence on horticultui'al pursuits. But the fact that our State has an extent of nearly four hundred miles of latitude, gives to our Hor- ticultural Society an extensive field of labor. Again, the climatic character of our inland region, the extreme vicissitudes of our changing seasons, constitute for us a si)ecial subject of inquiry. Some seasons we have continued rains and cloudy skies, favorable to the spread of the fungus family, greatly aflecting the products of our orchards, vineyards and gardens. Such has been the pre- ceding season. Other seasons we have extreme drouths extending into autumn ; so that trees close their growth in mid-sunmier, circulation ceasing before the essential elements ai-e elaborateil to sustain and perllH-t the next year's crop. Such was the 6 TEANS ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS summer of 1867, followed by the deficient crops of 1868. Our soft southern winds that prevail in the summer mouths, extending into autiuun, give iis a free growth, but not always -well ripened wood to endure the severity of winter. These peculiarities of our climate, and the very distinct character of our sub-soU — more fll^•orable for deeper planting — renders it imsafe for us, in the valley of the Great "West, to rely for insti-uction on the horticultural savans of the Atlantic States. It devolves on us to solve oiu- own horticultural difficulties. And it can not be disguised that, to some extent, these difficulties increase with the increased extent of planting. This is perhaps only what we should expect. That the prevalence of insects and parasitic fungi wiH multiply and extend in proportion as we provide the means by which they can exist, is but a natural result. This has l^een the case in other countries. More diseases extend and more scientific skill is required to raise fruit, as the country becomes older. This is so much the case in the Eastern States that an opinion has gained considerable extent, that the apple crop is there on the decline. In the minds of some this is an occasion of some alarm. I have placed in the hands of the secretary an extract from a private letter from J. J. Thomas, on this subject, and I think the Secretarj" has communications from other horticultiu-alists of the older States, on the same subject. The letter from which I have made extracts is in the brief condensed style for which the waitings of that veteran horticulturist are characterized. Mr. Thomas takes a common sense \iew of the subject, free from hypothetical vagaries. Thus it seems to be a fact that, with the increase of orchards, we have an increase of fungoid infections and insects that infest orchards. It is from this circumstance that several vaiieties of apples, that were most profitable in our first orchards, are now so frequently scabby and wortWess, that they are falling into disrepute. Hence it is, that our frnit lists need occasional revision. Varieties, that a few years ago we held in the highest regard, we are inclined to reject. As yet we can boast of no signal triumphs over the hordes of insects that infest our orchards and gardens, and scarcely any control over the various fungoid infections. The subject of pmning is one ou which western horticulturists are quite vmsettled in theory. "We liaAC not yet given this subject the close obsen'ation that its importance deserves. I would also invite attention to the subject of cultivation of orchards and fruit grounds generally. We often have excessive rains, our soils are easily washed. "We are yearly applying to fruit culture more grounds i,\ith broken or undulating sixrface. We are startled by the revelations of geology, of the wonderful denudation of conti- nenatl regions in past durations of time ! Fortunate for us, that by some means (we know not how), a goodly thickness of drift was spread over the old denuded surface, constituting for us the best sub-soil of which any land can boast. But if several hun- dred feet in thickness, of the original surface, was carried away by the action of the elements in past time, well may we concern ourselves with the the ten-fold greater rapidity with which the surface of oiu- cultivated grounds are now being washed away and earned ofi" by our streams. "SATiile we are reveling in a soil enriched by decaying grasses and the ashes of prairie fires of past centuries, it becomes us to consider how we are to secure continued fertility after the vegetable humus and alkalies of our present surface shall be washed away. To counteract or diminish the washing process, to what extent we may profitably resort to underdi'aining, surface mulching, seeding to grasses, or to other means, are important considerations. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. / As horticultui'ists, it is not only proper for iis to learn in the various departments of our pursuits, liow a given amount of laV>or can be turned to the most dollars and cents ; but if we are that dignilied, scientific, self-sacrificing l}ody of men we claim to be, tliis should not be the sole object of oiu* deliberations — not solely to conduct our avocations so as most efliciently to line our own pockets, but we should study and work for the love and pleasure of bringing forth fruits or facts that may bo a blessing to those that come after us. Thus far, all tht^ progress that has been made in the improvement of varieties of fruits, beyond the labors of a lew isolated experimenters, has occuiTcd from accidental seedlings. As yet, very little has been done in the production of new varieties by artificial means of fertilization. For untold ages this work of hybridizing has been going on through the agency of the winds and the little bee. liOt us take hints from nature, and learn from the bee. If the bee can transmit the pollen of the flower from tree to tree and plant to plant, may not the hand of intelligence do as much? A wide and interesting field here lies before us almost iniexplored ! "What blessings to posterity is yet to be the reward of scientific diligence in this direction ! If all our melting pears have originated from tJic wild choke pear of Europe, and the peach and the almond ft-om the wild peach of Persia, by the means of natural variations and accidental crossing, who shall say where is the limit to the improvement of fruits, or what may not be eftccted by intelligence in artificial means of hybridizing? With the aci'idental seedling we experiment with not to exceed one chance in a thou- sand for improvement. With hybridizing, we proceed with intelligence and a reason- able expectation of what may be the result. It is but making a practical application of the principles of nature for the amelioration of our fruits. 1 will venture the opinion that through this means a class of fruits will be brought forth in future entirely sur- passing our present selections. We yet know nothing of any bounds that nature has set in the improvement of fruits. Between the Siberian apple and the common apple, it is believed that several acciden- tal hybrids have already originated. I am aware this is doubted by some, merely on theoretical grounds. But it is now well known that hybridization is not in all cases bounded by the baniers of botanical classification. We have already crossed that boundary line in different instances where the specific difference is more strongly marked than between the Fyrus malus and Pynis malus 'prunifolia. What a pity, that Nature pays so little regard to some of the by-laws, and botanical rules yve have pre- scribed for her in our boohs ! And who shall say through means of artificial hyl)ridizing what is to be the mission of the Siberian apple? May not new hybrids be originated having mainly the hardy characteristics of the tree of the one parent, and the fruit of the other? And thus, may not the cultivation of our apple be carried up our mountain slopes, and beyond the line of British Amei'ica. On this subject of hybridizing, there is an interesting field of inquiry of which we are yet almost entirely ignorant. It rests with us to make an advance in this direction, or leave it wholly for those who shall come after us. While tree and fruit culture have extended greatly in the last decade of years, and we have learned much of practical cultivation, yet it must be confessed we have not made equal progi-ess in the improvement of varieties, except, perhaps, with the grape. 8 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS It is tnie that some varieties of berries have made their advent under fanciful names, and the use of much paper and inlv. But in most cases, after tlie sale of the first plants, under the pufi' of advertisements, they are scarcely heard of. With that most desirable fiaiit the cherry, "vvc have made no advance since the labors of Prof. Kirtland. The lonely Early Richmond (or to please some of our friends, we should perhaps call it I^arly May) holds entire monopoly in our Western markets. We would not discourage those who are experimenting with seedlings fi-om this variety ; it is an enterprise from which we may hope for good results. But I would solicit attention to the more certain means of hybridizing with the Dukes. The subject of the influence of dissimilar stock on fruitfulness is one that demands more close attention. We already understand that circulation may be retarded by a dissimilarity of stock, and, that whatever retards circulation, increases the formation of fi-uit buds. It seems nearly conceded that the Early Richmond is more productive on the Morello stock ; and, that several varieties of apple have shot^Ti more tendency to pi-odiictiveness when budded or stock grafted. Some recent experiments seem to indicate that several varieties of the sweet cherries will succeed with us when worked on the-Early Richmond as a stock. This subject should receive more attention ; also that of w-orkiug some of our most desirable apples, that are shy bearers, on some of the Russian varieties, or on Siberian stocks. With a laudable ambition we have proved ourselves able to supply our markets with fruit ; let us next devise the means to supply a better quality . Another subject to which it is thought proper to invite your attention, is that of some action to guard against the introduction and spread of the Canada thistle, and other noxious weeds from the older States. This subject legitimately claims the atten- tion of this society ; for the means by which we are in the greatest danger of the Canada thistle being introduced into western soil, is in the packing of nursery stock, shipped from the East. This has already occurred in some iustances. I submit to you to take such action as in your judgment may be thought most efficient to check, or prevent this dreadful pest. It may be ad-sisable to appoint a special committee to conunimicate with the Secretaries of County Agricultural Societies and other persons in difierent counties of oirr State, to ascertain to what extent this thistle is already introduced, and to solicit the action of Agricultural Societies, to take steps to eradicate or check the evil. Our, society has not been delinquent in its duties in making repeated efforts to admonish the public against imposition. In these efforts it is to be regretted, that we have so little reason to be'gratified with our success. The evils and imposture, that are but natural consequences of the prevailing system by which trees and plants are disseminated over the country, are apparent to all. But the existence of these evils is in a measure due to the fact that a considerable portion of our western people have a morbid craving for imposture. With that class of individuals, horticultural societies can adopt no means to fortify their creduUty. But, for the sake of those who seek information, let us continue to disseminate such caution as may place the public on their guard against all manner of imposition. -Let us continue to be guarded against any action by which we will become accessory to any speculation scheme. Your attention is invited to the subject of dividing the State into Fruit Districts, as proposed by our Secretary in the printed circular calling this meeting. In the proposed division into seven Fruit Districts, it is the object to take into consideration STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 9 difference of latitude, temperature, rain falls, geology, and topographical configu- ration . It is submitted to your judgment whether this or a similar division will not be better adapted to a successful management of our society, with the view of electing vice presidents and other officers with regard to the Fruit Districts. But before closing this address it becomes my duty to drop a tribute to the memory of a departed brother. One, whose loss we shall deeply feel! One, who by earnest application, had advanced to high scientific attainments in a department of knowl- edge of the highest importance to horticulture ! One, who from the genial worth of his soul, held a place in all our hearts! By a sad casuality, our State Entomologist, B. D. Walsh, has been taken from us! lie died on the 18th of November. Such was the personal regard I had for Mr. Walsh, it is with difficulty I can approach the subject; T can bring to my use no language to express my feelings. We have lost a genial friend and an earnest worker ! To us, as horticulturists, the loss of Mr. Walsh is inestimable . I can only recommend the usual course of a committee to present resolutions on the loss of our valued friend. It may be proper for me to mention in this connection the death of A. S. Coe, of Port Byi'on. Though not for the past few years a member of this Society, Judge Coe was a member of the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, and was formerly connected with the Northwestern Fruit Growers' Association. He was an intelligent horticulturist, one of our prompt correspondents, and a valuable citizen, esteemed at home and abroad. He died the 17th of October. Whatever may be the pressing interest of business before us, let us ever be ready to pause and drop a tribute to the memory of our departed friends. Gentlemen, I will no longer detain you with remarlvs of my own. Your labors will not be limited to the subjects to which I have invited your attention. You need no stirring words from me to arouse you to a sense of the importance of the objects in which you are engaged. I need not tell you how greatly our national prosperity de- pends on the advancement of horticulture ; that no nation can continue prosperous when culture and refinement all tends to concentrate in city life; that wherever such is the case, that is a tendency to national decay; that culture and refinement can not extend into country life without a widely diffused. knowledge of horticulture. Your minds are fuUy imbued with a high sense of such facts, and the importance of the work that is before you. The address was received with great applause. SECRETARY'S REPORT. Mr. Flagg, the Secretary, then read his report, as follows : The Transactions for 1868, being the largest volume yet issued l>y the Society— and 1 believe also the best — was also the most costly, and owing to unforeseen causes was> greatly delayed in publication. The following is the printer's bill in detail : 10 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 1,137,426 ems compositiou, at 70c $796 20 115 tokens press work, at 75c 86 26 90,300 ems composition, tables, at f 1 40 126 42 Press work on tables 10 00 Extra time on tables, 2d, 3d and 4tli pages 12 00 Half cost re-printing 3d and 4tli pages book . 4 75 Composition and press work on Index 21 27 Paper for and printing 700 covers 7 85 200 tables on flat cap paper 14 00 31 7-20 reams book paper, at $0 00 282 15 Binding, 300 cloth, 700 paper (binder's bill) 137 50 Packing, cases, drayage, postage, &c 10 00 $1,508 39 Of this amount $!150 was paid by the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, in con- sideration of our including their report in our volume, leaving the amount actually paid by our Society, $1,358 39. Hence it will be seen that the average cost of paper and cloth copies has been a trifle over f 1 50 per volume. The volume is well worth this ; yet luider the vote of last year we have been furnishing it for a membership fee of only f 1. As we need all the funds we can command, and as I believe all, or nearly all our members are quite as willing to pay one dollar as two for the benefit of the Society, and as the advantage claimed that we would receive as much money for one dollar memberships as for two dollar mem- berships, has never yet been gained, I respectfully submit that we had better make the annual fee two dollars, and let it remain unchanged. Having been appointed a committee on behalf of the Executive Committee to pre- pare a seal for the Society, I finally settled, after consulting many friends and members of the Society, on the design which is carried out in the engraving found on our circular calling this meeting. The outer circle contains the name of the Society and the date of its organization. The three figures are designed to represent Ceres, Flora and Pomona, being the same rural deities that appear on the Horticultural Hall at Boston. The motto — "this is an art which does mend nature," is from Shakspeare's "Winter's Tale. One attempt to get tliis design carried out was a failure, costing the Society $25, without any equivalent. A second attempt was more successful, though not entirely satisfactory. 3Iy printer's bill for stationery, circulars, etc., for the perfonnance of ofBcial duties, is as follows : Dec. 22d, 1868, to one-half ream letter heads $ 4 00 June 19th, 1869, to 1,000 envelopes, printed 10 00 Aug. 2d, 1869, to 200 cii'culars on tables 3 75 Nov. 10th, to 1,000 circulars annual meeting 13 50 Nov. 10th, 1869, to 400 railroad certificates 3 75 Total 135 00 My postage, express and stationery account is the follomng : March 26th, 1869, Expressage on manuscript ; 36 " " " Stamps , 3 00 June 18th, " Expressage on index and tables '. 85 July 14th, " 2 quires wrapping paper 2 00 " " " 1 ball twine 40 " " " Stamps 5 00 " " " Freight on reports 6 55 ^' " " Unpacking " 75 STATE IIORTICI I/IURAL SOCIETY. 11 Aug. 20th, '• Stamps ' 8 00 " 31st, " " r> 00 " " '• Expiv.ss 75 Sept. 20th, " Stamps 10 00 Oct. 29th, " Wrappino; paper 80 Nov. 10th, " 1 ball twme 40 " 13th, " m) envelopes 11") " " " Stamps *. 4 00 '•• " •' '• (i 00 Total $50 00 WARRANTS DRAWN. The warrants drawn for tlie last year are the following : E. S. Hull, ad interim, ete $147 70 M. L. Dunlaji, ad interim i-ommittee (5 50 Postage, printing, etc., of Secretary, 1868 133 15 W. C. Flagg, (7^ interim committee 41 20 O. B. Galusha, ad interim committee 24 50 Drawing seal (Hugh Smith) 15 00 Salary in pail of Dr. E. S. Hull 250 00 Printer's hill, less f 150, of P. F. Co 1.358 39 Engraving seal (a bad job) 10 00 Balance salary Dr. E. S. Hull 500 00 Expenses attending Ex. Com., W. C. Flagg 6 00 Expenses E. Baldwin at Ex. Com 5 00 Expenses A. Vi. Brown " 5 00 Expenses T. jMcWhorter -' 5 00 Engraving of seal, etc., R. P. Studlev & Co 40 00 Printing bill L. A. Parks & Co ' 35 00 Office rent W. C. Flagg 75 00 HOKTICUI/rURAL DISTRICTS. The present division of the State into three districts — Northern, Central and Southern —being too general to be satisfactory, I have heretofore, in the Transactions for 1867, attempted to invent something more suitable and based not only on differences ot latitude and temperature, but on those of rain fall, geological formation, configuration, plant growth, etc. I respectfully call attention to it again, in the hope that it, or some- thing better, may be adopted. Perhaps by combining it with our present divisions we may attain the advantages of both. Let districts one and two be called Northern, three and four Central, and live, six and seven Southern Illinois, and we shall have three large districts, not varying much from those we now have, and each of these subdivided into two or three sub-districts, between which some very important differences exist. The subdivisions may be used or neglected according as necessity requires, or as judg- ments may dictate ; but I believe all will admit that our present three districts are too large and contain too various soils and climates to have their wants and preferences expressed in the same list of fruits. Mr. Nelson moved that the report of the Secretary be accepted, and the motion was adopted. 12 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS EEPOETS OF YICE PEESIDENTS. J The next matter iu order being the reports of Vice Presidents, the President called — 1 1st District— Mr. Cochran of Cook, who was announced to be sick. ; 2d District — ^ix. Crow, who was announced not present. ' 3d District — INIr. Hansen, Avho was annovmced not present. 4th District — Mr. Walsh, who was announced not present. | 5th District— Mr. J. W. Stewart. , Mr. Stewart — I ana present, but I haA^e not my report ready. The President — Perhaps you could make a verbal report of the con- ' dition of horticulture in your district. Mr. Brown — I move that Mr. Stewart be allowed time to prepare ! a report. Carried. 6th District. — Mr. O. B. G-alusha made the following verbal report: j I had personally prepared a report, but unfortunately left it at home . I can, in a few I words, embody what was said in that report, and ask the privilege of perfecting the j report and handing it to the Secretary. - i i VICE PEESIDENT'S REPORT FROM THE SIXTH DISTRICT. ' {As written out.) j Mr. President and Brother Members : There is so little to report, encouragingly, fl'om ■ my District, that it seems almost idle for me to occupy your time at all. The increase of insect enemies is everywhere a topic of conversation among fruit- I growers, while few can give an intelligent or probable cause therefor, and almost none i can offer an effectual antidote for more than one or two species. There is no disguis- | ing the fact that a general feeling of discouragement in the cultivation of apples per- ) vades almost the entire agricultural population . j "We need more of that spirit which does not stop with observing and brooding over \ effects, but which searches assiduously and perseveringly for their causes, with a ' determined will to surmount obstacles and conquer enemies , however formidable or ^ insidious they may be. Orchard fruits have been a partial or total failure throughout : this district the past year. This is doubtless owing mainly to climatic causes, one of \ which undoubtedly was the great deluge of the spring and summer, a greater, perhaps, i than has occurred from the days of Noah to the present time. ■ The Codling Moth, and the Apple-tree Louse (Aphis Mali) have been unusually , prevalent this year, the latter rendering nearly all the varieties more or less scabby, 1 and entirelj"^ ruining some sorts. Some of those escaping are Jonathan, Seek-no- | Further, Maiden's Blush, Duchess of Oldenburg, Faraeuse, Swaar, Talman's Sweet, j Fall Orange, all the Russets and probably some other varieties. STATE IIORTIOUl/PURAL SOCIETY. 13 Among those rendered almost or entirely worthless I noticed the Carolina June, Winesap, and White Winter Pearmain. Dr. lltiU, our State Ilorticulturi.st, thinks he has discovered to a certainty that the scabs on the apples are caused by this insect, and will doubtless suggest, in his report, some valuable preventive. The easiest way that I know of to keep the Codling Moths in check is to place bits of woolen rags, or old bits of carpets in the forks of the trees. These may be easily scalded and replaced as often as the pupa) of the moths are found in their folds. The benefits of protection have been as clearly seen this year as in any former one. Apple orchards which are partially or entirely sheltered by timber have borne better «rops than those on similar soils and elevations without such protection. In orchaid^ exposed to the winds, the trees in the middle or toward the eastern side of the orchard were found bearing better than those on the Western side. I have also this year noticed a fact which lias been stated, by myself and others, at a former meeting of this Society, ^\7. : That fruit trees in exposed situations usually bear much more fruit upon their eastern and northeastern sides than on other portions; owing, of course, to the partial protection which the trees themselves afford from the prevailing west and south- west winds. The want of timber belts and groves is — and I fear will for several generaiions remain — tiie most serious obstacle to successful orchard culture on the prairies of Cen- tral and Northern Illinois. This protection to orchards and growing crops is so easy and comparatively inexpensive an improvement that it seems the most consummate folly to neglect it. Any person wlio can hold a plow and use a jack-knife can shelter his orchard by preparing a border on its west and north sides and planting cuttings of such varieties of rapid growing deciduous trees as readily grow in this way. These •screens are, of course, inferior to those composeil of evergreens, which aflbrd winter as well as summer protection . I am aware that this subject of timber protection is an old story to us; for we have harped upon it and demonstrated its value by fivcts and figures again and again for many years; yet let us keep on preaching and practicing "on this line" of duty while we live, then the tiees themselves will remain to take up the text and preach it with the demonstration of truth to those who will come alter us. The general neglect to take proper care of apple orchards, in this region, and generally throughout the State, is doubtless an important cause of the failure to realize crops of fruit. Farmers are too ready to declaim against the prairies as not adapted to fruit growing because,, forsooth, the trees will not take care of themselves and flourish amid the weeds, grass, or what is perhaps worse than either, crops of small grain. I find some exceptions to this class, however; and even in this, the most unfavorable of years for apples, have seen some orchards well cared for and yielding fair crops of fruit. When farmers will give as good cultivation to their orchards as they do to their corn-fields, taking pains to destroy the borers, the moths, and the aphides from the orchards, as they do the crows, gophers, mice and worms which infest their corn- fields, they may look for remunerating crops. Peahs are growing in favor, from year to year, succeeding pretty well wherever cultivated in moderately rich soil, underdrained or thoroughly surface drained. 14 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS But few Plum trees are planted in this district, on account of the depredations of tlie Curculio. The Lombard and'tlie Miner are about the only ones which intelligent cultivators care to plant. The list of Cherries has been gradually reduced here until only two varieties — the Early May ("Richmond") and EngUsh Morello— are planted to any extent. These varieties arc hardy and very productive on all soils. A few persons, however, are found in every neighborhood who still adhere to the old Black Morello, despite its suckers, on account of the fruit being so good lor pies, and when canned or dried in sugar. A few years since the Early May was grafted almost exclusively on Morello suckers; but these are everywhere such inveterate sprouters that planters are now discarding them and planting trees on the Mahaleb stock. Trees thus worked prove hardy, do not sprout, and bear plentifully in a few years from the planting. The Cherry crop was quite good here the past season. More attention is being paid, in each succeeding year, to growing small fruits for family use, and to some extent for market. The varieties which give the most uniform satisfaction are: Red Dutch, Cherry and White Grape Currants; Houghton's and American Seedling Gooseberries ; Kittatinny Blackberry ; Miami and Philadelphia Raspberries ; (Clark Raspberry, is highly prized by those who grow it) ; and Wilson's Albany Strawberry. This district has been somewhat infected with the epidemic Grape femr, which, however, has not proved fatal exceptin low grounds, or those belowthe "high water mark" of the flood of 1869. In all such situations the Concord, Ives, Hartford and Clinton succeed well. It is with pleasure that I am able to report an increasing desire among farmers and others to render their homes more pleasant by planting near them evergreens and other trees and shrubs. A few also are found in almost every towTiship who have- begun the work of planting evergreens for screens, and deciduous trees lor timber. Let us hope that many will soon imitate their examples. Respectfully sixbmitted, O. B. GALUSHA. 7th District. — Mi'. Pierson^ who was announced not present. 8th District. — Mr. Francis, who submitted a written report. Through the blessing of a kind Providence I have a far more favorable report to make of the fruit crop in the Eighth District, than last year. In Sangamon county the Strawberry crop was very good; Currants and Gooseberries were also abundant; Lawton Blackberries bore weU, but a portion of the canes being slightly injured by the winter, some of the berries were deficient in flavor. Pears '.vere a good crop,, but little blight among the trees. The Peach crop was a failure. The Apple crop was very good, though some varieties were quite scabby; among these were the Wine-sap, Bell-flower, and Striped Pearmain. About one-third of the winter apples were frozen on the trees in October ; quite a proportion of these apples were made into cider. Insects, injurious to the apple, were uncommonly scarce this year. The Canker-worm seemed to have entirely disappeared; the Codling Moth was not troublesome; the Curculios were all alive this year. I have noticed but one class of Apples (the Siberian Crab,) affected by them. A large proportion of the Morello STATE IIORTICULTIIRAL SOCIETY. 15 Cherries were stung. Plum trees set well with fruit; but, with the exception of the wild , stung by the Curculio . —Mr, C. S. Capps reports from Mount Pulaski, Logan county, that we have had a good average Apple crop. Much of the fruit is scabby (an unusual thing with us). The old popular varieties seem most affected in this way. Carolina Red June, Early Harvest, Fameuse, Rawles Janet, Wine Sap, and Milam are very badly affected. New York Pippin, Jonathan, and King of Tompkins county, are tine this year; probably half the Apple crop in this section was Irozen on the trees in October. The Pear crop was very good, and the fruit generally perfect. We have had rather more blight this year than usual; the Cherry crop was very good. We had no Peaches or Plums, and very few Grapes; of the latter, the Isabella was the best. Small fruits were very plenty ; quality, about as usual. I do not think the Codling Moth was quite as destructive as usual. The Curculio did not leave us any Plums or Nectarines. Peach Borers are about as numerous and active as usual. 1 do not think we have any Bark Lice yet. Of the Grape crop about half the Catawba and some others rotted. Delaware dropped about all their leaves before the fruit was ripe . Several of the new varieties of Grapes, and many varieties of Pears, and nearly all varieties of Plums, shed their leaves piematurely. In fact, I am inclined to think that leaf-blight is one of the worst diseases that our fruit-trees are heir to . Of Pears I find that the Beurre D'Anjou has the healthiest foliage, and does not seem quite as subject to blight as other varieties. It is a fine, healthy, thrifty growing variety; a little tardy about bearing, but will probably prove a good bearer at the age say of fifteen years. The fruit is large, rich, and excellent with us. I will close my report with a letter from our much esteemed friend, G. W. Minier: MiNiER, December 8th, 1869. Hon. L. U. Francis, Spi-ingjield, Illinois : Dear Sir:— Your favor of 30th ultimo was duly received. 1 fear very much I shall aid you but little. The time of meeting is so near, and my business will not let me help much . A few facts in regard to fruit crops in our district may be beneficial; and, first: insects have done but little damage comparatively. The drenching rains at the right time did the Codling Moth. Entomologists to the contraiy notwithstanding, I am confident that rains, at the right time , will kill insects. Our Apples are large, fine, and smooth— a good crop. But, alasl Capt. Jack Frost played smash with my neighbors'. Thi'ough sheer good luck I got mine well taken care of. I should think one-fourth the entire crop of Winter Apples were Irozen. Should not our Society more earnestly insist on early picking for late keeping? The best thing we can do for our bearing Apple orchards is to seed them down to pigs. Everyone who has a grape vine and brains, has found out the past season that draining is indispensable. A brown mould overspread the vines; new shoots, old canes not aflected, and very little injury on well drained lands. The vines cast their fruit in the following order:— Clintons worst ; then, Isabella, Hartfoi'd Prolific, Ives Seedling, Delaware, and Concord, best of all. As is always tlie case, best cultivated pays best, and no pruning during the summer. 1 believe we prune too much anyhow. Vines left up last winter did well,. 16 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS but it is a dangerous practice and not to be recommended. Our Plums, save the Red Chickasaw, all killed by Curculio. What about strewing- the ground with salt? What says Dr. Hull on the salt question? I was about to say something about the birds. But as I shall not be present to defend these useful creatures, had better be. silent. Indeed, I have an article on ornithology, in which occurs this sentence : "The Alton Horticultural Society is the only company of sensible men, that ever charged birds with high crimes and misde- meanors." Now, to present such a thought and not present to defend it, would bring down most likely the Starr, the Flagg, and perhaps the Hull (whole) of Alton upon me. Surely, in such a case, "prudence is the better part of valor." I am truly sorry I can't participate in this meeting; shall think of you every day and every session . Shall sit by myself and think how well you are enjoying your- selves, while — ' 'Like sad Philomel — But let similes drop, And now, that I think on't, my story may stop. ' ' Success attend you ; may your sessions be harmonious, useful and happy ; may the public be benefited bj' your deliberations, and may we not have to wait long lor your reports in Boole form. Very truly and most respectfully yours, for Horticulture, G. W. MiNIER. Respectfully submitted, L. C. FRANCIS. 9th District. — Mr. Overman, who was announced to be not present. 10th District. — Mr. A. A. Hilliard, who submitted the following written report : Notwithstanding the very promising prospect for a larger crop of fruit than usual of all kinds in the early spring, owing to late frosts, extremely wet summer, innumer- able insects, and the cold snap on the 24tll and 25th of October, fruit growing for market in the 10th District has not been profitable. Whatever profits there may have been, the Railroad and Express companies have got it in their pockets. ■ There have been a great many new vineyards planted in the 10th District within the last two or three years. Whether there will be a market for large quantities of native wines I am not so sure. My experience in selling native wines is something like trying to water a horse when he ain't dry; if he won't drink you can't make him drink. 1 can sell ten barrels of good refined cider at 50 cents per gallon where I can sell one barrel of native wine, and nine-tenths of the Americans prefer the cider to the wine at the same price, 50 cents per gallon. Notwithstanding, I am for raising grapes to any extent. I believe we shall get new varieties and learn new ways by which we shall be able to keep them fresh through winter, spring and early summer. I believe we can raise grapes cheaper than any other fruit, and when they can be bought in market for three or four cents per pound in summer, and at eight and ten cents at Christmas and New Years, they will take the place of other fi-uits that are failing, and we will have a market for all the grapes we can raise, and at as remunerative profits as any fruits we can raise. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 17 There lias been au increased interest in and encouragement giveu to planting out Osage Hedges. This is particularly the case in Macoupin, Green and Jersey counties, and more or less in all the counties in the 10th District. It is now a settled fact that the Osage Hedge is to be the fence of our Western prairies. I have never known but one instance of failure when properly taken care of. The Central Railroad, I understand, contracted with parties to fence their road with Osage Hedge. They set out their plants, a'nd owing perhaps to the extreme di-y summer and neglect, the larger part of the plants failed to grow. The parties became discouraged and did no more to them. The result, an entire failure. In my neighborhood nearly all the farms are planted out, wherever there is a fence or a fence needed, with Osage. Oldest hedges, that have been turned «ut six or seven years, are a complete success, and when kept in proper trim are beautiful; and whoever lives to see one of our large western prairies completely fenced and properly trimmed, will behold a landscape view not to be excelled in any other part of the world. A. A. HILLIARD. Mr. Huggins — I have prepared a few remarks touching the early horticulture of our county, and something also concerning the present year's operations, and portions of it I propose to read at this point if you desire it. The President — I think it is proper. Mr. Huggins then read his paper on Macoupin county : The first apple trees planted in this county were seedlings ,set along the timber on Bunker Hill Prairie by James Breden, at the head of a branch of Wood river, and further down by David Wright, Elijah Lincoln and others, as early as 1830. In 1836 and 1837 small orchards of budded apples and seedlings were set by Luke Knowlton, Rodney Town, Larkins and Stark, near the timber. Captain Moses True set the first fruit trees in the place then called Lincoln (now the town of Bunker Hill) in the year 1835. In 1840 and 1841 orchards of 100 and 200 trees were planted far out on the Bunker Hill prairie by N. H. Elannagin, Joseph Burton, Edward Burton, John A. Pettingill, D. E. Pettingill, Rufus Keif and others, of improved varieties, which orchards for many years (if we except the present) have given satisfactory returns. "I find there are on Bunker Hill Prairie at the present time eleven thousand (11,000) apple trees in bearing; pears in bearing, 2,000; peach trees in orchard, 3,000; cherries in bearing, 2,000, 1200 of them being in one orchard of J. V. Hopper; about 0,000 grape-vines in bearing, mostly Concord and Hartford Prolific. Some 25 varieties of grape are in bearing and all have failed to a greater or less degree the present season, except the hes, which has gone through oiu* wet season unscathed, either in fruit or leaf. J. A. Pettingill' s vineyanl is the oldest, set out in 1863 and in 1868. His Con- cords produced at the rate of six (6) tons to the acre. About 15 acres are set in black- berries, mostly Lawton's, although Kittatinny and Wilson are planted out, and promise well. Of Doolittle, Miami and Philadelphia Raspberry, about 10 acres will be in ful bearing in 1870. Philadelphia bears enormous crops of a good (not best) berry. 3 18 TRANSACTIONS Or THE ILLINOIS " ClarTc (although not much planted) nearly equals P. in all things with a much liner herry — 15 acres of Strawberries, mostly Wilson. Jucundas will not stand our hot sun. Downer nearly equals Wilson and much more hardy. Five acres would cover Currants and Gooseberries. An abundant crop of all the small fruits were grown to perfection the passing year, although much of it was not picked on account of the extremely low price. " Grapes, in some vineyards, almost a total failure; others one half crop, and others with tirst crop a good yield. A splendid show of bloom on all Apple trees in the spring, but not half a ci'op of Apples, and generally very poor. What the codling moth, Apple curculio and scab left to mature, were a greater part ruined by the Octo- ber 19th and 23rd freezes. "The first Nursery was established by John A. Pettingill, in 1841; and, with the exception of 1848 and 1849, has been continued to the present time, J. V. Hopper engaged in the business in , and continued in it till , when he sold out to Mr. John Flanagin, who still is engaged in it. Mr. E. A. Becbtel is largely engaged in the propagation of Grapes. Some twenty thousand fine plants on hand for sale. Mr. Pet- tengill says. Apples profitable for market (early) have narrowed down to one — Sops-of- wine; for family, Williams' Favorite and Foundling; early Fall, Porter and Lowell; Fall, Rambo and Hubbardston None-such; Winter, Rawle's Janet, Red Canada, Gil- pin, and Smith's Cider. Bunker Hill stands second to no other town in Illinois, in its beautiful flower gar- dens, in its masses of flowering shrubs and vines, in its broad streets and avenues lined with stately Elms and Maples, with its conservatories, bay windows, and even nine-by-twelves, are conspicuous with Geranium, Pelargonium, Fuschias, Monthly Roses, &c. ; all of which, by example and precedence, has been greatly enhanced by none other so much as by J. A. Pettingill, The first trees set set in the neighborhood of Carlimdie were seedling apple trees set by Dugger, in 1835. Col, J. C. Anderson set an orchard of grafted trees in 183G; also John and Isaac Greatliouse, in 1837. Trees were also set out by A. Kent and R. W. Purviance, about 1831, of the large and small Romanite varieties. The Eldreds, near Chesterfield, have a well selected orchard of small as well as large fruits, just in youth- ful vigor and promise. Col. J. R. Miles, of Miles' Station, on the Chicago and Alton Raib'oad, has a tine orchard of 1,^00 Apple trees ; Dr. John Ash, 1,000 Apple and 1,000 Peach trees. Near Brighton, Mr. Elliot, 2,000 Apple and Peach trees, just in bearing order. A. A. Hilliard is one of the oldest fruit growers about Brighton. His first orchard of improved or grafted Apple trees was planted in 1835, forty feet apart, with Peach trees between, one way of the rows. His main orchard was planted from 1835 to 1845, and comprises about sixty acres. Mr. H. has been eminently successful as a fruit grower, he being fortunate in his location, and selections of varieties, and having got under full headway at an early day, before competition was so brisk as now, and when insects, we may say, were not known in this county — or if sometimes seen, were not troublesome. Of him it has been said, that he awoke every morning a richer man. Asking a neighbor of his how he made his money, the finger was immediately pointed to his well grown orchard. Mr. H. has this year made about two hundred barrels Cider, and says he can sell ten barrels refined Cider, for fifty cents a gallon, where he can sell one barrel Concord wine for the same price. Mr, HiUiard believes in raising STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 19 Grapes for market, has over live acres, mostly Concord and Hartford, and may now take his ease, sitting under his own vine and Cider tree. The first fruit trees planted on Woodburn Prairie were set by Rev. Elijah Dodson, about the year 1835, composed mostly of seedlings, some of which were grafted to large and small Romanites, his then favorite varieties. In 1842 J. Huggins set out the first fruit trees in Woodburn, on a village lot, and the first shade trees in the streets of that tovra . In 1S48 he set out 240 Apple trees on the place where he now resides, which orchard has grown to some 8,000 fruit trees, covering sixty-five acres at the present time, with several acres small fruits. The proprietor of this orchard, believing in wind-breaks, has several growing ones through his grounds, composed of evergreens as well as deciduous trees. The first Hedge (Osage) set in this county twenty years since, is found here, and which has proved a perfect protection against all kinds of stocks for many years. The "\Yoodburn Nursery was commenced by J. Huggins in 1845, on a small village lot, and grew in breadth until it covered some twenty-five acres, composed of some one hundred varieties, including Apples, Peaches, Pears and Cherries, and a general assortment of shrubs and flowers. On account of the increasing labors and cares of the fruit department, the Nursery is now reduced ; and here may now be found only those few varieties of fruit trees and bushes, which experience has taught is desirable. A. A. Hilliard, at one time, had a small nursery at Brighton. Also H. Clark and B. Johnson. Chas. Brown is still in the business at Carlinville. There is a vineyard of some 2,000 vines, mostly Concord, at Woodburn, now in its fifth year, by Major Mulheman, which bore well this year. There are many fine young orchards far out on the prairie, which cannot even be named in this report. But I cannot omit mentioning that of Mr. David Gore, the present President of our County Agricultural and Mechanical Society. Mr. Gore is a selt-made man, whose example may be safely followed. Some years since he located far out <>u the prairies north of Carlinville, ovu" County seat. His first move was to set out ;ui orchard north of his 7iou.se; and at the same time an Osage hedge was set out aiouiul the orchard, and still, outside of the hedge, a wind-break, composed of Silver Maples and Bl;tok "Walnuts. The orchard is just in bearing — a gem of an orchard, which no liiiii- o:rower, passing that way, will fail to notice and admire, in connection with the ornamental trees, not forgetting those beautiful Evergreens, scattered through his ground.s. The Pennock and Gilpin seem to have been introduced into our county at an early day, and while the one is classed as poor and the other as hardly good, yet, up to this year, they have both proved profitable; Gilpin for cider and late spring use, and the Pennock for a Southern market. This year both were imperfect, but especially Gil- pin. Janets, this year, were fair, if we except an unusual cloudy appearance. The Russets were all fair ; the Spitzenberg family also — no dry rot and very few wormy. Ben Davis fair; also llambo. Maiden's Blush somewhat aflected by a fungus growth, yet there were many perfect specimens. Of early Apples Keswick Codling vras fair and free from scab; and so of the Sops of "Wine. These two are at present our only reliable early apples for' market and family. The Red Astrachan we have hopes of as a profitable market apple. But of the Early Harvest and Red June, as apples for profit, if we judge them by the 20 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS returns they give in, dollars and cents, we cannot say much. And, especially, if we judge them by ''their fruits" of this year, they certainly will be found wanting. From several hundred bearing trees of these varieties, we did not, this year, pick a perfect fruit ; all were so scabby as to be unfit for use. We will, however, hope for better things of them, and give them yet further trial. Insects, injurious to our fruit, are on the increase; and we are anxiously looking and inquiring for the best way to protect our fruit from their ravages. "With outstretched arms we stand, imploring aid from some quarter. O, ye Entomologists, can you not help us? Is there no sure and speedy way, whereby we may rid our fruit grounds from these pests? Are we yearly to be everrun by the Codling Moth? And that precious little beauty, the Curculio, (of which our entomologists have of late years invented several new varieties,) must the fruit-grower submit and allow the little Turk to rule over him? And how about the Plant Louse? Is he to invade our grounds next year in force, and before our fruit trees fairly get their eyes open in the spring? Do you tell us we must fight our insect enemies; vigilance is the price of fruit, etc.? But we have fought them and intend still to be vigilant against them. But in view of the past, and with fears for the future, we are led to cry aloud for aid. Come, Vigilance! Come, Intelligent Culture! Come, Cannibal Insects, and eat our Insect enemies only I Come, Insect eating Birds, all of you, and eat those millions of insect enemies! Come to our aid, O ye, who have made entomology a life study! Tell us, O, tell us, and that speedily, how shall we subdue effectually those noxious insects which so annoy the fruitgrower? J. HUGGINS. On section 18 and 19, the section that Brighton is located on, there is 150 acres in orchard. In 1832 I bought of Mr. Collet 125 apple trees, and set them out that spring on section IS. Jonathan Brown set out fifty apple trees the spring following. Braughton and Ferguson, in 1842, made a large addition to the orchard that I set out, say 200 (the Apple, Pear and Peaches). David Nelson, and Rev. Mr. Zombs, and J. W. Gibson have set out the balance. Our people have been very negligent in regard to hedges; there is not more than one mile that is sufficient to turn stock in this corner of the county. Respectfully yours, H.GRIGGS. 11th District. — Mr. J. W. Fletcher, who was announced to be not present, but subsequently reported. 12th District. — Mr. Geo. Wilgus, who was announced to be not present, but also subsequently reported. 13th District. — Mr. T. A. E. Holcomb, who submitted a written report, as follows : REPORT Of THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE 13th DISTRICT. Your Vice President of the loth District can hardly claim to have performed the duties required of him by the Constitution, for he has neither assisted in organizing STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 21 new societies, nor corresponded with well known horticulturists throughout the district; but, knowing that a failure to perform those two duties would not absolve him from the third, that of making a written report to the Society, be respeetfullj' sub- mits the following : The past year has not been a remarkable one in any particular. A moderate crop of everything, selling at moderate prices, has rewarded but not enriched the horticultu- rists of this district. They have received an answer to the prayer, "give me neither poverty nor riches," and, consequently, they have not become pi'oud and forgotten that God helps those only who try to help themselves, nor have they, so far as I know, been convicted of stealing anything. But while they have probably only averaged to keep their worldly estates good, they have undoubtedly gained something in experience. One valuable lesson, which has indeed been mentally admitted for years to be true, seems in the last year to have gained in that true faith which testifies its reality by works, and that is the lesson of thorough cultivation and honest preparation for market. Experience clearly shows that the cultivation of peach orchards by repeated plowings Avorks a great injury to maturing insects, while it greatly assists maturing fruit. And it now seems to be uni- versally acknowledged that no peaches can be raised in the 13th District, without sys- tematic and persistent energy in warring against the Curculio. And all the plans that have been generally recommended, are considered as fit and proper modes of Christian warfare against this most unchristian Turk. And I am happy to say that 1 believe that all the modes alluded to are now more generally practiced than they have heretofore been. Peach orchards are plowed and harrowed, fallen fruit is gathered by hand and by hogs, and the curculio catcher makes its regular rounds. And in many instances where peach trees have been so planted or pruned that this treatment is impracticable, the trees themselves are being removed to be replaced by those of better form, or by fruits of other kinds. In the cultivation of apples and pears there is not quite so much unity of sentiment, but the Meehan practice prevails largely in theory and is constantly increasing in practice. The practice would be more readily adopted if men were not so avaricious, or if retaining their eagerness to acquire richness they could become possessed of more faith. As it is, they will not await the long process of making the sweet short grass of the orchard a mulch, which in three years will enable the tree to produce a buttery pear, but they will cut the grass off, feed it to the cow, and in less than a Aveek have latter itself. So, many refuse to sow grass, because they are unwilling to subject them- selves to a temptation, which, if not resisted, they know will lead to injurious results. An attempt was made in our district during the last season to ship strawberries through to Eastern cities. The experiment met with several unfortunate disasters, in the shape of disabled cars and belated trains, and did not as a whole prove remunera- tive as compared with other shipments; yet if account should be made of the influence which sending this fruit to other places had upon Western markets, it Avould show it was a success. At any rate, it proved that by judicious loading, and a friendly and generous co-operation between railroad companies, the smaller fruits may be shipped to Detroit and Bufialo, to the advantage of producers,— this advantage to be gained in the price obtained and by the sustaining of fair prices in Western towns. The credit 22 TEANSACTIOXS OF THE ILLINOIS of originating and executing this experiment belongs to Parker Earle, Esq. , aided by the South Pass Horticultural Society. But while most subjects directly and collaterally connected with Horticulture are receiving more intelligent attention and more prompt and vigorous action, I think there is an unwarranted apathy concerning the present and prospective ravages of the Codling moth. Indeed so little attention is paid to this insect that I think I may safely say that not one fi'uit grower in fifty knows the animal by sight, nor can a much larger number even tell whether the thousands of bushels of apples that yearly fall to the ground immatured, are brought low by means of this Insect, or whether the apples that remain are seriously injured by it. And yet it is a certain fact that the Codling moth is in our debt for apples enough to pay aU our railroad freights, and at least a share of our commissions. The Curculio gained on us by steady advances, but Ve at last believe him a foeman worthy of our steel. "We ought to learn by that experience to be beforehand with the Codling moth. But without any remarkable exertion, a very large crop of apples has been gathered and sent to the various markets, from St. Paul, Minnesota, to New Orleans, La. , and Mobile, Alabama. Indeed the 1.3th District may weU lay claim to being the apple orchard of the State. There was not the usual amount of rain during the last summer, no heavy rains occurring from June till late in November. Yet a sufficient amount fell to prevent a serious drouth , and all the trees and plants, having made all the growth necessary are well ripened up, and give promise of abundant crops the coming season. THOS. A. E. HOLCOMB. So. Pass, Ills., Dec. 13th, 1869. APPOINTMENT OP SPECIAL COMMITTEES. IS'one of the Standing Committees being ready to report, Mr. Flagg moved that Special Committees be appointed on the President's address, on auditing Treasurer's report, on examining fruits, wines, etc., and on final resolutions. Carried. Mr. Earle nominated as the Committee on President's Address, Messrs. Wier, Dunlap and Holcomb. Mr. Dunlap declined, and nominated Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller declined. Mr. Dunlap — I would move as an amendment that the committee be composed of Messrs. Wier, Earle and Holcomb. The amendment was adopted. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 23 MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. Mr, M. L. Dunlap — I suppose it would be well to Biake a regular motion as to the hour of adjournment. I therefore move that when we adjourn it be until 2 o'clock P. M. Mr. Baldwin — Before that motion is put I would suggest that gentlemen who would like to accept of the hospitalities of the city would please come here (to the table) after adjournment. I think it would be well to meet at 8^ A. M. and adjourn at 12 o'clock at noon. Meet again at 2 o'clock and adjourn at half past 4, and then an evening session from 7 to 9 o'clock. I will make a motion that those be the hours of meeting. Mr. Dunlap withdrew his motion, and the question then being on the motion of Mr. Baldwin, it was carried. Mr. Flagg — Before the meeting adjourns I would like to bring up another matter for the convenience of the Treasurer. There is a little question as to what the fee of membership is. I move that the Society re-affirm its constitutional provision, and that the membership be retained at two dollars. Mr. Galusha — I second it. The President — I hope that all see the importance of this motion, so that there will not be any lengthy remarks upon it; and I hope it will carry. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — As I was perhaps the occasion of the change to one dollar, I deem it pi'oper to say that I deem it a cheap rate, and for the present I am willing to waive it, but with the firm protest that as soon as we can we shall return back to the cheap rate of one dollar. Mr. Flagg — The point in my mind is this : We can expend, profit- ably, all the money we can get. Then the question is, "in what way will we get the most money — by putting the subscription at $1 or at ^2?" At Mr. Dunlap's suggestion we tried it at Bunker Hill last 24 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS year, and I think at Champaign in 1866, and at neither time did we get as much money as we did at $2. Although the membership has been larger this year than ever before, it has not produced as much money. I feel that all of us are as willing to pay $2 as $1 for the purposes of the Society, Mr. Dunlap himself is, I know. Mr.. Wier — If it is the object of this Society to get all the money they can, or if it is the object to do all they can, then that is the point. If you can do more good with $2 than with $1, why well enough ; but I cannot see it in that light. There are hundreds over the State who would be willing to send a dollar to get our transac- tions, who would not be willing to pay two dollars. I think we can do more good by disseminating our transactions than in any other way. The burden of two dollars is not much, but in some cases it comes hard. There are hundreds of men who would come here if they could afford it. The President — I think the motion to adjourn received a second, and was thei'efore in order. Mr. Galusha — I move as an amendment that the subscription be $1 50 for the current year. We, of course, are willing to pay, whether it is one or two or five dollars. If we can distribute our books at one dollar, let us have it a dollar, and if the volumes cost a dollar and a half, they are richly worth that, and it appears to me that should be the price of membership. Mr. Earle — It should be said that while the actual cost of the books is a dollar and a half, th# cost to the members is two dollars. Mr. Nelson — I would favor the one dollar proposition. I have no objection to paying two dollars myself, but I know that in my locality the circulation of these volumes would be much greater. I will agree to take ten copies myself, and I am in favor of this cheap rate. Mr. Galusha — As it will take some time to arrange places for members, I think it would be well to adjourn. Mr. Dunlap — I move to adjourn until 2 o'clock. The motion pre- vailed and the meeting stood adjourned. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCUETY. 25 FIEST DAY — AFTEENOOxN SESrflOK The Society met at 2 o'clock pursuant to adjournment. Mr. Dunlap moved that the ladies of the city of Ottawa be invited to attend the meetings of the Society. Carried. APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES. The President announced the following committees : On Treasurer's Jieport.—^lessrs. Hilliai'd, Nelson and Fletcher. On, Fruits and Wines. — Messrs. Brown, Kinuey and Kimball. On Resolutions. — Messrs. Ilolcomb, A. Bryant, Jr. , and Miller. On Resolutio?is as to Deceased Memhers. — A. Bryant, Sr., O. B. Galusba, Parker Earle. MEMBERSHIP. Mr. Wier — I move that the resolution passed at the last meeting making membership one dollar be re-affirmed. Mr. Dunlap seconded the motion. Mr. Flagg — I made the motion that the $2 membership be retained ; but the matter in order, as I understand it^ is the order of business this afternoon. That question would not now come up properly until the business of the afternoon has been disposed of. Ml*. Dunlap — Let us go on with the order of business on the pro- gramme. If we get behind now, we will be hehind all the time. The President — The Executive Committee having duly considered the question of inviting Major Powell to lecture before this body, have concluded that it would scarcely be practicable, as it would break in upon the business to so great an extent. Mr. Flagg — If the discussion of the apple list would be next in order, I have about fifty copies of the tables of fruits that would be useful to members. Mr, Nelson — In the programme for to-night something is said about districting. I would suggest that it would be better to do it 26 TRANSACTIOi^S OF THE ILLINOIS before this apple list is revised. It would seem to me that that would be better. Mr. Wier — I move that the Secretary call the apple list. Carried. REVISION OP APPLE LIST. Autumnal Strawberry. — Mr. Earle — I do not want to say anything about the Autumnal Strawberry, but it seems to me that if this was to continue, we might run through the session. My idea is that the proper selection of apples grown throughout the State will be an advantage to ourselves and to the community. I do not estimate very highlj^ the policy of putting on or taking ofP, but I do like dis- cussion. We have just passed the Eed Astrachan, and I am very sorry to say that apple passed without discussion. The President — I like the suggestion of Mr. Earle. I think, if brief; a few remarks would be of great use. The great diiEculty is that we would be too lengthy. Astrachan, Bed. — Mr. Earle — I move to strike out the Eed Astra- chan. It is very unproductive until it has attained a great age, especially from root graft. Mr. Wier — I have had very good crops of apples at five years from root graft. Mr. Nelson — It is one of our best apples. There is no difficulty about getting it early in top grafting. Mr. Baldwin — I supposed it to be the best apple we had. Mr. Huggins — It is, in St. Louis, one of our most saleable apples — very desirable — always sought after. Motion lost. Autumnal Strawberry — Mr. M. L. Dunlap moved to strike out the Autumnal Strawberry in the Center. It is unprofitable for market, that is the reason I move to have it stricken out. Mr. Wier — It is one of the most valuable market fruits, in my opin- ion : of ver}'^ fine flavor. They have onl}'' failed one year since they came into our district. It is a beautiful grower, and a fine shaped tree. STA-TE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 27 The President — I will take the liberty to enter my own experience. I have it in several orchards — some old and some young. It is with me, found to be a most uniform bearer. I can scarcely tell of any equal to it. It is however a poor apple to handle — it will almost leave the marks of your finger upon it. Motion lost. Autumnal Sweet Swaar — Mr. Nelson moved to strike out the Autumnal Sweet Swaar for market in the North. Mr. Bryant — I think it is not a good market apple, and not a prof- itable apple. It is not as good as represented by Thomas and others, as it has grown in the State of Illinois. It is neither excellent nor prof- itable. The President — my experience concurs with that of Mr. Bryant — I re- gard it as not worth cultivating. The question being on striking out, it was carried. Baccolinus — Mr. Earle — I would like to hear something from Judge Brown, about Baccolinus. I move that it be added to the list for market in the South. Judge Brown — The tree is very thrifty and productive. The only ob- jection to it is its small size. It cooks remarkably well, and is of fine flavor. Whether it be very valuable as a market fruit I dont know, I be- lieve it is liked best by those who have most of it. The tree is product- ive and hardy. It is a handsome apple but small ; that is the only objection. It is a Southern apple. I would remark, that it had better remain another year where it is. Mr. Earle withdrew his motion. Belleflower, Yellow — Mr. Wier — I move to strike out Bellefleur from the list, for family use in the North. Mr. Earle — You may strike it from the list, but the people will raise it anyhow. Mr. Wier — I have no doubt the people will plant trees, but I dont think they will raise much fruit. I have had it foi 25 years, and this season is the only one we have had fruit to any extent. They have now 28 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS and then borne two apples — this year they bore half a crop. Not only is this so with young trees, but with old ones also. Mr. Lewis, of La Salle^ — I have been trying to raise it for 25 years. I dont think I ever raised five bushels all told. If the gentleman can tell me how to raise it, I would be happy to raise it. I have them old and young, but we dont get fruit, and I fail to find out how to get it. Mr. Bancroft — I have had some since 1862, and they are doing very well. The President — It has caused us more discussion than any half dozen apples put together. Mr. Nelson — I go against Bellefleur in any locality — that is prairie. I have a tree 20 years old, that has never had two bushels on it. I know places where they have a sandy loam, where they raise them well enough, but with me it is not so. 1 do not think it is worth setting on the black prairie. Mr. Wier — I think the Bellefleur produces more blossom than any other fruit. The flower is not perfect ; I have found them with stamens and without pistils. The blossom is extremely full, and takes away so much of the vigor of the tree, that it cannot do anything. Mr. Bryant — I move to lay the Bellefleur on the table. Mr, Earle — It is the best apple in Southern Illinois. I have known a man to pick 40 bushels of apples from 4 trees. The President — I simply say that the Bellefleur produces reasonable crops in our location, and frequently large crops : and no one comes to buy apples but they ask for Bellefleur. Mr. Baldwin — In certain localities it bears well. I think with this discussion upon its merits on the diflferent soils, the thing will be well understood if it is retained on the list. Motion lost. Ben Davis — Mr.Flagg — I move that the Ben Davis be added to the list for market in the South ; because it will sell better than some other apples, and is easily grown : not because it is very good. Mr. Earle — Let us hear from Dr. Hull. STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 29 Dr. Hull — I dont want it, because it is possible to get better fruit. Motion lost. Carolina Red June — Mr. Wier — I move that Carolina Red June be stricken from the list, for market and family use in the North. Mr. Earle — I move as an amendment, that it be also stricken from the list for market in the South. Mr. Wier accepted the amendment. On the trees he had there has been no fruit fit for any use for years. The first year they bore fair- ly, and then they seemed to lose their vigor, and the next and subse- quent 3'eai'8 bore none at all. Mr. Nelson — I saw some trees in my neighborhood, where a man had budded Eed June into Yellow Bellefleur and produced fine samples. He told me it had borne three years, and he thought it had shown as good as the best. Mr. Foster — I do not fully understand one of the remarks of Mr. Wier — that the trees lost their vigor. The President — I wish to know whether he meant that the variety had deteriorated constitutionally — whether it was in old trees or young — or whether he meant that particular trees had lost their vigor. Mr. Wier — I mean that the variety has lost its constitutional vigor. Mr. Foster — I speak directly to this point. Mr. Eichard told me that he had raised good Eed Junes by cultivating the ground, and that he admired the Eed June. Mr. Shephard — It is in my neighborhood, and it is very popular. I have never ascertained that there was any advantage in cultivating it. It is very fine in appearance, but unless you have it in very good ground, and give it good cultivation, it will soon over-bear itself. But, there is a prime objection in another aspect — it will take three of the Early June to be as big as one of the Eed Astrachan. It is small and it is scabby, and in many cases you could not see the red unless you had a microscope. 30 TRAiv^SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Daggy — Wlaile it is true that it scabs very much^ that is when it over-bears itself. When it bears sparse crops the apples are gen- ally good. Mr. Wier — 1 would say that you are mistaken about the sparse ■crop. My trees have had a medium crop for three years, but they have scabbed. Mr. Baldwin — In reference to the scab it should be recollected that most of our varieties have scabbed within the last five years, and yet, we have some very excellent winter apples we do not want stricken out on that account. It is all nonsense about its having lost its vitality. Mr. Galusha — I should be very sorry to see it stricken from the list for the IN'orth. As I remarked this morning, these eases of failure are either local or temjDorary. It seems to me unwise to strike it from the list simply because for a few successive years it has scabbed. Mr. Earle — The remarks of Mr. Shephard were exactly applicable to Southern Illinois. They are very scabbj^, and very unworthy. 1 am not speaking for all Illinois, but only for my own neighborhood. Mr. Brown — It does very well for my purposes. The question then being on striking out, it was lost. Grain's Spice. — Mr. Brown — Grain's Spice is a small apple, but a very excellent one, and a very fine grower. A. M. Lawver, of Cobden, has propagated it with success, and it ought to stand where it does. GuLLASAGA. — Mr. Brown — CuUasaga has been cultivated in my neighborhood. It is a very fine winter apple, but I do not know much about it. The President — When does it appear to ripen ? Mr. Brown — I cannot tell. There will be a few specimens on the table to-morrow. Davidge. — Mr. Brown — The name is spelt wrong — it should be Davidge. It is a seedling, and the most promising winter apple 1 knovsr of, but as very few have been propagated, it will not be for sale, probably, for a year or two, and it had better remain where it is. It is exceedingly productive, of very fine quality. It keeps with a less STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 31 amount of loss than anything I know of. It is good to eat in Feb- raarv and March. Doming. — Mr. Wier — "We consider the Domine one of the best apples wo have to pack — always right and always good. DocHESs OF Oldenburg. — Mr. Shephard — The Duchess is of no use with me any how. One of the difficulties is that we hardly ever get it; so, in our neighborhood it is useless. In my orchard it begins to ripen about the last of September. The tree corresponds with the description of the Oldenburg. I have, as 3'et, never got but one crop that was fit to offer to any one. It is a thifty grower, makes a very handsome head, and has a stout, vigorous shoot. The wood of the new growth is soft. The President — That cannot be the Duchess of Oldenburg. The tree is not a vigorous grower — rather a moderate grower, and ex- tremelj' hardy — the buds are rather long jointed, not very close together, the branches not very numerous. The}^ do not produce very numerous shoots. The apple, in our part of the State, com- mences to ripen about the last of August. It was a fall apple in the East, and Charles Downing sent me the genuine one, which was ex- actly the same as mine. It is purely a question of climate. It is the most pro liictive of anything I know, and I never saw a blotch or scab upon it. Mr. Durle}' — I have them in bearing, answering to the description given by the President, and the tree has been almost worthless for 12 years. I never got a full crop from them. Retained. Early Pennock. — Mr. Earle— I move to strike out the Early Pen- nock for market and family use in the South. Mr. Downing — It is one of the most profitable apples we have, and therefore I object to the motion to strike out for market and family use in the South. The motion was ^ost. Early Strawberry. — Moved that it be stricken out for family use in the Center. 32 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Bancroft — It is one of the best apples we have. I hope it will not be stricken out. The motion was lost. English Golden Eusset. — Mr. Galusha — The English Golden Eus- set is that which has a dark brown appearance in its first year of growth, and a speckled appearance the second year. It is, by the best of testimony, our most regular and abundant bearer for the last few years. The only fault is blighting in the limbs, but the blight stops and does not injure the tree subsequently. It is entirely free from scab. The shoots are quite slender. Mr. A. Bryant — I am rather surprised to see it recommended for a market fruit. 1 thought it would be good for anything except that. The fruit drops from the tree before it is ripe. After it is gathered, if it is not kept right in barrels, it wilts and shrivels up. Mr. Huggins — I suppose I am correct, because I got the fact from my friend Galusha. Amidst scabbing and all other diseases this year, we found it perfect. I do not see why it should not sell. Mr. Hiliiard — I had a Golden Eusset forty years ago. It was quite a small, yellowish russet, very high flavored, kept well. There were vast numbers of these trees propagated, but it never could be mar- keted, because of its size. It was good for family use. I have sev- eral new varieties of English Eusset since, but nothing like that. Mr. Baldwin — I am not certain about which apple I am speaking. There is a good deal of confusion. I have had a great many of them. There is a russet cultivated in our vicinity that cooks so well that it does not require peeling. I have with me a sample of the fruit which I will show to-morrow. If that is the English Eusset, it ought to be cultivated, for there is no scab upon it, and it is a valua- ble fruit. It is a very good market apple, and a very good cooking apple. Mr. Wier — I wish to say that I have planted pretty largely of this tree. Last fall I happened to make some cider from it, and I found it to be the most delicious cider I ever had. This fall I did not make STATE HORTICULTUR^SX, SOCIETY. , 33 any cider, but I fouud the pies were the best I ever tasted. I do not think it is worth anything for an eating apple. Mr. Carpenter — The English Golden Eusset has always done well with ns. This year they are very fine and of uniform size. Mr. Galusha — In an orchard, the best cultivated of any I know, the English Golden Eusset this year was twice the size I ever saw it before. At first I thought they were not the Eusset, but I found they were. They had been manured and the land dug up for several feet around them. This shows that this variety will bear higher culti- vation without injuriously affecting the fruit. Eetained. Gilpin. — Mr. Earle moved to strike out for market use in the South, but the motion was not seconded. High-top Sweeting. — The President— I desire to ask if this is not meant to bo the same as the Sweet June. They are generally con- sidered synonyms, but they are not so. Mr. Bryant, Sr. — I think Downing makes the two names synonymous. Mr. AVier — I have both of them. They are very different trees; one ripens sooner than the other. Are either of them of any value ? Mr. Nelson — Does not Warder describe them as being identical ? The President — I do not think he does. Horse Apple. — Mr. M. L. Dunlap — There is another apple called Horse Apple, whereas the Horse Apple properly so called is yellow. Kentucky. — The President — I think Kentucky should be recom- mended for general cultivation. It has become very well known in our portion of the State. I think it is fully equal in value to the Maiden's Blush as an apple, and is a hardier tree. It is remarkably like the Ben Davis. It is rather a rich apple, about as acid as the Maiden's Blush — a little more acid than persons like to eat; it is a superior cooking apple, a great bearer, and ripens early. Keswick Codlin. — Mr. Duiley — I move that it be stricken from the list ; it is not good for anything. Mr. Wier — I would like to know something about its not being good for anything. 34 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Earle — It is too sour. You caunot get sugar enough to make it good. Mr. Wier — I think I can make more money of it than of any apple that grows. Eetained. Mr. Brown — I move to strike out the Keswick Codlin for market and family use North. We can do all with the Eed Astrachan that we can do with the Keswick Codlin. Mr. Bryant, Sr. — The Eed Astrachan ripens earlier, and I have never found the Codlin good either for market or family use. Mr. Woodward — In McHenry we could not do without it. We cultivate it as much as any kind. It ranks nearly with the Duchess, About Chicago and the northern part of Cook county it is raised more than any other. Mr. Bliss — Some say we have not sugar enough to cook the abun- dance of it. I am very anxious to look at it, because it is good. If you put one-fourth into your dried apples it will give life to all of them. If you have been about half sick by eating these tasteless apples, and you eat one of them, you will stand up straight ; and I could say more things in its favor. Eetained. Lady Apple. — Mr. Francis moved that the Lady Apple be struck out of the list for market in the Center, and the motion prevailed. Large Striped Pearmain. — Mr. Brown — I think this apple is now well enough known to induce me to move that it be entered for market and family use in the South. It is a good sized apple — not very large — very fruitful — bearing very young. Carried. Large Yellow Bough. — Mr. Bancroft — Ih ave five trees of it ; very fine fruit, but the tree is not a full bearer. They were plenty in 1862. Mr. Wier — We have had trees bearing for about twenty years, but we consider them utterly worthless. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. . 35 Mr. Durley — We have some sixteen or twenty years old that we find very valuable for family use, but not worth much for anything else. Mr. Hammond — I move that it bo stricken out from the Center. The motion was not entertained from want of a. second. May of Myees. — Mr. Wier — May of Myers bears on heavy clay land very fine fruit, and on light soils it is worthless. On thin soils it overbears and kills itself. On young trees on rich land it is a large apple, light green in color, and keeps until about the first of May, and has an insipid sweet flavor. The tree is very crooked and branchy and has a large spreading head. I should call it a tender tree. It comes into bearing young and bears very full. Mr. Bryant, Sr. — I do not think we have any better keeping apples than the May of Myers. It is an apple inferior to the Gilpin. I have very little respect for the man's taste who would, say it was a good apple. My experience is that it is not fit to put into a man's stomach. Mr. Bliss — To say it is worthless is a mild term. Pour a bushel of them into a two-horse wagon, and I will warrant that you can drive two miles over a rough road without breaking the skin. It is entirely worthless whether for making cider or for any other purpose. Mr. Galusha — I have had the apple for several years, and I would never plant it again if it was given to me. I regard the tree as being entirely worthless. Mr. Wier — I do not wish to be understood as recommending the apple at all. I never have recommended it to any one. It is a good market apple, a good baking apple, and some people think a good deal of it to eat. I would as soon eat a potato. Mr. Bliss — I move that it be struck out of the list for trial in the North. Mr. Earle — What consistency is there in this action? We have retained several other apples. It would almost seem that the worthless- ness of an apple, entitled it to a place on the list, and I think the May of Myers ought to go on. 36 TEAXSACTIOXS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr, Wier — If you are going to retain Ben Davis on the list, let the 3Iay of j\Iyers be retained for trial. Retained, Melox — The President — Is there any person present who has fruited the Melon and the Newark, and has observed whether they are synon- ymous ? I have done so, and found them to be the same. The character of the Newark King is the same as the Melon with me. This Newark King is au apple of a good, fair size, rather broad at the base, marbled and striped with red, and tapers considerably at the blossom. It is well ■defined at the basin, and ihere is a delicate network of russet. It is ten- der and juicy, rather a brisk pleasant acid. It is a late autumn and a ^early winter apple. Some will ripen and fall quite early. Mr. Francis — I have one specimen. It is a very green specimen, and perhaps some of you could tell whether it was the same as the New- ark Pippin. [Sample shown.] The President — That is. Norton's Melon. It is perhaps a little over- grown ; the same variety I received for Newark King. Do you recog" nize this as the Newark King, Mr. Freeman ? Mr. Freeman — I do not recognize it as such. MiNKLER — Mr. Nelson — There must be some mistake about the Mink- ler, I see it is only recommended by one individual in the North. I move that it be entered for market and familj^ use in the North. Mr. Galusha — I would like to say one or two words about it. It is a red apple, round, and of medium size. The tree is remarkably ugly in its growth, but its habit of bearing is very good : it bears excellent crops. They may be kept safely until March. To show how the fruit is regard- ed in my own county : I was solicited, as a nurseryman, to get a cer- tain apple, giiing a local name, and graft it. For several years I was importuned to get that variety. When I did get the apple, I found it was the Minkler, which they had been cultivating as Logan's Northern Pippin. I have never heard of its failing anywhere. It is rich in its juice, but tough in its flesh, and I do not regard it as being a first class fruit. I would like to ask any one present if they have recognized the Slinkier as a synonym of any other fruit ? STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 37 Mr. M. L. Diinlap — I got some from Mr. Jones, which were called Brandywine. It is the same apple identically. I see that "Warder, in his Pomology, describes them as two different apples. Carried. Mother — Mr. Bryant — Mother is a very fair bearer ; not any richer apple to be found : it is rather an early fall apple ; ripe in September and October ; not always in September, but generally in October. Northern Spy — Mr. Huggins — I move that it be entered for market and family use in the Centre. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — I move to amend by saying " special localitie*." Mr. Dagg}- — I move, as a further amendment, that we recommend it for our children. Mr. Galusha — Northern Spy requires peculiar treatment. Mr. Huggins — For our county it is just the right apple, and its value is just beginning to be appreciated. It is a slow apple in coming to bearing. Mr. Bryant, Sr. — I think itMs not always a very small tree that does the best bearing. Mr. Huggins — It is one of these late bloomers, which is another thing in its flavor. Mr. Wier — The Northern Spy commences to bloom about the eighth 3^ear after planting, but it proves to be a fall apple in our soil; and at the usual time of gathering it will all be on the gx'ound. I do not consider it an apple to be recommended for a winter apple at all. Mr. Bryant, Sr. — It appears to me that it gets better as the tree gets older. Mr. Douglas — Mr. Wier seems to think the Northern Spy will not keep long enough to be a winter apple. I have sold them in the month of March. I remember very well one instance where I sold twenty barrels of them. I was busy at the time, and I sent the man into m}^ cellar. I told him to examine them for himself. Ho went, and in a little while came back and said he had examined four barrels, and there were no bad ones amongst them. It did not matter about examining any further. 38 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS The President — In a warm autumn it begins to drop rather soon. In putting them up for winter there is no apple that grows that requires such great care. Every specimen should be examined to see that the skin is not broken at all. If the skin is not broken you may head them up in barrels. Handle your barrels carefully, and open them the first of March, and you will find a very small percentage of loss. Mr. Wier — If we did not gather them before the last of September we should have none on the trees to gather. I say thej^ won't keep in our neighborhood. They may on the prairies, but with us they won't. Mr. Earle — It is an apple that is gaining in favor about South Pass. Mr. Brown — In my locality it is too early, and therefore not to be recommended. Mr. Earle — It is of large size and exceeding beauty. Its general magnificence of appearance will make it more saleable than almost any other apple. I would therefore recommend it for market and family use for special localities in the South. The question being on so recommending it, it was carried. Northern Sweet, — Mr. Woodard — We have the Northern Sweet in Northern Illinois. It is of a medium size and very profitable. The trees that we have in bearing are young trees, but are very healthy, stand winter well, and are hardy. Mr. Bryant — It is a hardy tree and bears very well. It is hand- some, and of very fair size. Primate. — Mr. Wier — I consider it our^est summer apple. Mr. Daggy— I move that it be added for family use in the Center. I have cultivated it this year on a small scale, and it is very satisfac- tory. It bears young, and the fruit is of very good quality. Mr. Bryant — My experience is that it is an amateur fruit. Mr. Kinney — I have grown it for several years. It is a large, fine apple. The only fault I find with it is that it is rather inclined to be watery. It is a very refreshing apple, and a fair bearer. * STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCEETY. 39 Mr. Wier — I planted some in 1862. They commenced bearing in three years. Very fine fruit, larger than the Eed June, and the flavor equally as good. The President — Does not the Primate generally ripen very early, while a portion of the crop will be very late ? Mr. Wier — I do not find it so. I put mine in barrels four or five days before they were ripe, and in that time they were very fine, and I sold them at a high price. It commences bearing very early. Motion lost. Pryor's Eed. — Mr. Francis — I move that Pryor's Eed be stricken from the list for market in the Center. Mr. Hammond — It is one of the most popular apples. It does not bear until it is twelve or fifteen years of age. It does not bear very large' apples, but they are very uniform in size, and very handsome. Mr. Shephard — I never saw any apple that varied so much in shape and size as this. It would be difficult to persuade a man that did not know it that they were the same aj^ple. I admit that the quality is good. The motion to strike out, not being seconded, was not entertained. Perry Eusset. — Mr. Miller, of Iowa — I would like to say a few words about this apple. There is an apple in our State, grown very extensively, which I think is this apple. I have a few specimens of it with me. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — It is large. I have grown it for several years. It is large at the base, and graduall}^ tapers. It is a golden yellow — a beautiful apj)le, and valuable, but it fails to meet my expectations in the centre of the State. Mr. Miller — That answers my idea, except as to the shape. It was called Perry Eusset in the State of New York, and it originated within twenty -five miles of where I lived — in the town of Perry. Dr. Hull — Warder says it is "Golden Apple," "Golden Eusset." Mr. Wier — I think that any one having once seen the tree would know it. It is a very hardy tree. As for its bearing qualities I do not know anything about them. 40 TKANS ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. M. L. Dunlap — I had a splendid crop this year. Eawles' Janet.— Mr. Shephard— By inquiry I find that others have observed two varieties of this apple. I have seen it as large as a Domine, and I have seen it much smaller. I would ask whether that is the common apple. I have frequently been asked whether that was Eawles' Janet. The President — In reply to the inquiry^ I think that any one who has had any experience with the Janet, knows that it will sometimes produce very fine fruit, when not too old. It might do so on a well grown tree, when it had rested for a few years. At other times they would be inferior apples. Mr. Francis — I am very glad this has been brought up. We have Janets grown from young trees, which are called uncommonly large,, and I suppose that is all the difference. I took some to the house that was selling apples for us, and the proprietor told me that the Janets he was selling were still larger, and different from them; he was certain there was another variety. Mr. Freeman — I think in the Southern part of the State it grows larger than it does in the Northern part. Mr. Baldwin — I have observed two distinct varieties of the Janet. One is larger than the other, and a little redder — I think in conse- quence of being a little longer. The smaller one I do not think is quite as crisp and good an apple, but it keeps longer. There is no difference in the trees. Mr. Brown — The Janet is a very common apple in Kentucky. This variation in size was so common there that it was commonly remarked that there were two varieties. The difference of the fruit, I think, arises from the condition of the trees. Now, of Pryor's Red in my county, a man whom I know says he has three distinct varie- ties, and they are so much unlike that a man unacquainted with them would say they were not the same fruit. Mr. Francis — May it not be the case that one of these is a seedling from the original Janet ? STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 41 Mr. Shephard — Those I saw were all taken from the same orchard and planted at the same time, and the trees looked verj^ healthy. I could see a difference between them, and it may be owing to some local qualit}' in the soil. The trees which I noticed particularly were precisely the same; there were no signs of age or decay; one was used as well as the other. I never saw apples look better than these did, and yet, there was this manifest difference. Mr. Wier — I hare been aware that the apple they have in Mis- souri was not the same as we have here. Their red is not the same — it is darker. Their apple is yellow, and ours is a whitish green. Theirs is the better apple of the two, I think. The President — I am sorry that our notes will show a confusion in regard to this apple. I think it is necessary to say that I was for several years on the search for the big Janet. I procured it from different places, and twice from Missouri. It is all the same thing — it is all Janet. Ehode Island Greening. — Mr. M. L. Duulap — I move that Rhode Island Greening be recommended for market and family use in the Center. When it will break free from the stem it is time to harvest it. Mr. Huggins — I have noticed that when everything else was spoiled, this apple was very little affected. It is an apple that is good for cooking in the family — that is my experience. It would not do to grow in a nursery, as it is an ill-shaped, crooked tree. Mr. Miller — I will inquire whether in root-grafting, you got good fruit from it. Mr. Huggins — Any way you can take it. Mr. Wier — We have it top-grafted, and it bears young and very abundantly. Root-grafted, it is very vigorous, although it does not commence bearing early. Mr. Bancroft — I have a good lot of these trees — they are healthy and good trees. I have had very fine fruit, but not a crop. I like them so well that I have commenced grafting them into other trees. The motion to add it to the list for market and family use in the Center was carried. 42 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS A motion by Mr. Galuslia to add it for family use in the North was lost. Sops of Wine. — Mr. Huggins moved to add to the list for family use in the Center^ but not being seconded^ it was not entertained. Sparks' Late. — Mr. Brown — If this apple were as well known in other districts as it is in mine, I should move that it be added for market and family use. It is remarkably fine in its growth, fruit handsome, and of the best quality. I am not making any motion about it, because it has not been safficiently cultivated^ but I recom- mend my friends to plant it in the North. Sops of Wine again. — Mr. Huggins — Just one word as to the Sops of Wine. We have grown it for several years, and as a family apple we find it good. Speaking with one of my friends about early apples that were good, he remarked that they had simmered down to Sops of Wine — we had no early apples that were good except Keswick Codlin and Sops of Wine, and in uniting them Ave find they make most excellent sauce. The two being regular bearers, you will be sure to get apples when you want them. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — I unfortunately have but ten trees that have been set ten or a dozen years, but I find them to be the best Summer varieties I have — the Keswick Codlin and Sops of Wine. They are first-rate apples, and profitable. Sops of Wine is a good apple — stained with red. The President — I am not certain that the Sops of Wine we have reference to is what Charles Downing calls Sops of Wine. Mr. Francis — In the Bast it is small, and stained more than it is here. Mr. Hilliard — It is the only Summer apple of any consequence to me on my place. The question then being on adding Sops of Wine for family use in the Center, it was carried. Mr. Galusha — I move to add it for trial in the North . Carried. Mr. Earle — I move that we do now adjourn. Adjourned. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCLETY. 43 FIEST DAY — EVENING SESSION. The President re-announced the special committees, so that persons now present, who had not before been present, might know who were the members. At the request of the President, Judge Brown took the chair. Mr. Flagg — Before entering on the business of the evening, I would announce that under the arrangements made, the fruit will be put on exhibition in one of the rooms below, and will be locked up until the examinations have been made by the committees. All the fruit should be received and in place by 8 o'clock to-morrow morning, thus giving until 9 o'clock for the examination of it. The President — Under the rule as I understand it, we will now take up the order of business for the evening, which is the revision of the pear and quince lists. Mr. Wier — The question of membershij) has not been settled yet. Mr. Dunlap — I think that point is settled — that we leave it just as it is. Mr. Earle — If we leave the point I suppose it stands constitu- tionally fixed at |2. We remitted $1 last year. Mr. Gralusha — At the time the subject was dropped the question was on mj" amendment to make the subscription a dollar and a half. Mr. Wier moved to suspend the rules for the purpose of taking up this question. Carried. The question then being on the amendment of Mr. Galusha to make the subscription $1 50, Mr. Flagg read a statement showing the receipts from subscrip- tions for the years 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, as follows : 1865 80 members at $2 $160 1866 128 " at $1 $128 1867 125 " at $2 $250 1868 161 " at $1 $161 44 TRAIsrSACTIOlSrs OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. M, L, Dunlap — I think we had better adhere to the one dollar system; that we had perhaps better manage our business with the intention of making cheap rates. These have not been fairly tested. In this last volume there has been a good deal published that does not belong to us. If we excluded all that, we should bring the cost to less than a dollar bound. Then another thing is the tardy manner of getting these transactions out. If they wei'e put out promptly they would be anxiously sought after; as it is, they fall like a dead weight on the public. If we could make the volume complete and get it out, say by the first of March, then I have do doubt that the one dollar would get more money out of it than we get now. I wish it to be done fairly, squarely and promptly. This last one was pretty near the last of summer. The days of its usefulness were past. Mr. Emery — The fee of two dollars could only be altered by a vote of two-thirds of those present. Mr. "Wier — I think that at the last meeting we had a vote of two- thirds of those present, and thereby the constitution was changed. Mr. Baldwin — I think there was nothing said about changing the constitution ; but to settle that I propose to test the vote again. I do not believe you will receive more than half the amount. Mr. President — If it be true that the constitution was not changed on the last meeting, I shall consider the whole thing out of order. Mr. Elagg — I will state that the record, as I have it, shows that there was a vote to reduce the membership fee to one dollar at the last meeting. I looked back at ni}^ minutes to see if there was any mistake made, and find they are consistent. The President — The decision then is that the discussion is out of order. Mr. Wier — I move that the constitution be so amended as to read one dollar instead of two dollars. Mr. H. J. Dunlap — Who are members ? The President — I consider that all who were members last year are members now. Mr. Earle — Let us not forget that volumes to members cost $2 STATE HORTICl'LTUKAL SOCIETY. 45 each, while to others they cost something over one dollar. Now, if we think we can give away volumes at half their cost, let us do so, Mr. Galusha — I shall oppose this motion. From the records of the Secretary it appears that we should not be gaining our end. If we vote to reduce the subscription to one dollar it will be as an act of benevolence, and not as profit to the society. If by advertising the book, and stating what it contains, we can not induce j)Oople to pur- chase it at something like its value, so that we won't have to lose a great deal in the operation, we had better let it stand as it is, and let those who appreciate our enterprise get the book. Mr. Daggy — The question to me appears to be this : shall the State donate to us for the purpose of covering the deficiency, or shall we pay it ourselves ? If the treasury is in a healthy condition, and the State makes this annual appropriation for our use, then we ought to distribute these books. Mr. Hilliard — I would ask what would be the probable deficiency of last year ? The President — There is no deficiency. Mr. Woodard — I was in favor of the proceedings of last year. I was Treasurer of the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, and I collected, at $2 per member, between $300 and $400. We received the benefit of it in the books, and my experience is that money is the wheel on which we move, and if we cut ourselves short of the money we lose the life and light of our meeting and of our reading matter, [t strikes me we had better pay the printer, and publish to the world all that we do, and be liberal enough to pay the costs. The question being on Mr. Wier's motion, it was declared lost. Mr. Wier demanded a division, when there appeared for the motion, '9 ; against it, 11. The motion was therefore lost. REVISION OP THE APPLE LIST AGAIN. The President — The next thing in regular order is the revision of the Pear and Quince lists. 46 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Woodard — I move that the rules be suspended, and that the revision of the Apple list be first completed. The motion was agreed to. Sops of Wine again. — Mr. Woodard — I move that Sops of Wine be added for market and family use in the North, If not out of order, I would state that in McHenry county Sops of Wine is among our early apples. It bears transportation well, is an abundant bearer. Almost everything you can say in its favor is deserved, so much so that it stands now, in our county, among the first. It is a good bearer, a tough, hardy tree, and is better than almost anything we have there. Mr. Douglas — In Southern Wisconsin it is prized as Williams' Fa- vorite. It is not the Williams' Favorite, but it is grown as such in that district. Carried. White Winter Pearmain. — Mr. Earle — It is about as near worth- less as an apple can well be. It is uniformly scabbed and one-sided. I would like to have it taken off the list for market in the South. Mr. Hammond — I would like to amend by including the centre. The apple was perfectly worthless in that district. The question being on the amendment, it was lost. Mr. Wright — I only say that I am not ready to take it off. I have seen some very fair specimens this year. I do not know how much the defects spoken of were owing to cultivation. Mr. Earle speaks of its being uniformly scabby. I have seen some very good specimens, and until I am better satisfied that it is worthless, I am not prepared to go against it. And even now, as we sometimes get it with full crops, it is one of our best apples, and I should be sorry to see it taken off. Mr. Freeman — In our section we have only had an experience of about ten years. Our early experience was very good, and it is only lately that it has been scabby. I think it would be hasty to take it off the list now. Dr. Hull — It always appeared to me that we were doing wrong in STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 47 striking out apples simply because they are scabby. 1 am pretty positive that the scab is the work of a little louse. The remedy is so easy and so effectual, that it appears to me we ought not to act hastily in the matter. I made very careful observation of this difficulty in the Spring, and found that these little marks called " scab " originated from the puncture of a louse. This wound is made quite early, after the apple is in bloom. Tobacco-water and soap will kill the lice without any difficulty. You, perhaps, recollect Dr. "Walsh's visit to our neighborhood. He spoke about the lady-bird eating the eggs of these lice. The lady-birds were destroyed by the soldier-beetle, and the result was our trees were literally swarming with lice. I would, therefore, act with caution in discarding any of these apples. I never saw finer specimens than I saw growing in my locality. Mr. Huggins — We regard it as one of our best Winter apples. Mr. Earle — I have accomplished the object of my motion, and, therefore, withdraw it. Dr. Hull — The Winesap is one of those varieties that are uniformly scabby this year. It is a little singular that these lice appear to feed upon the leaves of some varieties, upon the twigs of others, and upon the fruit of others; but upon this Winesap they prey on all three. I cannot tell you the reason. The smooth varieties, generally, are more or less affected ; some of them escape ; the Keswick Codlin escapes. I cannot tell you how it is, anymore than I can tell you why the grasshopper prefers my Newtown Pippin to the Janet, but so it is. The President [McWhorter] — There are some little spurs that live, and some that die, giving the tree a half dead appearance through the Summer, I would like to hear from some gentleman on that. Mr. Brown — It was so in my orchard last year to such an extent that I supposed they would hold no crop this year. Mr. Hilliard — I noticed that myself. The President — In the orchards in my neighborhood there has been no scab this year, but our orchards are literally swarming with lady- birds. 48 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Earle — The Winesap with us is perfectl}^ free; and our whole country is covered with lady -birds. Mr. Holcomb — I have the White Pearmain^ the Carolina Eed June and the Winesap. The Winesap is perfectly free and the others are scabby. I have seen Pearmains that were fair^ but not in my orchard. That particular part of the orchard is rather low, and has not been cultivated like the others. Mr. Eiley — I can only say what I have said before^ that I incline to believe that Dr. Hull has given us the true theory of scab ; yet I can give no corroborative testimony^ and prefer to withhold a definite opinion till the proper experiments are instituted another year. I have long since believed that the lice were instrumental in causing the gnarled appearance often observable in apples ; because their punctures have the direct effect of causing a depression or sinking of the fruit surface, or a shrinkage of the leal or stem. The only \YSiy in which I can conceive that the lice produce scab, is by their punctures furnish- ing a nidus for some cryptogam. As another fact which might militate against the Doctor's theorj^, I will mention that the scab has exten- sively prevailed around St. Louis the past season, notwithstanding the lady-birds were unusually numerous early in the spring, and, aided by the feathered birds, effectuall}- cleared the trees of lice. I can hardly conceive how the Spined soldier-bug — the Potato-beetle enemy which Dr. Hull alludes to — could be instrumental in annihilating the lady-birds, which are so active and fly so readily. I only know of one instance where the soldier-bug has been observed to attack a ladj'^- bird, and this species was the Nine-marked lady-bird, and not the spotted species which is most common on our apple trees. Another objection to Dr. Hull's theory is, that the lice are mostlj?- killed off by their natural enemies, before the fruit is formed. As to the deadening of the spurs which Mr. McWhorter refers to, I can only say that there is a kind of spur blight very common, which is not caused by insects, while twigs are often killed by insects, espe- cially by small boring beetles, belonging to the genera Tomiciis and Scolyhis. The former kind, or that not caused by insects, was very STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 49 common the last season in Mr. O. L. Barler's orchard at Alton, and I observed that the wood below the dead portion was invariably swollen. Mr. McWhorter — There is one little remark I wish to make, with ref- erence to the scabbing of the apples. I have observed, from year to year, that the scab prevails most extensively, on trees that have overborne the previous year. I scarcely have known an instance of scabbing to any extent, on young vigorous trees, not exhausted by previous crops. Mr. Wier — I have not examined as closely as I could wish, but by the aid of a common magnifying glass, in ever}^ instance I found the spur incircled with a very narrow film of fur. I would ask if any one else has noticed this fur. (Referring to the dead spurs.) Mr. Riley — I have observed that very frequently the bark would crack on the green portion, and I have noticed that the wood immediatel}'- below the dead portion was swollen, and it would appear to me that it was strangled there. I have found no insect work about the peculiar spur blight you are now discussing. Mr. Holcomb — In our locality where we have the ladj'-birds, we have also a great many of these soldier beetles. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — When was their first appearance ? Mr. Holcomb — I do not know, but I have noticed them for two or three years. Dr. Hull — You understand the difference between the soldier beetle and the cannibal beetle ? Mr. Holcomb — I think I know the beetle you speak of. It is a bug about half an inch long, a narrow back, and spots on his wing. Mr. Riley — Mr. Holcomb refers to a yellow, narrow beetle — the Pennsylvania soldier beetle — which, in the larva state, attacks with its jaws the common curculio; and Dr. Hull refers to the soldier bug — a true bug (order, Henujptera) — which, in the perfect state, stabs and kills with its beak the Colorado potato beetle, and, occa- sionally, also lady-birds. The misunderstanding arises from misuse of the popular terms beetle and bug, unaccompanied by the scien- tific name. Mr. Holcomb — I feel there is nothing in my mind contrarj^ to his 5 50 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS theory. I do not think what I have said about soldier beetles is anything against his theory, because these bugs may have something else to do than to attack the lady-birds. ADDITIONAL APPLES. Mr. Foster — I would recommend the Montreal Beauty Crab for market and family use North ; my wife likes it. Mr. Galusha — I have grown it for four or five years. It is rich and fine, and my wife concurs with Mrs. Foster in her good opinion of it. Mr. Foster — The apple is much like the Transcendent. I com- pared them at the State Fair, and we rather thought it was superior in quality. It is a little larger than the Transcendent. It is a beautiful tree, and Mr. Verry Aldrich says : " I do think, when it is in fruit, it is the handsomest tree I ever saw.'' Mr. Woodward — I would move that the Hyslop be added for market and family use North. I might add that it is becoming a favorite with us, and also in the State of "Wisconsin — I might say in the Northwest. The more we have of it the better it seems to take, and I certainly see no reason why it could not rank with any in beauty, and it keeps well in winter, Mr. Galusha — I shall go against adding any fruit that does not give us an advance in some direction. I vote for the Montreal. The best claim for the Hyslop is that it is equal to the Transcendent. Mr. Woodward — In answer to that I would say that with us it is cultivated extensively. There is as much call for it as any crab, and those who have it in bearing are the most desirous of having it and keeping it. It matters very little to me whether it is placed on the list or not, so far as I am individually concerned. We shall certainly have to take off the yellow if we are to advance. These are certainly in advance of the yellow, and I cannot see any reason why it should not be placed on the list. Motion lost. Mr. Keith — I move that the Stannard apple be added for market and family. North. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 51 Mr. M. L. Danlap — I move to amend by including the Center. Mr. Keith accepted the amendment. Mr. Dunlap — It seems to me that by this course you will be chang- ing every year. I have no axe to grind. If there is any apple in the whole list that is better than another it is the "Stannard/' in the; north part of the State. I have had over 4,000 bushels this year, of which 700 were Stannard. It has never missed a fair crop in the- last twenty years. There is no apple brings the same price at its- season, and its season is the longest of any. It comes in for eating in the early part of October, and it will last two months yet. I have- sold a great many barrels in Chicago. They have been picked uj) by the Italians who keep the fruit stands, and in less than three days after it became known that we had them we sold upwards of 100 barrels out of our own cellar. Within the last few years I have advertised that I would send scions to any individual who would send jDOstage. I have done so for the purpose of disseminating this very useful and valuable variety. I am somewhat astonished that it is so very little known after all these years ; but it only shows one thing, that the most useful are the slowest to come into general use while a humbug takes our attention like a whirlwind. The motion as amended was then agreed to. REVISION OF THE PEAR AND QUINCE LISTS. Bartlett. — Mr. Galusha — I move that the Bartlett be stricken out for family use in the North. We have better pears, and not so much subject to blight as the Bartlett. It sells well, therefore let it go to the market. We raise it and sell it because it will bring money. Mr. Foster — For a market pear, it is with me number one. Mr. McWhorter — It can hardly be serious, it appears to me, this motion to strike the Bartlett out. Motion lost. Belle Lucrative. — Mr. Earle — I was going to say that it is the best pear in the world, to eat, but it is a very poor market pear. It never colors up after it is gathered. If it has not done this before it o2 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS is taken from the tree^ it never gains any more; it will be green and never change that color. I know of no other fault than this and the tendency to rot at the core. jMr. Galusha — I would like to raise Belle Lucrative to eat and Bartlett to sell. Dr. Hull — I would combine both of them; I would take Belle Lucrative to eat and also for market. It is a much better pear to eat than the Bartlett, and if you are accustomed to send good fruit and none other to market, they will pay you for them ; but if you are not, then they discard your good brands. Mr. Hilliard — I think if we discard the Bartlett from the list, we may as well hang up our fiddle and go home. Mr. Pierson — The Belle Lucrative with us colors up and becomes quite yellow. It is a most wonderful pear, and bears as well as any apple tree in our orchard. Beurre Bosc. — Dr. Hull — If I were called upon to mention the best pears, I would say that Beurre Bosc was one of them, and Beurre D'Anjou another. In my locality it is without fault. Mr. Douglas — One of the best in our locality. Mr. Woodward — It is one of the best in our locality. Mr. Brown — My idea has been that it was not quite so fruitful as some others, but it is nearly as perfect as I can get them up. My trees are nearly ten years old, and dwarfs at that. Beurhe Diel. — Dr. Hull — Shall we not be in favor of letting that go ? I am in favor of it. Mr. Earle — The tree does not hold its leaves well, it does not ripen well, and so far as I have seen, the fruit is very astringent, very poor, sand cracks as badly as anything we have. Mr. Hull — That matter of shedding leaves is one that is very easy to control. I will explain, to-morrow, a certain process that entirely obviates the shedding of the leaves. Mr. Brown — With me, two years ago, it v^as remarkably fine. The trees were loaded with fruit. I think they would average half STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 53 a pound, and I think somo of them were a pound; of fine appearance and quality. Beurre, Easter.— Dr. Hull — If I were to be confined to one variety, that is the one I would confine myself to for market, for family use, and for profit. ]\Ir. Brown — It does well in my part of the country, ripening about midwinter; very valuable on that account. Mr. Earle — It is a very fine grower; I know nothing that grows better; the wood is hardy; it seems to bold its leaves excellently well, and so far as I have had an opportunity of testing the fruit, it is very good indeed. If the tree is allowed to overbear, I think it will be small, and not excellent. With us, in the South, they have been kept until April or May I think. Beurre Giffard. — Mr. Brown— I consider it one of the finest of our early pears for size and quality. It ripens about two weeks before the Bartlett with me. Mr. Wright — I have raised it, and it is a very fine pear, but does it produce well anywhere? So far as I know, it has a very few pears on a tree. The tree is also a very bad grower; it grows in very bad shape. Dr. Hull — It is a very good market pear; not the very best, but a good pear. Clapp's Favorite.— Mr. Flagg— I have fruited this pear, top grafted, this year. The leaves did not stay ; and I suspect it was not true. It seemed to me more like Beurre Clairs-eau. Mr. Earle— I do not think it has been fruited in our district. The tree has the appearance of Flemish Beauty. Its reputation at the East is getting bad, on account of its rotting at the core. I think it is not going to answer. De-irborn's Seedling.— Dr. Hull— It is too small for market. Mr. Hyde — I corroborate that. Mr. Galusha — Is there anything larger that comes in at the same time? Mr. Hyde — Bloodgood, Doyenne d'Ete, Tyson. 54 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLIJIQIS DoYEXNE d'Ete. — Mr. Wright — It is so small and you get so few. It is a fine flavored pear, and being early it brings a large price, but I cannot consider it profitable for market. The tree is a poor grower. I have never seen any large tree, or a tree that bears any considerable amount. Mr. Flagg — I only have a test of one tree, but that has been quite a fair bearer and a good grower. Mr. Edwards — I have had it some years, and with me it is the very best of its size. They are on their own roots. Mr. Douglas — I would not advise growing it on quince, as they seem to break off. Mr. Earle — I have not it on quince at all. It grows as a standard with me. Mr. Edwards — It ripens with me in the month of July, and is far superior to Bloodgood, or Dearborn Seedling. Mr. Wier — I have one that has grown very heavily and borne very abundantly ; it has borne itself to death. Mr. Daggy — I have one on a quince root; I think it has borne so that it will kill itself. Doyenne White — Mr. Douglas — I move to strike it off the list for North, Center and South. Mr. Edwards — Has any gentleman known it fruiting for any length of time worked on the thorn ? I have had two trees grafted in the spring of 1866 ; one died two or three years ago, the other one is still bearing crops of perfect fruit ; no crack whatever. On the pear root or quince they crack. Mr. McWhorter — I have one tree standing in a neglected corner of my garden which was grafted on a Washington thorn, and it has borne well and not cracked any to speak of. I do remember picking up one or two pears this year that have had some cracks in them. It has been sodded around with blue grass and been entirely neglected. • Dr. Hull — I think we had better leave it off. I have seen it some- times cracked and sometimes not. I have seen it bear very fine STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 55 pears, but when it is so it is not like Eastern grown pears. I would be in favor of discai"ding it. Mr. Douglas — Why I move to strike it from the list is this: It €rack')d at Boston twenty-five years ago. After that it was the best pear in Western New York, and it was the only pear that came to the Chicago market; but it has cracked there and is worthless there. It finally began to crack near Waukegan. About three or four years after it began to crack on sandy or gravelly soil it began to crack on clay land. At Freeport a gentleman from Iowa said it was the best pear there. Why I move to strike it out is that if we do not it will be planted in new places and people will be sorry for it afterwards. Mr. Bryant, Sr. — It has cracked with me this season the first time; previously it has always been fair. Mr. Freeman — At South Pass it was up for discussion and was retained on the list through the influence of the gentleman who occupies the chair. That leads me to make a remark which may influ- ence its cultivation and suggest a remedy for the faults complained of. The circumstance struck me very forcibly as indicating that there was something in the soil that had to do with it. But since this meeting referred to I have been investigating these soils, and it is a soil very •different to what we have at South Pass ; it is what is known in geology as the loess, and is a magnificent species of soil for producing fine growths. Mr. Douglas states that it fails on sandy soil first and on clay soil later. The soil where he lives is well calculated to retain moisture to that extent which moisture loving trees like, and I suppose this is a clue to the cracking. Another thing, I could say, that the climate at Judge Brown's is also somewhat favorable. Mr. Pierson — I have studied the pear in a great many localities in our State, and my impression now is that in 19 out of 20 localities this pear is a failure, and it strikes me that to keep it on our list when it fails in nineteen-twentieths of cases is very bad policy. If it were a new pear there would be some room for investigation, but I see no motive for cultivating where it was so certain it would fail. In my 56 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS locality it is a total failure; and on land which had these characteris- tics of moisture. j\Ir. Freeman — 1 do not want a wet soil. Mr. Pierson — Well they were on a soil that withstands drought well without being wet. I have seen a great many trees as black as if they had cracked all to pieces. I saw one large orchard of about a hundred trees, and I looked to find one pear that was fit to eat but could not do so, though the trees were loaded heavily. My recollec- tion was that this pear was discarded last year by this Society. It was retained by some oversight perhaps. Mr. Flagg — We did not discuss it last year at all. Mr. Freeman — My object was to say that it is a pear that is widely disseminated, and to suggest a remedy so as to save it. Mr. Barle — I would suggest that it be made to stand for special localities. It has cracked very little in our locality. At Judge Brown's it is really a first-class pear in all respects. I should be un- willing to have it taken off the list. I will make a motion that it be so modified. Mr. Douglas — I withdraw my motion. Mr. Wier — In our neighborhood we have it on a great variety of soils. I think I have as good soil as there is in Illinois. The last three years it has been a failure everywhere. Every pear that I have seen has been worthless. I am changing my trees into anything else that I can get. They do not appear to graft well. I suppose I had 15 bushels of White Doyenne this year, but I wish to ask Dr. Hull if the crack is caused by the Aphis same as on the apple ; the fungus appears to be the same. Dr. Hull — It is impossible for the fungus to be the same. The skin of the pear is nothing but modified leaf, and when the growth of the skin is arrested and the growth of the interior continues, it bursts it- self open. This fungus seems to curtail the expansion, and hence the cracking of the sides. Mr. Humphrey — It is spoken of as being successful when grafted on the thorn. STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 57 Mr. Edwards — I have not tried it extensively in that line. 1 think some one might have had experience same as my own. Mr. Pierson — I find this matter was up at the last meeting but one^ and I find that every one who spoke on the subject at that time was against its continuance on the list, except Mr. Bryant and Mr. Earle. I find that several say it has been good, but that it was then a failure. Mr. Bryant now comes forward and says it is a failure with him this year. JSTow I hold that a pear which is so universally a failure, on which so many thousands of dollars have been spent, and when there is only one locality that can speak in favor of it, I say that it ought to be recommended solely for that one locality. It grows very vigor- ously, and it is a very pretty tree, but I do not like to see it covered with these miserable black crooked pears. I thought I would put out a hundred because it was on the list, and I went visiting localities and found out, until at last I came down to two. I say let it be recom- mended for South Pass only. The question being on recommending it for special localities, it was — Carried. Mr. Brown — Is any one experienced with the Grey Doyenne ? Dr. Hull — It cracks, but it is really a first class pear. I have found points where they all cracked, but I do not think we ought to discard pears because they crack, yet there are other varieties that are so liable to crack that they ought to be discarded. I never had one crack and I never expect to have. Mr. Pierson — That pear bears very finely in my neighborhood. It is very healthy, and I have no notion of its cracking. Mr. Brown — With me it ripens with the White Doyenne. It is fully equal in quality, I think better, but not quite so productive. Those who discard the White might attempt the Grey. DucHEssE d'Angouleme. — Dr. Hull — I would not grow it because they are too largo, and not first rate in quality, and do not sell for any more than others. I go in for the first quality of fruit. Mr. Galusha — How does it compare with the Bartlett in quality ? 58 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Dr. Hull — The Bartlett is a much better pear. "We find our good names are worth more to us than even a large amount of fruit. Flemish Beauty,— Mr. Woodard — It stands foremost in McHenry. It is considered the best we have. Mr. Wier — We consider it the best pear we have in our neighborhood. Mr. Keith — In Cook county we consider it the best pear we have. Glout Morceau. — Mr. Foster — I recommend it for market and family use in the IS^orth. As far as my own experience goes, the tree is subject to blight and the fruit is astringent. Howell. — Mr. Wier — I would move to recommend it for market and family use in the North. Dr. Hull — I told you which were my first two varieties — this is the third — Howell, Beurre Bosc, Beurre D'Anjou. Mr. Galusha moved to amend by saying "for trial in the North.'' It was not sufiiciently known to recommend it. Mr. Douglas — I thought it had been sufficiently tried North. I recollect very distinctly its being spoken of well in the North. I have had it in bearing from len to twelve years, and the only fault I find with it is that the fruit spurs seem to be tender. The Bartlett is somewhat so, and the Duchesse a good deal so, and I think there must be gentlemen here who have fruited the Howell and found it so. Mr. Earle — I think our friends in the North will find it all right if they can get it to bear. Its fruit buds are more tender because they swell with heat. With that single exception it is about the best pear we have any knowledge of. Mr. Douglas — I think it is quite as hardy as the Bartlett or the Duchesse — quite as good a pear — but it does not bear quite so young. Mr. Earle — I think it would be found to bear as early as the Bartlett but for that tenderness of the buds, Mr. Hilliard — I think there are more trees of that kind planted out than any other variety. Mr. Douglas — There are a good many Howells that parties do not know to be Howells. STATE HORTICUl.iURAL SOCIETY. 59 Mr, Edwards — Mr. Ilausen, of Lee county, has fruited it, and con- sidei's it one of tlie best. Mr. Galusha withdrew his amendment. Motion carried. Lawrence. — Mr. Hyde — One of the best pears of the season. Mr. Douglas — Quite hardy with us — late coming into bearing, but a very healthy tree, and holds the leaf well. Mr. Bryant — My experience is that it has been planted fourteen years without any fruit. Mr. Douglas — I think it is a very good sign in a pear tree not to come into bearing too early. I have had the pear about seventeen years, and it must have been about three years from the bud before I planted it, and it is only about two years that it has borne; it looks very promising, however. Mr. Earle — As regards its earliness in bearing it is without any peer with us in Egypt. We have some of these trees that are prett}' well set with fruit buds — about four years planted. I do not think it has any fault whatever. I do not think I could say that with so much emphasis with regard to any other variety. It is perfectly hardy as a tree ; it holds its loaves well ; it bears well ; it never rots at the core, and there is no better pear grown than the Lawrence. Madeleine. — Mr. Brown — It is very liable to blight at all times, and I do not think it is valuable on that account. Napoleon. — Mr. Hyde — I move that Napoleon be stricken from the list. Carried. Madeleine, again. — Mr. Galusha — I move the same as to Madeleine. Carried. Louise Bonne de Jersey. — Mr. Earle — I would like to hear some- thing about this. I have a good many of them, and I want to know what to do. It leaf-blights very badly — no tree worse. It is an excellent pear where the tree holds its leaf. I have seen that variety the past year in a number of localities, standing in grass, and under these circumstances it has held its leaves very well, and ripened its fruit perfectly ; but whenever it does lose its leaves it is very astringent, and 60 tea:nsactioxs of the illesiois is not worth anything. Now, what I want to know is this, does seeding down the ground help any tree in holding its leaves ? Mr. Douglas — I have nearly 200 of Bartlett's in bearing. I have one that stands on the lawn, and that tree has done more than any one of the others. I believe if it stood up in tall blue grass it would be run out entirely. Mr. Meehan and Dr. Warder saw it last season, and I think I called Dr. Hull's attention to it. I have a good deal of faith in that. Mr. Meehan has advocated that for several years. He claimS' that where you give grass surface good manuring the roots will not. penetrate deeply ; keep your land in good tilth, keep it rich, and mow your grass often, and your trees will do better there than any where else. Now, I wish that some of our horticulturists would try these- things — there is a great deal in them. If each one of us would just try a tree or two it would be a benefit to all of us. Mr. Earle — I am delighted to hear the remarks of Mr. Douglas. I would not have this subject begun to-night, as we have to hear Mr. Meehan. Mr. Freeman — I should think, that without regarding differences in climate, with our elevated position in Egypt, we have an excessively dry condition to work against, and we want mulching pretty heavily to> keep the soil moist below. Mr. Pierson — I will state the experience in my neighborhood. Those which bear most uniformly and most abundantly are all in grass. I know Louise Bonne, standing in a blue grass spot right on the top of our sand hills, in the yellow sand, and it bears abundantly every year. I call to mind eight or ten pear trees in another blue grass place, and they produce an abundance of pears for a large family, and they bear uniformly : there are the Grey Doyenne, Beurre D'Anjou, and some other varieties. I think the gentleman told me that the only culture he gave them was to pour chamber-lye on them. Mr. Earle — Does the Louise Bonne lose its leaves with you under any circumstances? Mr. Pierson — I have never known it yet. They are in a high state STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 61 of cultivation, and I do not know of its dropping its leaves in that neighborhood. Onondaga.. — Dr. Hull — I move to strike it from the list. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — I find it one of the most profitable pears I have. Mr. Earle — Would it be well to recommend it in the South for special localities ? It is, in a few cases, a very superior fruit. Dr. Hull withdrew his motion. Osband's Summer. — Mr. Douglas — This is one of the very hardiest trees. The pear is not as good as some, but the tree is a very fair bearer, and it is a very handsome pear. RosTiEZER. — Mr. Hyde — It has borne fair crops with me for the last four years. Seckel. — Mr. Galusha — I move to strike out for market and family use North. Mr. Foster — I like the pear very mur.h to cultivate. Mr. Douglas — I think- it will bear higher culture than others. The Seckel is a good hardy tree, a good bearer, and still it is a little fickle sometimes. I have known within the last eighteen years that they would be killed in winter ; but as a general thing it is pretty hardy. Mr. Galusha — How does it compare with Flemish Beauty in quality ? Mr. Douglas — Is there any gentleman here acquainted with Kirtland? Mr. Earle — I know very little about it. It is a very pretty growing tree. Mr. Flagg — I fruited it this year. The tree is very nice ; the fruit is not very large, handsome, and I thought not very good — rather insipid. Sheldon. — Mr. Hyde — I call it number one in every respect, and have never seen any crack on it. It ripens just after the Bartlett, probably about two weeks later ; it holds its leaves well. Mr. Earle — It is not one of the best with me in that respect. It is ■with the Duchesse in season so far as I can recollect. It seems to reach a position where it is a veiy good pear, and then in a day or two it is far gone and mellow. I am not satisfied that it is going to be a 'very good pear for us. 62 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Hyde — 1 had them in Chicago for sale on Thanksgiving dajj, and sold them for $2.50. a box. Mr. Hilliard — It is the best early pear we have. Mr. Earle — It is a very good pear and the tree is very healthy. It dont hold its leaves very late in the summer ; but it holds them until after the fruit is gathered. It is not liable to blight. It is only a moderate grower. It is a fine Beurre to be sure. There is not any- thing as good at the time. It is equal to the Seckel in quality though not so large. It stands side by side with the Seckel with regard to its freedom from blight. Mr. Douglas — That is my experience. Urbaniste. — Mr. Douglas — A good hardy tree with us. YiCAR OF "WiNKPiELD. — Dr. Hull — I move to strike it from the list for the whole length of the State. Mr. Earle — It is a very good cooking pear. I think it should be retained. It sells well in Chicago, and therefore we should not strike it from the list. Mr. Hilliard — I do not think they will ever get mellow if you boil them all day. Mr. Pierson — I have learned from some source that the vigor de- generates as you go south : that it is no better in Egypt than a pea- nut. If that is so perhaps we had better strike it out. Motion lost. "Winter ]SrELis. — Dr. Hull — It is a good pear. Mr. Hyde — It is not so good as Lawrence. Mr. Douglas — It is not a good pear on our gravelly and sandy soil. QUINCES. The following paper, received too late to be read at the meeting, is here inserted : . Troy, Madison Co., Dec. lith, 1869. W. C. Flagg, Alton, Ills. : In answer to the letter you wrote me Oct. 7th, in regard to the growing of Quinces, I would be glad to meet you in your Society at Ottawa, but my education forbids my making speeches, or writing essays to be read in public. I am sorry it is so. But I give you a short sketch of my experience in the management of the Quince. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 63 1st. It must have a very rich soil. This is of great importance . 2d. Get as many branches near the ground as you can. Let them run up thick, (I have from 3 to 14) and v^hen they begin to bear the fruit will spread the tops. I have them as above when at the fourth year, from small sprouts, they bore one-quarter of a bushel to the bush . I think they should be pruned with care , and not as is the rule with other trees. I only cut the thorns, dead branches, and dwarf limbs, leaving the water sprouts to go up and form, as it were, a new tree, thus keeping the tree healthy, cut- ting off the old limbs when they begin to fail . I have been treating trees in this way for 25 years, and they are now among my finest bearers. I speak of the Orange kind; other kinds maybe treated differently. If I should meet your Society I would make the earnest inquiry as to what the Orange Quince is, for in this doctors difler. I think none other worth propagating. I have about 650 trees in bearing, or two acres planted, 12 feet apart, one acre yoiuig the other old; the old does best. Isold last year about 100 barrels for about $900; this year 70 barrels for about $400; bad this year on account of blight. I had a conversa- tion with Dr. Hull last spring in regard to blight. I think he is mistaken in saying that root pruning will stop the blight. I think they blight when the roots are not diseased. I have a small nursery ot young trees started last year and they blighted fully as much as my old trees. I think the blight this year was caused by the cold wet and late spring, causing the trees to grow rapidly until the sudden dry and warm weather set in, that somehow affected the sap that caused the blight. If this can be of any benefit to you in any way I will be glad of it. Yours truly, LYMAN BARBER. Mr. Bliss^The Orange Quince I find to be a good one, and it bears with me regularly every year. For 20 or BO years, and I think 30 years, I have not failed of a crop. I think it can be raised generally without any trouble. The soil suitable for pears is suitable for it. My soil is perhaps a little sandy^ prairie soil, with a very tenacious sub-soil within 3 or 3| feet of the surface. The way I have succeeded is to plow rather deep and then to plow up in the center, and throw on some sod in the Spring, and continue to throw up the sod. Mr. Woodard — I move that we do now adjourn until half-past eight to-morrow morning. The motion prevailed and the meeting stood adjourned. 64 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS SECOND DAY— MOENING SESSION. The Society met at half past 8 o'clock pursuant to adjournment. President McWhorter in the chair : Mr. Foster opened the proceed- ings with prayer. SECRETAR.Y PRO TEM. At the request of the President, and in the absence of Mr. Flagg who was engaged in arranging the fruit tables, Mr. Earle consented to act as Secretary pro tern. ORDER OP BUSINESS. Mr. Murtfeldt, of Missouri — Moved that the peach list be passed over, and that the cherry list be taken up. Mr. Freeman — I would like to have a new peach put in i' before it is absolutely passed over. The President — The intention was to wait until Mr Flagg came in ; not to pass it over entirely. The motion of Mr. Murtfeldt was then agreed to. NECTARINE LIST. Elruge — Dr. Hull — I have had considerable experience with Nec- tarines, and I think Elruge and Downton ought to be the only ones on our list. Pitmaston's Orange — Dr. Hull — That is a very beautiful thing, but it does not bear sufficiently. :- CHERRY list. Belle de Choisey. — Dr. Hull — This is a beautiful thing. "We at one time considered it as hardy as the Dukes ; latterly we do not. It is more liable to splitting of the bark. It sheds its leaf at the sec- ond growth. It sheds its bark from the juices not being elaborated. STATE HORTICULTITTIAL SOCIETY. 65 BiQARREAU, OR Yellow SPANISH. — Dr. Hull — It is the best of the class of the white or yellow : exceedingly productive, and as hardy as the majority of that class ; but it wont bear comparison with the Dukes. Black Eagle. — Dr. Hull — Black Eagle is a hardy fellow. It is fully up to the description given by the books. We could hardly dis- pense with it, provided you are willing to M^ait for its fruit 8 or 9 years. I should think wherever the cold would not get below 30°, and where it is cold enough to reach 10° below freezing point, it may be treated so as to make it perfectly hardy. It is a moderate bearer. Mr. Freeman — Have you observed any change in its fruit as re- gards productiveness by cultivation or manuring? I know a large tree in our neighborhood that bears magnificently ; it stands in front of Mr. Clark's residence at South pass. Mr. Wier — We find it with us, one of the hardiest and most pro- ductive of sweet cherries. It in early with me, but it is on poor sandy ground. Mr. Shephard — They say the soil requires to be peculiar in order to make it successful. These sweet cherries are the sweet cherries of the east, and have proved tender and not recommended. I suppose we are all aware that we must keep hands off until we see what lati- tude we are in. Mr. Wier — I am well satisfied that where I live I can raise just as many as I can of the Early Richmond. I can do it on prairie soil. The fault is not in tree killing or bud killing. I should top graft it from the north side. I have been planting them in rows and very close together in the last eight years. I had thorn on Mazzard Stocks, but I would not recommend the Mazzard in open ground. I had it also on Early Pdchmond.. I have found great advantage in grafting other varieties on the Eurly Richmond. We have cherries put on the north sido of the building that have no other protection. Black Tartarian. — Dr. Hull — It is a beautiful cherry, but it is not as hardy as some of the other hearts, and 1 think we can dispense with it in view of the fact that we have other cherries that fill the place. 6 66 . TKANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Cleveland. — Dr. Hull — It is extremely productive and very beauti- ful, and the tree is also a fair grower — rather more than a medium grower, in point of strength — and of good form. Elkhorn (Tradescant's Black Heart, or Downing). — Dr. Hull — I think it is the finest black cherry on the list. I have found several people who have had very sad experience of it in other parts of the country. With me the tree is perfect in form — it spreads its branches just about right. At about ten years of age it will be about twice the size of the Tartarian. The fruit may be a trifle inferior to the Black Tartarian. The President — Do you think it will be practicable to bring these Hearts into general cultivation ? Dr. Hull — I see no reason why they should not; but at the proper time I will explain myself as far as I can. Early Purple Guigne.— Dr. Hull — I think it can be grown further north than any other kind : it is a very good cherry in its season. Elton. — Mr. M. L. Dunlap — I fruited a large number of the heart cherries, and it is the only one that ever produces enormous crops of sweet cherries, and I think I have had a quart in my lifetime. It was set out about thirteen years ago, and about three years ago I lost the last of them. Mr. Shephard — I saw one tree this last summer that had perhaps two quarts of cherries on ; but I do not think it will ever have any more. The President — What has been your observation, generally, with this class of cherries ? My observation was, at first planting, that they all died soon. I believe there are some people, like Mr. Wier, who may grow them successfully. Mr. Galusha — I can say a word for this cherr}'. I had a few trees grafted on the old stock, near the ground, and I have never procured any fruit at all from the Elton, Black Tartarian, or Black Eagle, and the final result was — I made a good bonfire of them. Mr. Bryant — I do not believe that the cherry can be raised with any success on rich prairie. I planted a good many of them in 1855 and 1856, and I have never planted any since. Those planted in my neighborhood failed, and the trees died off. The heart bursts and STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 67 becomes totally useless. Sometimes the blossom-buds were destroyed in the winter and dropped off like peach-buds. Mr. Durley — I can only say that I planted the Elton, with all the best cherries I find on this list, about sixteen years ago. They were dwarfs and standards both. I can now say that the Early Richmond and May Duke do well, but from the others I" never obtained three bushels of cherries, all told. Mr. Weir — Did not all the stems of the trees die on the south side? Mr. Durley — No, sir ; I think not. Mr. Wier — I find a few of these cherries as hardy or hardier than the May Duke, top-grafted on the Early Richmond, and putting the graft in the branches of it on the north side. I know we have trees which have borne fruit every year for eighteen years. All the protection they have is another tree on the south. It does not appear to matter what the protection is, if there be a little protection on the southwest side of the tree. I have a Governor Wood planted in that way, and eveiy portion of it for six years has been as good as the Early Richmond alongside of it. I am speaking of what we call second bottom — rich heavy soil. Mr. Murtfeldt — I would suggest the propriety of confining the dis- cussion to one variety at a time. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — The Secretary of the Indiana State Horticultural Society, Mr. Ragan, is here, and he can give us some information. Mr. Ragan — I came here for another purpose than to educate this body. While I regret the feeling against heart cherries, yet we, as a body, should be very careful in recommending something so little adapted to our climate, and encourage men to buy varieties that will not do them good. The May Duke l)elongs to the sweet cherry class : we have had partial success with that, but with that exception there is not one worthy to be placed in any class. Mr. Huggius — From experience and observation, I find that they do well on the north side of a river. The trees I planted myself have lived and flourished well for more than twenty years. Therefore I would recommended that position for family use. 68 TIlxVNSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Forrest — I am almost afraid of saying anything for sweet cherries after hearing our veterans. I know of some in Woodford county, near Minonk, top-grafted on a Morello stock: the union is poor, but the trees are growing well. Trees planted alongside of them, on other stocks have uniformly been failures. This is in the open prairie. Mr. Ililliax'd — I would like to inquire as to old Morello. I consider it superior to any other we have had. It is true they are not profitable for market — they are so juicy. Early White Heart, — The President— In this class of cherry there are onl}" a few individuals that seem to have been successful — it will be observed by their location, they are either as far south as Alton, or thej^ have a peculiar situation among bluffs or along rivers, or under the lee of a bluff. I have noticed another thing — that people are not willing to tell of their failures. It is only justice to the public that we should be just as willing to tell of our failures as of our successes. Mr. Shephard — I have a white cherry wdth a slight blush on its cheek. It is not on the list unless this is it. I got it from New York, and they told me it was a recent importation from Germany. I have had it in bearing five or six years, and it has borne abundantly. It ripens before any of the old fashioned cherries. I attribute this to its being in a sandy place, and its healthfulness. It is exposed to the western blasts. That cherry I would recommend. I do not know whether it is the Early White Heart or not. Mr. Hilliard — I think it is a little hardier than an}^ other of the Hearts. It is a delicious, sweet cherry. It generally overbears. The wood is about as hardy as the Bigarreau. It does not come into mar ket as early as some other sorts. Mr. Edwards — I have a single tree of this kind, planted in 1850, on a Mazzard stock. It is now standing v^^here it is sheltered, and ever}^ third or fourth year I have a full crop of fruit. It bears good cultiva- tion, and yields pretty well. The President — Was it not grafted pretty deeply ? Mr. Edwards — Yes, sir. Gridley. — Dr. Hull — It is a gem in our latitude. It is equal to any STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 69 other ill point of quality, we think, and when right, it is firm enough. It is enormously productive ; so much so, that I have taken three bushels at three years old. Kentish or Early Eichmond. — Mr. Forster — In Iowa it is a good Cherry. They were brought into our market and sold at 75 cents a bushel, and they lay until they were thrown, into the river. Mr. Nichols, of Davenport, had some made into wine, and it was very good. Mr. Pierson — In our neighborhood there is a grub works into the wood of this tree. It is particularly so in the grass orchards. I do not know that I am sufficiently familiar with him to describe him. He works into the bark and leaves his hole full as he goes, and winds about in a very crooked route up and down the tree. I think he has rather a flat head and is about half an inch long; his color is white. There was a good man}^ heav}' rains during the time I speak of. From the time they bloomed to the time they ripened, it rained all the time. I think it possible it was the cureulio. As to this grub, most of m}^ own trees are in well cultivated ground. Where the tree is thrifty and vigorous I see none of them. The President — Have 3^ou ever known an Early Richmond do well standing in the grass for several j^ears ? Mr. Pierson — I am nol. sufficiently acquainted Avith it to say. I know that my own trees, in well cultivated ground, are doing well. Mr. Brj^ant — On which side of the tree was it? Mr. Pierson — I think it is on the southwest side of the tree. I got the trees from Mr. Duulap. My neighboi-s' trees I do not know any- thing about. I am inclined to think that there are three or four of my trees that have some grubs on them, that arc on Morello stock. I have my doubts as to whether the stock has anything to do with that. Mr. Bryant, Jr. — Did you have a Cmculio catcher? It appears to me that this is nothing moi'e nor less than the same thing that gets into any tree where the south side is much exposed to the sun. You find it in the apple, in the hard maple, and in th._; soft maple, this same 70 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS flat-headed borer. It uniformly gets in where the bark has been scorched by the sun. Any one will see that that side will not merely become heated by the rays of the sun, but it becomes diseased and unhealthy. The President— Do you understand it to be distinct from the apple tree borer? Mr. Bryant, Jr. — Entirely distinct. The head is always flat, and the bod}' quite slender. I have seen them of very different sizes, but they all resemble each other in that respect, and they work immediately under the bark. A large piece of the bark becomes dead. With regard to the Curculio of the cherry, 1 do not know but we may be in as much danger as Dr. Hull says, of losing our cherries by them. But years ago the wild cherry was attacked by the Curculio. I am not learned in Curculio ; but it was one of these varieties, and not a cherry could be found without a worm in it. I have never met with a single instance in any cultivated cherry. Mr. Riley — I did not know that it was in order to discuss this matter. The cherr}'^ borer has long been known as peculiar to the cherrj', and I do not think it is confined to any particular kind of cherry. It is a species very similar to the flat-headed apple tree borer. The difference, practically, is nothing, and the same means can be taken to get rid of it : that is the use of soap on the tree. The peculiarity of the moth is that the tips of the wing-cover are bifurcated— that is the cherry borer. The Curculio infests the cherry, but I wish to disabuse you of the idea that this Curculio is the cause of the rotting of the cherry. Mr. Wier — This year, on the 20th of June, or thereabouts, we had three days of severe windy weather — very severe. All the cherries that were anywhere near ripe at that time ripened up without any rot what- ever, but those that were just beginning to turn, or were at their full growth, were bruised all over. The rot commenced on the west side of the tree, and the wind came from the west. .Some varieties were largely stung by the Curculio, and some not at all ; but they all rotted. STATE HORTICULTURAX, SOCIETY. 71 This three-days' wind formed the nidus on the fruit. I attribute it to the bruising of the fruit by the wind. Dr. Hull — This rotting of the cherry I am quite familiar with. It is sometimes caused by the Curculio, and sometimes it is not. I lost some this last year by the water standing on them say twentj^-four or forty-eight hours. I had an idea of pasturing my ground, with a view to feeding pigs, but if the gentleman can talk this np, whj' it will e"nable me to keep the cherries. [Laughter.] Some one remarked that their wild cherries were stung by Curculios. The Curculio they brought is entirely different from the Plum Curculio. Mr. Riley — I really do not know much about the Curculio in the wild cherry. The one in the cultivated cherry is the common Plum Cur- culio. Mr. Keith — I think there is no doubt it was caused this season by wet weather. That was the fact in Cook county, Mr. "Woodward — About this cherry. I have them in bearing, both upon the Mahaleb stock and on the Morello. Those on the Mahaleb are perhaps a little sweeter than the other. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — Dr. Furness, of Indiana, where we get our cherries from, is here, and I would like to hear from him. Mr. Galusha — It looks to me as though we were wasting time. We all know all about the cherry by experience and observation for a great many years. Enough have been planted to supply all the markets, and it seems to me that unless something new about its character and dis- eases is mentioned, we are spending our time to no purpose. Mr. Bliss — I wish to say something about this cherry. A man from the east will first fill his mouth full, and the sharpness of the flavor he does not like, but a great many think if they can get the Early Rich- mond to can, it is all right. Let us have this criticism go with the recommendation of the cherry. In canning, it has not the life of the Morello. Napoleon. — Dr. Hull — That variety seems to be remarkably hardy. There are two trees standing which I planted ten years ago, from which the parties who own them tell me they pluck eight bushels annually. 72 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Sbepbard — I have planted it different times, and on the same soil, and it always seems to me to be hai'dy. MoRELLo, English. — Dr. Hnll — It is very hardy wherever I find it. It has one defect, that of breeding insects, and leaving its fruit on the tree until they come out. Mr. Galusba — I will say that it is every way reliable and hardy, and yields very large crops. That and the 'Early M&y are the only ones I can tie to in the North. Mr. Wier — It has a large red fruit which will always sell and bring a good price. It has a very dark and rich red in canning. The stone is quite large and plump shaped. The tree is perfectly hardy I believe. It feeds well on Mahaleb or Morello stock; and will grow anywhere in any part of the State. Mr. Nelson — Do you know anything of the Late Richmond? Mr. Wier — I have it, and we think almost as much of it as we do of the Early Eichmond. It is about two weeks later. We also have a seedling from it. It has not quite so much juice as the Early Rich- mond. Mr. Nelson — I can state that with us it is just as productive as the Early Pdchmond. We think it as good in quality. All the difference I see in the cherry is this, it is later by about ten days. With me they bear just as soon as the Early Eichmond. I found it on my ground when I went there. I have shown it to a great many men. The tree now is old, and it favors Early May so much that it is very hard to dis- tinguish them from each other. The President — I would not regard it as being so good in quality as the Early Eichmond. There is less juice. I think you can distinguish it whether canned or not. Mr. Wier — I am well aware that there are several of this kind. The old original one that we had was a much larger cherry and very watery. Mr. Galusha — Is not this Late Eichmond the Late Kentish ? Mr. Shephard — I would inquire if any persons here have any knowl- edge oi a cherry which I received from Col. Hardman, of Buffalo. It is a most productive cherry. I have invited a great many people to see STATE HOllTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 73 and taste it, and I have found no one who knows anything about it. It is a heart shaped cherry, but of the Bigarreau class. It is a fine shaped cherry, large and juicy, and the birds will never allow it to rot on the tree. It is one-third larger than the Yellow Spanish or the Napoleon Bigarreau. It never needs any pruning. It has never lost a leaf or bud by cold weather. I got it about sixteen years ago, I think. I have also another cherry which I call the French Morello, which I have never heard of before. Mr. Brown — There are two subjects on the programme to-day, for which I would like to have plenty of time. First, Dr. Hull's report, and second, the essay of Mr. Riley on the Curculio. I would like to have this matter left for afternoon and evening. I move now that we finish the plum and apricot lists. Mr. Brown afterwards withdrew his motion. Dr. Hull — I wish to have this peach list laid over for a time. Mr. Murtfeldt — I move that Dr. Hull now read his paper on the Cod- ling Moth. Carried. CODLING MOTH. Dr. Hull read a paper thereon as follows : [Not furnished.] After the paper had been read, the following discussion was had : Dr. Hull — In alluding to the fact that Mr. Burrill, and not Mr. Trim- ble, was the discoverer of the remedy, I did not design to impute any wrong motives. It is often the case that discoveries are attributed to others than the real inventors. Mr. Burrill gave this remedy some thirty years ago in the New England Farmer. Mr. Galusha — As far as my observation extends, the rags are very much to be preferred, for the reason that the larvoe can be so easily destroyed. All 3'ou have to do is to dip them in boiling water and hang them up to dry. Hay bands are more cumbersome. I think the cellar is one of the most prolific breeding houses we have, and I would inquire whether the moth would not be destroyed by having bright lights in the cellar — large lamps, with the flame exposed. 74 TRAILS ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Dr. Hull — I have no doubt it would, provided it were standing in a dish of water or oil. • The President — It would be inconvenient to have boiling water for the rags off a thousand trees. Mr. Bryant — With regard to fires in orchards and lights in the cellar, I think I once heard Mr. Riley say that the Codling Moth was not attracted by light. Mr. G-alusha — In reply to the President I would say that the appli- cation of rags is the cheapest way. Mr, Baldwin — When would be the time ? Dr. Hull — The time to begin would be when the Eed June is ripe. My impression is that it would be about every twenty days, depend- ing upon the warmth of the weather. Mr. Wier — It alwa3^s appeared to me that the time to attack that moth was when it deposited its eggs. There certainly must be some- thing to attract it. Mr. Eiley — I can give Mr. Wier some little hope. We have a means, but as long as we pay no attention to it and continue to look for something else, we shall never succeed. I am convinced the moth is not. attracted by light. I have written night after night in summer, with the windows open, and have never yet caught a cod- ling moth though I have been in the neighborhood of orchards that I knew were covered. There are very few insects that are attracted by light. Those that you find in your rooms are all moths with long trunks. I think it is sufficiently proved that the codling moth is not attracted by light. So far as regards this hay-band theory, admitting that Mr. Burrill recommends the use of rags and that Dr. Trumble recommends hay- bands, I do not think that one detracts from the credit due the other. It is not necessary to give my opinion, because I have always thought that rags were preferable to hay-bands. It is a difficult matter to go over an orchard and twist hay-bands. You have to take your finger and crush each worm individually. By using carpets or rags you can take them down and destroy the worms by wholesale — STATE IIOKT[CULTU]lAI. SOCIETY. 75 I think most farmers use some kind of cauldron every week or so, and on these days you might just do this as well as not. I think if we paid a little more attention to scalding our barrels and destroy- ing the Chrysalis we should reduce the number very materially'', but I can give no hopes of reducing them by fires or lights, and I have no faith in the sj'ringo which Dr. Hull recommends. ■ liely then, on en- trapping the moth and killing it. Mr. Brown — I would like to ask whether the worm, after it has got into the tree is taken by birds, and whether the greatest supply we have is from the cellars ? Mr. Riley — Yes, it is so; the apples containing the worms would drop to the ground and rot, and the worms would leave them, and in such a position the}' would be sought out by birds in the winter time, and few of them would escape, there being so many birds pinched with hunger in the winter time. Woodpeckers and many other birds live almost entirely upon such food. It is in our storehouses that the brood is propagated. Mr. Eagan — Some of us are cultivating small fruits among our apples. I would raise the query whether these small fruits will, to any considerable extent, harbor these worms '( Mr. Eiloy — I do not think they would. They prefer the old bark of a tree, or some nook of a rag, or anything else, to the living tree. Dr. Hull — I alluded to the syringing of the tree not as preventing the worm from depositing its eggs, but 1 know that when I throw tobacco water and soap upon any of the trees, it invariabl}' kills the worms. If my friend Riley will take, the coming spring, and make a strong decoction of tobacco water and soap, I will guarantee it ^\\\ kill them, but it will not prevent them laying their eggs. Mr. Riley — I would suggest to Dr. Hull how continuously you would have to syringe your trees to affect the moth. Now suppose you come to your orchard once in a morning, you would only kill what few you had not touched before. They can stand rain, and I doubt whether drenching by tobacco would kill a moth. It is one of the last of all insects to deposit its eggs. 76 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS The President — Would you not recommend every man to scald out his apple barrels in the spring ? Mr. Eiley — Yes sir, that is what I was going to do. It is needless, of course, to scald your barrels unless there is something to scald them for. Examine your barrels first for these little white cocoons. They disguise them as well as they can, so that generally they are the same color as the object to which they are attached ; but with care- fulness you will find them. Dr. Hull — You need not scald them unless you wish, but turn your barrels down, and the chickens will go for them. I have a garden engine which will throw a stream horizontally 60 feet. When it is directed on the branches of a tree it will throw a spray, in conse- quence of the soap, to all parts of the tree. Now if 3Ir. Eilcy will call to mind the fact, that if he were immersed in tobacco water it. would kill him, he must admit that it would kill this moth. It would kill a cow. Mr. Bryant — I have taken 25 or 30 barrels and let them stand out a week or two, and then found abundance of worms under the hoops. I do not think the chickens will answer for that, as they can not get at them. The worms may be destroyed by striking on the hoop. I have always found it pay to destroy them in some way. Mr. Eiley — The worm is generally gone before the apple falls. It goes through a hole, and you will find a little brown excrement around the hole. It is useless to destroy that apple. You can not tell when there is a worm in an aj^ple, because there is no hole in it, but you can tell when the worm is gone, because there is a hole. Dr. Hull — One of the best things is to use simple soap on the bark. It smooths the bark ; it prevents deposit of all the borers, and it prevents the accumulation of root borers at the base of the tree. Mr. Eagan — I know of one orchard comparatively exempt from the ravages of this insect. This orchard was located almost in the center of a large farm, and the fruit there is almost entirely exempt from the ravages of the moth, but it is at least half a mile from any other orchard. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 77 Mr. Freeman — I was passing an orchard once that seemed to me perfectly clear from these pests. The owner said he had not done anything except to whitewash them for 16 years. He had done that in the spring, and they were as clear as they could be, if they were only two or three years old. Dr. Furnas — Is there any danger whatever of this soft soap injur- ing the tree ? Dr. Hull — No danger whatever. I apply it with a paint brush. Mr. Galusha — I move that further discussion of the varieties of fruits be dispensed with until the other business has been finished. There are subjects of most vital importance to fruit growers to which we have given veiy little attention. These subjects underlie the whole process of growing with regard to soils and their proper- ties, atmospheric effects and changes, dryness and humidity. These subjects arc practical and are of more importance to us than dis- cussing varieties of fruits. Carried. REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE, Mr. Foster, from the Special Committee on President's Address, made the following report : Your Committee to whom was referred the President's Address^ beg leave to report, that to i-emedy the evil effects of drought, deep subsoil plowing, mulching, and timber planting throughout the country, especially of evergreens, are the best pre- ventives. Vox- soil ivasJiing off by rains, underdraining, and mulching, and in some cases grass sod and mulching are preferable. As to grafting on different kinds of stocks, hybridizing and new seedlings, we would recommend a special committee to confer with the Professor of Horticulture at the Industrial University. Canada Thistle and noxious weeds, W'e recommend to refer to the committee of the whole Society. Let every member feel it his duty to enforce the good and stringent law for the suppression of the thistle, by making individuals liable to good wholsome penalties for allowing it to grow upon their land. We also recommend a special committee to confer with secretaries of county agri- cultural societies, or other county officers, to ascertain the extent of the spread of the Canada Thistle in their county, and advise them of the importance of having the law •enforced . 78 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLD^OIS We also recommend the coutiuuance of the committee appointed for the purpose of testing and reporting officially on new fruits . The continual flooding of the country with such unmitigated humbugs as the Mexican Ever-bearing Strawberry and the "Mammoth Cluster Raspberry (probably humbug only in name), and many others, shoiild have some estopper ]5ut upon it. Although we are well aware that this society has done well nigh its full duty in the premises, we would further recommend that it be the duty of the State Horticulturist to visit parties offering new varieties in their fruiting season, as far as practicable, and report officially thereon. "We would also recommend that this Society devote more time to the discussion of vegetable physiology or structural botany, and the cultivation proper of our orchards, and adaptation of diflerent soils to profitable ft'uit growing, and the i)roper drainage of the same, and less to the revision of the fruit lists. Fruit Districts — We recommend a Special Committee, of which the Secretary be Chairman. I). B. WIER, Chairman. Mr. Furnas — I would like to know whether the Mammoth Easp- berry is one of those fruits that you call humbugs ? Mr. Wier — We have another of the same kind that is pretty well known in the West. I ara speaking of the Minnesota. It has been known for years. Mr. Daggy — I move that the report be accepted and the committee discharged. Mr. Foster — About that Mexican Ever-bearing Strawberry ? I do not know but that much of the humbugging has been done by editors. Motion carried. Mr. Galusha — ^I move that half an hour be devoted to the discus- sion of topics contained in the report. Carried. Mr. Wier — I think the discussion on the Mexican Ever-bearing Strawberry would more properly come up with the report of the Special Committee on iSTew Fruits. Mr. Flagg — The first subject in the report is the matter of "drought as being remedied by mulching, deep sub-soil plowing, and timber planting." " Underdraining and mulching recommended, and in some cases grass and mulching, to prevent washing." The President — I will mention one little matter in regard to wash- ing. I think it is an excellent plan, with any horticulturist who is STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 79 cultivating land with a desire to keep it in the best condition, in the summer, when he wishes to suspend cultivation, to seed that ground thickly with oats, so as to prevent severe washing in autumn, winter and spring. Mr. Flagg — "Grafting" is the next subject. Mr. Foster — I was informed by some one that there was a standing committee to confer with the Horticultural Department of the Experimental Farm, and if there be no such committee, I recommend the appointment of one. Mr. Wier — I would state that the Horticultural officers of the State University have generally conferred with us. Mr. Galusha — That is an important matter, and we have long been looking to the establishment of this institution as a nucleus round which should gather all the horticulturists of this State, and as the center from which should radiate horticultural effort. It would seem that at this time this suggestion is very important. I think it is very important that they should know and recognize this State Hor- ticultural Society, and hold it as the center from which emanates light on this subject, and that to be successful there, they must get light from this body. I move that a committee of three be appointed, as recommended by Mr. Foster. The question being on Mr. Clalusha's motion, it was carried. CANADA THISTLE. Dr. Hull — I wish some gentleman would inform us whether it is possible to grow that thistle in the southern part of the State of Illinois. Mr. Galusha — My experience of this thistle has not been painful, but I have been obliged to watch constantly. Since my first impor- tations from the East there has not been a year, for the last fifteen years, that I have not imported Canada thistles, and very many times the seed, and we need to use the utmost diligence in every box from the East, to examine the roots and to see that no fibre can adhere, and then burn everything in the way of packing, that the box con- 80 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS tains. There are many things propagated East that are not propa- gated here; and it is absolutely necessary to receive importations. I have once or twice had a Canada thistle get the start, and on one occasion it had rambled a couple of rods under my best evergreens, and I had the ground dug up and every fibre taken away, though in doing so I had to destroy some of my evergreens. I do not think we have as much to fear in Illinois as they have in the East. Mr. Bryant — The report recommends the enforcement of laws against individuals. The laws against corporations must be enforced also. Let any one pass through Michigan, where they have a strin- gent law against them, and he will find the railroads are lined with Canada thistle. You will see the seeds floating in the air, and coming into the carriage you are about to occupy — perhaps traveling 20 or 30 miles. The waste lands along the railroads ai'e the nurseries for the Canada thistle, and in that w^ay it is creeping along towards our State. I have found it in these importations from Rochester, and it has taken some time to destroy it. The President — Is the greatest danger from small pieces of roots or from the seeds ? Mr. Bryant — It is from the small pieces of roots. I suppose a piece of root one inch long would be suflicient. Any one may dig down and ascertain how they grow. I have sometimes had difficulty in taking out the roots. One difficulty is that a great portion of the people do not know it when they see it. The flowers are rather ■small, and the thistles are slender^ but more prickly than any other kind. It is easy to recognize when it has once been pointed out. M.r. "Wier — I have been wanting to say a few words for Dr. Hull's information. I have had the Canada thistle introduced into my place at two diiferent times. The first time it started from the seeds in packing fruit trees. I had the big trees pretty well unpacked before I knew there were thistles in the packing. I packed it up again and covered it with a sheet. The next summer I watched for the thistles, and I suppose there was a hundred of them came. The next time i)hey were planted with a pear tree, and I suppose they had a space STATE nORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 81 of four square rods completely covered. Our plan of getting rid of them was this : To commence in the spring of the year with a good sharp hoe, and ever}- timo we passed that way, clean up every thing we saw on the surface. I killed a ver}^ large patch in this way. The Canada thistle, unlike other thistles that trouble us, is a perennial — our other thistles, I think, are biennials. In very thin soils the roots do not seem to get through the soil, but in loose, rich loam we find them from one to two feet under the surface. Mr. Foster — Salt brine is sure death to them. It will kill the whole plant if it is well applied. Mr. Wier — That is impracticable, because wo veiy often get them mixed with other plants we do not wish to kill. This summer I syringed with fluid carbolic acid, and found it only killed as far as it went. Mr. Douglas — I hope Mr. Bryant is mistaken about these thistles extending miles and miles along the railroads in Michigan. Furber and Mehan had a long spat about the rapidity of their extension some years ago. Now I know five lots of Canada thistles in our neighbor- hood, and have known them for twelve years. One is on the top of the bluif at Waukegan ; they get «ut every year : some one gives a man a quarter or fifty cents to go and lop them off. They are very thick where they grow. I had quite a lot in a pasture about ten or twelve years ago. I gave a man the wood and brush for destroying them. They soon disappeared after the cattle run on them. I think the cattle destroyed them. Mr. Hyde — I move that we now adjourn. The motion prevailed and the meeting stood adjourned. SECOND DAY — AFTEENOON SESSION. The Society reassembled at 2 o'clock, pursuant to aJjournmenf, President McWhorter in the chair. Mr. Brown — There is a large quantity of fruit to examine, and I therefore propose to have another committee on pears and other fruits. 7 82 TKAXSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Flagg — I would also suggest a committee on wines. The motion of Mr. Brown was adopted. The President then announced the follow^ing as the committees : On Fears, etc. — Messrs. Brown, Earle and Douglas. On Apples — Messrs. Kimball, Kinney, and A. Brj-ant, Jr. On Wines — Dr. Hull and Messrs. Shephard and Hammond. THE CURCULIO. Mr. C. Y. Eiley then read a paper on CureuliO; as follows : Ladies and Gentlemen : You have invited me to read an essay on the Plum Curculio. I accepted the invitation with the intention of preparing an exhaustive paper on the subject. But the sudden death of my esteemed associate and your State Entomologist, the late Benj. D. Walsh, so completely upset my arrangements, and so increased my labors, that I have found time only to substitute instead the following hasty notes. So much has been written on the habits of this one little insect, and on the best means of protecting our fruits from its injurious work, that one almost tires of repeat- ing those established facts in its history which, at first thought, it strikes one that all interested should know. But this is a bustling, shifting, progressive Avorld, and there are yet some mooted points to be settled in the natural history of our Curculio. "When an experienced man is taken fi'om our midst, the fimd of wisdom and the store of knowledge which he had accumulated during a long and biisy life -time, are in a great measure buried vrith him. His jounger followers profit as much as they can by his recorded experience, but they must necessarily go over the same ground Avhich he had been over before. Facts in Natiure will consequently have to be repeated for aU time to come; but it should be our object to reach beyond the facts already known, to obtain a knowledge of all things as far as the mind is capable of, and to delve still more deeply into hidden truths, so that by observation and perseverance, we may be enabled to read aright the yet unread parts of that great recorded book, which was printed, paged, collated- and bound by the fingers of Omnipotence! Besides, there are actually many fiiiit-growers who do not know a Curculio when they see one. Thus thi'ee different correspondents have, during the past summer, requested a description of the little pest, because, as they contended, they were not acciuainted with its appearance. And yet one of these gentlemen, as I afterwards ascertained from personal observation, was, at the veiy time when he penned his question, suffer- ing from injuries caused by the "Little Turk. " In this brief paper on tlie Curculio I shall, therefore, necessarily have to repeat many of the facts Avhich were published in your own Transactions for 1867, and of those which may be found in the First Annual Keport on the Entomology of Missouri. ESTABLISHED FACTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CURCULIO. In order to lay this question before you in the very clearest light, it will be best to divide this paper into two different parts . In the first part we will give only those STATE IIOETICULTURAL SOCIETY, 83 facts which are established beyond all peradventure; and in the second i)art, we ^vill consider only those i)oints upon which opinions ditt'er. [Fig. 1.] Colors— (a and b) whitish; (c) brown, black and cluy-yellow. The Plum Ciirculio, commonly known all o\er the country as THE CURCULlo, is a small, roug'hcnc'd, warty, brownish beetle, lielonging to a very exteusiAC family known as Snout-beetles (CuRCULiONnvE). it measures about one-fifth of an inch in length, exclusive of the snout, and may be distinguished from all other North Ameri- can Snout-beetles by having an elongate, knife-edged hump, resembling a piece of black sealing-wax, on the middle ot each wing-case, behind which humps there is a broad clay-yellow band, with more or less white in its middle. For the benelit of those who are either fortunate or unfortunate enough not to Ije acquainted with the gentleman, I iiave prepared the above sketch, which will give at a glance its true form, and obviate the necessity of fiu'ther description and waste of time. (Fig. 1 , c.) This is the perfect or imago form of the Curculio; and it is in this hard, shelly, beetle stale, that the female passes the winter, slicltering under the shingles of houses, under the old l)arkof both forest and fruit trees, under logs and in rubbish of all kinds. As spring approaches, it awakens from its lethargy, and, if it has slept in the forest, instinctively searches for the nearest orchard. In Central Illinois and in Cen- tral Missouri the beetles may be found in the trees during the last half of April, but in the extreme southern part of Illinois they appear about two weeks earlier, while in the extreme northern part of the same State they arc fully two weeks later. Thus, in the single State of Illinois, there is a diflerence of about one month in the time of the Curculio 's tirst appearance on your fruit trees; and I hardly need remind you that the time will vary with the forwardness or lateness of the season. As we shall see from the sequel, it is very impoitant that we know just when first to expect Mrs. Turk, and I therefore lay it down as a rule, applicable to any latitude, that she first commences to puncture peaches when they are of the size of small marbles', or of hazel nuts, though she may be formd on your trees as soon as they are in blossom. To prevent confusion, I will use the word " peach," not that her work is confined to this fruit, for, as we shall presently see, she is not so particular in her tastes, but because the peach is more extensively grown in your State than are any of the other large kinds of stone fruit. Alighting, then, on a small peach, she takes a strong hold of it (Fig. 1, d), and with the minute jaws at the end of her snout, makes a small cut just through the skin of 84 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS the fi'uit. She then runs the snout slantingly under the skin, to the depth of one- sixteenth of an inch, and moves it back and forth until the cavity is large enough to receive the egg it is to retain. Then she turns around and drojDs an egg into the mouth of the cavity, and after this is accomplished, she resumes her first position, and by means of her snout pushes the egg to the end of the passage, and afterwards delibei-ately cuts the crescent in front of the hole, so as to undermine the egg and leave it in a sort 01 flap. The whole operation requires about live minutes, and her object in cut- ting the crescent is evidently to deaden the flap, so as to prevent the growing fruit from crashing the egg. Now that she has completed this task, and has gone off to i^erform a similar operation on some other fruit, let us from day to day watch the egg which we have just seen deposited, and learn in what manner it develops into a Curculio like the parent which produced it — remembering that the life and habits of this one individual are illustrative of tho^e of every Plum Curculio that ever had, or that ever will have, an existence. AVe shall find that the egg is oval, and of a pearly-white color. Should the weather be warm and genial, this egg will hatch in from four to five days, but if cold and unpleasant, the hatching will not take place for a week or even longer, Eventually, however, there hatches from the egg a soit, tiny, footless grub with a horny head, and this grub immediately commences to feed upon the green flesh of the fiaiit, boring a tortuous path as it proceeds. It riots in the fruit — working by prefer- ence around the stone— for from three to Ave weeks, the period varying, as I have amply proved, according to various controlling influences. The fruit containing this grub does not, in the majority of instances, mature, but falls prematurelj^ to the ground, generally before the grab is quite full grown. 1 have known fruit to lie on the ground for upwards of two weeks before the grub left, and have found as many as five grubs in a single peach which had been on the ground for several days. When the grub has once become full grown, however, it forsakes the fruit which it has ruined, and burrows from four to six inches in the ground. At this time it is of a glassy yellowish-white color, though it usually partakes of the color of the fruit-flesh on which it was feeding. It is about two-fifths of an inch long, with the head light brown ; there is a lighter line running along each side of its body, with a row of minute black bristles below, and a less distinct one above it, while the stomach is rust-red, or blackish. The full grovt'n larva presents, in fact, the appear- ance of Figure 1, a. In the gi-ound, by turning round and round, it compresses the earth on all sides until it has formed a smooth oval cavity. Within this cavity, in the course of a few days, it assumes the pupa form, of which Figure 1, h, will afford a good idea. After remaining in the ground in this state for just about three Aveeks, it becomes a "'beetle, which, though soft and uniformly reddish at first, soon assumes its natural ■colors ; and, when its several parts are sufficiently hardened, works through the soil to the light of day. So much for the natural history of the ' ' Little Turk. " Now let us mention a few other facts which it becomes us as fruit-growers to know. The Curculio when alarmed, like very many other insects, and especially such as belong to the same great Order of Beetles {Coleoptera), folds up its legs close to the body, turns under its snout into a groove which receives it, and drops to the ground. In doing this it feigns death, so as to escape from threatened danger, and does in STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 85 reality irrcatly resemble a dried fruit bud. Tt attacks, either for purposes of propaga- tion or for food, the Xcetarine, Plum, Apricot, Peach, Cherry, Apple, Pear and Quince, preferring them in the order of their naming. It is always most numerous in the early part of the season on the outside of those orchards that are surrounded with timber. It is also more numerous in timbered regions than on the prairie. It can tly and does fly, especially during the heat of the day ; so cotton bandages around the; trunk, and all like contrivances, are worse than useless. It prefers smooth-skinned to rough-skinned stone fruit. Tlie Miner Plum, otherwise known as the Hinckley Plum, Isabel Plum, Gilett Plum, Townscnd Plum, Robinson Plum; and other varieties of that wild species known as the Chickasaw Plum [Prvnas cMcasa), are less liable to its attacks than other kinds. Both the male and female puncture the fruit for food by gouging hemispherical holes; but the female alone makes the crescent-mark above described. Scarcely any eggs are deposited after the pit of the fruit has become hard. The cherry when infested remains on the tree, and the preventive measures that may be applied to other fruits will consequently not hold good with this. The larva cannot well undergo its transformations in earth which is dry or baked, and severe drouths are consequently prejudicial to its increase. It often matures in apples and pears, especially in early varieties, but in the great majority of instances the Q'^g either fails to hatch or the young larva perishes in a few days after hatching. Many other facts might be cited, but in the foregoing remarks I have confined myself to that which I know, from ample personal experience, to be the truth and nothing but the ti-uth. AKTIFICIAL REMEDIES. Now, gentlemen, it must be clear to you that, as praeti<;a] men, this is all you need to know to enable you to tight and conquer this evil. Those mooted points which w^e shall presently consider are of great interest to the naturalist and to the scientific man, and although I do not quite agree with Dr. Trimble, that the hi'iernation of the Cur- culio, for-instance, is practically of no consequence, yet llie settlement of these ques- tions is not necessary to the carrying on of a successful warftu-e. We need not necessa- rily xinderstand the morphology of a ijlant in order to make it grow ; neither is it always neccsssary to penetrate into all the details of an insect's history in order to cir- cumvent its injuries. You can fight Curculio without being a tliorough Entomologist. The remedies are few. They consist of prevention, by destroying the fallen fruit which contains the grub, and by jarring doAvn and catching and killing the beetles. There are a variety of means which can be employed for destroying the grubs which fall with the fruit before they enter the ground. It can be done either by hand or by stock. Hogs and poultry are of undoubted use for this purpose. In the article entitled " Hogs vs. Bugs," in the first number of the American Entomologist, abundant proof in support of this f\ict may be found, and I have, since that was published, obtained much additional proof of a similar nature, and am convinced that our friend Dr. Hull underestimates the value of these auxiliaries. Of course, the first year they are used they do not in the least decrease the number of beetles, but wherever they CAN be used, a most beneficial ellcct will be noticed the second year, and every year 86 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLI>TOIS aftenvard.s. As stated in the article referred to, the practical difficulties in the way of carrying out the system of subduing fruit-boring insects by hog-power are : 1st, The necessity of liaving all the orchard land under a separate fence, which of course in many cases involves a considerable extra outlay for fencing materials. 2d, The neces- sity of giving up a practice, which is conceded by the most intelligent fruit-growers to be otherwise objectionable, namely, growing other crops, such as small gi-ain, corn, or small fruits, between the rows of trees in bearing fruit orchards. 3d, The necessity of giving up the fashionable theory of low-headed trees; for otherwise, if apple and peach trees are allowed to brancli out like a currant bush from tlie very root, any hogs which range among them will manifestly be able to help themselves, not only to the wormy windfalls that lie on the ground, but also to the sound growing fruit upon all the lowermost bouglis. The jarring process may be carried on in various ways, accordant with the extent of the orchard or the character of the trees to be jarred — always bearing in mind that a sudden jar, rather than a severe shake or knock, is necessary. There is no more thorough and expeditious way, however, than by means of Dr. Hull's Cuculio-catcher. Every member of this Society is probably familiar with the appearance of this machine; but, believing that a description of it has never been published in your Transactions, I will give one in the Doctor's own words: [Fig. 2.] STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 87 " To make a Curculio-catcher we tirst obtain a light wheel, not to exceed three feet in diameter, the axletree of which should be about ten inches long. We next con- struct a pair of handles, similar to those of a wheelbarrow, but much more depressed at the point designed to receive the bearings of the axletree, and extending forward of the wheel just far enough to admit a cross-beam to connect the handles at this point; one-and-a-half inches in the rear of the wheel a second cross-beam is framed into the handles, and eighteen to twenty-four inches further back, a third. The two last named cross-beams have framed to their under sides a fourth piece, centrally, between the liandles, and pointing in the direction of tlie wheel. To the handles and to the three last named pieces, the arms or ribs to support the canvas are to be fastened. To the front part of the beam connecting the handles in front of the wheel, the ram is attached; this should be covered with leather stufled with furniture moss, a dozen or more thicknesses of old hat, leather or other substance, being careful to use no more than necessary to protect tlie tree from bruising. Ascertain the elevation the handles should have in driving, and support them in that position. We now put in place the stretchers or arms, six for each side, which are to receive and support the canvas. ^Ye put the front arms in position. These extend back to near the center ot the wheel on each side, and in front of the wheel (for large machines) say six feet, are far enough apart to receive the largest tree between them on which it is intended to operate. The remaining arms are supported on the handles, and fastened to them and to the two cross and parallel pieces in tlie rear of tlie wlieel. These are so placed as to divide the space at their outer ends equally between them and the first mentioned stretchers and fastened to the ends of the handles. Next we have ready a strip of half-inch board two and a half inches wide. One end of this is secured to the forward end of one of the front arms, and in like manner to all the others on one side of the machine, and fastened to the handles. Both sides are made aUke. The office of these strips is to hold the outside ends of the arms in position; they also hold the front arms from closing. These outside strips also receive the outside edge of the canvas, which is fastened to them as well as the several arm svipports. "It will be seen that the wheel is nearly in the center of the machine. To cover the opening at this point, a frame is raised over it, which is also covered with canvas. The arms, or stretchers, are so curved that the motion of the machine, in moving fi-om one tree to another, should bring everything falling on the canvas to depressed points, one on each side of the wheel, where openings are made into funnels emptying into pockets or bags, for the reception of insects and fallen fruit. The whole machine should not exceed ten or eleven feet in breadth, by twelve or thirteen in length. These are for large orchard trees; smaller ones could be protected with a much smaller machine. If the frame work has been properly balanced, the machine will require but little lifting, and will be nearly propelled by its own weight. "The Curculio-catcher, or machine, is run against the tree three or four times, with sufficient force to impart a jarring motion to all its parts. The operator then backs far enough to bring the machine to the center of the space between the rows, turns round and in like manner butts the tree in the opposite row. In this way a man may operate on three hundred trees per hour." I have noticed that where this Curculio-catcher has been constantly used the trees have suffered serious injury from bruising, and would suggest that, by driving a spike (one with a shoulder to it might be manufactured for this express purpose) into 88 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS each tree at the proper height, this trouble may be easily overcome. This is more necessary with old and large trees, which do not vibrate so easily as do younger ones. Let lis hope that the day is not far distant, when this machine, or some improvement on it, will be in such general demand as to insure its manufacture by some of our Implement dealers. It should be considered by aU who wish to grow stone-fruit, as a horticultural implement, second only in usefulness to the plow. Belore leaving this subject of remedies I will say that much can be done in a small way by crushing the egg with the finger-nail, or by cleanly cutting out the newly hatched larva. It will also suggest itself that, in planting an orchard with timber sur- rounding, the less valuable varieties should be planted on the outside, and as the little rascals congregate on them from the neighboring woods in the early part of the season, they should be fought persistently. It will also pay to thin out all fruit that is known to contain grubs, and that is within easy reach; while, wherever it is practica- ble, all rubbish and under-brush should be burnt during the winter. AN APPEAL. The burden of this essay is to impress upon you the utter futility of all other pre- tended remedies. One of our most eminent Eastern horticulturists has honored you, gentlemen, by calling you the most philosophical set of fruit-growers in the land. I w^ant you to deserve this honor by showing your good sense in this Curculio matter. Tolerate no other methods of fighting this foe than the two above named. I am thor- oughly satisfied that there is no other remedy, and the sooner we are all convinced of it the better. For over half a century the agricultural and horticultural press has been flooded with wondrous remedies, and yet, aside from the two methods already indicated, there are but three out of the whole catalogue which have even the appear- ance of conmion sense , and these are altogether impracticable in an orchard of average extent. Lazy men may croak : they may declare that the days of profitable fi'uit -growing are gone bj', that fruit-growers are going to perdition, and that the CurcuUo can not be conquered! But sensible men know better. "Witness the commotion which one of the thousand proposed Curculio remedies recently produced among the members of the lately organized St. Louis Farmer's Club. A gentleman claims to have a remedy, which is, however, a secret, as he wishes to make money with it. Forthwith an ex- citing discussion takes place, and Col. Colman offers a million dollars for a remedy — a million dollars for a remedy for the Curculio! Now, what did these gentlemen mean by a remedy? If they had ever read their State Entomological Report they would have found one there given. But no : they look for some panacea, some placebo, some Aaron's rod wherewith to smite the hosts of the Curculio throughout the land with a single wave of the hand ! They might as well try to produce fralt without first plant- ing and cultivating the tree which is to bear it, as to try to conquer the Curculio by any other but the rational means we have set forth. TVe do not now live in the age of miracles; and if a man undertakes to feed five thousand persons on five loaves and two small fishes, he will fail most ignominiously in the undertaking. Just so long as we look for remedies of a miraculous nature, just so long will the Curculio retain the upper hand; but as soon as we abjure all w^ashes, fumes and patent applications to the tree, of whatever sort, and confine ourselves to killing this little foe, either in the STATE HOKTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 89 gTub or perfect state, then shall we be able to raise fruit free from its injuries. Our experiments should all tend in the direction of improving the methods of destroying the grub, and of jarring down and killing the beetle. In fact, the jarring of the trees and killing of the little rascals must henceforth be considered as part and parcel of stone-fruit culture. You may argue, and with reason, that, with the utmost dili- gence, you can never succeed in entirely subduing this enemy, for it will breed in the forest, will in some few cases perfect in the fruit that hangs on the tree, and will come in upon you from your neighboi's : — granted. In like manner, you may cultivate your land year after year, so that not a single weed shall ever go to seed upon it, and yet you can never entirely subdue the weeds. But would you therefore cease to cultivate, and let the weeds overrun you? It is useless to seek for good without evil, and the man who wishes to raise stone-fruit without fighting the Curculio ought to read Henry "Ward Keccher's advice to him who wanted an easy place. The more united the eflbrt to fight the Curculio, the less work will there be for each; but even where one determined man is surrounded by negligent and slovenly neighbors, he will be rewarded for his elTorts. If this Society could only devise some means to insure concerted action in this respect among its own members, a great point would be gained. The negligent fruit-grower can not be brought to duty by legisla- tive means, but might not this Society, by resolution, make it obligatory on its mem- bers to fight Curi'Ulio, if they grow stone-fruit, by voting itself plenary power to fine such members as prove recusant? At all events, as we were advised last winter by Ml-. L. C. Francis, in his excellent essay on the Plum, let us fight it out on the jarring line, if it takes all summer, and it will take all summer, for the trees should be jari'ed regularly, from the time the fruit is set until it is ripe. I have little patience with those persons who claim that fruit cannot be protected from the Curculio by the jarring process; or that it will not pay to carry on the busi- ness when this work is necessary. As a general rule, such persons were never guilty of jarring a tree, or, if they were, they did not pursue the process systematically. All who properly pursue it for a number of years are successful. Judge Brown, Dr. Hull, and many other members of this Society, can attest the truth of this assertion. Dr. Trimble, of New Jersey, never once failed to obtain a good crop of plums, apricots and nectarines for ten successive years, though his more neglectful neighbors could not succeed. Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, N. Y., J. J. Thomas, of Union Springs, N. Y. , and a host of prominent Eastern fruit-growers whom I might men- tion, all testify to its efficacy and success, when followed up year by year, and as to the cost, Mr. Parker Earle, of South Pass, in an able article in a recent number of the Rural Mw Yorker, demonstrated by the actual figures of those who had kept an exact account of the labor used, that it costs a trifle less than eight cents per tree to run one of Dr. Hull's machines during the Curculio season! No one will claim that the crop is not worth saving at ten times such a cost I NATURAL REMEDIES. Dr. Trimble has lately communicated to me the fact that he has discovered a true parasite upon the larva of the Curculio. The sooner it makes its "appearance in the West the better, for no such parasite has ever been detected here yet. It was well known that ants destroyed the grubs as they left the fruit to enter the ground, but up- 90 \ TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS to 1868 uo other cannibals were known to attack it. In the summer of that year, my late lamented associate, Mr. Walsh, discovered several which habitually prey upon it, namely, the larva of the Pennsylvania Soldier-beetle {ChavUognathus Pennsyhanicus , DeGeer), that of an undetermined species of Lace-wing Fly {Ghrysopa), that of an unknown Ground-beetle (probably Harpalus Pennsyhanicus , DeGeer), and the Suban- gular Ground-beetle {Aspidiglossa subangulata, Chaud). Those who wish full descrip- tions, with ligiu-es, of these Curculio enemies, will find them in the October (1868) number of the American Entomologist. The Pennsylvania Soldier-beetle is evidently the most eflectual of the four, for its larva is frequently met with ; while the beetle itself, with its yellow jacket and two broad black spots near the tail, is very abundant during the months of September and October, on many of our composite flowers, and especially on the golden-rods, spireas, bigouias, privets, and on carrot blossoms. It does no harm to the flowers, being content with the pollen which they aftbrd, and it should never be ruthlessly destroyed. But I have this j'ear discovered an insect friend, which, though far more insignificant in appearance, is yet more useful to us in checking the increase of the Curculio than are all the others put together. It is in the shape of a yellow species of Thrips, of microscopic dimensions, the business of whose life seems to be to hunt up and devour the Curculio egg as soon as deposited. I had often wondered why so many Curculio eggs failed to hatch, and was gratified last May to find the cause. A description of this Thrips would not edify you, and it suffices to state that the word Thrips is used in the Entomological sense, and not in the sense which many horticulturists use it, as in speaking, for instance, of the Leaf-hopper of the vine. The illustration which I have prepared will give you an idea of the contour of these little animals. The species in question is yellow, and scarcely measures one-twentieth of an inch. Thus far I have only noticed it in two orchards near Sulphur Springs, Mo., and cannot yet tell to what extent it occurs elsewhere ; yet who knows but this liliputian little friend may, in the course of a few years, rout the ubiquitous "Turk," by attacking him in his most vulnerable point, just in the same manner that the lady-birds routed the Colorado potato bug in many sections, by devouring its eggs; or that the minute Acarus or Mite, described by Dr. Shimer &^ Acarus mali, and first noticed two years ago, has routed the Oyster-shell bark-louse in many orchards? Verily, Nature's ways are so varied— so complicated, and the phases of animal life are so intricate — so protean, that this much desired result may yet be consummated. Only this year, a worm which I have called the pickle-worm, and which was never before known to cut up such •capers, has everywhere penetrated our melons and our cucumbers, and presents its ghastly self even in our choicest pickles. The ' ' Struggle for Life ' ' causes many a vacillation in the proportion of an insect and its parasite — the cannibal and its prey — and the Little Turk may yet find his match in this apparently insignificant Thrips. MOOTED POIXTS. We will now briefly touch upon a few points on which there is diflerence of opinion, and which will, it is to be hoped, elicit discussion, and draw out the opinions and experience of those present. There is conflicting e-\idence from difl'ercnt authors , as to whether the Curculio is single or double brooded each year, and as to whether it hibernates principally in the STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 91 perfect hootle state, aljove gi-ound, or in the preparatory state, below ground; the very earliest aceounts we have of the Plum Curculio, in this country, differing on these points. Thus, it was believed ]>y Dr. .lames Tilton, of Wilmington, Delaware, who- wrote at the very beginning of the present century, and by Dr. Joel r.urnett, of .Southborough, and M. H. Simpson, of Saxonvllle, Massachusetts, who both wrote interesting articles on the subjet^t, about fifty years afterwards; that it passed the winter in the larval or grub .-tatc, luider ground, and Harris seems to have held the same opinion. ]{)it Dr. E. Sanborn, of Andover, Massachusetts, in some interesting articles jtublished in 1840 and 18.J0, gave as his conviction that' it hib(;rnates in the beetle state above ground. Dr. Fit(;h, of New York, came to the conclusion that it is two-brooded, the second brood wintering in the larva state in the twigs of pear trees; while Dr. Trimble, of New Jersey, who devoted the greater part of a large and expen- sive work to its consideration, decided that it is single-brooded, and that it hiber- nates in the beetle from above gi-ound, and he recently informed me that he still holds to the same opinion. Since the writings of Harris and Fitch, and since the publica- tion of Dr. Trimble's work there have l^eeu other papers published on the subject. The first of these was a tolerably exhaustive article, by Mr. Walsh, which appeared in No. 7 of the 2d Volume of the Practical Entomologid, in which he takes the grounds that the Curculio is single-brooded; though subsequently, on page 67 of his First Annual Report, he came to the very dittcrcnt conclusion that it was double-brooded. In the sunuuer of 1807 I spent Ijetween two and three weeks in Southern Illinois, dur- ing the height of the Curculio season, and closely watched its mana'uverings. From the fact that there was a short period about the middle of July, when scarcely any could Ije caught from the trees, and that after a warm shower they were quite numer- ous, having evidently just come out of the ground, I concluded that the insect was ilouble-brooded, and communicated to the Prairie Farmer of July 27th, 1867, the passage to that elfect, over the signature of "V," which is quoted by Mr. Walsh (Rep., p. 67j, as corroborative of its two-brooded character. Subsequent calculation induced me to change my mind, and 1 afterwards gave it as my opinion, on page 113 of the Transactions of this Society for 1867, that there was but one main brood during the year, and that where a second generation was produced it was the exception. My reasons for this opinion may be found detailed in the Missouri Entomological Report. Finally, our friend. Dr. Hull, of Alton, Illinois, who has had vast personal experience with this insect, read a most valuable essay on the subject, before the meeting of the Alton (111.) Horticultural Society of March, 1868, in which he evidently concludes it is single-brooded, and that it passes the winter, for the most part, in the preparatory .state, under ground; and judging from an article recently published by him in the Prairie Farmer, he yet inclines to the same belief. Now, why is it that persons who, it must be admitted, were all capable of correct observation, liave difiered so much on these most interesting points in the economy of our Plum Curculio? Is there any explanation of these contradictory statements? I think there is, and that the great difficulty in the study of this, as well as of many other insects, lies in the fact that we are all too apt to generalize. AVe are too apt to draw distinct lines, and to create rules which never existed in Nature — to sup- pose that if a few insects which we chance to watch are not single -brooded, there- fore the species must of necessity be double-brooded. We forget that Curculios are not all hatched in one day, and, Irom analogy, are very apt to underrate the duration 92 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS of the life of the Ciirculio in the perfect state. Besides, what Avas the exception one year may become the rule the year following. In breeding buttei-flies and moths, individuals hatched from one and the same batch of eggs on the same day, will frequently, some of them, perfect themselves and issue in the fiill, while others wiU pass the winter in the imperfect state, and not issue till spring; and in the case of a prangling green worm that is found on raspberry leaves, and that passes the winter under ground, and develops into a four-iAinged fly (Selandria ruM, Harris) in the spring, I ha^'e known a difference of three months to occur between the issuing ol the first and last individuals of the same brood, all the larsje of which had entered the ground within three days. Far be it from me to pronounce that there is no such thing as rule in Nature, and that we cannot, therefore, generalize; I simply assert that we frequently draw our lines too rigidly, and endeavor to make the facts come within them, instead of looseniug and aUovAing them to encompass the facts. It was my intention to have thoroughlj^ and forever settled these disputed questions the past summer, but owing to a lengthy sickness of Mr. "Walsh, I AS'as overwhelmed with other matters, at the very season in which the proper experiments could alone be made. Such observations as were made, however, only confirm me in my previous opinion, that it is single-brooded as a rule; but, in justice to Mr. "Walsh I will say, that to the day of his death he held the contrary' opiuiou of its being double-brooded. It was on account of this difference of opinion between us, that we could never editorially touch upon the point in the columns of the American Entomologist ; though we had each of us decided to come to an agreement, in accordance with the facts to be ehcited in discussion at this meeting. Alas! how inscrutable are the ways of Provi- dence! He has been taken from our midst, and we shall nevermore listen to his bold^ outspoken voice. Dr. Trimble writes: '"Iliave a Iriend, an accomplished ornithologist (companion of Audubon), with whom I frequently converse. Once, speaking about quails, I spoke of their having more than one brood a year. He said, 'did you ever see a brood of quails, whether full grown or half grown, without the old birds with them?' In thinking it over, I can not remember that T ever did. The inference follows: the early broods of quails this year, have the early broods next year — the late broods this year, the late broods next year. "Why not so with Curculios?" On broad principles it may be stated that insects diifer from other animals in so far that they do not breed an indefinite number of times in the course of their lives, but that the females perish soon after depositing their first and only batch of eggs. But although a great many insects occupy but a few hours or a few days in laying this batch of eggs, yet many of them require a much longer time. This is eminently the case with our Plum CurcuUo, and indeed with most of the insects in the same great Order of Beetles to which it belongs; and I know that Curculios which hibernated maybe found upon our trees even a few days after the first bred Curculios of the season appear. Again, few persons — even among those skilled in Entomology — are aware ot tiie wonderful influ- ence produced upon insects by climate or by the character of the seasons. To illus- trate : The Oblong-winged Katydid [Pliylloptera oUongifolia, De Geer) in a state of Natiu'e finishes depositing its eggs, and ceases its chirrup by the first of October in the latitude ot St. Louis, and yet this very year, by keeping them within doors and feeding them on green apples, I succeeded in keeping several winch I had hatched from the egg, alive until the first days of December; and though everything was STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 93 bleak and bare outside, and the Katydids liad been swept otf by tlie early frosts nearly two months before, yet these continued to deposit up to within three days of their death. No one with the knowledge of such facts, would for a moment doubt that in certain southeily latitudes, it is possible for the Curculio to be double-brooded, and yet be single-brooded in more northerly regions; for several instances of a similar nature in insect life, might 1^^ cited. Ikit that it is single-brooded as far south as the southern part of the State of Illinois, 1 feel quite satisfied. The Curculios generated from those which wintered over, never lay eggs the same season they are hatched; at least, no one has ever succeeded in makmg them do so, though the experiment has been tried by Dr. Trimble, Dr. Hull, Judge IJrown, and myself. Indeed, all analogy contirms the belief in its one-brooded character, for it is admitted that the Plum Gouger {Anthonomus prunicida, Walsh), the Apple Curculio {Anth. quadngiUus, Say), the Pea-weevil [Bmchus pisi, Linn.), and many other closely allied species produce but one brood «ach year, and it is with good reason argued, that if there were two generations of Curculios, late fruit would be covered with their crescents, whereas we know that such is not the case. As to the hibernation of the Curculio, it is only necessary to state, that I am positive that the beetles survive the winter, for I have frequently found them myself during this season of the year, under the rough bark of both fi-uit and forest trees, and they have been found in like situations and under the shingles of houses, etc. , by several other persons. Dr. Hull, on the contrary, believes that they pass the winter in the preparatory state, and records in so many words, that he has found thelarvre in Jan- uary at a depth of from fifteen to thirty-six inches, and that in April he has found l)oth larvse, pup;c and beetles below ground. Now, I have a good deal of faith in the accuracy of the Doctor's oljservations, and accept these statements as truth, the more willingly because the Four-humped, or Apple Curculio, which attacks our apples, quinces and haws, does pass the winter in the larva state under ground. But had he not found the beetle in company with the larva; and pupa;, I should not so readily have accepted such proof, but, like Oliver Twist, should ask for more; for the larvse of several species of snout-beetles very much resemble each other, and we are all liable to make mistakes. Individually, I never found Plum Curculio larva; at a greater depth below ground than six inches, and my elforts to find them in the winter under trees from which infested fruit had fallen during the previous summer, have so far been fruitless. As to whether the Curculio is the cause of the Peach-rot, there can be no question whatever that it is greatly instrumental in spreading this dreaded disease. So much is this the case, that by protecting fi-uit in such a manner that no Insects can get at it, you may in a great measure save it from rotting: and this is an additional reason why trees should be thoroughly jarred and protected from the Curculio. But I yet liold that the puncture cannot possibly be the first cause of Peach-rot. This is sutfieiently proved by the facts, that much of the fruit is punctured long before the rotting season commences; that the fruit often arrives at perfect maturity, still containing the grub; that in certain localities, and in favorable seasons, the rot is scarcely known, though the fruit is badly punctured; and, finally, that the crescent of the Curculio often (indeed, in the great majority of instances) heals up entirely, thus precluding the idea of any poisonous effect attending the puncture. It might, with equal reason, be argued that the Grape-rots, the Potato-rot, and all the innumei-able other rots are also 94 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS caused by insects ; but as I have already devoted all the time I can spare to this paper, although many interesting facts have not even been alluded to, and as this matter does- not properly come within my province, I leave it for the discussion of the more wise and experienced. Mr. Freeman — It seems to me quite likely, in the present state of investigation, that the class of observations for and against the theory of a double brood may be right in the fact, and I was intending to make a remark, which Mr. Eiley himself alluded to in his essay. Southern Illinois is so distinct a climate that it aj^pears to me that there may be a double brood there and not a double brood North. Dr. Hull — I have listened to the paper read with a great deal of interest, containing as it does perhaps more information than it has ever been my fortune to read or hear. I would, howevei', like to make a qualification, because I see the gentleman does not properly understand me on one question, that is, in reference to the eggs. "Were all our fruit to fall on the ground when it contained larva?, then the hogs would be the best protection. But that is not so. A great deal comes out while it is on the tree. Another difiiculty is this: Suppose you and I have an orchard, and our neighbor has an orchard; you may keep your hogs in your orchard, and jet I will breed enough to destroy all that is in the adjoining orchard, because they fly out, and hence we cannot rely upon the hog. There is another fact : If one has to run a Curculio-catcher, the hog io not the slighest use in the world, because from the time they come upon the trees to the time they lay their eggs, will be some ten or fifteen days, and I have demonstrated that the running of the catcher takes ninety-nine out of one hundred, and I so loosen them, and so completely' catch them up, that I may as well catch that excess as catch a few. If we adopt the Curculio-catcher, we may do away with the hogs. If we succeed, we shall catch them all in fifteen days. There are about twenty-two daj's from the first commencement of laying eggs until the}' cease. Dr. Schroeder — Always my heart was with you when you had your meetings, and my good wishes, and very often I sat down and made a speech on these things, particularly this Curculio question. Now let me tell you that the devil is to be fought in one way or the other, STATE HORTICULTURAX, SOCIETY. 95 and if we take him, he won't be there. I have now no Curculios on my plums, but since my plums begin to bear, my apples begin to get sick. I began to shake the trees, and I could not do it always, and so I got the old woman to shake. But that would not do any good, because my neighbors would not shake, and they were blest with a good crop of Curculios. Well, you know I had a barrel of wine that would not come right any how, and it was leaking at the staves, and so I put an old cai'pet round it, and the carpet all got full of the bad wune. Well, I one day knocked the end of the barrel in, and threw the carpet over a tree that was full of Curculios, and it killed them all. Now, that is one cure for Curculio. Then there is another cure for Curculio : American whisky. We can kill a rebellion in a short time; we can kill anything; and shall we say that we cannot kill Curculio ? Give him plenty of American whisky and it will kill him. It will kill the devil if he take it. [Laughter.] RASPBERRIES. Mr. Flagg read a letter from Mr. Combs, of Collinsville : Considering tlie easy production and good quality of the Raspberry, as compared with other fruits of the farm and garden, it is certainly greatly neglected. "While nearly every farmer that cultivates his own land has his apple orchard and his peach trees in the fence corners^ if no more, there is not one farmer in ten, and I believe not one in twenty, in the State, that grows Raspberries enough for his own table, when one-fourth of an acre, properly cared for, would supply him with an abundance of this most delicious fruit, not only for the bearing season, but for the whole year. The grower of large fruits has many enemies to contend with. Some attack his tree while growing, others attack the fruit, and sometimes render it almost Avorthless; but in cultivating the Raspberry, there are no destroyers to contend with; and, after waiting for years for his trees to grow, his hopes may be blasted by a cold snap in the winter killing the buds, or a late frost may catch them in blossom; but there is no uncertainty in the cultivation of the Raspberry. I have been growing them for the last ten years, and have been familiar with them for twenty years, and I have never knowm a failure in the crop, I don't wish to be understood to discourage tree plant- ing, but I would say to all, plant trees, and plant berries too, and not only Rasp- berries, but other small fruits, enough at least to have a succession during the Iruit season; and after you have planted, don't forget to cultivate. That is the great essential to success. Raspberries require about as much cultivation as is necessary to grow a good crop of corn ; perhaps a little more the first season, as they should be tended later, and the 96 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS first season the canes should be topped back to one foot of the ground, and they may be kept at about that height for the season if you don't wish to grow plants, but if you wish to grow plants it will not do to top later than the twentieth of June, as the laterals must have time to grow and mature by about the first of September, the time the plants commence taking root. The second season the canes should be topped back to about two feet and a half feet just before the berries begin to ripen. If done too soon, the laterals will grow out and be in the way of the pickers before the close of the season; and if you don't wish to grow plants, you can increase the yield of berries largely by cutting out the old wood and topping in again and giving the new canes one or two plowings after the picking season is over. It will not be necessary to stake them if you top them while growing. My experience has been principally with the Miami or McCormick berry, and I know of none so well adapted to general culti- vation. AVhile there is no variety more hardy and vigorous, I don't think they are equalled by any in the large size and uniformity of the berry, the last berries of the season being as large as the first, and I know of no varietj' that will yield larger crops. I have grown sixty bushels to the acre on old land that would not have produced thirty bushels of corn with the same amount of cultivation. I recommend them for .general cultivation. Yours , truly, W. S. COMBS. Mr. Pierson — In the east part of the State there are certain appear- ances that are very alarming. I am not satisfied whether they are the results of insect life or of the wet season. In canes that were only in the third year of their growth the fruit matured very imperfectly — the Miami and also the Doolittle. The Purple Canes have been better; but the Miami which before had been remarkably vigorous and healthy, has this year been, to a large extent, a failure as to the quantity of fruit and hardlj^ fit to eat, and the wood is very infe- rior. In my Congressional district a correspondent gave me notice of some insect that was at work. Dr. Schroeder — Did you make many layers of them ? Mr. Pierson — I made some, sir. Dr. Schroeder — I found that to be the case with mine, but I made a great many layers. Dr. Hull — I would like to add a word as to this, especially as there is a statement that there is no disease. We have a disease — the orange rust — not only on the raspberry, but on the blackberry. Dr. Schroeder — What kind of ground were these raspberries grown on ? Mr. Pierson — We have a kind of sandy ridge — not poor soil — it is STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 97 a mixture of sand aud prairie soil. My impression is that the wet weather was the cause. Mr. Eiley — I beg to differ with the essayist. There' is an insect which bores into the root, and there is the orange rust or fungus on the root, which kills the entire vine, so that the raspberry grower must not go off with the idea that he has no difficulties to contend with. Mr. Humphrey — I found my vines affected at the roots, and I lost a great many in that way. In many cases I could not find any insects, but in a dozen at least, I found a little grub about one-eighth of an inch long. It was a light colored one, and he went I'ound on the bark and then he seemed to go out. Mr. Wier — I wrote to Dr. Walsh about it and he sent me a cane, as the gentlemen speaks of it, but it was not the same as mine. Dr. Schroeder — I just want to know if there is any fruit that is free from insects, or even, man, if he does not keep clean ? [Laughter.] Mr. Eiley — I made the statement I did, because I think it would be hard to find any fruit that did not have an insect enemy. REPORT OP STATE HORTICULTURIST. In presenting my first annual report, I shaU confine my remarks to such considera- tions as are disconnected with statistical information. I have two reasons for pursuing this course : 1st, the Society annually appoints one Vice President from each Congres- sional District, whose duty it is to collect and report all facts relating to horticulture in their respective districts; 2d, in addition to this, there is annually constituted three Ad Interim committees, one for the north, one for the center, and one for the south parts of the State. These several committees are expected to possess themselves of such horticultural information, especially of a statistical nature, as may be of general interest, and report the same. In view of these facts, as well as to make the most of the space allotted to me, I shall confine my remarks to the consideration of such topics as, it is hoped, may prove to be of general interest to the horticulturist; leaving the duties assigned to the several officers and committees of the Society to be performed by them. In anticipation of this report, I accordingly in the winters of 1SC8-9, and the follow- ing spring and summer, made many observations and experiments to test the theories which had long guided me in the production of superior specimens of fruit and in inducing hardihood in trees. Of these experiments, together vnth the observations 8 98 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS made of certain vegetable diseases, and of some of the habits of several of our insect foes, not before understood, will mainly constitute the base of my present remarks. PEAR, APPLE AND QUINCE TREE BLIGHT. Before we can hope to vitalize by artificial means structures so delicate as are those which we have determined are the cause of bhght, it will be necessary to possess a thorough knowledge of the laws of vegetable growth. So small are the structures which I propose to figure and describe, especially in the germ state, that millions of them might be dispersed among the wood cells contained within a cubic inch, with a scarcely perceptible increase of its bulk. The process of vegetating them is such as to require the greatest nicety in manipulation. ^Vhoever can, from day to day, so control the conditions aflecting plant growth as to cause leaves of fruit trees to root and branch, may hope artificially to vitalize the spores of blight. The nicety of manipulation, however, will not end with vitalization. To figure and describe these mucilaginous globules, for such plants causing blight in trees appear to be, taxes to the utmost our sight, our skill and endurance. The slightest breath vriU detach those plants that are fuUy grovm from the parent or point of attachment and disperse them ; and when by chance we have them under observa- tion, the powerfully reflected light to which we have to subject them, quickly burns or dries them iip. These and many other diflaculties, a full enumeration of which I shall not now attempt, constantly interpose, requiring on the part of the operator leisure to observe, skiU in handling, and a determination to overcome obstacles in the way of success. If we examine closely the bark of pear trees sometime in the month of May, or at any time until near the time the tree completes its growth for the season, we may find in the outside layers of the Uving bark, on those trees subject to blight, little raised patches presenting to the eye something oi a spongy appearance. This raised spongy bark is not confined to any particular varieties, nor will particular branches, or any certain parts of trunks of trees, be found more likely to be free than other parts; slow growing sorts, or those that mature their growth early in the season, are most exempt from the killing eflects of blight, as will appear in the course of my remarks . If we cut the spongy bark, of which I have spoken, into very small pieces, and for conven- ience in handling put a pin through each piece, then place a number of these small pieces of bark in a bottle containing enough moisture to aflbrd the humidity needed to excite vegetable growth ; then cork and put the bottles containing these specimens in a box and cover the whole with damp saw dust or other material to exclude light. Next, the box with its contents, for a period of from two, four or six days, must be kept at a temperature from 80° to 100° . At the end of this time, if we take from the bottle some of these small pieces of bark and place them under a microscope, manify- ing fi\e or six hundred diameters, there will be seen on the outer edges of some of them Httle cellular like forms, attached to the sides, or partly, protruding from little crevices or abrasions in the bark. If we observe closely, it will become apparent that these little forms which come under observation, and which at first sight appear to be identical, are quite different, and may properly be divided into two classes. The one I shall first briefly describe and figure, which I do for comparison, is a wood cell, and was made out of the materials which the tree is constantly elaborating STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 99 during a greater part of the season of the tree's growth. I make the qualifications, viz: "The greater part of the season, because there is a part of each year in which the cellular growth of trees is, except under peculiar conditions, wholly confined to the roots, to the leaves and to the fruits. ' ' To return then. The cell which I couimenced to describe is a wood cell. See figure No. 1. In our sketcli it appears as do all newly forming wood cells before they have been suiTounded and pressed upon by other cells. In the central part of this new cell appears an oval, composed apparently of the same mucilaginous substance as Is the cell itself, but so much thicker than other parts as to be distinctly seen , its thicker filaments radiating as spray, and around the central part, the whole of the interior substance of the cell being enclosed in a delicate membrane or covering. I will now come to the second class: those that cause blight in pear, apple and quince trees. The figures No. 2 to 6 illustrate these. No. 2 and 3 mature blight cells or plants. No. 4, cell in process of growth, with germ just visible at the end; 5 and 6, germs of the same of smaller growth . These cells are found interspersed among the new wood cells. Many of them have one of their ends attached to other similar little cells which are but just discernible in the pores and seams of the bark . These last mentioned cells are perfect fac similes of the wood cells but varying greatly in size, and difi'ering in their internal structure, in so far that their rayed nucleus is surrounded with small rayed or sprayed lines. These lines seem to emanate from the base, or end of the cell that is or was attached to another cell. These 100 TEA]S^SACTI0IS'S OF THE ILLDJOIS thickened spiral lines, or tracings, which seem to start near the base, as they ascend, diverge to near the sides of the cell, then return and cross each other below the center and then pass around and above the central point or nucleus, then returning a part of the way by a course similar to that in their ascent, when they are lost to view. These minute microscopic lines or tracings, in the interior of this second class o cells, are believed to be the channel through which the circulation is maintained. Each of these last described cells is, in fact, really a distinct plant of the unicellular type, that is a plant consisting of a single cell, each little cell containing within its membraneous covering the laboratory necessary to the production of other similar plants. That this is so, may be known by an examination of them. At the end opposite the one by which the plant is attached may be seen several small, thin dots, and on some of these cells will be seen a small globe of jeUy-like substance. (See fig. No. 4.) This small globe as it first appears is just discernible under a high power. Strange as it may appear, this small nearly transparent globe of mucilage is really the germ of a new plant, as may be deteiTnined by examining other cells or plants, on some of which several of these little globular forms will be found to be much enlarged. Some of the new cells will show the small rayed nucleus or center, on others half grown cell plants, and on others those of larger growth, to full grown plants. All these young cells, as soon as they are fully grown, or soon after, separate from the mother cell, when they in turn produce other cells in the way we have described. When these one-celled plants, or small pieces of them, or the -spores find a lodgment in the STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. lOl living bark of trees, under favorable conditions they quickly grow, and each becomes the center of a new cluster of cells; these, as they grow, force their way into the living tissues which they reduce to an unhealthy condition, gradually penetrating into it until they reach the alburnum or newly forming sapwood. "When these unicellular plants are once in contact with the albunuim or newly forming sapwood, and the con- ditions for their growth are most favorable, they increase with astonishing rapidity. So rapidly may they increase, that in a single night, or two at most, they vrill disperse themselves through a square inch or more of space. As this growth goes on the little cells push into the newly forming cellular parts of the tree, and as' far as they penetrate they separate the little wood cells of recent formation, thus breaking up the organ- ized channel of circulation, and feed on the juices which are liberated, and flow into these wounded parts . If the circulation in the trees is very active, so much sap is diverted into these wounded places and thence out through the spongy or wounded bark, as to run down many feet on the branches or trunks of the trees. Could these little fungoid plants or cells which we have described always remain as we at first find them , then the harm they could inflict on trees would be so trifling, as compared with the injury they really do, as scarcely to deserve a passing remark. All individual living organisms, however, be they animal or vegetable, after per- forming their functions, die, giving place to others of their kind. So it is with the little one-celled plants of which we are treating. These run their course in a few hours or days, when the substance of which they are composed breaks down, and their sappy or watery parts mix with the sap or juices of the tree. This mixing the juices of the one-celled plants with the sap of the tree, probably, dissolves the little particles of which the sap in the trees is made, much in the same way that certain substances, when introduced into the veins of men or animals, are known to break down and dissolve the little flattened globules of which the blood is composed. When the blood of man or animals becomes deranged by mixing with it substances that will dissolve it, as by the introduction of milk into the veins, or injection of poison by the bite of reptiles, then ulceration of the parts, or death of the animal is the invariable result. Nor do we find the mixing of the juices of the one-celled plants, of which we have spoken, with those of trees, less fatal to trees, than is the vitiated blood to animals. ■ In my report to the Illinois Horticultural Society for 1868, 1 detailed my experiments in inoculating healthy pear and apple trees with blight. To that report I will now add that pear, apple and quince tree blight appear to be identical, since the little cellular growth when taken from one of these trees and introduced into the circula- tion of either of the others, it will induce the disease, to all appearance, the same as when it occurs in the usual way. It is by the process of inoculation that I was able to determine that the little cell growth of which I have spoken, was the cause of blight. By collecting on a camels' hair pencil a number of the little cells found on the bark which was enclosed in the bottles, as I have before described, and put them in contact with the newly forming sap-wood of healthy trees, then the disease will appear in the inoculated part in from two, four or six days, varying in the time, according to the state of the weather. In the early part of the season of the tree's growth, it generally requires about four weeks for the little parasitic plants, which are the cause of blight, to pass through the 102 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS layers of live bark to the alburnum or sap-wood. This will explain why it is not uncommon for trees of slow growth to make their terminal buds on the current year's shoots while blight is yet in the bark. "When this happens, the flow of sap in the bark is arrested, and the wounds made by the blight dry up, leaving the dead patches in the bark which are so often found in the pear. After the poison has passed through the bark to the sap-wood of slow-growing trees, they mostly escape extensive injury from blight, for the same reason, that is, the want of active circulation in the tree to disseminate the vitiated sap . The efl:ects of this fungoid growth, inducing pear-tree blight, may be rendered comparatively harmless by a judicious system of root pruning; a rule for which may be found in the society's transactions for 1868, page 36. [Note. — Since these instructions in root-pruning were written, we have perfected an implement for cutting the roots of trees by horse-power. Patterns of these cutters are now in the hands of a competent mechanic, who will shortly advertise them for sale.] In addition to the instructions as printed in the last year's proceedings, I add th following hints on ROOT PRUNING PEAR TREES ON PEAR ROOTS. If root pruning the Pear is to be done to induce tardy bearing trees to become fruitful, then the pruning should be done in time, and with sufficient severity, to cause thfe trees to produce their leaves fully grown at least six weeks before frost in autumn. But when the pruning is to be done to ward off the attacks of blight, then the roots must be so much shortened that the trees vnll show terminal buds on leading shoots, at the earhest period that trees are known to show the effects of blight in the sap wood. No rule based on time can be given, since each mile. North or South, would make some variation necessary. Or, to be more explicit: the degree of matui'ity I describe, of course, would be reached earlier South than North. For instance, take Seckel trees makmg moderate growth. These in the latitude of Alton would show terminal buds, at the ends of the latest grooving shoots, about' June 1st. At Villa Eidge and South Pass, the 15th to the 20th of May; while a similar condition of growth, as far north as the north part of Iowa and Galena, could not occur earlier than July 1st. For these and similar reasons any rule made as a guide for root pruning must have reference to conditions rather than time. Above I aimed to show that in the early part of the season, the little cell growth, generating pear disease could not in the latitude of Alton, unaided pass through the bark to the sap-wood before about the fii-st of June. These conclusions are based on microscopic examinations, also on observations made on root pruning, extending through a period of more than twenty years. To my mind they establish the fact that in no instance can pear tree blight materially injure a tree on which all the leaf growth is well developed by the time the first branch growth of slow growing Seckel trees is ended; provided a second growth is not made. Excellent examples in support of this view may be lound in the Seckel growing on poor soils. Under such conditions the trees form terminal buds on the strongest of the cm-rent year's shoots at the time we have named. It is probable that these slow growing Seckel trees could not blight, in fact do not, until a second flow of sap occurs. On this account, Seckel, and other trees of similar STATE HOETICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 103 habit of growth, could be kept in health by a moderate shortening of the roots; while trees which continue branch and leaf growth to a later period, must be more severely root pruned. Theoretically considered, especially for the South, pruning to secura early maturity of wood growth is wrong; since trees which naturally go to rest early, after they have been a short time inactive, generally cast their leaves and then make a partial second growth, which is injurious or fatal to them. Observation, however, has taught the important lesson that root pruned trees make but one growth the same season. When severe top pruning is done, then the roots grow slowly until the balance in the top and roots is again restored . In Uke manner, trees which are deprived of a part of their roots push only a part of their germ branches, these are soon grown. After this branch gi-owth has ceased the leaves continue a long wMle active and change leaf to fruit buds: a large number of buds are so changed. After which, all further gi'owth of the season, if there be any, goes to restore the loss of the roots. Trees piimed as I direct, do not again restore the balance between the top and roots before the end of the second season. Hence root pruned pear trees, growing under any conditions in which I have yet observed them, cannot blight imtil the third summer. For this reason, shortening the roots once in two years, in accordance with the rule established by me, will protect the trees from injury by blight. Among other advantages gained by root pruning, besides preventing bhght, may be named the following, viz. : 1st. So tar, root pruned pear trees have invariably resisted leaf blight. 2nd . Tardy bearing trees , perfect fruit buds the first summer, after their roots have been cut, and produce full crops of fruit the next. 3d. The size of the fruit is much increased. 4th. The pears on root pruned trees are smooth-skinned and free from russet patches and bands^ and on ripening, color finely; in this respect rivaling the California pears,' which they also greatly excel in quality . 5th. Root pruned pear trees, on pear roots, may be dwarfed to abnost any extent desired. Cth. Trees of any age after they have been several times root pruned, may be safely transplanted. HOW DWARF PEAR TREES ARE CHANGED TO STANTJARDS; AXD HEADS OP A I'RACTICAL HEIGHT ARE SECURED- Dwarf trees on being transplanted into the orchard, ought to be put so deep that the junction of the stock and graft shall not be less than three or four inches below the surface of the ground. Either before or after putting the tree in the ground, raise wholly out of the pear wood, two hps, one on each side of the tree. These lips should be cut so deep that each lip will contain about one-fourth of the wood in the stem or trunk. These lips may be two and a half or three inches long, and to prevent them from again uniting with the stem or trunk, a bit of glass should be crowded into the slit. This done, fill in the earth around the tree. In .June, or later, Axith the formation of the new wood growth, granulations will oeciu' at the lower ends of the slits or lips , and later from these cellular deposits, I'ootlets will appear. 104 TRA^^SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS These new pear rootlets, in soils repeatedly stirred, -will grow with great rapidity. Trees from the nursery should be well supplied with branches from near the ground to the top. Cut these all oif the stem to the heighth of twelve or fifteen inches, from this point to where the heads of the tree branch; at it leave branches once in about three inches and on different sides of the stem ; cut each of these back to one or two buds. As growth begins, each of these buds will develop shoots or branches; as soon as these are grown to the length of eight or ten inches, the ends should be pinched off, to prevent them from running off with too much of the forces of the tree. Should some one of the branches selected to form the head of the tree, be likely to run off with too much of the gTowth, then it must be checked by pinching; otherwise allow all to grow to the end of the season. Second year. In pruning, the second 3' ear, cut back the branches on the stem to one and two buds each, and as soon as the shoots from these are eight or ten inches long, pinch, as directed in the first year. If any of the branches intended to form the future head of the tree, become too long and straggling, or are likely to become naked, cut them back to some bud, a branch from which Avill point in the right direction. During the summer, if any of the young growth becomes too vigorous, cut it out, if not wanted, or check the growth by pinching. Third year . This year, treat the branches on the stems as directed in the second year. By the end of the third season the trees will have straight, tapering stems or trunks, which will be strong enough to support the tops without bending. ItwiU, therefore, be necessary to cut away all the side branches on the trunks below it. In the fourth year, all the branch and leaf growth wiU be confined to the head of the tree. This may cause an excess of young shoots; these must be rubbed oiit as they appear, and any excess of growth controlled by pinching, as before mentioned. Trees after growing four years in the orchard, ought to be large enough to begin to bear fruit. At this age they will most likely require to be put in a condition to resist blight. This will be effected by shortening the roots in the way before described. Pruning the roots vsdU have the efiect to cause the tree in the following year to change a vast number of leaf into fruit buds; these buds will be so perfectly formed that nearly all of them may be depended on for fruit, therefore it will be well to prune away so many of them as are not wanted for fruit — also so much of the top growth as will give a perfectly formed head, and cause full exposure of the growth which is left to the hght and air. The amount of pruning to be done will vai-y greatly ; some varieties will need to have half or more of the young growth cut away, while some sorts, as Howell, Beurre d' Anjou, Beurre d" Amahs, and some others, may have their branches spread or tied apart AAdthout pruning. Heads of trees, kept spread apart a few days during the growing season, will ever after maintain that position. Pear trees, which are kept systematically root pruned, will make but httie annual growth, and hence, after the heads of the trees are once properly formed, they will requii-e but little annual pruning. This after pruning will consist mainly in remo-^ing such supei-fluous branches as may appear, and from time to time thinning out any excess of short branches, or fruit spurs, as they are sometimes caUed, as will leave no more than are needed to produce fruit. Old trees on quince stocks may be Upped on several sides of their trunks^ much in STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 105 the way I have described for smaller trees. This should he doue early in the season, and the earth banked up around the tree, where it ought to remain until the foUowing spring, when the earth may be leveled. SELECTING GRAFTS FOR THE NURSERY. Each mature leaf bud of any of our fruit trees contains an embryo branch with a number of leaves. These microscropic branches with their germ leaves, are formed during the growing season and winter in the buds . If we carefully observe these germ branches taken from diflerent parts of the trees, we shall find that they will vary greatly in several quite essential particulars, viz. : germ branches are largest, and are supplied with the greatest number of embryo leaves in those buds which occur on shoots, the leaves of which in the season of the tree's growth were most exposed to sunlight and air. Except in very young trees, it may be stated as a rule, that trees which are not severely pruned, nor more highly stimulated than they were in the preced- ing year, unfold only their germ branches and leaves that were formed the previous season, and wintered in the bud. But when trees are more highly stimulated one year than they were in the preceding year, or are severely pruned, then the vegetable forces, from being greatly increased, or by being concentrated, unfold the tenninal or other strong buds of the current year, thereby virtually making the branch and leaf growth of two seasons in one. This will be better understood when it is explained that, not only is the number of branches and leaves that a tree puts forth one year, established and provided for in the previous year; but in addition to this , each indi- vidual cell of which leaves are composed, exists in the bud. No process of stimulating or concentration of forces can add a leaf or an individual cell to a leaf that did not exist in the bud, as formed in the previous year. But when these previously formed parts of a tree are fully expanded, and au excess ot vigor remains, then the buds of the cui-rent year's growth are unfolded, producing the growth which under normal condi- tions would have remained dormant in the bud until the following year. A knowl- edge of the facts, as herein stated, will aid the horticulturist in many ways. I will cite one or two examples, viz. : It may be necessary to cut scions for grafting in the nursery. In this case, the best grafts will be taken from those branches, the leaves of which grew under full exposure of sunlight and air; because on these branches the buds are the strongest, that is, they contain the greatest number of germ leaves. Hence, when these are all imfolded, the length and strength of the branch will be in proportion to the number of leaves the branch shall develop into full grown ones. Therefore, grafts selected by this rule, other conditions being equal, will universally produce trees that will be quite uniform in height and strength. See No. 1. If it be desirable to use all the grafts on a tree, then it will be well to select those that are next best; these will produce trees of medium height. No. 2. "We now have left those smaller branches grown in the interior of the heads of the trees. These for reasons before stated, will have buds, the germ branches in which will be slender and short; that is, they have but lew leaves to unfold. When these are used for grafts, the shoots from them wiU be much weaker than either of the two preceding selections. See No. 3. Each selection of grafts must be planted by themselves. In this way, other conditions being equal, the trees grown from these three selections will vary in size, just in proportion as the germs in the buds, from which they emanate, were 106 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS supplied witli a greater or less number of leaves. Or in other words, the height of the first growth of trees from grafts wiU always be controlled by the germ branch as formed in the previous year. Again, let us suppose that the three selections of grafts of which I have spoken, had been taken promiscuously as is commonly done and put on roots carefully selected. In this case we should at the end of summer have just what may be found in any nursery in this country. That is, the trees wiU vary in height, say from three feet down to one foot and less, as shown in Nos. 1, 2 and 3. "Whenever weak grafts are put on vigorous stocks, then the germ branch is soon ^iSA Ftgl B\ ffife developed into a full grown one. The buds at the axO of the leaves as well as the vertical or terminal ones are all eai'ly perfected. It is the normal condition of these buds to remain dormant until another year, but they cannot when placed on stocks capable of supplying more food than is required. Therefore, the terminal or other strong bud is unfolded and the germ branch that was within, is added to the one STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. l07 alreadj^ grown, giving us a full ilhistration of two year's growth in one, as seen in No. 4 from A to B. These facts are of value to the niu'seryman, since knowing why it is a certain growth occurs , he will be able to produce or avoid it. No. 1 has 37 active buds, besides live dormant ones near the base, which were par- tially consumed by the leaves and buds of later growth. The graft producing this tree was taken from a shoot, the leaves of which in the previous year, grew under full exposure of sunlight and air. No. 2 has two dormant buds and nineteen active or perfect ones. The branch from which this graft was cut, received but partial exposure; w^hile the graft producing No. 3, which has one dormant and ten active buds, Avas much shaded, as I have else- where described. No. 4, like preceding, is from a graft taken from the interior of the tree; but unlike either of the others, the stock on which this one was grown, was one of great strength. The first growth from this graft consisted of twelve buds, extending to A. When these were formed, the tenninal bvid unfolded, producing a second or additional top growth of twenty-five buds. This growth was ended at B. "When these were per- fected, the top or terminal bud on this second growth, opened, making a third addition of four inches to the height of the tree; when, as seen between B and C, the growth was arrested by cold. Under normal conditions, in this last tree, we have the bud formation of two, and a part of the third year's growth in one. SCAB OR ARRESTED GROWTH OF APPLES VS. APPLE TREE LOUSE. Perhaps it is a little singular that we should, year after year, have gone on dis- carding one variety of apple after another, because they yielded to what was believed to be a disease of a fungoid origin, popularly known as scab. Singiilar, not because the apples, when once scabbed, were not worthless enough to entitle them to a place on the rejected list, but singular because of our ignorance in not understanding years ago, as we might have done^ the true origin of the disease. During the past winter, in my own orchard my attention was repeatedly arrested by the vast number of clus- ters of little eggs which were glued to the branches near the base of the leaf and fruit buds. These egg clusters were those of the apple tree louse, and were placed where they were found by the winged lice in the previous fall. These eggs are hatched by the warmth of spring; the temperature which develops the blossoms and leaves, being sufficient to hatch the eggs. All the eggs, however, do no not hatch at the same time. It often happens that a part only ol the little cluster of eggs are hatched when the remainder is prevented l)y cold. From this cause, sometimes one or more weeks intervene between the tirst and last hatching. Our knowledge of the extent of the mischief so}netimes done cur trees by the root louse, made me curious as to the possible damage that might result from such vast numbers of these tree lice. On consulting authorities, I learned that it is the normal habit of these insects to feed on the newly fomiing leaves, and on the young shoots of the current year's growth. To this view I may add, as the result of my investigations made the past spring and summer in my own grounds, and in different parts of the "West, that in respect to their food, these lice seem to be extremely fastidious. On some varieties of the apple they feed almost exclusively on the leaves, and on the young shoots. As an 108 TE AN S ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS example of this , I may state that the leaves and shoots of all russet varieties are selected in preference to the fruit. Also, I could mention, as being mainly exempt from their attacks, the fruit of Keswick Codlin, Duchess of Oldenburg, and other sorts. On the other hand, the fruit of Early Harvest, Carohna, lied June, Nevrtown Pippin, "Winesap, and many other fine sorts, in localities vphere the louse abounds, were this year totally ruined. The injury done to our apples by this insignificant little louse, results from its punc- turing and sucking the juices of the young fruit just before and after it is in bloom. At these punctured points growth is arrested. After the louse has disappeared, fungoid growths attach to the wounds and quickly spread from one wound to another, and so far as they extend, arrest the external growth . If an examination is delayed until after the disappearance of the louse^ or until these fungoid growths or their effects are visible to the unaided eye, then the punctures made by the louse can not well be detected, and the injury, \aewed at this time, would appear as of fungoid origin. The injury done to the apple crop, by the apple tree louse, cannot well be esti- mated. Its mischievous operations are not confined to certain orchards or States. All parts of the West, and probably the East, also, sufler great loss annually, by reason of its depredations. "What is remarkable of the past respecting our knowledge of this insect, is, that we should not have found out that it was its normal habit to puncture the germs of fruit, as well as the tender leaves and branches. But for the chance desire, on my part, to study the structure, the habits, and the possible mischief done bj^ this louse, orchard- ists might have gone on in blissful ignorance for j-ears to come, as in years past, discarding one variety of apple after another, until our last variety subject to the attacks of lice had been rejected. In the latter part of June, 1868, Mr. B. D. Walsh, State Entomologist, spent a week in the Alton district, prospecting the bugs. While here, Mr. W. was greatly pleased to find a cannibal beetle feeding on the Colorado potato bugs. So greedy and energetic were these cannibal insects found to be, that only four to eight days were required by them in which to destroj^ all the potato bugs in the worst infested fields. Pursuing his investigations further, Mr. W. found the cannibal on the Colorado bug also feeding on lady-birds. To these discoveries I will add, that at the end of the summer, in the Alton region, so general had been the destruction of the lady-birds, that not one could be found. All, or nearly all, had fallen a prey to the rapacity of the same cannibal insect that destroyed the Colorado potato bug. This circumstance in itself is insignificant enough, and perhaps the reader is ready to inqiiire what possible connection there can be between the appearance of a cannibal on potato bugs and lady-birds with that of the scab on apples. Perhaps this wiU better be understood when we explain: In the fall, after the apple tree lice become winged, they lay clusters of eggs on the young shoots, as before mentioned. These lice eggs are greedily sought after by the lady-birds. In the fall and early spring, the lady-birds consume a vast number of these eggs. From the eggs that are not eaten, little colonies of lice are hatched. In the midst of these young lice, the lady-birds drop a few of their own eggs, which soon hatch, producing small larvffi. These larvss of the lady-bird immediately commence preying upon the apple tree lice, catching and devouring them with the greatest avidity, one after another, in STATE HORTIOULTUEAL SOCIETY. 109 quick succession, without apparently diminishing tlieir appetites. From what has been stated of the habits of the lady-bird, it will readily be inferred that to their destruction cliiefly, may be attributed the great increase, the past spring, of the apple tree louse, and that to the little lady-birds, and closely allied insects, in the aid they afford us in the destruction of noxious insects, may justly be attributed much of our success in the cultivation of the apple. Also, it will be seen, that when our cannibal insect friends are greatly diminished or destroyed, then those insects, injui'ious to vegetation, must be kept vvdthin control by artiticial aids. REMEDIES DESTRUCTIVE TO APPLE TREE LICE. Make a strong decoction of tobacco, by boiling tobacco, or tobacco stems, in water. To four gallons of the tobacco water, add, say one quart of strong soft soap, and with a garden engine apply this mixture to the infested trees. Another remedy, equally efficacious, consists in slacking quick lime with boiling hot water, using only so much water as will reduce the hme to powder. Lime so slacked will possess more caustic properties than air slacked. After a shower, or while the ti'ees are wet with dew, throw the powdered lime over them. One application , well applied, esi^ecially if they are wet enough to cause the lime to adhere^ will kill the lice and prevent scab on apples. OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE PLUM CURCULIO. It is the belief of many persons that curculios hibernate above ground during winter in the beetle form. Among the advocates of this theory are several of our learned Entomologists. On consulting them with reference to my own grounds, which were so cultivated as to afford no hiding place for the hibernation of curculios, they at once pointed to the adjoining forest, which separates my orchard from those of my neighl)ors, as affording them ample shelter in winter. This forest ground had not been burned over in the past fifteen years. Much of it had been under fence eleven years, but had not in that time been pastured. Hence the accumulated rubbish was so great as to lend a strong probability to the theory of its being the favorite winter resort of the "Little Tui'k," and from which the orchard was constantly supplied. It was in vain that I endeavored to explain to my friends, learned in the science of bugs, that the annual influx of insects into my grounds from the direction of the forest could come Irom the orchards beyond. To fully test the possibility of their presence in the woods, and encouraged by the hope of destroying our little foe by wholesale, I raked the leaves away from the fences and applied tire to all sides of the forest at the same time. Thus, in less than two hours, I probably destroyed a vastly greater number of forest trees than of curculios. This will appear when it is stated that in May last, from the fifth to the twenty-seventh, there was a gradual increase of curculios in my orchard. But from that time until the sixth of June, their decrease was such as to justify the hope that the end of the curculio season was near at hand . With respect to the insects bred in my own grounds, this was probably the case . Two or three days later, however, there occurred a very warm afternoon, with the wind blowing from my orchard directly over the burnt district, and towards the orchards beyond. It will, doubtless, be a matter of surprise to the reader when I state that on the fol- 110 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ZLLLNOIS lowing morning my catcli of insects greatly exceeded in numbers all tliat had been previously taken in the twenty or more days' run with our curculio catcher. From the time of this great increase until past the middle of the month, after each warm day, great numbers of curculios were captured, the numbers taken always being greatest after the wind had been blowing from my grounds to orchards distant one, two and more miles, and from which the fruit had but recently fallen. From this circumstance was deduced the following fact, if fact it be : that curculios, as well as some other insects, discover their food by scent, and by flying against the wind they reach the spot where it is to be found . It would be a difficult task to determine the exact ratio of increase of the curcuho. The casualties to which they are Uable are various. And yet from observation it may be stated, as a general rule, that just in proportion as we provide a regular and increased supply of food for them, as by the multiplication of fruit, just in that ratio wiU be the ratio of their increase. In many neighborhoods in the "West, where the growing of fruit is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, there the curculio has already become master of the orchards, a few days only in the early season being required by them in which to render worthless the fairest prospect of the largest orchards, or those of whole disti'icts. It has been my fortune during the past few years to visit many orchards producing their first and second crops . As a rule , in nearly all of these that were fruiting the Ihst time, a few only of the fruits were stung; especially was this true of orchards that were a considerable distance from trees that had matured several crops. But when old fruit districts which are badly ovemin by curculios become fruitless, either by cold or by the early destruction of the fiTiit by insect enemies, then the curculios migrate in such numbers and to [such distances as to sweep whole orchards miles away. If not, how else are we to account for the wide- spread destruction of fruit in the new iruit districts nearest the old, in which there was a failure of fruit ? It may be stated as a general thing that when curculios once enter an orchard, they will in the second or third year at farthest so increase as not only to sting aU the fruits, but, on the majority of them they will make from ten, to forty, or more cuts. One egg in each fruit would have made it sufficiently worthless, either for market or for food. Indeed so certain is the ratio of increase of curculios in orchards once invaded by them in which there is a yearly supply of fruit, that it is only necessary to under- stand the conditions of orchards, with reference to stung fruit one year, to enable one to predict, with much correctness, with reference to the following year, of the com- paritive scarcity or plentifulness of the curculio. In neighborhoods infested by cur- culios, where contiguous orchards in considerable numbers occur, there no general sue- cess need again he looTced for, until a scarcity of fruit shall reduce (he curculio, or until the proprietors of orchards shall all unite to destroy them. In districts where fruit orchards are near to each other it will often prove of no avail for one orchardist to daily catch and destroy the c '■i:ulios in his owa. grounds while those of his neighbors are neglected. The reason of this wiU be best understood when we state, that at a temperature of 70" and under, curculios are unable to fly, and are comparatively inactive at a temperature of 80° . Hence at 80° and under they may be easily jarred down upon sheets, but so soon as the temperature reaches, say 85° and upwards, then the curculio flies with so much freedom especially if the sun is shin- ing, as to make it impracticable longer to attempt the jarring of them do^nTi. From STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Ill such time until near evening, providod the weather continues warm, curculios from all the surrounding orchards are flying in, and have the time until the orchard is again jarred, in which to deposit their eggs. If we allow an influx of five insects to each tree daily, to come in from the surrounding orchards, and ten eggs to each insect as their average deposit, then in twenty days we have two thousand stung fruits to the tree, as the egg product of the migratory insects alone. Extravagant as this esti- mate may appear to the uninitiated, nevertholoss it is not one-twentieth the number caught by me in my own orchard the past summer, and other years when the surround- ing orchards were destitute of fruit. Indeed, so great were the numbers of curculios captured on our trees, that all the fmit grown by us the previous year, admitting them all to have been wormy, could have bred only a small part of them. Notwithstanding curculios breed rapidly, and fly freely from one part of the orchard to anothei", or to distant points, in seai'ch of fruit in which to deposit: yet so long as finiit is plenty, in which they can put their eggs, they usually remain near the place where they were bred. In such instances the trouble of protecting the fruit is not great, since the sexes seek each other on the trees some ten or fllteen days before depositing their eggs. Therefore, if the fact be borne in mind that tliey are wholly unable to fly at a temperature below 70°, and rarely ever fly freely when the tempera- ture is below 85°, it will greatly lessen the labor of catching. Or, to present the case in a different way: if curculios were to assemble on the trees, say ten days before laying their eggs, and the curculio catcher were run every other day, then each individual insect would stand at least Ave chances of getting caught before it was in readiness to lay its eggs. Thus it will be seen that it matters not how many insects are bred in one's own grounds, since we are certain to catch all before they are I'eady to lay. But when curculios come in from other points, it is because of the scarcity of fruit at the place from which they migrate, and as their flight is in the middle and after part of the day, their arrival usually occurs after the run of the orchard has been made. On this account it is difllcult in the latter case to protect fruit, while in the former, the labor will be comparatively easy and certain. In this connection another fact is worthy of note, namely, that in grounds infested only by its own insects the curculio season may be terminated, by judicious use of the catchers, ttfteen or twenty days earUer than could be done when the migratory insects have to be caught. The remarks I have made respecting isolated orchards apply equally well to contiguous orchai-ds, since an arrangement entered into by all the proprietors, to run their curculio catcliers after each warm day, or part of a day, would end the season in the whole neighborhood, the same as though the whole were but one orcliard. For several years I have been quite satisfied that the rot in peaches and plums was mainly induced by the punctures made by curculios ; and to fully test this view, 1 carefully protected the fruit on some Hale's Early peach trees, by jarring them daily, and later, when the rot began to appear, by picking ofl' all the stung fruit. The Hale's so treated matured fruit as free from rot as any other variety, while on neglected trees, ever>' fruit rotted. Observation also has taught that one great cause of I'ot in early peaches is due to 112 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS curculios puncturing them for food. This they do some days before and up to the time of full maturity of the fruit. These little wounds afford points to which the fungais of rotten peaches become attached, when the fruit quickly decays. If the decayed peaches are allowed to remain on the trees, there the rot soon spreads, not only to all the wounded peaches, but is liable under conditions favoring its spread to attack and destroy the sound fruit, also. The preference curcuhos show for mature fruit for food, is a probable, and only cause why early peaches rot most. Hogs are but a partial protection. The good they do is in consuming the fallen £ruit with the larvae. It is, however, unfortunate that larvae perfect themselves and crawl out of the fruit while it is yet on the tree. In this way, enough escape being eaten by the hogs to stock the orchard with curculios in the following year. As cuiculio larva always leave the fruit and enter the ground by night, chickens are not the least protection. One year I kept one hundred hogs under plum trees in which the chickens and turkeys roosted, and yet every plum on these trees was stung. Other persons in the neighborhood where I reside, have made chicken yards around plum trees and kept them well stocked with fowls, old and young, without ever gathering a sound plum. In short, all the sure remedies which aimually appear in print, not omitting the bad odors, have had a fair trial and are found wanting. So far the only effectual plan is found in^the jarring process, which is akeady too well miderstood to need repeating here. So far as we know, no cannibal insect has yet been discovered to prey upon the curcuUo beetles, or to materially diminish the larvae . A Iviiowledge of the facts here stated, and a strict practicable adherence to them, by all our orchardists, would again restore to plenty and profit certain fruit districts in the "West, which at the present time, in a pecuniary point of view for fruit only, are worth less than the parchment on which the title to them is written. DISCUSSION ON SELECTING GRAFTS FOR NURSERY. Dr. Hull — If a branch were put to rest by the frost there would be no fruit on it. Why ? Because the fruit bud is nothing but a modified leaf bud. Hence we must have early maturity to mature the fruit buds. If we can not get any fruit until we get perfect wood, then of course we should devote ourselves to the early per- fection of the growth, and when the growth is perfected, then we consider it hardy. You never knew a tree that went to rest at the proper time — that is, by the end of July — where there was the result of sun scald by immature growth. Mr. Galusha — Do we understand you that these growths were all from terminal buds ? STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 113 Mr. Bariy — I think you stated that these were all from terminal buds. Dr. Hull — Yes sir, from the interior of the tree, as well as this strong growth, which was from one of the weakest shoots I could suggest. Mr. Barry — I think the fact is owing more to the inequalities of the stocks than anything else, for the reason that nurserymen cut their buds from the outside of the tree. It is very rarely that they are cut from the lower part or inside of a tree. I know it is very important to call our attention to the results you describe, which I have no doubt would come from cutting the shoots you mention. Dr. Hull — Nurserymen often cut from the inside as well as the outside. Now if you take that terminal bud it would make a growth of 15 or 20 or 30 buds in length. There is where the value comes in — first, as to the exposure of the branches, and secondly, as to grafting. The relative strength of the bud depends upon its position as Avell as upon its exposure. And that is where you get your mixture in your nurseries. If you go back to your nurseries you will find you have a second growth, the stock affording more nutri- ment than was required to develop the plant. The point I make is this : that the strength of the bud depends on its exposure. If jou. go down, you will get weak ones. Mr. Humphrey — If the stock is strong, must it just double it, or may it treble it ? Dr. Hull — It doubles it if there is strength enough to do it. This branch which I hold has trebled it, as it appears. We should have looked for it in this tree, a much larger bud at the upper part, and a much larger growth. I should say this : we ought to select a stock strong enough to develop that great number of buds perfectly, and to form a perfectly well developed terminal bud. Mr. Emer}" — Is it possible to discover the number of leaves that a bud will develop ? Dr. Hull — It is not possible to discover that, but it is possible to discover that there are a great number of leaves in the bud. 114 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Emery — You can not decide that. Dr. Hull — No ; the leaves are so folded one into another that we are not able to manipulate fully. Mr. Nelson — Is that a second growth ? (showing scion.) Dr. Hull — That is all one growth. That was the top of the scion.. Mr. Daggy — Do you attribute more of that growth to the scion than to the root ? Dr. Hull — Yes sir, I do ; because after the leaf germs have devel- oped they have no support from the root. I ought to state that when that bud was formed there was also stored the power of nutri- tion in the tree. The tree can not create anything; it can absorb moisture ; and it feeds that bud and brings it forward to perhaps half its size. There must be enough of that to produce a certain amount of cellular growth about the roots to make new roots or spongioles^ and about that time the leaves come in and assist and carry on the motion, but without that store of nutriment it could not be carried on,. Mr. Barler — Will the weakest root develop the strongest bud ? Dr. Hull— No, sir. Mr. Barler — Then you would not put the strongest bud on the weakest root. Dr. Hull — No, sir, I would not. Mr. Wier — How long does this influence act on the tree ? Dr. Hull — I presume Mr. Barry could answer that better than I could. How long would it be, Mr. Barry ? Mr. Barry — It would very likely enough catch up. It is, however, a very bad place to catch up. Mr. Bliss — Suppose it should be separated — placed by itself — with equal chances with a larger growth — do they not generally make the best trees ? How long would it take, with equal chances, for it to be overtaken ? Dr. Hull — I think if taken out it might become the larger tree of the two, but never in the nursery ; it would always be behind. Mr. Humphrey — If the Doctor's theory is correct, it comes nearer to a mathematical theory than anything I have heard of. If it falls STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 115 off, it will fall off in a mathematical ratio. If I understand that in a tree there is a power to develop so man}- bl^d8, then it is a mathe- matical rule, so that if the stock is strong enough you will have one, two, or three growths in a year. Then you have double the number of branches that are in the bud ; so that as I understand it that small bud can not overtake the other until the age has been sufficient to reduce mathematically the number of buds. Dr. Hull — Mr. Barry has stated also that this terminal bud should not be selected for this region north, but at Alton, in the south, I would give you twice as much for it as for any other. The further you go south the longer the season, and the less the liability to preventing them perfecting their growth. ISTow, at Mr. Earle's orchard, which I have seen all through, when these buds have developed into branches there can be no further growth. Having performed their office they shed, and then these germ-branches are burst, and we get the two seasons in one. That is the trouble with the Sweet Cherry. 1 told you that I would explain why it was that Sweet Cherries might be grown in all parts of the State. More especially I have paid atten- tion to this matter within the last year. There should be no second growth allowed. It should be kept growing at so late a period that the frost should overtake it. In that condition the tree is capable of resisting the greatest exposure of which it is possible. In September last the growth was still active. What is the result of this? That these crude juices will not elaboi-ate. The frost expands them and sepai-ates the bark from the tree. That is what we have been troubled with at Alton. My first plantation, with the exception of one or two trees, have gone to Davy Jones' locker. Why was it ? Because I planted them as trees are ordinarily planted. I planted them as I did at the East, and in the course of two or three years they began to rupture, and I had the mortification to see them either badly crooked or spoiled. When I made preparations for another lot, I prepared my ground three or four feet deep. I wanted it so that there should be no second growth, and mine is the only orchard 116 TRiVNSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS in the West that has stood. There is no injury to it. When I have detected anything wrong I have resorted to root pruning. Mr. Galusha — I have some in my land. The terminal buds are hard and firm, and yet the second growth is not equal either in number of buds or length, to the first growth. It seems to me that it is not true that the second growth^ when it forms its terminal bud, is equal to the first growth. Mr. Barry — I want to ask as to those anticipated branches on the Cheny ? Do you not know that there are a great number of varie- ties of the Cherry that produce these anticipated shoots, and it is not because the growth of the tree has been arrested by the weather or anything else, but simply from the non-development of the buds below. Dr. Hull — Is that common with you? Mr. Barry — Yes, sir, quite common. There are some varieties that run out on a single straight shoot during the year. The Early Rich- mond and most of the Dukes and Morellos do produce these side branches in great profusion. Dr. Hull — If you will examine your trees you will find that that growth has been interrupted. Mr. Wier — I do not think the terminal bud stops growing at all on these trees. Do you know that the Early Richmond will begin to branch when it is a foot high ? Mr. Barler — I have got the impression on my mind that we are to do everything we can to keep them growing. Dr. Hull — In the South you ought — in the North you must not. At Alton you must, but not in the North. Mr. Earle — On orchard trees as well? Dr. Hull — I say, yes. We do not wish to have our fruit buds excited after they have gone to rest. But w^e are under the necessity, North, of keeping nursery stock to rest, because these conditions of frost, etc., will attend them. When a tree has been affected and you cut through the bark, the j^oung wood is as black as ink. That is from the albuminous matter not being perfectly matured, and hence our northern STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 117 men must recognize that fact. The first growth, in being arrested, is the cause of many miseries. When you go to South Pass, our trees, from their second growth not being matured, lose their crop. Mr. Nelson — You said we should arrest this gi'owth in the North in July. Can you tell us how to do it? Dr. Hull — I will do so. Root prune by means of a coulter plow. Mr. Nelson — The same thing with small trees could be done by a tree digger, but they incline borers to take hold of the same trees. For three or four years old trees it will do, I have no doubt. Mr. Bliss — Wliat time of year will you apply this? Dr. Hull— If you put this in early the first growth would not be developed. Mr. Bliss — I think if you take our common ground and put this in early you well etfect an enlargement of the growth instead of dwarf- ing it. Dr. Hull — I think you are in error there. If you put this in you will arrest the growth. Mr. Bliss — I generally put this in a few inches down — touching the roots. Mr. Wier — There is one thing I would like to call attention to. For the last three years I have been examining all kinds of trees late in the fall. My idea is that the last thing the leaf does in the fall is to develop or elaborate the watery sap that flo>vs down between the new bark and the new wood of that year. [ read the Doctor's explanations about the apple trees being killed, and I cannot agree with him at all. Dr. Hull — You are speaking of this diseased sap? Mr. Wier — No. I think the frost caught that sap before it reached the root, and being between the new bark and the wood, it separated them from each other. Next spring you will find every particle of the tree is dead. Dr. Hull — I think if Mr. Wier were to examine further, or a little more closely, he would find he was wrong. Three or four j^ears ago Mr. Huggins brought from St. Louis, and exhibited to this Society, a branch of an apple tree from ,which a ring of bark had been taken two 118 teansactio:n^s of the illenois years, and j-et the growth had continued during tliat time. I found several of the branches of my own apple trees in a similar condition. The change then produced is this, that one or more of these leaves are folded into the form of a vase, and in the center of that is deposited a little cell, and when it has converted it in that way, then it is a fruit bud ; and I don't believe your trees were in the condition you have stated until after the change was made. The perfection of these leaves would cause them to di'op otf, and then it would enlarge them and render the crop more unsafe the coming winter. Mr. Wier — If Dr. Hull, next year, will take a tree as soon as the terminal bud is formed, and take out a ring of bark near the surface of the ground, one inch away, he will find every branch will die. Let him take all the leaves off an apple tree, and in that case they will all die. Now, if the leaves do not have to elaborate the sap to go down to the roots, what becomes of it? Dr. Hull — I have 400 trees from which the leaves were all stripped by the grasshoppers. When the leaves are lost early in the summer the roots die just as Mr. Wier has stated. But he has carried it too far. The least of these little roots, under certain conditions of nature, can repair themselves. Why is it that a large root can not make a new root? Will Mr. Barry answer that question? Mr. Barry — No, sir. I could not say. Dr. Hull — Will Mr. Meehan answer the -question ? Mr. Meehan was not in the room. Mr. Barry — The root breaks through in man^'^ cases, just the same as a branch breaks through and makes a new branch, but it is only in certain cases. Dr. Hull — The apple tree, I believe, has m0}'<; power of pushing than many others. It produces both new roots and new branches. Mr. Bany — I think I have seen peach trees producing new shoots in that manner when as big as my arm. Dr. Hull — I think it is more likely to occur with the branch than with the root ; that is one of the points I was going to make. Sup- pose the juices to be acting on the root, it forms a callus at once. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 119 Mr. Barry — Sometimes it does not form — sometimes they break through the roots. Dr. Hull — As long as you have feeders at a distance you will not have a growth near the trunk. I was going to show the advantage of root pruning. Mr. Barry — I would like to inquire whether any one here has tested fully the plan of uncovering the roots to retard growth? I have seen it done frequently, and with very good effect. Mr. Bliss. In ray neighborhood it was done with one orchard. The tree roots were uncovered for a foot or ten inches deep and left until it was cold, and then filled in with corn cobs, etc., and it produced wonderfully afterwards. I am going to try that practice. Dr. Hull — Would not the exposure produce partial conversion to branch growth ? Mr. Barry — Yes sir, but it is only a temporary exposure. It is practiced a good deal in England among garden trees, where they are troubled with spring and early auiumn frosts. I know it is practiced regularl}^ there. Mr. Humphreys — Dr. Hull's theory may be correct, and yet when there are circumstances that evade our skill at any point, let us pay particular attention to that point. There must be some cause why these long shoots are produced. Dr. Hull — There is a good deal of force in a suggestion of Mr. Wior's. In pear growing if you will cut your tree up and it produces a half crop of fruit, and the forces are taken up and used by the fruit, very little is left in store. I have found in such cases that the appearance was that from want of union, the connection was severed as between the top and the roots, and it was for a long time a puzzle to know what that was. 1 am quite satisfied that that was the cause of the loss of many of our pear trees, and not the destruction of the roots. Mr. Wier — I am well convinced that the last action of the leaf is to produce root material. The last operation is to produce the 120 TRAIs'SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS starchy material that goes back into the roots to assist next spring in forcing the sap up into the tree. Mr. Humphi'eys — If his idea is true that the sap must go to the root, it makes the root a reservoir. That is contrary to the physi- ology of the root. Its office is to take materials from the earth at the time they are needed. I think no one acquainted with vegetable physiology would say it was a reservoir. Dr. Hull — I think it is quite so. I would separate Mr. Wier's theory from the true one. It is the food for the plants — and not merely the watery fluid — which is stored in all parts of the tree. The first growth in spring consists principally in inhibition of water by absorption. Mr. Baldwin — You stated that in this latitude it was best to stop growth in July. Is not that too early ? Dr. Hull — I spoke in general terms. Wo find that the leaves are not blighted, the fruit is not rusted, and a second growth is not induced, and there is a reason for that — because we have created a disproportion between the top and the roots. Dr. Hull — Some of you say you would not grow a certain kind of apple, because it is twenty years in coming to bearing. Why is it so ? Because a very large proportion of the buds push forth nearly as many branches as they do buds. What is the result ? It is precisely the same as if I was to commence after the first development of the leaves and strip these away. Nature is constantly endeavoring to fill up the loss she has sustained. The tree does not early go to rest^ and the result is we have no fruit formation. You cannot find a fruit bud on the tree. You can never find a fruit bud so long as the branch is growing. Understanding the matter as we do, we cannot admit that if a tree is twenty years in coming to bearing it is storing up nutriment all that time. No such thing. It stores up this year what it requires next j^ear and no more — not one particle for the year after. The following named gentlemen were elected honorary members : Thomas Meehan, P. Barry, Mark Miller, Dr. Isaac Furnas, Wm. H. Ragan. Adjourned. STATE HORTICULTUR7VL SOCIETY. 121 SECOND DAY— EVENING SESSION. THE SOILS OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS. [By James Shaw, of Mount Carroll.] Gentlemen of tlie Illinois State Eortimdtural Society: I find myself a member of your Committee on the Geology of Soils; and by request of your worthy President I propose to occupy your attention a short time in discussing the soils of Xorthern Illinois, and the dynamical forces which have originated, trans- ported, and mingled these soils, clays, and superincumbent masses covering the bed rocks. Your Secretary, in classifying the fruit districts of the State, maps out one as the Rock River District. My remarks 011 this occasion will apply principally to that district. You will hear from my co-laborer to-morrow as to the soils of Southern Illinois. I shall not conrtue myself strictly to the Rock River Valley, but shall speak of that p;u-t of our State lying north of the old Silurian Beach, which crosses the State from a point near Hampton on the Mississippi river, and passes eastward a few miles south of this place, bending up a little north of Morris, and thence passing on to the eastern line of the State, south of Chicago. Tlio land north of this Silurian Beach was comparatively elevated table land at the time the coal deposits of the great coal basin lying south of this old beach were in process of formation. And there is evidence that over this comparatively elevated tabic land a great denudation has taken place. Some great force has worn ofl and swept away, from Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, a large amount of material, which has been deposited over the face of the country south and west of that elevated region. It is estimated by Prof. Whitney, and other good geological authorities, that at least three hundred feet has been denuded and carried away in the region of the Illinois and Wisconsin mounds. These mounds — Scales Mound, the Blue Mounds, Terrapin Ridge, and the various elevated and island- like elevations left over the general level surfoce of that part of the Slate north of this old Silurian Beach— are monuments left standing when the rest of the formation was swept away. Any one with thoughtful mind, who stands upon their tops and looks over the surrounding country, or who examines the regular succession of outcrops up their sloping sides, cannot resist the conclusion that the general level of the wliole country surrounding once corresponded with these highest points. As in reading a book we at once miss the pages which are torn out, so in examining these mounds, we at once miss whole leaves and parts of leaves in the Great Stone Book, which have been removed by the forces of which I shall presently speak. The Galena Lime- stone, the Cincinnati Group, and the Niagara Limestone, are the leaves, whose frag- ments yet remain to attest a time when each one of them in regular succession spread over the region now under discussion. Against this Silurian Beach of which I have spoken, the coal meSsui'es are shingled, as it were, or deposited. At the place where we are now assembled, the old St. Peter's sand.stone shines like sugary masses along the river banks, and is elevated in 122 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS fantastic shapes at Deer Park and Starved Rock, a little to the northeast; but at LaSalle, a few miles southwest, coal pits are sunk for hundreds of feet, and the black treasures of the earth found in the greatest abundance. At Sublette the Galena lime- stone is the bed rock nearest the surface; but at Princeton, towards the south and west, an artesian well, five hundred feet deep, still exhibits coal measure deposits. This shows that this old Silurian Beach, in the carboniferous ages of the world, presented the appearance of a somewhat abrupt range of hills across that part of the State. Over that part of the country north of this Beach, the bed rocks are covered with superficial deposits from ten to fifty or one hundred feet in thickness, composed of clays, sands, loams, gravels, drift materials, and prairie soils of later growths. If this superincumbent mass should all be removed, leaving the naked bed rocks, the general iiice of the country as to levelness of appearance, would not vary much from the present state of things. In classifying the soils in this Rock river district, we find several well marked varie- ties . The alluvial deposits of the river bottoms are latest in formation, and deserve a brief notice. In examining river deposits, the first thing worthy of consideration is thejlood led. Here the action of the river is that of currents, or flowing water. Where the current runs strong, sand will be thrown up in tow heads and sand banks and sand islands; in the still places a fine black mud will be deposited; and this force will exert a sifting and assorting influence, and form mud flats and banks, and dei^osits of pure sand. The next action of the river will be over its ^f-ood plain, or that part of its bed covered only by the high water of the spring inundations. This is usually a low bottom, covered at the flood of the river with water, and producing a heavy crop of sour prairie grass later in the season. Over this the water usually rises and falls without much current action, and a yearly Nile-like detritus, or fine mud, is jirecipi- itated. The soil thus formed is fat, deep, and sour, and is unfit for agricultural and Horticultural purposes, until it has been built up beyond the influence of the river floods, and sweetened by the sun and atmospheric influences. Then it becomes a soil of inexhaustible richness and productiveness. Stepping backwards in geological time,, we next come to the old river terraces, which are simply the ancient flood-beds and flood-plains of these same rivers, at a time when they rolled an infinitely larger volume of water to the sea. Over these are the sandy soils and the rich, flat bottom lands, Nile-like in their inexhaustible produc- tiveness. The Mississippi River, Rock River towards its mouth, and many of the smaller interior streams present these well known river phenomena; and make a notice of these alluvial deposits and this fluviatile action necessary in speaking of the soils of the State. Receding backward in geological time, we come to the bluff fonnations, the oldest deposits of the Quaternary system. This is called the Loess, or Bluff formation. It is not extensively developed in Northern Illinois, but is present in most of the blufl's which skirt our streams. Deep rooting trees and vines find in it a congenial soil, and the best soil conditions of growth. Some of these Loess or partly Loess formations in our part of the State would be the best fruit and wine producing districts in the world if kindly Italian skies and genial atmospheric conditions smiled on the tops of the trees and vines. When the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers were lake-like in their expanses, and the waves beat up against theu- blufl shores, throwing up silt, STATE HORTICULTUK.VL SOCIETY. 123 oozy detritus, and frothy marls and sand, this l>lnff /ormation was deposited and accumulated. It is (composed of light cream colored clays, greenish marls, muddy sands, and various combinations and mixtures of these; and, as already iutinnited, it affords the best soil conditions in the State, or in the world, lor the growth of the vine and all kinds of fruit trees. Even in our chilling and unfavorable climate, truit and grapes of fine appearance and good quality are beginning to l>e produced in con- siderable abundance. At Galena. Morrison, Mtiuut Carroll, and Sterling. I have seen small vineyards purple with their great crops of generous fruit, and or(]iard> laden with the tinest of our hardier apples; -while the strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, cherry, and other kindred truits are raised in the greatest abundance, and of good quality . Next to the Loess iu succession are the regular soils and clayey deposits which cover the uplands or general prairie level of the country. And inusnuich as these are origin- ally derived from the decomposition of the rocks, it will be well to call attention to the character of the bed rocks in this part of the State . If the dirt mantle covering these rocks, In that part of the State now under consideration, was all stripped off, the rocks then exposed would be found to belong to the Galena Limestone, Cincinnati Shales, and Niagara Limestone, coming to the surface in irregularly shaped patches. Mow, the soil or earth mantle covering these rocks, notwithstanding the tremendtms mixing to which they were subjected by the drift forces, to be spoken of hereafter, partake somewhat of the nature of the deposits lying immediately l)cneath it, and were in part derived from their decompo<;ition. The evidences of this arc strikingly manifest. The Galena Limestone and Niagara Limestone, although separated by an intei-vcning formation, are strikingly alike in lithological character. Both are a coarsegrained, cream colored and reddish magnesian limestone. When they decompose a rather coarse grained soil is the resultant. In many places, if we dig from the stu-face to these rocks, we find a coarse, reddish, hard pan, or crumbly clay, resembling closely these rocks. As we sink into this clay we find i)ieees of " float " mineral and l)its of the rock itself, the latter lying evidently in, situ, unworn by water, anil appearing like pieces of the original rocky mass, which was harder and had resisted the surrounding decay and rotting away of the rocky ledges. On the other hand, portions of the country underlaid by the Cincinnati Shales are covered by a close grained, finely commmutcd, greenish, creamy colored subsoil, closely resembhng in texture and lithological character the Shales from which it has evidently been derived. But these resemblances of the earthl}- mantle to the rocks lying under them are only found iu certain localities in anr. Hull might have got some informa- 11 146 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLESOIS tion in regard to the matter. I have not made any report on the birds, because I have discovered that heretofore the experience was so contra- dictory that I did not know how to do it, except to go the same ground over again. The only thing I would say is, that if we would pay as much attention to keeping birds off the fruit as we do the curculio, we would not only have the benefit of the buds during a certain season, but we would save our fruit. ORNAMENTAL TREES^ ETC. Mr. Edwards submitted a report. La Moille, III., Dec. 14, 1869. Hon. Tyler MeWhorter, President Illinois State Horticultural Society : Being one of the Committee on Useful and Ornamental Trees, I would offer a few notes. For some years past I have noticed a diseased appearance of the foliage on one lot of large Austrian Piues on my grounds. Presuming it to be the work of some minute insect, specimens of the foliage were sent, in June last, to the lamented Prof. B. D. Walsh, State Entomologist, who kindly came and made a thorough examination, coming to the conclusion that it was a fungus attaching itself to the leaves. The rem- edy proposed was the application of sulphur when the foliage is wet. I hope to be able to report its efficiency, as the damage to foliage is very serious, and if not arrested must apparently destroy the tree. The Scotch Pine, White Pine, Balsam Fir, Norway Spruce, Red Cedar and Arbor Vitse, standing among and near the Austrian Piues, show no symptoms of being affected. The Silver Maple has been A'ery largely planted throughout our State as a useful and ornamental tree. Are we to suffer serious loss of them by injury done by the borer which in many places is attacking them ? The Norway Spruce retains its place at the head of the list of evergreen trees to plant for screens and shelter. It is being planted in many parts of our State as a hedge. White Pine will doubtless ever remain a leading tree for the uses to which it is now applied in our State. Owing to the fact that its leading shoot is often lost in the ten- der, growing state, it is deemed advisable to plant some rapid-gromng deciduous tree around or interspersed through the timber lot as protection from this injury. ■> Balsam Fii', in all localities in om* State where it has been my fortune to see it, except in the grounds of Gov . Wood, of Quincy, proves one of our finest ornamental evergreens to plant as specimens on the lawn. The prairie soil appears to be specially adapted to the growth of this tree in perfection, enabling it to retain its beauty until arrested by its decline, after maturity. The ragged appearance of old specimens, as complained of in some parts of the country, is probably ovsing either to some defi- ciency in the constituents of the soil or the shade of other trees. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 147 Douglas Spruce, from Colorado forests, proves perfectly hardy with rae. though from repeated trials of the variety raised in Eastern propagating houses, I long since pronounced the variety tender, and am delighted to reverse my conclusion. European Silver Fir, at the place of Mr. Douglas, at Waukegan, and my place, in shelter of large evergreens, gives hope of our realizing its beauty with similar protec- tion in all parts of our State. Japan Ginko similarly sheltered is hardy on the grounds of Mr. Douglas. Our people are being enlightened as to the value of the European Larch, both as a useful and an ornamental tree. Glad of it! — think tlier* is no danger of their planting too largely of it . Norway Maple is giving satisfaction as a line variety for the lawn. What better street tree have we than the white elm ? The importance of planting timber extensively on the prairies has been so often demonstrated in lormer volumes of the transactions of this Society it is not deemed necessary to allude to the subject exceiit to carry out the scriptural injunction to give "line upon line" and " preceift upon precept," to "provoke each other to good works . ' ' Mr. Brown — I had intended to make some remarks on the value of our trees for ornamental use as well as for timber, but have neglected to prepare them ; but with the permission of the Society', I will write something' for our Secretary to insert in the Transactions. [Judge Brown subsequently furnished the following report :] REPORT or A. M. BROWN, OF PULASKI COUNTY, FROM THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ORNAMENTAL AND TIMBER TREES. Presuming that this Committee was created for the purpose of ascertaining and call- ing attention to such trees and shrubs as may be made available for planting in the prairies, either for use or ornament, it seems worth while to notice a few of the numer- ous varieties that go to make up the splendid forests with which this portion of Illinois is clothed. Of all the trees, vines and shrubs, indigenous to our State, perhaps three- fourths, or more, are found growing within twenty miles of the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi river, many of them of great value for their timber, and many others highly ornamental. Of these, some are found growing on the hills, exclusively, some only in the bottoms, while others are common to both localities. I will specify a few ol those that seem to me Ukely to meet the wants of planters. Passing by the Oaks, Hickories, Walnuts and Maples, in their several varieties, I A^-ill notice those only that are rarely found, if found at all, in the more Northern portions of our State. Tulip Tree, {Liriodendron tulip/era). — This tree, commonly called Poplar, is found only upon the hills or on rather dry ridges in the lowlands. It is the largest of our tim- ber trees, and, if we except the White Oak, the most valuable, vast quanties of lum- ber being made from it. It grows to an immense size, often reaching six feet in 148 TRANSACTIONS OF TILE ILLINOIS diameter at the stump and 150 feet iu height, with a clean, straight trunk free from limbs for the greater part of that distance. When standing alone, however, it sends out limbs at regular intervals, and forms a remarkably beautiful and symmetrical head. The flowers, which appear in early spring, are about the size of the tulip and bear a striking resemblance in form and color to some varieties of that fine flower. The leaf is large, pecuHar in shape, and very handsome. This tree is hardy, and the growth vigorous and rapid. As a lawn tree it cannot be excelled. Catalpa [Bignonioides) . — This tropical looking tree is found in ovir river and creek bottoms, preferring a wet soil. The largest trees are about two feet in diameter, and, when grown in thick gi'oves, 60 to 70 feet in height. Grown by itself, it is low and spreading. The timber is much sought after for posts. It seems to be almost indes- tructible by decay. Green limbs thrown upon the wet ground will lie there for years and until covered with moss and yet appear as sound as when they fell from the trees. Posts, said to have been set 30 years, are apparently perfectly sound. The gi'owth of the Catalpa is exceedingly rapid, and there seems to no reason why it should not be of great value for planting in the more southern prairies especially. The tree is ornamental as well as useful, the foliage being very large, and the blossoms pretty and conspicuous. The seeds are numerous^ enclosed in long, bean-like pods. Sweet Gum [Liquidamlar Styraciflua). — This Is a large tree. The timber is used for making bedsteads and other furniture. It is a beautiful ornamental tree, with peculiar star-shaped leaves. The seeds are borne in a curious round burr, oiie and a half inches in diameter. The twigs and small limbs, especially on trees growing singly, are feathered like those of the winged elm, presenting a very imique appearance. Beech {Fagus fenniginea). — No one of our forest trees is so nuich admired by North- ern men as this. It is of large size, often measuring two and a half feet iu diameter, and more than 100 feet in height. The lower limbs are long, slender and drooping, making a most delightful shade. This would be a perfect lawn tree but for the fact that the foliage usually becomes musty toward the latter part of summer. The seeds are small, edible nuts, triangular in shape, enclosed in pairs, in a burr. Black Gum.— This is a tree of medium size, rarely reaching two feet in diameter. The fibres of the wood are so interlocked that it cannot be split. The growth Is pecu- liar, the limbs mostly coming out of the trunk at right angles, long, slender and drooping. The foliage is very pretty, having a gloss that makes them glitter in the sunhght. Dogwood {Cm-nus Flnrid-a). — A small tree, very abundant. In the spring our forests are made beautiful by its numerous large white blossoms. The ^'^-lit is a red berry, in bunches, something like the seed of the coral honeysuckle.' Red Bud or Judas Tree {Cercis Ccmadensis. — Another small tree, covered in early spring with reddish purple blossoms ; very pretty. Cucumber Tree {Magnolia acuminata) . — This is a remarkably fine ornamental tree, attaining considerable size. It is, however, very diflicult to transplant, and is seldom found in the forest small enough to be removed. Cypress {Taxodium distichum. — This is a large and valuable timber tree, grov^^ing in the wildest swamps and attaining a very lai'ge size. It is a very handsome ornamental tree, but would probably not thrive very far North. I might describe many other kinds of trees, such as Sassafras, Persimmon, Pawpaw, Waahoo, etc., but those specified above seem to me the most desirable. STATE HORTICULTUIl^\X, SOCIETY. 149 Mr. Pierson submitted a report from the Seventh District : The Vice President of the Seventh District would respectfully report on the present condition and prospects of Horticulture in his district, as follows, to-wit: Tlie year has been one of striking peculiarities throughout. The spring opened with a fine promise of fruit of every kind. Grapes were especially promising. But early in May the heavy rains set in, and continued throughout the months of May, June and July. The raiu-fall of those three mouths in the Seventh District was probably as great as that of the entire year in ordinary seasons. This immense rain- fall was also remarkable for the quantity that often fell in a very short time. On several occasions three and four inches of water, by actual measurement, fell in less than an hour. During all this long period the temperature was very low, and vege- tation of nearly every kind, even weeds, made a feeble and sickly growth. Straw- berries were about the only fruit that did not seem to sufier from the drenching rains and the low temperature. This frait seems to delight in cool weather and frequent showers. Some beds that were on ground that was constantly saturated with water for weeks, suffered some, but more apparently since the fruit was gathered than while it was maturing. Some vines thus situated that bore a heavy crop of fruit have since died. But a large proportion of the strawberry vines in the region of Onarga, and as far as I can learn, in the Seventh District generally, have produced line crops of fruit, and when properly taken care of, have made an unusually fin© growth during the fall. The prospects for a heavy crop of this fruit the coming season are now very flattering. As the Seventh District is located midway between Southern Illinois and Southern Michigan , and our fruit goes into the market between the gluts annvially produced by the superabundant supply from those regions, our small fruit usually brings good and remunerating prices. Ilaspberries have sufl'ered severely from the wet season. While the bushes were well loaded with fruit, it matured very imperfectly. Some of the fruit soured on the bush . The Purple Canes have done much better this season than the Black Caps, both in fruiting and in the growth of new wood. H. J. Dunlap reports that the borer is at work in the cane of the raspberry in Champaign county. There is also a white grub at work on the root of the raspberr}^ in many locations. On the whole, the experi- ence of the season has not increased our faith in the successful culture of this fruit in the Seventh District. Grapes have been, to a large extent, a fitilure the past season. They promised well in the spring; but an insect which I have not been able to identify soon commenced its depreilations upon the fruit, leaves and vines. The fruit nearly all fell off early in the season, the leaves rolled up, and much of the new wood died. A few vines on well underdniined land produced fair crops, but the fruit was late in ripening, and was not as sweet as usual. The fall growth of grape wood was fair. Young vines set out last spring have not done well. The Pear Blight has prevailed quite extensively in the district, and many trees have died. Some varieties seem to be nearly proof against this disease, and the experience of the year suggests great caution in the selection of varieties. It is believed that a dozen varieties embrace all the kinds that it would be worth while to plant for com- mercial purposes. Among these the Lawrence, the D' Anjou, the Belle Lucrative, the 150 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Buflfam, the Howell, the Seckel, and the Sheldon on the pear stock, and the Louise B. de Jersey on the quince, may be regarded as the most reliable for most localities in Central Blinois. In my own locality trees of the above varieties bear more constantly and more abundantly than most of the apple trees in our orchards, while' they seem to be quite as healthy. B . O . Curtis, of Paris, Edgar county , reports a nearly total iailure of the apple the past season, while the peach and the grape were unusually abundant. The early rains damaged the apple, while the severe drouth, later in the season, greatly lessened the crop of small fruits. From facts stated in a communication from Mr. Curtis, it is evident that the horticultural history of Edgar county should be written out and published in our annual report. It was in this county that the first nurseries of the State were planted. Mr. Curtis promises to give us this histoiy. Stillman Barber, of Millmine, Piatt county, reports: Grapes promise well here. The Concord is the best and most hardy. Pears do well so far, and farmers are generally setting out more or less pear trees. There are some old pear trees near the Sangamon river that are about thirty years old, that have been good and regular bearers. The Early Richmond cherry, currants, raspberries, strawberries, goose- ben-ies, all do well in this county." M. C. McLain, of Charleston, Coles county, reports: "Our prospects, horticul- turally, are brightening. Many of our apple trees dropped their fruit badly in the .months of June and July by reason of the work of the Codling Moth. The Wine, Fallawater, Wagener, Baldwin, Large and Small Romanite, and the much abused YeUow Bellefleur, of the winter varieties, and the Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Carolina June, and Golden Sweet, all carried and ripened their fruit splendidly. The peach was a failure. My prospects for grapes were never better than during the past season, up to the first of July. At that time we had prevailing southwest vdnds, and warm and foggy weather for some five or six days together, when considerable rot appeared on my Concords and Hartfords. Mildew also appeared on my Delawares and lonas , and before the month was out my Delaware vines were as bare of foliage as a regular tramping tree-pedlar is of conscience, and they ripened no fruit, although loaded to the ground with the finest looking berries I ever saw upon that variety. Concords and Hartfords rotted slightly, but bore fair crops of excellent fruit. The subject of draining our lands is beginning to receive some attention among our people, and so far as tested the labors in this direction have given very satisfactory results," E. Daggy, of Tuscola, Douglas county, represents that there is a steadily increasing interest in the subject of horticulture in his county. The May cherry and small fruits generally did well the past season. The Kittatinny blackberrj^ is especially promising with him. Grapes yielded a fair crop, but were more or less injured by mildew and rot. While fruit-growing is receiving increased attention among our people, all are becoming deeply impressed with the fact that even the fascinating art of horticulture has its shady side . H. J. Dunlap, of Champaign, reports that strawberries ripened at that point on the 5th of June, this being eight days earlier than the season of 1868. He has demon- strated that it required just forty days from the first blossom for strawberries to ripen at Champaign. There were some 1,200 bushels of this fruit grown at this point the past season; price from five to forty cents per quart. The early May cherry bore abundantly. The trees are aU top -grafted on Morello stock. There were about four STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 151 hundred bushels of this fruit sold the past season, at an average of about eighteen cents per quart. Extensive cherry orchards arc being planted, one of 3,000 trees. The curculio has commenced its work of destruction on this fruit. Lawton black- berries that were well cut back bore good crops. Kittatinny promises well. Grapes rotted badly, but those spiral trained less than others. Apples bore full crops. The Stanard apple is by far the most profitable apple grown in this county. Tree and hedge planting is largely on the increase. All of which is respectfully submitted. WM. P. PIERSON. Mr. Galusha — The situation of my family is such that I shall not be here at the close of Mr. Freeman's address, and there is one item that I wish to speak of. In my visits I discovered an apple new to me; a very fine fall apple, resembling the Northern Spy very much. I could not identify it from the books, and procured some specimens to bring here, and see if they could be identified. It is the most valuable fall apple we have in our district this year. I have a few scions which any gentleman can have to graft and try. [The scions were distributed among the members.] ^ REPORT UPON SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SOILS. The hour of ten having arrived, Mr. Freeman addressed the Society as follows : Mr. President and Gentlemen ; My report will be confined to Southern Illinois — that part from Centralia to Cairo. At the annual meeting of this Society in 1867, when it was held at South Pass, there was a very animated discussion on the subject of pears, and some remarks so directly contradictory as to the merits of the same pear in different localities, that it satisfied me, at the time , that much of this difference was due to a radical difference in the soils ; and it led me to follow up this matter until the present time. I had opportunities at the time, to investigate it in the North, and lay the foundation for discoveries in the Southern part the following year ; and it will show the exceeding difficulty of arrang- ing fruit districts for different varieties of fruit with any hope that the same variety is going to be universally applicable to any district, even if you confine it to one county, and as Judge Brown said when he was President, the cultivation of the soil cannot be made specific in any one direction, but it must be regulated by the peculiarities of each particular plot of land. In the lecture of Mr. Shaw last evening, he showed to you the "drift." "We have, since the drift, several other descriptions of soil in other localities. The diagram which 152 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS I have presented here, very roughly illustrates what I believe represents the connec- tion in a north and south direction from Centralia to Cairo. Here is the Grand Chain sloping to Cairo, which we will suppose to be at the bottom of the paper. Here is the lowest point, representing the Big Muddy river. Without going into details of the geology of the country there, it is sufficient to say that it is in the form represented there, vnth exaggeration. The Big Muddy, at Carbondale, is only 16 feet above the Ohio at Cairo. Well, then, this elevation is 600 feet; between these points we have six different soils, and in some places they can all be seen at once. Besides that, we have a sandy soil belonging to the tertiary era, and then alluvial soil at Cairo. I. have tried to represent these several soils superimposed on each other. I call them all soils, although the lowest of them is a white clay which can only be prepared for vege- tation artiiicially. We have then No. 1, which is the black loam of the prairie, of the timber ridge, on the margin of the prairie. No. 2, a whitish clay, whicb often is the prairie surface, particularly in the Southern prairies. No. 3, a chocolate colored clay. No. 4, a white clay, similar to No. 2. No. 5, a yellowish drift clay, something like that underlying the clay of your Northern prairie. No. 6, a whitish clay before referred to, and lying on the rock formation beneath . You mil notice but two lines, representing 5 and 6, as running over this whole country. The soil of that ridge is this No. 5. It appears in this basin— in these little elevated points, where they are just high enough to be above No. 6. The entire sec- tion is eleven feet ten inches, but this was taken from near the north line of Franklin county. No. 5 is a very finely comminuted, arenaceous clay. It corresponds with the clay further north under the black loam, except that, as we go south, that intermixing of particles has caused it to be much finer than it is further north, and practically makes it a different kind of soil. Nos. 5 and 6 belong to the drift era. All these others were later than the drift; they were formed at a later period. They came in from the eastern part of the drift to the Big Muddy, and probably the Saline. These white clay lands— the lime mud-cMft of our friend Rural— are No. 2, mainly. No. 5 is very similar to it, but No. 5 represents the soils that are seen further north, as far as Neoga, on the Illinois Central Railroad. No. 3 is the same as I see down here. ("T" on diagram). It is an entirely different soil from any other, and it has a splendid system of under-draining; it all rests on a bed of open ground. The hills are only about sixty feet high from the bottom, and it is apparently a uniform kind of soil. It is such a peculiar soil that wells are dug in it and do not require to be walled up. Now, when we come to apply our horticultural knowledge, as directed, to kinds and varieties of fruit, we are totally in the dark except as to these soils. The location of these soils pi-esents such different meteorological conditions, so that what would apply in one case mil not apply in any other. Coming from the north to this point ("S" on the diagram), there is nothing more than the absence of the generally overlying yel- lowish clay which constitutes the general surface of the prairie land. In the course oi deposition, in some cases, this No. 5 may not have been distributed equally. In other cases it may have been washed away by currents of water after it had been deposited. I cannot give you a distinctive character except as persons have noticed how different the timber is on these different lands. It is not distributed over any continuous district, but it is continually broken into different patches. The absence of No. 1 makes No. 2 the surface. Where they are smaU they are often called "licks." It is an efflores- cence of alum, which cattle like. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 153 Mr. Bryant — I believe that this abounds in the northern part of the State. Mr. Freeman — So far as my observation goes it is not No. 2, but No. 5. They are subsequent to the drift era, and deposited by still water. Eeferring to this " loess " here, I suppose the origin of that (No. 3) id up towards the Colorado region. From what I have been told by persons who have lived in the Platte Valley ; from the evi- dent great denudation there, and the fact that the composition of the country there is much more recent than ours^ and would present a different soil when mingled and washed down, this soil is to-day traceable up the Missouri river and its tributaries. It would seem that these white clays, when they were deposited^ must have been under different influences — either the current was shut off, or that this was a side bay, and the water could be more still, and the coarser matter was not set in so far; for these white clays are very fine, close material, and entirely different from the several beds that lie between. I do not think the Missouri river has ever crossed the State, but this depression does run across the State. We know the elevation be- tween the Big Muddy and the Saline, so that the flow of water, when it was considerable, would be to the Ohio river. My object was simply to direct your attention to the constant care necessary in the apportionment of fruit in different districts, instead of ^making an arbitrary list. You know, as yet, almost nothing of what they are capable, for the reason that there is so much diversity of soil and climate, and that will bo found almost in the range of one county. Mr. Murtfeldt — I have a question of privilege to propound, which I think the gentleman can answer. I have understood that the Mis- sissippi is constantly making inroads upon the shore. Mr. Freeman — It is the character of the Mississippi to form elbows and to eat in. Mr. Bliss — I think if the geologists and the analytical chemists would come together and decide this question of soils it would be the shortest way of arriving at it ; or perhaps it would be well to make this a feature in our education. 154 TKAISISACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Freeman — I would say this : that it is necessary to do both — to make it a branch of instruction in our State University, and embrace the subject in the range of our investigation by consulting the results obtained by individuals throughout the State. No doubt many who do not now do it would take part in that labor if these materials could be worked up into practical results. Mr. Pierson — Do these remarks about soils relate entirely to the country below Centralia ? Mr. Freeman — What I have said will, in some respects, apply to the whole State. Dr. Hull — Which one of these strata appears at Du Quoin ? Mr. Freeman — I suppose it to be No. 6. The white clay there corresponds with that a little further north. The superimposed soil there is too fine. Mr. Douglas — I would like to ask Mr. Freeman whether taking a few inches of this black soil and spreading it over the local soil would do any good ? Mr. Freeman — Where that No. 6 is the surface, the action of the rains and the weather have washed away some of it, and it is gener- ally found covered. It is also disseminated through the body of it. It is an arenaceous clay. Mr. Douglas — Impregnated with lime ? Mr. Freeman — I do not know. I have not been able to analyze it yet. Dr. Douglas — We use it on our low black soil. We cart it half a mile and spread it over our black soil three inches in thickness. Mr. Freeman — As it appears at South Pass just above the railroad bridge, the white clay is No. 6. I would suppose it would be beneficial, for it has something of the nature of marl, from appearances. Mr. Earle, of the Committee on Pears, submitted the following report : KEPORT OF PEAR COMMITTEE. Your Committee have been pleased to find a much larger collection of pears than has been commonly seen at our meetings, and while they regret the poverty of our STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 155 own State in the exhibition , they have been much pleased and interested with those sent us by our neighbors. Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry liave, with usual and commendablo enterprise and liberality, shown us forty varieties, nearly all of which are in a good condition of preservation, and many of which are firm enougli to keep through the winter. The first pear examined was the new and much talked of late keeping winter pear, the Duchesse de Bordeaux. Your Conunittee believe that the fruit of this variety has never been before seen in the West. It is a fair sized, good looking, though rather rough pera, of a marked high flavor, vinous and refreshing. It is said to keep as long as the Easter, and while it is not as rich and buttery as that variety, it possesses more of that aromatic and lively acid, which will commend it to many buyers. The Beurre d'Anjou is exceedingly fine, and their firmness at this time indicate good keeping qualities. Your Committee would particularly commend this variety to planters as very reliable in all respects. Beurre d'Aremberg — Specimens good size, rougii, and flavor a little rough but vinous and aromatic. Doyenne d'Alencon. — Specimens very good size — not ripe enough to eat, but your Committee believe this to be one of the few excellent and reliable winter pears. Delices d'Hardenpont. — Good looking, but specimens shown of poor flavor. Beurre Gris d'Hiver, — A pear of very noble appearance; specimens too hard for test of flavor. / Lamartine. — Specimens small and inferior looking. Black Worcester, — A fine looking pear — said to be good for cooking. Your Com- mittee have the impression that it is not desirable to multiply varielies of cooking peai's very largely; two or three of the best, like Vicar of Winkfield and Pound, being better than many kinds. Doyenne Rose. — Apparently worthless. Niles. — Unattractive in appearance; specimens hard. This pear is said to have good points . Jones' Seedling. — Medium sized; fruits of fine color and form. Souvenir d'Esperen. — Samples of very coarse quality. Winter Nelis. — Specimens of moderate size and quality; one of our best pears for the North, but wont do in many localities South. Vicar of Winkfield. — Specimens were quite good. Y'our Committee believe that planters will do well to become acquainted with the merits of tliis pear before planting. Beurre Diel. — Specimens small, but of very good flavor; a very unreliable pear. Lawrence. — Specimens of good size, although not equal to those grown in Southern Illinois, and the flavor not equal to ours. A pear of undisputed excellence, which improves in size and quality as it goes South. Oswego Beurre. — Not very attractive in appearance Compte de Flandre. — Of coarse texture but high flavor; worthy of attention, AVillirmoz. — Large, green, handsome. Leon le Clerc de Laval, Large, showy pear; handsome; not ripe enough to eat, Dix, — Specimens of good size. If we were to judge from external appearance, we should be slow to learn the delightful qualities of this pear, as the specimens before us are of rather unattractive exterior, but we judged the Dix as the best pear on the table, in point of flavor. Your Committee would here suggest that the temptation to 156 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS . select all early bearing kinds of fruits to the exclusion of those more tardy and more hardy, is liable to carry us too far. Let us try the Dix, and although we illustrate the old maxim of planting for our heirs when we plant pears , we shall be sustained by the hope that our heirs will be gratified by their inheritance. Beurre Langelier.— Fair skinned, handsome, green; a promising pear m the West. Epine Dumas. — A very fair and beautilul pear; as good inside as out. Columbia. — A large, noble pear, possessing some important advantages as a market fruit. Duchesse d'Angouleme. — The specimens shown are not large, and only fair in quality. This pear demands thinning and high culture, when it is truly great and as good as great. Beurre Clairgeau. — A pear that looks better than it tastes. In addition to these, we would merely mention the following varieties in this collec- tion, but lack of time forbids any extended notice : Josephine de Malines, Jaminette, Figue d'Alencon, Bezi Sanspareil, Fortunee, Chaptal, Prince's St. Germain, Lagaret, Belle de Moire, Beurre Duhaume, Cadette de Vaux, Doyenne SieuUe, Doyenne d'Cercle, Doyenne Goubault. Your Committee found fair specimens of Winter Nelis and Lawrence from H. J. Hyde, of Alton; Vicar of Winkfleld and Doyenne d'Alencon from Mr. Earle; of Josephine de Malines, Beurre Langelier, both especially fine; also, Sheldon, past season, from D. F. Kinney. We also found two or three collections for name from unknown parties. Several varieties of California pears were on exhibition through the kindness of I. S. Piatt, Esq., of Chicago. These pears have peculiar interest at this time. Among them the Pound is most conspicuous, but don't seem to be superior in size to what we often see in the old States . The Beurre Easters are very fine in smoothness of skin and in size, some specimens being larger than your Committee have before seen, but they do not prove of high flavor, though buttery and good; and they have a textm-e of flesh much coarser than with us. The Chaumontel is well calculated to delude a pear hungry public by its beautiful cheek of crimson and gold ; it eats about as well as a poor turnip softened bj' decay. The Flemish Bonchretien has the appearance of a Duchess d' Angouleme, and the quaUty of a pumpkin. The Winter Nelis, among all California pears we have tasted, seems to have no delu- sion about it; it don't look well, and it does taste well. On the whole, we think that California pears possess admirable qualities for — exhibition. The Committee found interesting specimens of preserved gooseberries grown by Henry Barker, of this city, embracing the Whitesmith, a seedling from the same, and the English Green. We also notice specimens of the Chinese Quince of immense size, grown in Louisiana, and exhibited by V. Gerber, Esq. , of St. Louis. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 157 Judge Brown read a paper, as follows : NOTES ON PEARS. If the Apple is king of all the fruits, the pear is certainly entitled to share his throne as Queen Consort. In its choice varieties, it is one of the most delicious of all the pro- ■ducts of the orchard. It lias large size, great beauty of form and coloring, and has for its home a very wide range of latitude, withstanding the rigors of a New England winter and ripening, to the highest perfection, beneath the hot suns of Mississippi. It will grow wherever the Apple growls, flourishing under the same kind of cultiva- tion, and, like the Apple, by its numerous varieties, it extends its seasons of maturity through three-fourths of the j'ear. The tree is, naturally, thrifty, long-lived and productive, attaining, under favorable conditions, a greater age and larger size than any other of our fruit bearing trees. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the pear, even in our most favored markets, is still a luxury attainable by the rich only. There are several reasons for this that will occur to every one, chief of which is the liability of the tree to certain diseases, and especi- ally to that fatal form of blight called, by way of pre-eminence, the pear tree blight. I have nothing to add to what has been already said upon the prolific subject of this malady, except to express the belief that the true cause of it has at last been found in the parasitic fungus so well described by our able State Hoi'ticulturist in a recent num- ber of the Prairie Farmer. I may add that this disease can be, to some extent, pre- vented and in a great measure mitigated by the careful cutting away of aflected branches, or by shaving oft' the bark when the fungus has lixed itself.. The varieties of the Pear are very numerous, the catalogue embracing many hun- dreds of names. Of these, comparatively few have been fully tested in the United States, and fewer still have been fruited in the "West. Of this latter number, perhaps not more than a dozen kinds have been found , in any given locality, adapted to the wants of the commercial orchardist. Indeed, it is doubtful whether more than half that limited number have been found really profitable in any one locality-in our State. In this respect, however, the Pear is not singular. The same is true, approximately, at least, of the Apple, and indeed of all our orchard fruits. A profitable market pear must combine several qualities, in all of which it must be reasonably constant. The trees should be thrifty, and as capable as possible of resist- ing the attacks of the blight; it should be persistent in retaining its foliage throughout the growing season; it should be productive, yielding, with proper treatment, regular and abundant crops. The fruit should be large or of fair size, handsome in form and •color, of good flavor, and not disposed to rot at the core. To those might be added, as a very desirable quality, a tendency to early fruitfulness. The list of varieties that have been proven to possess all these qualities in our Western soil and climate is exceedingly meagre . That it will, in time, be greatly enlarged by the introduction of varieties as yet untried there can be no doubt, and this enlargement is to be most hopefidly. looked for in the numerous new American sorts that are constantly coming into notice. It is of the utmost importance that every one who plants pears with a view to profit should know what kinds will best 'answer his purpose, for upon this will depend his success or failure, and this can be ascertained only by experiments made by himself or 158 TEANSACTIOlsrS OF THE ILLINOIS others . And the space allotted to this essay cannot be better occupied than in a detail of my own experience with the few kinds I have grown. My trees are from seven to ten years planted, partly on pear, but mostly on quince roots. Of the latter, many have partially established themselves on their own roots . VARIETIES. Madeleine (Standards)— Bore fruit at eight years from planting, of good size and excellent quality, ripe on the 4th of July. The next year the best trees died of the blight, and the other was saved only by prompt pruning The wood of this variety is peculiarly soft and sappy, rendering it too susceptible to the attack of blight. Bloodgood.— Trees (standards) now ten years old, vigorous, handsome and healthy, retaining the foliage until frost. They yielded their first crop, a very fair one in quan- tity and of excellent quality, the past season; ripe July 11th. Julienne.— Trees (standards) ten years old; bore their first fruit in 1867; trees healthy and moderately vigorous; fruit of fair size, handsome shape and color, insipid in 1867, but of very fair quality the past season. Ripe about the 1st of August. Buerre Giffard.— This is one of the very best of the early pears, as well as one of the most beautiful, but the tree is a feeble grower, and during the past season failed to retain its foliage. Ripens about the 1st of August. Rostizer. — Trees ten years old; have borne no fruit. Bartlett.— This variety stands at the head of the list for profit. The trees grow rapidly and bear early, and continue to grow and bear. I have seen thrifty, vigorous trees produce a dozen fine pears each the fourth year from the seed. This variety is set down in the books as very liable to blight, but with me it has proved one of the healthiest. I have never lost a tree of it by blight or any other disease, or had one seriously affected. Of the fruit it is unnecessary to speak. Ripens from August 10th to 30th. Flemish Beauty.— This variety is very productive after the trees have reached the age of ten or twelve years , and the fruit is vei-y large and handsome, but the tree is liable to blight, and also to premature loss of leaves . Ripening about the same time as the Bartlett, and inferior to it in most respects, I consider it an unprofitable sort. Belle Lucrative.— This delicious pear would be more worthy of cultivation if it did not, like the Flemish Beauty, come in competition with the Bartlett, to which it is greatly inferior in size and appearance, especially in color. The trees are reasonably healthy , very productive, and come into bearing early . White Doyenne, or Virgalieu.— Trees on quince roots, planted in the spring of 1862. They began to bear the fourth year afterward, and have produced full or partial crops every year since. Both the trees and the fruit have been ^healthy. That peculiar cracking of the fruit of this variety which has rendered it valueless in New York and other localities has not, as yet, appeared in my orchard, except in an occasional speci- men. This ought to be a profitable sort in my locality, but coming in competition with Bartletts, grown a little further north, and being small as compared with that fine fruit, it fails to bring the prices its high quality ought to command— another proof that modest merit does not always receive its just reward. Gray Doyenne.— This is fully equal to the preceding variety in quality, rather larger. It is entirely covered with a coat of orange -colored russett, giving a very STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 159 attractive appearance. It is not quite as productive as the white, but not inferior to it in any other respect. These kinds ripen together in the latter part of August. Buffum — Trees of a vigorous, upright growth, and remarkably fruitful, though somewhat tardy. The fruit is apt to be quite small as the result of excessive fruiting. When taken from the trees at the proper time, this pear is of excellent quality, being almost as sweet as honey. If left to ripen on the tree it is mealy and nearly worthless. It has not the size and appearance to make it a profitable fruit in markets where size and color are everything, and quality only a secondary consideration. Buerre Diel. — Trees, on quince roots originally, now seven years planted, produced their first full crop in 1867. The fruit was magnificent. The trees were exceedingly vigorous in growth , but the past season they have shown a tendency to drop their leaves prematurely and the fruit was inferior. Season, latter part of September. Buerre d' Anjou. — Trees on quince roots, ten years old, very moderate growers with rather meager foliage. They have proved, with me, very shy bearers, but what fi^uit they have produced has been as near perfect, taking size and quality into account, as it seems possible for a pear to be. The trees are healthy, and with greater age may fruit more freely. Seckel. — The only possible objections to this well known pear are its small size, and the tardiness of the tree in coming to bearing. Certainly, nature never elaborated in any other fruit a combination of flavors and juices so delicious as she mingles within the modest coat of the Seckel pear. Fortunately, the trcQ^ is remarkably healthy, form- ing a well-.shaped, symmetrical head almost without care. With me, the fruit has been of unusual size for this variety, many specimens measuring two and three-quar- ter inches in their transverse diameter. On older trees this large size can only be kept up by judicious pruning and thinning. Steven's Genessee. — Tree handsome and moderately healthy, but mine have proved unfruitful, producing only a few specimens of very large, handsome and delicious pears . Onondaga. — My trees of this variety on quince roots, were outcasts or ought to have been, in the beginning, and have made a very poor scraggy growth,. They have, however, been productive of very large, handsome fruit, very highly flavored, but too acid for most tastes. Ripens in October. I shall try this kind further with better trees . Louise Bonne de Jersey. — This well known variety succeeds with me, as it seems to do almost everywhere. The trees are vigorous and productive, but somewhat subject to blight. The fruit is large, handsome and good, and brings good prices in market. Vicar of Winkfleld. — I have discarded this much lauded kind, for the reason that the tree is one of the very worst to blight, whilst the fruit, when you get it, is generally of precious little value. Glout Morceau. — My trees have all died with the blight, after producing a single crop. The fruit is very large, or rather part of it is very large and part rather small. It is also variable in quality, sometimes very fine and sometimes exceedingly astringent. Duchesse d' Angouleme.— This is the only pear I should cai-e to cultivate on the quince stock. The tree is entirely healthy. Fruit very large and plenty of it. Ripens with me in October, and always brings fair prices. I consider this, next to the Bartlett, the most profitable of all the market sorts in my collection. 160 TEAIS! S ACTIONS S OF THE ILLINOIS The foregoing comprise all the varieties that I have fruited, with three or foi;r unim- portant exceptions. One of my neighbors has found the Passe Colmar very healthy in tlie tree and exceedingly productive of large, fine fruit, ripening in October, Tne Easter Buerre has also been fruited in my neighborhood for several years. The trees are healthy and moderately fruittul. This variety we regard as- very valuable on account ol its fine quality and late period of maturity— January to March. Mr. Minkler moved that Mr. Barry and Dr. Furnas have the privi- lege of taking from the collection such apples as they may desire. Carried. Dr. Henry Shimer^ of Mt. Carroll^ read AN ESSAY ON THE BARK LOUSE. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: By previous arrangement, we will now take up the study of the Bark louse, very briefly, in the following order: History and Classification . " Kinds,^'' or methods of making distinctions, as of genera and species. Special Baric Lice, of various kinds, concluding with the Apple Bark Louse. 1st, Its nature and organization. 2d, Its food, consequences, etc. 3d, Methods of propagation and distribution. 4th, Restraining influences. In studying the '" Bark louse ' ' on the present occasion, it is necessary that we have some fixed and definite limits for the term. There are certain peculiar and well defined characters that mark a class of insects that have usually been found upon the bark of trees. They are well known among gardeners and others, imder the name of "scale insects," "mealybugs," "shield lice," etc., and are erroneously supposed all to be entirely destitute of legs. "WTien this same insect takes up its abode upon a leaf, or on the fruit of a tree, we apply, for convenience sake, an arbitrary rule and still pronounce it a ''Bark louse," just as we all persist in pronouncing the pediculi capitis, a head louse still, although it has so far transgressed the rules of decent behavior, as to wander away from its more natural home in that nicely braided or well powdered hair, and by accident, perchance, may be caught on the fair neck of that beautiful young lady, or on the glossy collar of that very exquisite and attractive young dandy in the public assembly. The late learned Entomologist of our State, whose sad fate and untimely end we aU mourn with sorrowful hearts to-day, was very particular to separate the terms, " plant lice " and •' Bark lice " so that they might have a comprehensive appellation. Applying the fonner to the Aphidae, and the latter to the Gocciim, and thus, if possible, have an English name for each of these great classes, as definite as are the scientific names themselves. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 161 The Bibliography of the Bark louse extends back for more than a century through the writings of the fathers of Natural Science, Linnaeus, Burminster, Geoffroy, Fahricius, Latreillc, Burchard, etc., and were all arranged under one natural family Coccidce. They have been looked upon as, ''inert and tixed masses of animal matter, motionless and apparently senseless, resembling nothing more nearly than the vegetable excrescences called galls; " and were supposed to lose all traces of articulations in the body as well as of articulate limbs as they approached the imago state, much of which, although the works of Westwood, Curtis, the fothers above named, and many others, I have already been compelled, after close scientific investigation, to pronounce incorrect, (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. , Jan. 1868), and many more perhaps, still more surprising contradic- tions of these standard authors may be found in my unpublished notes, and thus we find it all along the Entomological highway proving conclusively that we can only arrive at primary truth by the most persevering toil. All this comes out of patient study, for the Coccidae themselves have not changed. The Bark louse of to-day is without doubt the same as those lice in the gardens of the ancient Romans, Babylonians, or of the Pharoah kings of Egypt at ancient Memphis, on the Nile, or going farther down the vista of time, the Bark louse may have been found on the wild fruit tree in the morning of creation, calling upon Father Adam to give it a name. Upon a closer examination of these insignificant creatures we find many " Hnds." These separate varieties, whether real or imaginary, we are in the habit of distinguishing as species, and here in general I would say that I, with the leading Entomologists of our country, have been far too much inclined to consider each Bark louse, as well as Plant louse, on a diflerent food plant as a distinct species, without other sufiicient dis- tinguishing characters; this I have, latterly, by studying their habits, proved to my own satisfaction to be an error, as I have already intimated, (Transactions Northern Illinois Horticviltural Society, 1868), and by subsequent investigation I have been able to breed the same Bark louse — an individual species on the '^Linden'' (Silia Amer- icana) (order Tilacece), on the " Ash-leaved Maple" or " Box Elder," [Negundo acer- oides, order, SapindaceK ; suborder Acerinem) ; and on the "Hornbeam," "Iron Wood," {Garpinus Americana; order, Cupulifera), trees that are in all respects en- tirely difterent in wood, in fruit, in flower, and in taste of their juices, and their natural botanical relations are entirely difterent. The first bears a woody, globular nut, and is arranged in the first {A) department of the Polypetalous division of the Angiospsrmoi, by Dr. Gray the standai'd author of American botany. The second bears a winged, one seeded fruit, and is arranged under the second (C) department of the same. The third bears a small ovoid nut, flowers in Catkins, belongs to the Aiyetalous division, and is of the Oak family. With these facts before us, we cannot longer adhere to the time-honored custom of manufacturing species of Bark lice or Plant lice out of the same, because we find the individuals on the various food plants. And the time is coming, with advancing science, resting on close unprejudiced oljservation, when we must rely upon more substantial characters for distinctions. It were just as wise to pronounce the rabbit to-day one species, which is feeding upon grass; to-morrow, another species, because found feeding upon cabbage; the following day another, because it is eating an apple, and in mid-winter another species, because it is barking the young apple trees in your nursery. 12 162 TEA^S ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS These confessions of former errors I can freely make, because I am not wedded to any opinion or wish, except that grand axiom, the love of truth. Truth is mighty and- will prevail, and I never hesitate to adopt it, however humiliating it may be to my former eiTors. Having found a number of species with some general resemblance, for convenience in study, we group them together and assign to this group a name; this is a genus. "When we find in the course of study that the characters of a species are such as to- diflfer from all these groups, we create a new group — genus ; and in the same way out of genera we make families. But we soon weary of the dry details of Comparative Anatomy and the rigidity of SeientLtic Classification. But with the practical we find an unending field of pleasant amusement. As we approach the study of '■^Special Barh Lice'^ we promise only to glance at the unfathomed ocean that lies before us. Here we have devoted much time and made many notes, manj' yet in an unfinished state ; some have been made public and others are in process of publication. On the bark of the " White pine^ ' [Finns strolus) Ave often find a downy substance inhabited by a coccus-like insect. This heretofore has been considered a bark louse, but a little^ patient observation will convince you that it develops into a true four-winged two- clawed plant louse. See my forthcoming report in the Transactions of the American Entomological Society. Another on the leaf of the same plant, supposed to be iden- tical, is a true bark louse. The Lecanium, which we find on many trees — linden, boxelder, ironwood, oak, hickory, prickly ash, etc. — is probably but one species, as I have proven for the first three named trees. I have also observed it on the osage orange. The editors of the American Entomologist, Vol. 1, p. 14, represent another species on the osage orange, a down-producing species, and another quite similar one, which we find abundant on the maple all over the country, has a different specific name assigned, and Dr. Fitch in like manner names one on the grape (Z. fitis); another on the pear {L. ijyri) ; for what good reason we can not conceive. Certainly not because they are on difl:erent trees can this be sustained; for that, as we have just shown, is no reason at all. These are all naked insects, crawling about on the limbs of the trees, not being protected by a distinct scale, as is the apple bark louse; they are greatly troubled by the parasitic chalcis flies , numbers of which I have bred while studying the habits of these bark lice. "We often find on the tree the di-y shell of the Lecanium with a small round hole in its back. This is the work of the parasite as it escapes from its ruined victim. But for this fortunate phase in its natural history, this species would become more. numerous and injurious than the apple bark louse; for I have observed them to produce a much more numerous ofi"spriug. The gall-producing insect {Dactylo spharea -citifoUae) on the grape leaf has been con- sidered a bark louse, as well as another of very similar habits on the hickory. These have lately been the subjects of much useful controversy. I have studied them all with the greatest care and desire for truth, and am entirely convinced that they can never be arranged with the bark hce. See my report in the proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., Jan. 1867, where I show from bred specimens that the grape leaf louse, in the perfect state, has fovu- just as ample wings as any other plant louse, and for a more complete discus.sion I must refer you to a forth- coming report on the hickory leaf gall lice, where I show that many species of hickory gall insects develop their young from eggs in June, and still are plant lice. STATE HORTICULTURAL'' SOCIETY. 163 APPLE BARK MCE. Usually known as Aspidiotas Harrisii and A-ij). Gonchiformis , are more despised, especially the latter, by the horticulturists of this and other Northern States than any or all other species of bark lice among us. The formei- 1 Iiavo known from my youth up; it was pointed out to me when a small boy liy my father on the fruit trees, pear, apple, etc., on the farm where I was raised, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, It was somewhat abundant, and injurious on young trees, bit not to be compai-od with the latter in Northern Illinois. This has been called the American or '■' Wldte Barh lov.se,'' ' l^ecause of its l)road, flat, grey scale. This scale serves to protect a few purple eggs during the winter. I do not find this any more numerous there now than lio or 30 years ago, and only on the young trees. On the old moss-covered trees that w^ere planted long ago, some of them probably before the revolutionary war, I could find no bark lice. Four years ago I saw there some of the imported or " Oyder-sJiell larlc lice'' ' on young apple trees imported from New York State. When I again visited my old home last May, I did not observe any increase in this insect on these same young trees. I saw a few on an old tree in a neighbor's orchard, ami on a seedling l)y the roadside, one-fourth of a mile from any other apple tree.^ Why this failure to increased May it not be because the climate is too warm and damp? Our imported oyster-shell bark louse has long been arranged under the coccus family. The coccids are scale-Wke insects, either moralle or immoruUe, and the iars-uslvAa one joird ^r\(\one claiv, according to the construction of the family, as arranged tor us by the old authors. But after studying this bark louse in the most careful manner, I found that it was not a scale-^«^-c insect any more than is a common meat-maggot, Ijut that it is a scale-luilding insect. It lives inider its scale, which is its house of covering or pro- tection, and there lays its eggs in autumn, and the same scale that had protected the body of the mother during the sununer, protects the eggs during the wiulcr. the mother having dried away to a small particle in the anterior part of the scale — the eggs, occupying the greater part of the cavity beneath the scale. (Mr. Riley also observed this fact simultaneously) . All previous authors believed that the scale-like shield was the actual body of the mother, and liy studying dry specimens, coidd not well come to any other conclusion. Therefore the eggs beneath the scale were sup- posed yet to be in the body of the dead mother. If they had studied their specimens in the living state as I did for the purposes of gaining practical and unmistakable information, they long ago would have obtained the same results as I made public on the first of November, 18G7. On studying the newly hatched young bark louse with a microscope, the only state in which they are found with legs, I find the one-jointed tarsi without claws — witliout even the trace of a claw. After such revelations, how could I retain it in the coccus family where the insects are all declared to be scale-like and the tarsus has one clawJ' The Homoptera are arranged under three sections : 1. Finera. — Tarsi 3-joiuted. 2. Bimera. — Tarsi 2-jolnted. 3. Monomera. — Tarsi 1-jointcd. — Westwood's Introduction, Vol. 2, p. 419, This last section {Monomera) heretofore has embraced only the Coccidae, Tarsi one- claw. When I studied the vitifoliae insect on the grape leaf, and in connection, part 164 TEAXS ACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS of the hickory leaf insects, I found species in which the tarsi had one joint and two claws. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phila., Jan. 1867). Prom these and subsequent discoA'erieSj we have the Monomera with the following characters : 3I0NOMEEA. — Dactylosphaeridae, Tarsi, two claws. Coccidm, Tarsi, one claw. Lepidosaphidae, , Tarsi, no claw. This I at once saw tilled iip the vacancies under this section. Hence I proceeded with considerable modesty to propose names for these vacancies according to the dis- coveries I had made, and subsequent researches have made me strong in the position I then took. For a full history of this important subject I must refer you to my original papers — Proc. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phila., Jan. ^ 1867, and Trans, Amer. Ent. Soc, Jan., 1868. With these papers before them, see what the editors of the American Entomolo- ■gist, Vol, 1, p. 248 say under the head of ^' grape leaf gall louseP From that article I have selected the following as an example of their method of publishing the views of other writers : " Dr. Shimer, ot Mt. Carroll, made some interesting observations on the habits of this insect, and made it the type of a new family {Dactylosphaeridoe) and of a new genus {Dactylospliaei a) . The distinguishing features of this supposed family are certain ap- pendages attached to the legs, which Dr. Shimer calls digitali; '' and further on they add, " But we will say here that Dr. Shimer is unfortunate in grinding out new genera and new families, for he has proposed a new family {LepidosapTice) for the com- mon apple tree bark louse {Aspidiotus \_MyUlaspis] ConcMformis, Gmel.) based upon similar appendages which he found on its legs," etc., etc. Here they would like to make the public believe that these appendages, digitali, are the characters out of which I have proposed two families in Entomology ; whereas, the leading character upon which I propose my family, Dactylosphaerida, is two claws on a one-jointed tarsus, and the leading characters in LepidosapMdcB are a tarsus without a claw, and a scale making not a scale like insect. The digitali from their globe ended extremities I consider of some importance, but by no means of primary weight in the fii'st named family, and in the second family I give them no more than secondary importance. What reasons the junior editor, for he alone now becomes responsible;^ can assign for so gross misrepresentation I am not able to anticipate. He certainly, however, will be able to give some reason for the faith within him. I advanced those j)rinciples for the sake of science, and science alone; are they adopted, I have gained no pecuniary good; are they rejected by the scientific world, I have lost nothing by in- timating the propriety of their adoption. What I did, grew out of pure, independent scientific research, from the love of truth for its own sake, and not to battle with any principles that the editors of said Entomologist were endeavoring to maintain, for 1 am not aware that they ever advanced any principles of importance on this subject, I have not the slightest personal feeling in the matter, and I hope that my much respected friend, Mr. Riley, State Entomologist ot Missouri, will be free to defend the position he has thus taken against me. When convinced by sound argument that the position I maintain is wrong I wiU most cordially yield the point, The adoption or non-adoption of those families and genera is nothing to me personally, but everything to the science of the subject they comprehend; and here allow me to remark that it is a good rule for us STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 165 all to remember and observe, that while discussing scientific subjects we can never gain anything worth having by departing from the paths of science and stooping to person- alities and misrepresentation, and were it not for the sake of the cause I would vindi- cate, I would not think their strictures worthy of notice. Yovfood, this oyster shell bark louse, in the main, adopts the cultivated apple tree, sucking the juices from the bark by means of a proboscis adapted to its purposes; neither is it confined to the apple, but as has often been proven, has been found on the curi'ant, plum, pear, moiuitain ash, etc, and was originally described from the elm, all of which have frequently been made public by various authors. That is we have it in the genus Rihes, order, Grossulacece ; on the genus Prunus and sub-genera Malus and Sorhus of the genus Pyrus, order, Rosacem, and on the genus Vtrmis, order, Urticacea: That is, in plain English, the " oyster shell bark louse ' ' feeds on members of the rose family, currant family, and nettle family. These families are as widely separated, botanieally, as in the example already given of lecanium, and is another reason why we cannot name even bark lice on account of the food plants on which they are found, being of a diflerent genus or of a different family. All of this I endeavored to make plain in a paper offered to the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society at Aurora, Feb. 10, 1869, entitled " The Apple Baric Louse in 1868," misprinted 1866, which was pub- lished in the Transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural Society for 1868, page 227. That paper was written 1,000 miles away from home, when I was closely pressed with other duties. I neglected to notice the fact that the bark louse was found on the currant, intending to do so in the proof sheets, giving an authority, should the paper go into print. The proof sheets were not sent to me, and I knew nothing of the fate of the paper, although I had made iui|uiry, until I saw a galling stricture upon it in the American Entomologist. The omission just noted made a logical error of but little moment, for the wliole paper makes its own explanation, but which the Entomologist greedily laid hold of in an article headed, " Ash and Mountain Ash," the main object being to flatter me with the assurance that, after years of botanical study, I did not know to what family Dr. liray assigned the mountain ash, all of which you can read at your leisure, as I do not care to copy any of it or make furtlier comment. In my paper on " The Apple Bark Louse " in the Transactions of the American Entomologi- cal Society, Jan., 1868, I gave a minute description and date of observations of the method of propagation. I followed the insect, day after day, from its fii'st hatching on the 9th of June, through every phase of its development to the perfect state. After about two months they commenced laying their eggs, and continued egg laying tor about one month, having finished their work, died. In my paper already alluded to in the Trans. 111. State Hort. Society for 1868, I have given very precise data regarding the distribution of the bark louse, and prove that they spread chiefly by instrumentahty of winds, by crawling on the ground and other ob- jects, and to this I will add, running water may^carry the young bark louse a great dis- tance during a shower, and it yet survive and ascend a tree. During the last summer I have observed that a creek transported young lecanium insects a long distance, and gave them access to trees of a different species on which they developed successfully. Regarding the methods and instrumentalities that restrain the spread of the "Apple Bark louse ''much has been said on all sid(^s. "Washes and applications of various kinds, patented and otherwise, have been resorted to, many of which, especially the alkaline washes, have proven useful, and l)ut for the difficulty in applying them at the 166 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS right time to every limb and twig, might be an entire success. No remedy applied to the trunk of the tree ever was, or ever will be, destructive of the louse on the limbs, no matter how it may be applied, either by applying on the surface of the bark, or by de- positing in a hole in the body of the tree, except it kills the tree, and then, of course, it will be eft'ectual in killing the louse also. It is just as reasonable to suppose that we can kill lice on the body of an animal, or on man, by using Internal remedies, as to suppose that we can kill the lice on a tree by medicating the tree . The greatest bark louse exterminator ever discovered, is Auriis malus, an insect belonging to the niite family . It feeds upon the eggs and young bark lice , as I have shown in the Transac. tions of the American Entomological Society, Jan. , 1868, and in the Trans. Ills. State Hort. Soc. for 1868, published in 1869, and as Mr. Walsh has also shown in his "First Annual Report on the Noxious Insects of the State of Illinois," page 44, from his own independent observations. We both discovered this very important parasite independent of each other during the summer of 1867. No other insect, or device, can compare with it for efficiency, and probably nothing except inclement weather will ever excel it. The desire among us all is to disco\'er something that we can apply at will by, our own art that will destroy the bark louse eflectually. But what shall we use or try that has not been tried already. Among parisiticides, corrosive sublimate has no ec(ual ; it will kill the bark louse. But the only question is, can it be applied so as not to kill the tree also. According to Bouchardat, plants are poisoned by solutions containing a thou- sandth part of this drug— Stillc. Therapeutics, Vol. 2, p. 659. In 1867 I commenced experimenting with this, using it at the rate of one pound to the barrel of water; this applied in the month of June killed all the bark lice, but appeared to injure the bark of the tree. Since then I see that the cuticle was destroyed and peeled off. I also made applications at the rates of one ounce, and four ounces to the barrel of water, without any eifect on the ^^hark-Uce.'" Weak solutions of carbolic acid, sulphite of soda, and such like drugs, might reason- ably be tried. Another great desideratum is a machine to apply any agent safely and at the same time economically. I have often thought that a large machine that would operate on the principle of the medical spray apparatus might be etfectual and useful in applying lotions and washes of any kind to the small limbs and twigs of trees. I also ascertained that strong solutions of soap will kill the young bark-louse, when it is running on the tree, but very soon after it attaches itself it is protected by an impervious case from such mild applications. Such applications will be quite effectual if applied just the right day, as in a year like 1867, when I saw most of the bark-lice running on one day — June 9th; but as is usual, when they hatch on successive days, during a week or ten days, it -ijecomes more difficult to kill them by local applications, foi", as I have heretofore shown, the young bark louse attaches to the tree and forms the first segment ot its scale before sundown of the day of its birth, luiless prevented by accident; and it Avoidd be a great task to syringe the trees over with soap suds every day for ten days at the hatching time of the young bark louse. Mr. Walsh, in his Annual Report, p. 46, after a series of experiments, also concludes that soap suds will kill the bark louse shortly after it is hatched, l)Ut it has no eflect upon the perfect scale; that scrubbing the trees with a stiff brush will break up the young scale, but that the old matured scale can only be removed by the edge of a knife oi' other such tool ; both of which methods are not very practical on the small twigs or branches. He also concludes that strong alkaline washes and tobacco water STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 167 liave no ettect whatever on the scale insect, whenever they may be apphed. He also believes that petroleum or kerosene oil, or probably any oily or fatty substance, will most ctieetually kill every bark louse and its eggs that it may come in contact with, without injuring the trees, and cites in proof of the efficacy and harmlessness of oleagin- ous applications, the experiments of Dr. Mygatt, who used lard in 1854, of Dr. Fitch; who used grease or oil; of Mr. Cavanach, of Brooklyn, who used kerosene; of Mi*. J. L. Budd, of Iowa, who used benzine and soap, and of Dr. Pennington, who applied pure petroleum to the trunks of one hundred trees without injurious effects. Immediately iu the same connection Mr. Walsh gives the opinions of other men in ditferent places to the contrary, who had killed trees and other vegetables with oils, and concludes that nothing but actual experiment will settle the matter, which he promises to do in the following year, i. e., 1868. After this time^ when he hoped to complete his •experiments, Mr. Walsh, in February, 1869^ at Aurora, before the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, declares that the best remedy he had found against bark lice was one part domestic soap and six parts of water, to be applied, as I have heretofore set forth, soon after the insect is hatched. From these reports, in the absence of further evidence, it is probable that Mr. Walsh did not tind, after all, that oleaginous applications were reliable. For my part, I can say nothing about it from actual experiments. Grafting men and others tell me that oils invariably injure young scions. I confess that I have no belief that fatty oils can be safely used, except it may be in moderation on the thickened dead epidermis of ^the trunks of rough old trees, and there it can do good, because the bark louse can only be found thriving on somewhat tender bark, and best on the young tender branches, where fatty oleaginous applications, without doubt from the evidence, would be entirely ruinous. In all our experiments it becomes us to be very cautious lest we be led into eiTor from the many causes that might be at work silently and unobserved destroying the bark louse. And like the maxim of 3Ir. Paget, the great English surgeon, who upon seeing good results after administering a remedy for disease, asks himself the question, what would have happened if he had not given it? This I appreciated most forcibly in 1867 while I observed the work of the acarian parasite at the same time that I was experimenting with soaps, corrosive sublimate, •etc., and finally the great work the parasite was doing led me for the time to desist from experimenting. Had I not discovered the parasite, uiy applications would have been lauded as eminently successfid, and the following year the parasites were so lunnerous that experiments would have been still more uncertain. Kerosene and other volatile oils may not always kill the trees, and may also fail to kill the lice. About three years ago Mrs. Shinier had pure kerosene applied to two trees iu Mt. Carroll Seminary orchards with great care to every limb and twig, in the spring, before the appearance of the leaves. The trees have not been materially injured; have fruited since, but still have many bai-k lice on them. One tree badly infested with bark lice on body and limb was headed in closely so as to make sure work. The trunk and limbs were most faithfully treated with a mixture of kerosene and tobacco •decoction, thought to be strong enough and greasy enough to kill all the lice if there was any kill to them; and yet when the young shoots came out they were found to have bark lice on them, and now the hmbs are about as badly infested as other trees •of the orchard, and moreover the body of the tree, which was very healthy when the 168 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS treatment was instituted, is now partly dead and in a decaying condition, tbus proving- in tins case that the medicine was worse than the disease. It has borne no fruit since- and in all probability never will. Upon looking over a tree full of bark Hce I often see scales that are torn open on the outer surface, as if the work of some small bird^ and without doubt, as Dr. Harris assures us, birds lend us a helping hand even against bark lice. The advice that j^Ir. Walsh gives in his 6th statement, (p. 52 Eeport) to always plant a clean tree, is most excellent. A clean orchard isolated by a few hundred yards wiU be- likely to escape if care is taken not to introduce infested trees to fill vacancies. Cut do-wn all old orchards with bark lice as soon as they cease to bear profitably. Mr^ "Walsh also (p. 53 of his Report) advances two most excellent tenets : 1st. That cultivating the tree does not discommode the bark louse. 2d. That drugs of any kind can not be introduced into the circulation of the tree and have the same effect on the bark louse as when applied directly upon the insect. These appear to be as evident as the axioms of geometry themselves, and yet they have always been a stumbling block to many. And thus after all you see that I have not given you a universal panacea against bark lice. The ancient Alchymists long sought the elixir of life, and found it not. The Spaniards, in the times of the early discoveries in America, sought in vain for the fountain of youth. Ponce DeLeon expected that when he should discover this iountain and plunge beneath its waters, that his gray hairs would turn black, and that he would come out a rosj" boy ag-ain, but he was only rewarded with a mortal wound by the savages; and Ferdinand De Soto, by plunging into the unexplored, wilds of America, found a hollow log in which his mortal remains were committed to the Father of Waters. Reversing this picture, although we have not found a universal panacea for extermi- nating bark lice, 5"etwe will continue to hope that we may find some "hollow log"^ that will float the apple bark louse away from the shores of time. Dr. Shroeder — I will give two remedies here foi' the bark louse. It happened that I had a thousand gallons of poor Avine, that did not have sugar enough in it that a man would take it. I put the barrels outside in order to get the rays of the sun into the wine. One of these barrels burst, and it happened that we took a sack to stop the crack in the barrel, and it came in contact with the sour wine. I hung that sack on a tree, and the sour wine ran down on the tree,, and I tell you, the bark lice were killed. [Laughter.] I went to work and tried another tree, and I found they could not stand it. [Eenewed laughter.] Now, there is no joke about it. [Loud laugh- ter.] I just want to throw that out to our friends. Try vinegar. Por everything there is a remedy. You can kill the devil if you like. [Cheers and laughter.] We killed slavery, why should we STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 169 say we cannot kill the bark louse? [Laughter.] There is another thing will kill him — Amex'iean whisky will do it. [Loud laughter.] You try it, and you will find that the bark louse will skedaddle. Mr. Douglas — Did your wine kill the tree ? Dr, Schroeder — Oh ! no, no ! Dr. Shimer — I have said that corrosive sublimate would kill the louse, and I say that I most heartily rejoice that we have this bark louse parasite. It is doing good work. We must remember that there are some things else at work besides ourselves. Whisky will kill them, perhaps ; that this wine will kill them is also probable. It always becomes us to remember that the scales on the trunk of a tree may be old bark lice. I hope the Doctor will be able to find a remedy to kill the old gentleman he speaks of. Mr. Dunlap — The bark louse in our neighborhood has nearly dis- appeared. I found a few on carefully looking over one orchard, but none in my own. The President — It disappeared in my neighborhood sometime ago. Mr. Humphrey — Dr. Shimer says the bark louse deposits on young- bark because it is tendei". Now, if we undertake to do away with the injury, shall we not injure the bark by our remedies ? Mr. Eiley — I will simply state that I would take great pleasure in discussing some of the points Dr. Shimer has made, in a scientific manner. I do protest against many of his ideas. I should like to ask him what he means by the term "species." If the Doctor will explain that to me, I may be able to understand some of his opinions. Otherwise I do not undei'stand all the positions he has taken. Also, do you mean the "atomizer" when you mention the " spray instru- ment?" Dr. Shimer — Yes, sir. Richard's atomizer works with a ball. I think that a rabbit is a species, and so is a dog, but there are a good many different kind of dogs. If I can take the bark louse from a hickory tree and breed it upon the linden and upon ironwood, as I have done profusely, then it proves to me that they are the same species, although fed on a different food-plant. It is the same with ^ T 70 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS plant lice. "We used to think that the louse on one plant was different from the louse on another, but as Mr. Walsh admitted, it might at least be partiall}' admitted, that we had one species instead of two. The President — I commend the idea of Mr. Eiley not to bring matters up that are still in dispute, when they are purely scientific. When we adjourn, it would perhaps be well to know the names of delegates from other horticultural societies. INVITATIONS FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. Dr. Furnas — On behalf of the Indiana State Horticultural Society, I cordially invite you to come to our meeting, which occurs at Indian- apolis on the 4th of January, Mr. Foster — Our meeting in Iowa takes place the second week in January. As we have derived much benefit from your Society, we should be glad if you would call over to see us. Mr. Murtfeldt — On behalf of the Missouri Association, I invite you to attend our meeting at St. Louis on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th of January. Mr. Daggy — I would like to see you all at the meeting of the Central Illinois Association at Mattoon in the first week in February. We have made arrangements with the railroads to return members and delegates free. Mr. Scott — On behalf of the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, I would extend invitations to the members of this Society and of the societies of adjoining States, to meet us at Dixon on the last week in January. Mr. Flagg — On behalf of the Trustees of the Illinois Industrial University, I would announce that it is the intention to hold, this winter, three sessions of agricultural lectures and discussions, the first one at Champaign in the first week in January, the second at Centralia about the 24th of Januarj'^, lasting three days, and the third at some point in the northern part of the State, not yet fully deter- mined upon, on or about the beginning or middle of February. We STATK IIORTICLLTL'HAL SOCIETY. 171 shall endeavor to make the times not conflict with other meetings^ and shall be glad to see our furmers and friends present. ■ Mr. Baldwin — Mr. Bowman, the artist of OttaM'a, would bo glad to take pictures of this assembly. As you pass out he will take pictures of us on the steps of the court house, so as to immortalize us. Mr. Flagg — This Societ}' has now been organized 13 years. We have had a number of eminent men as presidents, and I think it would be interesting to future members of the Society, and certainl}' it would be to us, to have the pictures of them all. I therefore move that the ex-presidents of this Society be requested to furnish the Secretarj' with their photographs, and that he be authorized to procure a photograph album for them. Carried. Dr. Schroeder — I move that we do now adjourn until 2 o'clock. The motion prevailed, and the meeting stood adjourned. THIED DAY— AFTEENOON SESSION. The Society met pursuant to adjournment. President MeWhorter in the chair. . Mr. Dunlap submitted a report from the COMMITTEE ON NEW FRUITS. Champaign, Ills., December, 1SG9. Saml. Edwards, Chairman oj the Committee : — The imderisigued, one of the members of the Committee on Selection of New Fruits, would respectfully report that, of the small fruits, I have in course of trial the following : KITTATINNY BLACKBERRY. Have had it two- winters, and thus tar proves hardy, but as the Lawton is equally hardy at this point, that fact determines nothing for points north of this, and in grounds not sheltered, my smafl-fruit grounds being sheltered by belts of forest trees thirty feet high. The season of the Kittatinny appears to be about the same of the Lawton, though the main crop ripens more freely in the early part of the season. The mode of training 172 TRA^^SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS is to cut back the new growth in June and July to three feet, and in August to shorten in the side shoots. This treatment is favorable to large crops of fine berries, and no doubt has much to do in preventing winter killing. MISSOURI MAMMOTH. This fruit is of less size than the two named above, and gives evident promise of a failure at this point. I shall continue it another year, but not with a view to extend its culture. RASPBERRIES. Among the mystifications and swindling that have pervaded the history of this fruit for the past three or four years, the public have at last reached solid ground. Any person can go to the forest in the fruiting season and run the whole gamut of native , Doolittle, Miami, etc., except the Mammoth Cluster, which only exists in the imagina- tion of the genus shyster among plant dealers. This bold attempt at re-naming a standard variety of fruit has come to public exposure, and richly deserves the scorn of every cultivator of fruit. For these attempts there is no good reason why the parties engaged in them should not be indited and punished like other cheats for obtaining money under lalse pretenses. The statutes of our fetate are plain on this subject, and all it lacks is their enforcement. THE MIAMI. This variety is a few days later than the Doolittle, and when well grown is large. The canes grow strong and are armed with sharp spines. THORNLESS. This is a good grower, and is nearly destitute of spines. It has not been fully tested by fruiting, but has the appearance of a vigorous if not productive plant. PHILADELPHIA. In regard to this fruity it is simUar to Purple Cane, and is too soft to ship any dis- tance on our roads. With steel rails we may have an improvement, when it may be possible to ship even the Purple Cane. Thus far the raspberries have not met the expectations of planters in this part of the State. A general system of mulching may have a good efl:ect. I now plant in rows eight feet, and three feet in the row. STRAWBERRIES — THE MICHIGAN. • Hathaway's Seedling No. 1, or as now named, the Michigan, gives promise of being valuable. It is very vigorous, and, like the Wilson, has little tendency to thi-ow oflF runners, and thus not to exhaust the bearing plant. I look upon that habit of the Wilson as the secret of success. Should the Michigan prove as productive as I have hopes it may, it ^\ill have some advantages in flavor. Mr. Hathaway has sent out two or three of his seedlings to prominent fruit-growers, who will no doubt report on them in due time. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 173 Of the Micliiguu, I have saved all the runners for my own planting, but shall not continue the No. 2, on account of its disposition to throw out runners, riants of this new variety were sold last year, or at least ottered for sale. ONARGA, Or Owen's Seedling, lias been on trial four or tive years. The plants are very vig- orous, more inclined to runners than the Michigan, but less than most varieties. The fruit is very large, rather soft, but yet carries well; on the whole, a very promising fruit. It will need be cultivated in hills to succeed the best. Mr. Owen persisted until this year in growing this fruit under his apple trees, and hence it has not had a good chance to show what it is capable of doing. THE ALPINES. Among these we have what is claimed to be a new seedling under the name of MEXICAN EVERBEARING. Whether this is a new variety, the eflect of growing in hills, a fiivorable season, or the effects of liquid manures, is not fully settled. Certainly it has puzzled the horti- cultural world, and put several of its members by the ears . In my own grounds it is so nearly identified with the old Red Alpine that no visitor, not even those dealing iu the plants, have been able to say which is the Red Alpine and which is the Mexican . I have fancied that the fruit of the Red Alpine is a deeper red and its terminal more round or less pointed, and also smaller; but all these ditferences may be due to newly set plants. Both have borne through the wet periods, and both have bloomed and failed to perfect their fruits during the dry periods. Both have fruited on the new runners, and thus far, both to me are equally worthless; and so far as this part of the State is interested, I think it is of little importance whether they are identical or not, unless we can have new light on their culture further north and in moist locations. Cultivated in hills, it may be of more value. At Detroit, Mr. Whiting has grown fine crops, samples of which I have seen, and which were large and showy, though not of the highest flavor; very pleasant to have out of the strawberry season. Its history in Michigan has been so remarkable, that such men as Warder, Meehan and Elliott, think that it must be of value, and should have a more extensive trial. Because it has not succeeded in Central Illinois this season there is no reason why it should not have a further trial with a view to most thoroughly test its value. APPLES. This fruit is of the greatest value and deserves our best attention, BEN DAVIS. This fruit continues to please us. Tree hardy, a young and profuse bearer, and a long keeper. The quality is not so good as desired, but its other points are too valu- able to be overlooked, and it must occupy a high position in the commercial orchard. 174 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS STANARD. Tills apple is beginning to attract attention, as it proves to be the most valuable of all the fall and early winter varieties. This year I had about seven hundred bvishels of this fruit, which has given me an opportunity to test it on the market. By the owners of fruit-stands, train-boys, and all the lovers of good apples, it is pronounced number one. The variety is now pretty well disseminated; so much so that no speculation can be had with it. There are few trees of it for sale, as the nurseries have been stripped of them. Those desiring the fruit should top-graft some seedling of a less valuable variety. I have sent out several hundred small lots in letters to those who have sent a stamp to prepajj^ the postage. It has now been sufficiently tested in Central and Northern Illinois to be put in the list for general market and family use. I have some doubts of its value south, as I notice in that section a tendency to rot on the tree and to crack at the stem. It is an apple of the North, originating some eight miles from Buffalo, New York, and first disseminated by Benjamin Hodge, of the Buffalo Nursery. ROME BEAUTY. This fruit scabbetl the past season, but on the whole appears to do well, and should be largely planted. None of the new summer apples can compare in value with the SOPS OF WINE, Which may be safely put at the head of the list of early summer market apples. We cannot be too careful in adopting new fruits. These come to us glowing with poetic embellishments of imaginative charlatans, or are the pets of some over anxious godfather. All of these should be submitted to rigid tests, and their merits and demerits fairly presented. A person who buys a new fruit to propagate for sale is not generally the most disinterested person in the world, and his opinion may be taken Avith some caution. New fruits of value have, in almost every case, been the result of accident, and they have been a long time in obtaining the confidence of the planter. Nature has been a better cross-breeder than the artist. The Concord, Ives and Hartford grapes can lay no claim to design. The Wilson strawberry, Miami, Black Cap, and our fine apples and pears have all come in the due course of nature, obeying the law of variance. We may, therefore, question the right of any one making a fortune out of them, and the re-naming of old varieties and palming them off as new, should have more than the scorn of the innocent purchaser; it shoiild be treated on the same footing with similar crimes, and subject the vendor to the pains of our statutes. M. L. DUNLAP. FAILURE OF APPLE ORCHARDS. r Mr. Flagg presented a letter from Mr. Thomas : Union Springs, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1S69. Tyle7' McWhorter, President III. Hovt. Soe. — Respected Friend : Illness and other causes have prevented me from replying sooner in relation to the deterioration of the ajDple STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 175 crop, and diseasccl eyes will compel me to answer briefly. lam sorry that I cannot give a clear and decisive answer, founded on statistics, showing tlie present condition of the crop as compared with the same many years ago. There is no doubt, however, that we obtain smaller and poorer crops in most places than formerly; but some of the statements that have been made are greatly exaggerated or apply to certain small localities. The deterioration, where it exists, is probably owing to the following causes : 1. The apple worm. 2. Decline of old trees. 3. Neglected culture. 4. Settlement and hardening of soil perhaps. Possibly there may be some constitu- tional deterioration of the trees, but I think not. The first mentioned cause, the apple wonn, I think docs most of the damage. It has increased greatly of late years, and hardly a sound apple is found. The moth lays its its egg at the calyx end. and the worm enters the core. Many apples drop before maturity, and those which remain are poor. I would like to learn the result of expe- riments in turning in sheep in large numlers during the growing season to eat the fallen and infested fruit continuing year after year without interruption. A single season's trial would not probably amount to much. 2. Orcliar(U oidei' than 50 or GO years are unreliable, the limbs die in part, the crops are uncertain. There are many such orchards now. 3. Orchards generally are left entirely to take care of themselves. I have seen trees however standing in gardens 70 years old that still bore well, showing that the life of the tree is prolonged by good culture . 4. Since the land has been cleared ofi" and cultivated long, the original freshness, fertility, and the porous character for roots and vegetable mould have partly disap- peared, soils have been more compact. Where there has been an opportunity to observe, it is found that most soil has actually settled some three or four inches. Probably this may have aiiectcd the health and vigor of orchards in the same way that the cultivation of the surlace or its neglect may influence growth. Some talk of the exhaustion of the soil by the trees, but I can not see the force of this reason, as the roots extend yearly into new soil. Of course no one would plant an orchard immediately after another orchard, where this exhaustion would be repeatecl and the new roots would have to pass where the old had been. Very truly, J. J. THOMAS. Perhaps I ouglit to add that the apple crop here, most seasons, is still heavy and highly remunerative to owners, notwithstanding these drawbacks. The President — We should like to hear from Mr, Barry, of Eoch- ester, as to the cause of the decline of the apple crop in the older States. Mr. Barry — My opinion is that the decline is owing to the want of cultivation. There never was a time, in my opinion, when there was such a demand for apple trees as at the present moment. I was 176 TEANSACTIOXS OF THE ILLINOIS telling some of the gentlemen to-day, at noon, that if a million trees were offered — for instance, such as the Baldwin — they would be pur- chased at twice or three times the price at which they were formerly to be had ; but they can not be got. I know of an orchard twelve years old, the trees in which are nearly all Baldwin. It is situated on a hillside, so that by going to one end of it you can see nearly the whole one hundi*ed acres. They are nearly all equal in age. It belongs to Oliver Chapin, in the county of Ontario. The land there is being rapidly taken up for similar orchards. There can be no stronger proof that the apple can be grown as successfully as ever it was. The reports as to its being decaying are from old orchards which have had no attention. There is, of course, a decline in them. A large portion of the fruit is unmarketable, and a great many are wormy. Again, a great many people will say, " Still, apple orchards are not what they used to be." They are not, in their case, because the trees have passed their prime. People in New York and Penn- sylvania, and I believe in New England, all agree that apples can be cultivated there as well to-day as thirty or forty years ago. I would remark that there is a great improvement in the character of the fruits, which shows there is an imj)rovement in cultivation. I do not know that I can state anything further. Mr. Flagg — I would like to hear from Mr. Meehan. Mr. Meehan — I find that the failure is on the grounds of persons who have not time to do anything. If they have time to do anything, apple culture is no greater failure now than fifty years ago. In all the interior counties of Pennsylvania you would find that it was quite as successful. In Lancaster, Montgomery and other counties, there are as many apples grown as in any county in the Union, and the markets of Philadelj^hia arCj to a great extent, supplied from them. "Where cultivation is neglected — where insects are allowed to do just as they please, there you see failures, and there only ; and so far as I am able to judge, neglect is the only cause of failure in that State. Mr. Barry — In the county of Niagara I took some pains to get the statistics of the apple crop, and I ascertained, from reliable figures, STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 177 that there was half a million bushels (?) of apples that were thrown away, and another half million that were injured. This year, in the city of Eochester, I am sure I saw acres of apple barrels that were shipped by canal during that cold weather. They were piled up there — thousands and thousands of barrels, and it was supposed they were injured; but I found afterwards that they were not. Mr. Humphreys — I would like to ask if the apple tree would be as long lived as the old orchards, or will they die out twenty-five or ■thirty years hence ? Mr. Barry — I do not see why they should be any shorter lived than old trees. Probably in new soils they might live longer. Mr. Humphreys — I ask it in reference to orchards in the "West. I find that trees die within twenty-five or twenty-six years. I speak of the city of Henry, or within five or six miles thereof. The trees grow thriftily until they are five or six years of age, on Sandy river, emptying into the Illinois river, five or six miles from Henry. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — The geologists told us, last year, not to plant there. Dr. Hull — There are abundant reasons why they should not live. I do not know as to the gentleman's locality, but there is no cause operating there that would not have operated one hundred or one thousand years ago, or twenty years ago. Its manner of growth is such that we can readily see why this is. We are subject to great extremes of cold and heat, and moisture. Now, in the Alton district, a few years ago, our trees were subjected to a temperature twenty- seven degrees below zero (?), and they did not suffer at all. The next autumn was moist and warm, and all our trees took on a second growth ; and while that growth was immature, a frost occurred and lifted the bark just at the trunk, and our trees died. There was a •cause and an effect. It is just so in regard to these other causes. We were disposed to throw over the Yellow Bellefleur, as it scabbed; then we went into Winter Pearmain, and were disposed to 4o the same with that; and so it is to the end of the chapter. There is no deterioration. It seems to me that is illustrated in the Duchesa 13 178 * TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS of Oldenburg. Why is it a success ? Nature had done to that tree what we ought to be able to do for any other. It tends to fruit spurs, not to wood. It spreads out, naturally, to the air and to the sun. We find similar examples in other things. The summer having been very warm and dry, followed by a warm and moist autumn, we get that condition which induces growth at the end of the season, and that is the cause of the destruction of trees. Mr. Bryant — I have come to the conclusion, in my experience in orchard culture, which has been about 35 years, that it is better to plant an orchard about every 20 years and cut down the old one. It is well known that most of the varieties in favor in our State are those which bear early, and it is a principle of nature that early maturity invites early decay. I have old trees which have produced little or nothing, and the fruit is worth little or nothing, and the crop is small. If you planted them in blocks as put forth by our Secretary,, they might be preserved, and the others destroyed. I have no doubt that that would be the best way of doing these things. The labor of gathering fruits and keeping the trees in condition is very great,, where the persons employed are so entirely ignorant as with us. You can not get a hired man to prune an apple tree for me. Our rich soil produces tenderness in the tree^ and the extremes of cold and heat destroy it, so that they are not to be depended on for more than ten or fifteen years, after they come into full bearing, for profit. That is the result of my experience. Mr. Hilliard — I have an orchard of 40 acres, from 20 to 30 years^ old, which is as thrifty and makes as large a growth of wood gen- erally as it ever did. There is but one variety that has failed, and and that is the Sweet Bough. Mr. Murtfeldt — I have been attempting to compare the preaching and practice of some of our orchardists. I went into the orchard of Mr. Phoenix, and I found there open tops — very high tops. I have seen the same in other orchards. Some of the handsomest trees I ever saw were root-grafted and top-worked. I know this is not very palatable speech generally to our nurserymen, but it is the truth. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 179 I will give them credit for being as honest a set of men as there are, but I think trees are better top-worked on old stocks. Mr. M. L. Dunlap — As a gentleman has been mentioned who could not be here, it may be well enough to put in a word to explain this matter. It may be that Mr. Phoenix has a number of trees stock- grafted. Nurseiymen will often find that there are certain varieties not good bearers. Xow, Mr. Phoenix has a very large nursery, but not a large oi'chard, and he is always trying to get good varieties, but he sometimes fails, and then he does the best he can with them. Mr. Murtfeldt — I Avant to sa}- nothing against Mr. Phoenix ; but that was the particular oi'chai'd which I remember having seen. Dr. Schroeder — I am acquainted with Mr. Phoenix's nursery. At the time he planted his orchard the wholesale manufacture of the things — that is, the little root grafts — was just started. I do not think he was rigged out at the time for the factory business as he is now. Now as to this top-grafting, I have lived on the oldest orchard in Illinois, and I just tell you the trees are sound and healthy, except as 1 told you about the bark lice, and I could not get them off. This year I did my best, and they bore in abundance. Another lot Avhich were root-grafted did not do it. I am an observer ; I look here and there and everywhere. I know I do not have to live very long, and I think to take up a good deal of knowledge — as much as I can get here — before I go awa}'. Now that is my observation — the top grafts bear the best, and they are the oldest trees. I do not know if the lice business has something to do with it — perhaps it has. Mr. Brj'ant — I have been a nurseryman for 20 years, and I do not Avant it to be understood that the mode of propagation is the cause of the short life of trees. I adopted the notion that stock-grafted trees were more hardy than root-grafted trees, but experience has shown me that there is no difference whether they are stock-grafted or root-grafted. Properly cultivated, without stimulating too much, they will live as long one way as the other. In the winter of 1855-6 I had stock-grafted trees that were destroyed, while root-grafted trees escaped. 180 TRAXSACTIOXS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Earle — I would like to hear from Mr, Barry something about the cause of failure in Xew England and Eastern New York. Is there anything in the climate or in the destruction of forests ? The failure, as I understand, has been more in regard to the Xew England ■States. 3Ir. Barry — The failure in the 'New England States is just about the same as in New York. In the ISTew England States a man told me the demand for trees was greater than it had been for many years. I think the orchards had been a great deal neglected in New England. There are very few people there engaged in orcharding as a profession, and any one traveling through New England would see what a total neglect there was of the orchards; but they are now planting new orchards, and no one believes that it is worse there now than it was formerly. As to this question of root-gi'afting or top-grafting, it has nothing to do with it. I do not care whether it is root-grafted or top-grafted, nor whether you grow it in Maine or California, if it is a good tree, with good roots; I do not care where it was raised. [Cheers.] The younger you can get grafts the better they are. Mr. Flagg — Is there any difference between grafting on pieces of roots and whole roots ? Mr. Barry — I think a good root will make two good grafts, but beyond that I think no nurseryman, studying his own interests, would use them. Mr. Eiley — I will simply ask one question, which may throw some light on the deterioration of the apple. Is there not a true cause in the difference between the insect enemies of the East and the "West ? Have we not in the West the root aphis and the bark louse in more abundance than they have in the East ? Mr. Barry — "We have not so many difficulties in the way of insects as you have. The scaly aphis I have seen in Canada, but not much in the East. I do not remember having a greater degree of cold in Western New York than 18^ below zero. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 181 Mr. Bade — Do you think that the general destruction of forests has had any evil effect on the growth of apples ? Mr. Barrv — I think not. Mr. Shearman — It seems to me very apparent that the great cause of failure has been w^ant of adaptation of soil to the variety. Now with all due deference to our friend here, who says we should plant a new orchard every twenty years, the oldest trees planted in our county were planted by Dr. Haskell as long ago as 37 or 38 years. There are certain varieties he planted there, and there is no such thing as failure in them. I think the healthfulness depends on plant- ing the right variety. Mr. Huggins — I was born and brought up in New Hampshire, and I remember that in my early boyhood we had seedling apple trees, and plenty of fruit. I came to this country 35 years since ; there was then plenty of fruit in New Hampshire. Eeturning about three years ago I was struck with the stunted appearance of the fruit orchards that I had seen so many years ago, and I saw the trees were covered with bark lice. On all sides I saw a lack of care and atten- tion. Each one would tell me the same story — "we cannot raise it, but over j-onder there is one man who always has fruit." I remem- bered in my youth that that family was a thorough working family. I visited their orchard and I saw the reason for the fruit ; the orchard was well taken care of, thrifty and in good condition ; there were no bark lice. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, ETC. Mr, Flagg offered the following amendments to the by-laws, which were adopted : AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS. III. The Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Society, have charge of its papers, books and reports, and prepare its reports for publication; and shall receive for so doing his necessary expenses for postage, stationery, printing, expressage and office rent, and the sum of three hundred dollars per annum. He shall render an annual account in detail of such necessary expenses, which shall be referred, with the Treasurer's report, to a special auditing committee. 182 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS IV. The Assistant, Secretary, In the case of the absence or disability of the Secre- tary, shall perform his duties, and shall aid him at the annual meeting in making the reports . VII. Standing committees from each district : 1. On Meteorology in its Eelation to Horticulture. 2. On Geology and Soils in Eelation to Horticulture. 3. On Botany and Vegetable Physiology and Disease. 4. On Entomology. 5. On Ornithology, 6. On Ornamental and Timber Trees. 7. On Fruit Packages. 8. On Ad Interim. 9. On Testing New Varieties. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Pr. Schroeder nominated Willard C. Flagg as President for the ensuing year. On motion of Mr. Wier, the nomination was made unanimous. The President — There is one subject which it is proper the Society should now consider. We have, for the last two years, elected a vice president at large, and I can find no provision in the constitution for it. I notice this, however, that we have never got very badly tangled in the constitution, and I do not feel very strenuous myself in regard to any doubts that may arise, but I would rather have a vote of the Society before we proceed to the election of Yice Presi- dent at large. Mr. Baldwin — I suppose we elect one for each Congressional dis- trict; there are thirteen districts, and then the fourteenth will be the State at large. Dr. Hull — I would wish to ask if the Secretary has not re-districted the State ? If so, that matter should be taken up first. Mr. Brown — The constitution provides that it should be from each Congressional district. Mr. Flagg — The proposition I made was this : that the vice presi- dents ought to be chosen according to these fruit districts. A district like Alton or South Pass has its peculiar characteristics, and it ought to have a vice president representing its peculiar soil, climate, &c., STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 183 and have a local society also. This division which I propose in our circular aims to do this. Congressional districts are arbitrary. If it is possible to get at it, we should have our fruit districts — districts founded on known differences in climate, soil, configuration, vegetable jjroductions, rain-fall, &c. Mr. Brown — We might take the sense of the Society as to re-dis- tricting the State. The President — It would be necessary, in such a case, to amend the constitution. Mr. Kinney — It strikes me that in carrying out the plan of Mr. Flagg, it would be a good plan to have the vice presidents from those districts, and also the ad interim committee from there. Mr. Flagg — In order to bring the matter before the Society^ I move that we take up the question of re-districting. Mr. Periam — In relation to the selection of vice presidents, it seems to me that it makes very little difference whether they embody in their report a particular fruit district or a congressional district ; and inas- much as the Constitution would have to be altered to meet the new scheme, it would be a long way of going about to do that which would do no real good in the end. Mr. Flagg — I will call Mr. Periam's attention to some facts. Here is a district — I think it is the tenth. In that district we find the county of Fayette in with the county of Jersey, whose' conditions are entirely different. The Vice President reporting upon it would find that he had to report on conditions entirely alien. Mr. Periam — I can not see the pertinency of that, for the Vice President, in his report, simply shows the status of horticulture in his district, and consequently there would be no conflict, but, on the other hand, I think it would have a good effect, because he would get testi- mony from one county and from another upon the same subject. If that testimony conflicts, we are not necessarily compelled to make up our minds that there is a conflict of actual facts. We have spent a long time in discussing the question of root or top-grafting. Now the question occurred to me as to whether the real 184 TEANSACTIONS OF THE rLLi:NOIS difference — the real trouble in this case — may not arise from the effect of root rot in the South and the bark louse in the North, and various other local causes ; not in the stock itself, but from local causes. I will explain a circumstance which comes to my mind now. In a certain lot of trees, thoroughly infested both in the root and in the top, coming from one portion of the county and going to another, the}^ might die or they might recover according to local causes ; in one case they would make healthy trees, and in the other they v^ould make firewood. • Dr. Hull — I want to explain one object of re-districting the State -. It occurred to me that if we could harmonize the several interests, it would be better to do so. Then you may form your organization within those limits, and reports will be made with special reference to that locality. Mr. Pierson — I do not wish to show any zeal against it, but I am skeptical as to whether a new districting can be effected. It strikes me that it will be difficult to do this. Mr. Flagg — I do not claim that this districting is the best one, or even that it is a good one, but I claim that it is better than the one we have now, and I hope it may lead to something still better. Mr. Pierson — I have hot heard the plan suggested, but I hope it will be better than the one we have. If we knew of these boundaries geologically and otherwise, that would be a true way of districting, but with the inadequate knowledge we have, it would be ineffectual and impracticable. And again, my experience shows that we must depend largely upon other individuals for the reports from the respective coun- ties. Now this is as well done if there are two or three different fruit distiicts in our circuit as if there were one only. Mr. Brown — I move that the plan of districting proposed by Mr. Flagg be adopted. Mr. Earle — Mr. Flagg has paid attention to that subject for years^ and knows more about it than any one else, and therefore I second the motion to adopt his plan. Mr. Freeman — I do not know how we can get at it better than in the plan Mr. Flagg has presented. The division he has presented, and STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 185 which is printed on our programme, comes as near as it is possible to get at it at present, a homogeneous division. Mr. Flagg — In relation to this subject I will read from the report of 1867, and I will ask Mr. Freeman or any one else to correct me in any statement I may make. I would make this districting first, accord- ing to geography, the degrees of latitude ; second, according to meteorology, temperature and rain-fall ; third, according to geology, as seen in the out-croppings of the soil; fourth, according to plant growth, and fifth, according to configuration. [See proceedings of 1867, page 223.] I have read that as being a shorter mode of stating my case. I would now add to it that I have changed a very little. Districts 5 and 6. I propose that the divisions in our circular be the divisions y that divisions 1 and 2 be recognized as Northern Illinois ; divisions 3 and 4 as Central Illinois, and divisions 5, 6 and 7, as Southern Illinois. In that way we can have the advantages of the three-fold division now used, as well as of these local divisions. The question then being on the motion to adopt the plan of redis- tricting the State according to the plan submitted by Mr. Flagg, it was adopted. Mr. Brown — I move as an amendment to the constitution that instead of " one Vice President from each Congressional District;" it be made to read, '■' one Vice President from each fruit district." Carried. The election of Vice Presidents was then proceeded with. 1st District — Mr. Douglas nominated Mr. Woodward, who was unanimously elected. 2d District — Dr. Schroeder nominated S. Edwards, who was unani- mously elected. 3d District — The President nominated A. C. Hammond, who was unanimously elected. 4tTi District — Mr, Daggy nominated Tyra Montgomery, Avho was unanimously elected. 186 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 5th District — Mr. Flagg nominated J. W. Fletcher, who was unani- mously elected. 6th District — Dr. Schroeder nominated Jonathan Huggins. Mr. Huggins declined and nominated H. J. Hyde, who was unani- mously elected. 1th District — Mr. Holcomb nominated A. M. Brown, who was unani- mously elected. SECRETARY. Mr. Danlap, Jr. — I nominate P. Earle as Secretary. Mr. Nelson — I nominate O. B. Galusha. Mr. Flagg — I move that the Chair appoint two tellers. Carried. The President appointed as such tellers, Messrs. Nelson and Dunlap. The whole of the ballots having been received and counted, the tellers announced that the vote stood as follows : For O. B. Galusha 42 For P. Earle 27 Total 69 Mr. Earle — I move that the election of Mr. Galusha as Secretary be declared unanimous. Carried. ASSISTANT SECRETARY. Mr. Pierson nominated H. J. Dunlap as Assistant Secretary, and on motion of Mr. Kinney, the nomination was declared unanimous. TREASURER. Mr. Minkler nominated Jonathan Huggins as Treasurer, and on motion of Mr. Flagg, the nomination was declared unanimous. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Mr. Flagg — Under the Constitution the Executive Committee will be composed of the President, Secretary, and three Ex-Presidents, STATE HORTR'ULTUJRAL SOCIETY. 187 viz. : Flagg, ^leWhorter, Brown, Baldwin, and Galusha. The Stand- ing Committees are appointed by the Executive Committee. Mr. Plagg — I projjose the name of J. L. Russell, the professor of botany of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, as an honorary- member of this Society. He is a man of eminence in his department. The motion of Mi'. Flagg being put, was declared carried, after some discussion as to the propriety of electing a stranger not in attendance. The President — Inasmuch as Charles Downing has made a present to this Societ}', of his noble volume, and disseminated varieties of fruits very generally, I would propose that he be made an honorar}' member, and that a vote of thanks be tendered him. The suggestion Avas adopted. PLACE OF THE NEXT MEETING. Mr. Flagg read the letter from J. W. Fletcher, of Centralia, sug- gesting that place for the next annual meeting. Mr. Humphreys — The city of Galesburg would be glad to have you there ; and on behalf the citizens I promise that gentlemen shall be well entertained, and an ample hall provided for their accommo- dation. Mr. Schroeder — 1 am here on two special businesses — one is to save the Catawba grape, and the other is to propose Bloomington for the next meeting. You will be aware that we will have nine railroads in two months ; and we have a horse railroad now. We will have our meeting, not in Normal, but in Schroeder's Opera House. You shall have all the wine, and all the beer you want, and I will appoint you as a committee of the whole upon them. [Laughter.] Bloomington is the railroad center of Illinois, and it is also the educational center. You find there the most schools, and there also is the Soldiers' Home and the Normal Universit}'. You have several other things; and when you come that magnificent building, our new court house, will be built, and Dr. Schroeder's wine cellar, costing about §100,000, will 188 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS be done. [Laughter and cheers.] The city of Bloomington makes ready to entertain strangers who may come in there, and we want this body of enlightened men — for a horticulturist must be an enlight- ened man — he takes the papers and posts himself up on every subject and object — and why should we not have you there to partake of all these good things with our wives, and children, and fathers ? Mr. Baldwin — Two years ago you said if we would go over there you would have a railroad and a hotel built, or you would forfeit a barrel of wine. Have you that barrel of wine ready yet ? Mr. Daggy — I am afraid he will drench us with that sour wine. Mr. Douglas — How about that barrel of exterminator ? Mr. Schroeder — I will roll it out. The citizens of Bloomington will be delighted if they see that you have granted their special wishes, presented to you by me — they will be delighted, and I will take care that you have a good show in Bloomington. Mr. Flagg — In order to test the feeling of the Society on the mat- ter, I would move that as we have our meeting at the north this year^ we meet at Centralia next year. Mr. Edwards — I would suggest that our meetings have for several years been had at the north or south, but not in the central part. I would therefore second the motion to make it Bloomington. Mr. Woodward — I would say on behalf of our northern country, that it is a long distance to Centralia, and I think that Bloomington would accommodate more horticulturists than any other point. Mr. Brown — I think it would be good to go to Centralia and see their fine orchards. Mr. Earle — The two branches of the Illinois Central railroad meet there, and the Ohio and Mississippi crosses there ; and being there, we should meet many of our St. Louis friends. It would also secure an attendance from Southern Ohio, These considerations would induce me to vote for Centralia. Mr. Baldwin — The invitation from Centralia is from a source that is entitled to a good deal of respect. Mr. Edwards — I have not any great hope of educating the adult STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 189 population in matters of horticulture. At Bloomington and Normal we are preparing a good many j'oung men and women to become teachers in our State. For that reason, I feel that it is necessary to begin there to instruct these people in the great science of horticul- ture, so that they may spread it through the high schools and district schools throughout the State. I know the kind-heartedness of the people of Centralia, but I feel it is a duty this Society owes to the rising generation that our next meeting be held at Bloomington. Mr. Humphreys — I hope that Mr. Edwards will not forget that Galesburg is the college city of the West. Mr. Wier — Galesburg is a railroad city, and it is a college city, and it is a beautiful country, and I know we shall be hospitably treated there. Dr. Hull — I have traveled through this northern district this past summer, and I have found a great many persons who have not attended our meetings for several considerations. They have felt themselves much neglected, though I think they were not entitled to that consideration from the fact that they were not well represented. Now, in our selection of officers we have taken them chiefly from parts south of this. I would be in favor of going to Galesburg ; there is a very large fruit interest at the north, and the men have not presented themselves at our meetings. From that fact they are not entitled to as much consideration as if they had put in an appearance at our meetings. Mr. Humphreys — The Galesburg Horticultural Society is composed of some of the best horticulturists in the West, and they will spare no pains to make the meeting a success. Mr. Holcombe — I was for over ten years a resident of Galesburg, and I know no more hospitable people could be found anywhere. I know where the whole membership could readil}" be disposed of on good terms, and certainly if you consider the amount of territory that lies west and north of Galesburg, you will find that there can be no better place for the meeting. Mr. Hammond — If wo consider the place where we can do the most 190 TRANS ACTIOjSS OF THE ILLESTOIS good, I think Galesburg is the point. It is a prominent railroad and educational point. Dr. Schroedor — Bloomington is a railroad point more than any of them. We have one by Lafayette to the East ; we have one to Champaign and Indianapolis ; one to Chicago and the North ; one to Egypt; one to Galena, and one to Pekin. I do not think there is one place in the State that has so many railroads. I know very well that our old President said we must do something to plant it in the hearts of our young men. Here is your place, gentlemen, if you want to set a good example, if you want to bless them, go whei'e they are assem- bled. See our school teachers in Europe ; they study horticulture, agriculture and chemistry ; they take that and plant it in the hearts of the little boys they teach. How much more should they do so in this country ? Go there, and give them one lecture in the evening, and they will be glad, and will bless you when you are gone. Go there to the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, and see the little ones made fatherless and motherless, a good many of them, and you will have another blessing to take hold of. I tell you thej- will not forget you ; they will see that your Society is composed of the ablest men in the country. I do not come here to make an}^ speculation ; there is no speculation in it. Mr. Wier — We have had one meeting at the South and one at the North, and it appears to me we ought now to have one at the Center. Mr. Bryant — I admit all the advantages of Bloomington, and it would be a very pleasant place to me, but I wish to be assured before I vote to go there, that some one wants us there besides Dr. Schroeder. I have no doubt he would do all in his power to make us welcome, but I wish to have more than one individual interested in making us welcome wherever we go. Dr. Schroeder — I feel very sorry that I am all alone. The President — I think it is high time we proceeded to take a vote, and I would suggest the idea that we call for the vote by call- ing each place and asking those in favor of the place to rise, and try which place will have the most. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 191 Mr. Flagg — I will withdraw my motion. A standing vote was then taken, resulting as follows : For Galesbui-g 45 For Centralia 15 For Bloomington 1 Total 61 Mr. Flagg moved that Galesburg be declared the unanimous choice of the meeting. Carried. Mr. H. J. Dunlap moved that the Executive Committee be author- ized to fix the time of the next annual meeting. Carried. Mr. Edwards — I have a resolution I would like to offer : ResoUed, That our Secretary be requested to communicate to Governor Palmer the desire we all feel that the valuable entomological collection of B. D. Walsh be secured to our State, and we would respectfully suggest that the Governor cause correspond- ence to be opened with Mrs. Walsh, or other proper person, to retain possession of the collection until the next meeting of the legislature. Mr. Kinney — There is a gentleman appointed there for correspond- ence ', it is so announced through the papers. Mr. Baldwin — The interest of other persons in the State has already been expressed to Mrs. Walsh. The Board of Public Charities at Champaign did this last week. In discussing the sub- ject since I have been here, I find that a collection of that kind should have proper care, or it will be soon lost. It has been suggested by Mrs. Walsh that Mr. Eiley should have the care of it, and he prom- ises to prepare from them a collection of all that is valuable to the State. The Executive Committee had intended to talk with Governor Palmer, but I am not positive at to the best course to be taken in the premises. The question of a successor to Dr. Walsh has yet to be considered, and whether it is policy to pass such a resolution at this time I leave to the discretion of the meeting. Mr. Periam — It appears to me that the only point in that resolution is the holding of that collection until the next session of the Legisla- ture. If that be done, it should be in the possession of some one who understands how to take care of it. 192 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Holcomb — I move that it be referred to the Executive Committee. Mr. Edwards — It seems to me that the expression of this Society would have a weight greater than that of the Executive Committee. Mr. Brown — It seems to me that these resolutions can do no harm. The object is to secure the collection in such a position that ultimately we may get it. Mr. Earle — It is because I think a resolution of this Society would have a good deal of weight with the Governor that I would not have this resolution passed. I estimate the value of that collection to depend upon its being placed in proper hands. It would be a poor thing to have at Champaign or Springfield, where no one knows anything about it. I am informed — and it is a consideration that should weigh some- what with us — that it was his desire that this collection should go into the hands of Mr. Riley, and as negotiations have already taken place between Mrs. Walsh and Mr. Riley, I do not think we should try to defeat these arrangements or interfere with them. Mr. Riley — I did not suppose this subject would be brought up before this Society. It is a matter to me of vital interest, in memory of Mr. Walsh. The resolution of this Society will have great weight with the Governor. The whole matter, however, rests with Mrs. Walsh. She is made sole executrix, and that the State has no claim upon the collection of Mr. Walsh, I think is obvious. Mr. Walsh, however, did intend to prepare for the State of Illinois a duplacate collection of the noxious insects of the State. He would always capture as many specimens as possible, so that he could provide dupli- cates. I do not know whether any cabinet was presented to him for this purpose, I knovs^ how the State of Illinois feels in this matter, and as one who has lived for years in your State, and is heartily in sympathy with you, I shall use my influence to further your desires. I know that, as members of this Society, you would like to have the collection of Mr. Walsh retained in this State. But I ask j'ou all, what benefit will it be to you to have Mr. Walsh's collection in its present condition ? You know that at present it is arranged scientifically — with the latin names of every insect ; and every little note which was to him Intel- STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 193 ligible, would be unknown hieroglyphics to you. I want it to be some- where where it will be preserved. Individually, I would like to have it to aid me in carrying out an enterprise which Mr. Walsh and myself began, and also to guard against the possibility of the cabinet perishing. You know how easy it is for collections of insects to be destroyed. The collection of Dr. Harris, no one having any real interest in it, has not been well preserved, and to-day that collection is partly a ruin, so that many of the type specimens that belonged to this father of prac- tical entomology in our country are actually lost to science. The same may be said of the collection of Thomas Say. Now in Mr. Walsh's collection there are numbers of insects that are of great scientific value and interest, but of no jjractical value whatever, and unless you can put them in the hands of some one who can appreciate and understand them they will do no good. I told Mr. Swiler that I would like to have it, and besides paying the sum required, I have promised — as a condition of the bargain — to prepare from it a duplicate collection of the noxious and beneficial insects for the State. The fame of Mr. Walsh was greater abroad than it ever began to be in Eock Island, and I want the scientific world to feel that they can refer to that cabinet in the hands of some one who can make the best use of it to my late associate's name and honor. Whether that party be myself or Mr. Walsh's successor, is not of such moment. Dr. Shimer — I may state that I wrote a letter to Mrs. Walsh about this cabinet. I made a proposition of this kind : that it be left it in the hands of the State Entomologist, whoever might be appointed^ until the duplicates had been taken, and then they might dispose of it. My idea was that it could then be disposed of to the highest bidder. Mr. Walsh was a great man as an entomologist — more than any man that has ever lived in America; and this State ought to lay bold of the work not only for the sake of the injurious and beneficial insects, but for all of them. He said he intended to duplicate all tha insects for the State. This State, I hope, does not intend to secure merely those which are injurious or beneficial. We ought to have a duplicate of every insect in the State. In the meantime, I hope 14 194 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS something will be done to induce Mrs. Walsh to keep this collection until the Legislature meetS; and then I have no doubt that a liberal sum will be appropriated. Here are the labors of twelve years ; this. State can afford to give a sum of money for this collection; it can be- placed in the hand of the State Entomologist, and a duplicate can b^ furnished for use at Springfield. The question being on referring the resolution to the Executive Committee, it was so referred. Mr. Baldwin mo.ved an adjournment until 7 o'clock P. M., which was agreed to, and the meeting stood adjourned. THIED DAY— EVENING SESSION. The Society met at 7 o'clock, pursuant to adjournment. President McWhorter in the chair. Mr. Edwards, of the Ad Interim Committee, submitted the follow- ing report : La Moille, Bureau County, Ills., Dec. lOth, 1869. To W. C. Flagg, Secretary Illinois State Eorticultural Society — Sir : As oue of the Committee Ad Interim of your Society, with J. "W. Cochran, chairman of the com- mittee, and Dr. E. S. Hull, State Horticulturist, I was at the Stephenson County Agricultural Society's Fair, in Freeport, IGth of September last. We were cordially received and cared for by the reception conmiittee and officers of the society. A lignarium of one hundred and nineteen varieties of woods indigenous to Stephen- son county is in the highest degree creditable to the interest in this important subject, and perseverance manifested in its collection and skillful aiTangement by Mr. H. H. McAfee, of Freeport; especially, when it is remembered that only some eighty-two varieties have heretofore been considered as native to the State by our highest author- ities. Ordway and Parker exhibited eight varieties of evergreens and larch; L. H. Scofield the same — all evincing good management. The display of apples, and pears, and grapes was good. Apples are generally much affected by scab. C. H. Kosenstiel has a hedge of Norway spruce two and a half feet apart, ten feet high. He is fully confident it wiU make an efficient fence against all stock except hogs. Dr. Hull lectured in the evening at the court-house, followed by discussion. Morning of 17th September we were met at Galena by Mayor Brand, J. G. Soulard^ President of local^Horticultural Society, and others of reqeption committee, escorted to the De Soto House; thence, after breakfast, carriages were provided, and the STATE . HORTICULTURAL .SOCIETY. 195 vineyard and nursery of .hieob Zins, some three miles northeast of the city, was Jirst visited. Two and a quarter acres in grapes, mostly four years planted, one-half Con- cord, whieh is a favorite with Mr. Zins. Delaware is growing in favor, and the \ ines appeared in best condition of any Delaware seen on our tour of oliservation. Hart- ford Prolific is first in ripening; Concord and Delaware, second; Blood's Black, third; Rogers' 2, lo and 19, fourth; Diana and Perkins', fifth. He rejects Taylor's Bullitt. Vineyard is on the hillside, S.S.E. slope; frial>le loam, clay subsoil; was plowed eighteen inches deep; rows eight feet each way, trained on trellis; clean culture, and vines are vigorous and healthy. Wine of '68, from mixture of Concord,. Delaware, and Rogers' No. 10, is very popular with the German population. Twenty acres of apple orchard in bearing is well cared for; but little fruit this year. Rawle's Janet, Northern Spy, Perry Russett, and Hoss Apple are leading varieties— the two latter remarkably productive. We next visited the vineyard of Hon. James G. Soulard, who, in vigorous health at seventy-two years of age. is zealously putting forth his energies in horticultural pursuits, which for most of his active HtV ha\ e engaged a large amount of attention. The soil is mostly clay, prepared by plowing and subsoiling eighteen to twenty inches- deep. Six acres are one year planted, two more in preparation for scttiug next spring. One-half are Concord, balance Ives' Clinton, Delaware, and all tried sorts. Culture is thorough, and his example is worthy the emulation of our young men. His first planting of grapes here was tliirty-fivc years since. Catawba and Isabella suc- ceeded finely some twelve years, when he sold the property, and from neglect they failed In deep, porous soil near St. Louis, forty years since, he planted fruit trees one foot or more deeper than they had stood in nurseries. Trees luue succeeded well; believes it ad\isable for such soils. The lovely home of Mr. J. M. Ryan was next visited. The well-ke])t lawn, bor- dered and interspersed with flowers and statuary, is entered by a drive through an avenue of fine evergreens. The apple, pear, and cherry orchards are in admirable condition, bearing full crops this year. Mrs. Ryan takes an active part not only in management, but in the actual handiwork of making and keeping these lovely groiuids in order. Underdraiued thoroughly. F. Chctlain has forty dwarf pear trees, planted six years, in very fine condition, probably have rooted from the pear; are mulched eighteen inches deep exevy autumn. Full crops ot Louise Bonne de Jersey, Seckel, Vicar of VVinkfield. He has one standard pear tree of an unknown variety; fruit small size, ripe in August ; brought by J. G. Soulard twenty-five years since; has never known any symptoms of blight. Apple trees are vigorous, but few are bearing crops ; one, of a variety not recognized, a mediinn sized, red, acid, winter fruit, is loaded with none of the scab or blight so generally prevalent this season. The Galena Horticultural Society made a fine display of fruits and flowers at their rooms. The Soulard Crab was on exhibition, as large as a fair sized Red Romanite, though quite similar in flavor to the wild crab of this section ; yet their large size, keeping (jualities (having been kept until the second year), extreme hardiness of the tree, cause those familiar with it here to recommendjit highly for sauce at the North. From the extreme liardiness of tree, it has been formerly recommended as a stock on which to propagate more tender varieties for the North. For a few years they thrive, l)Ut soon after coining into bearing, trees on this stock fail. It will be used no more 196 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS as a stock near Galena. The Soulard apple, also brought by Mr. S. from St. Louis, is highly valued as an acid dessert apple, of very delicate texture, juicy, agreeable flavor; tree very hardy; believed to be synonymous with Gros Pommier. Thu tree invigorator man has been through this section in his quiet unostentatious manner. One individual paid him $25 for driving nads into the trees of a small orchai'd, which are to drive off the bark lice, expel borers, prevent ravages of cater- pillars, and all ills which fruit trees are heir to, when exposed without the ffigis of his invaluable protector and panacea. Prof. J. Werulei, a graduate from an Austrian Normal University in which Horti- culture was taught, is introducing its theory and practice here. Some eleven acres are attached to his school house, which it is proposed to plant with trees, shrubbery, vines, and flowers, giving his pupils as good an opportunity as possible to obtain a good practical knowledge of the elements of the art. May such schools multiply. The Fair, which had been well patronized iu the afternoon, was graced with a full attendance of earnest listeners to Dr. Hull's interesting lecture on Vegetable Physi- ology, and an outline of observations of the committee made thus far, by 3Ir. Cochran. In a hurried run tbrough the' city green houses and grounds of D. WUmot Scott, the genial Secretary of the Normal Illinois and the Galena Horticultural Societies, we found a fine stock of trees, shrubbery, vines, and plants. The Townsend or Miner plum is a specialty with him; long been extensively grown in this vicinity; is highly valued and very profitable. The soil in the city and vicinity is generally a loamy, porous clay, well adapted to fruit growing, as was attested by the abundance of fine fruits on exhibition. The practical articles furnished the Gazette by Mr. J. W. Robson are of great value iu aiding to develop the horticultural taste of this community. Early on the morning of the 18th September we bid adieu to the cordial hospitalities of oru' Galena friends, taking cars to Dubuque, thence on steamer Hawkeye State down the Mississippi. At most of the towns on its banks are extensive saw mills, manufacturing lumber of logs rafted from pineries of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The water being high, large numbers of rafts of boards loaded with lath and shingles are on their way down. How important that immediate steps be taken to replace material for this extensive, rapidly increasing demand for the products of the forest. At Rock Island we had a chat with the lamented Walsh on his favorite science, little thinking, at our parting, that we should meet no more on earth. As we are passing away, may we learn to value more highly our friends and co-workers whilst spared us, and act well the part alio ted us in life. With much regret we found ourselves compelled to pass New Boston, the landing for reaching the orchards and nursery of President McWhorter at Aledo, as by stopping it would prevent meeting our future appointments. It was apparent to us that there was a rich field for research by future ad interim committees, in the orchards, vineyards, nurseries, and gardens along which we pass, with only an occa- sional glimpse on our trip from Diibuque to Warsaw. At the latter place, Sept. :20th, we were cordially received by President A. C. Hammond, Secretary T. H. Gregg, Dr. Hay, and members generally of the Warsaw Horticultural Society. The grounds of Mr. Lewis Stracke, (a mile southwest from the city) ten acres, have been trenched three feet deep, underdrained with tiles forty feet apart, four feet deep. Two thousand five hundred grapevines, most largely of Delaware; 750 lonas. These are both considerably defoliated. Ives' Seedling are doing finely, all only two years STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 197 planted. One thousand three hundred pear trees, also two years planted, three- fourths dwarf, balance standard; Mr. S., following directions of Eastern authorities. A vast amount of money has been spent in fitting and planting this place, in accord- ance with instructions referred to, but for selection of varieties of fruits to plant in any locality, especially as to dwarf pear trees, the home experience of an honest wayfaring man should be valued more than the advice of the most intelligent and practical, whose experience has been iu a distant part of the land. E. McCune has a fine orchard of forty acres, planted by Dr. Griswold some twenty or more years since. All are stock-worked; Yellow Bellefleur beai's well, much better than President Hammond's trees of same variety root-grafted. Baldwin, R. I. Greening, Rawle's Janet are full of fine fruit. Red Canada is esteemed best by Mr. McCune, Orchard now in grass is to be broken up. A. C. Hammond has fifty acres of apple orchard, largely of Ben Davis, which is esteemed very profitable. Wine Sap is troubled here as elsewhere on our route, with leaf or spur blight; fruit much aflected by scab. The Snow is very much scabbed. Maiden's Blush and the ditterent varieties of Russets are fair in all localities visited. Trees of Rawle's Janet are faihng in this orchard. Some of the "rotten root," which has been so prevalent in Southern Illinois, is noticed. Delaware grape is full of fruit of no value; leaves mostly gone. A good attendance of the members of the Warsaw Horticultural Society in the evening, at the mansion of Dr. Hay. The lecture of Dr. Hull was well received. A very fine display of pears and apples was made. Mark Aldricli planted the first orchard in "Warsaw 1834; trees appear healthy and vigorous. September 21st, visited G. B. Worthen's vineyard of thirteen acres, some four miles southwest of Warsaw. Several acres of Catawba are worthless. Clinton, Norton's Virginia and Concord are his favorites— have a fine crop of best quality. His wine cellar is a model structure, well stocked with wines and brandies, pronounced by judges to be of excellent quality. Some half dozen old apple trees at his house were breaking down with their loads of ftiir fruit— Pennock and Rawle's Janet. H. Wor- then has eight acres adjoining his brother's. Clinton and Concord are fine; Catawbas are to be dug up. Seedling peaches are more productive and profitable than budded trees. These vineyards are on ridges elevated several hundred feet above the river — appear to be well adapted to general fruit-growing. Hill & Knox, of Warsaw, have an apple orchard, recently planted, near Messrs. Worthen of over a hundred acres. At Galesburg, September 23d, we were cordially welcomed by Messrs. W. S. Balch, C. E. Carr, T. G. Hull, Capt. Fuller, R. W. Hunt, and D. Mason, a committee of reception appointed by the local society. The luu-sery of Messrs. Hunt & Mason is well stocked with a general assortment of fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs, vines, and plants ; some seventy-five acres in good cultivation. At the nursery of Adnah Williams Sons is a moderate quantity of fine evej'greens of proper sizes for transplant- ing, and acres which have grown up into a fine timber lot. Humphrey & Hester's nursery is well spoken of— was not visited. Captain Fuller has for family use some remarkably thrifty grape vines, among them the Eumelan. At Mr. T. J. Hale's and Prof. Standish's are fine collections of choice and rare ornamental trees, shrubs and plants, well cared for. Mrs, Standish presented us figs well matured in the open air. In the evening a fine display of fruits was made at Caledonia Hall, and a good audience gathei'ed, who were well entertained by Dr. Hull. The street trees, liberally planted at the first settlement of Galesburg, wei-e mostly black locust. Some fifteen years 198 TRAN8ACTI0]S'S OF THE ILLINOIS since they fell a prey to the borer, and have been replaced with silver maple and elms. The public square is planted with them and evergreens. The latter are used freely in private grounds— succeed admirably. At Adnah Williams' residence, and one or two other places, hedges of the Norway spruce have recently been i^lanted. My visit to Waukegan, the place of most interest to me, was deferred until the 6th inst. Of course, the special object to call us to this corner of the State was the well known evergreen propagating nursery of Robert Douglas & Sou . The senior partner was promptly at the depot, with a carriage to convey us to their diflereut plantations. In their frost-proof greenery, well lighted, we found over a million evergreens, nicely packed in double tiers, roots together in damp moss, tops ventilated. This mode of Avinteriug has been thoroughly tested by them, and is a perfect success. The recent mild weather has probably permitted them to put in another million or two, which the unprecedented early closing up of the ground prevented. Specimens of a large number of varieties on the lawn are faultless in form, if we except a large balsam fir with a singular contortion in the growth of the limbs of one side — very unique, its fault a beauty. There are several well grown screens of Norway spruce, American arbor vitte, hemlock, and the red cedar — last is least desirable. European silver fir and Lawson's cypress, in the shelter of larger evergreens, are enduring the winters. Three-year old plants of Ihe latter are being wintered with only partial protection, to test their hardiness. The beauty of foliage and rapid growth of this a ariety make it "very desirable where climate is not too severe. In their six or eight acres of trans- planted American arbor vita; are several choice sub-varieties of striking and marked form and foliage — silver-striped, gold-striped, or tipped, and dark bronze-tipped; several with fan-like foliage of pyramidal form, some of the Tom Thumb or Hovarge type. A number of them are much finer than any of the old varieties of Uke character, and it is hoped they will be propagated and disseminated . The fifteen acres of ever- green seedlings and European larches, in beds, with the cost of seeds, by tons, at near two dollars to as high as sixty dollars per pound, labor requisite for planting, shading, watching from birds, weeding, pulling, assorting, counting, packing, shipping and correspondence, give evidence of the perseverance of the Messrs Douglas, and their faith that these prairies are to be supplied with screens and hedges of evergreens, groves of larch and pine for the rising and future generations. A free admixture of sand with the soil is essential, unless it is already of that nature. The seeds are sown early in the spring as land can be worked, in beds four feet wide, i?lightly raised above the alleys, at the rate of about two pounds of the size of Norway spruce, Scotch pine, white pine, or larch seed to the square rod; cover to a depth of twice the diameter of the seed. Screens made of lath with spaces of half an inch between them, are used, where only a small quantity are sown; but since their business has become so exten- sive, brush screens are made, supported by posts high enough to admit of walking erect under the brush. The " damping oft"'' of the plants has always been a great source of loss to the uninitiated; in ftict, has very generally destroyed the entire crop. Many times early sowing prevents this, as the young plants attain the woody fibrous state of growth before heat is excessive enough to cause damping oft". When they fail to do this, the injury by " damping oft"" is held in check by sowing liberally of dry sand over the beds. On the approach of winter the beds are slightly covered with leaves or prairie grass. Transplanting is generally done when two years old; if longer deterred, unless standing very thinly, they are root pnmed by two men running sharp STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 199 spades near the .surface, meeting at tlie center of the bed. The flexible young plants do not recei\ e any injury by using a roller over the beds or tramping them, to tix ut which we will simply call damp air; the roots permeate the air spaces through tlie little masses of earth, and draw all their food into their system in the shape of gaseous vapor. Thus we have a principle without which success in fruit growing will only be comi)arative, namely, that we must Jceej) the roots alwai/s in darl-ness, hut i/et ac near to the atmosphere and to vapor as possible. I know some will say that this position is not altogether sound, lor they have found roots ever so many feet below the surface of the ground, which is quite true; but the roots they mean are not the roots I mean. What tliey mean are the woody structures of the trees — the analogues under ground, of the woody branches above ground — what I mean are the fibres which are borne from these woody roots every year, and die every year, just as t?ie leaves do above them, though not at the same time. One of the most prevalent errors in fruit growing is the belief that a warm soil is as necessary as a warm atmosphere to the growth of the tree. If it were possible for the soil in your orchards to be frozen thi'ee feet thick, and to stay frozen in that way throughout the summer: yet if the atmosphei'e were to range from .o.j" to 90o as it does now, I think the trees would grow, and bloom, and bear fruit nearly as well — not perhaps quite as well, because there is some loss of heat when the little fibres, by the aid of their own internal \^ armth, have to thaw the solid ice into vapor before they can make use of the moisture, and it is no doubt some saving to have all this ready done for them; but I said nearly as well, because I have seen grapes forced in vineries where the roots were all outside and frozen solid, and the tops in a summer tempera- ture inside growing and blooming as if everything accorded with the best popular notions of right or wrong. Now what we call a cold soil is usually a wet soil, and that is injurious; not because it is cold, but because it has ivater and not vapor, as it should have; and we make the very grave mistake of attributing to a want of heat what is really the fault of a superabundance of water. Our own common sense may tell us that this is wrong; for we know that heat evaporates moisture, and we never have any to spare in our hot summers to lose in this way. All the evaporation we want is the evaporation from the healthy leaf surfaces. Now I am come to a point when 1 may try to impress you with my idea of the main principles of fruit cvlture. You must have the trees so trained that every leaf shall have the best possible chance to get the full benefit of the light. 204 traj^sactio:n's of the Illinois You must have the soil of such a character that it will hold abundant moisture , without holding water, and be rich in manures. You must have the roots on the surface where they can have the full benefit of the gases of the atmosphere. You must keep the surface absolutelj^ dark, and as cool as possible. Now, my friends, I should like to stop here; for in these four gi-and divisions He all the law and all the prophets of success. There are, to be sure, hundreds of other things principles, but they rather belong to that other matter to which, as you know, in fruit-growing I claim the immortal honor of the fii'St discovery, namely, common sense. If, however, you will print these four leading maxims on a card and nail them up in your orchard, where even through your sleep you will scarcely lose sight of them, I will go a little further into these common sense aifairs. It must be manifest to you that very rarely do the common modes of fioiit-culture accord with the main principles which I have given. The trees grow any way they choose, or ai-e ''trimmed" after somebody's system without any regard to the advantage of light to the leaves. The earth is as hard as a brick, and soon dries out. The trees are set A\ide apart, so that the sun dries and heats the ground, and the surface is kept so bare of shade that the little rootlets have to go down away from the light to where there are few gases to act on the manure, and the funiace heat will almost allow you to fry a beefsteak, and of course evaporates an enormous amount of moisture which would be of immense benefit to the crop. Now I see what you are thinking about. You imagine I say rather than all this, put the orchard in grass. But I do not say that, mind you, unless it will accord A\ith va^ iovis ^x^^i first principles . Sometimes — very often — it will do this; sometimes not. That is for common sense to decide. If the ground is heavy, and water does not pass away freely, grass would be bad. I could scarcely forgive anj' one who would put an orchard in such a place at all, but if in addition he put grass on its surface, I am sure that would be the unpardonable sin. If you want to see yellow trees in grass, that will be the place to find them. Then, again, there are some grasses, like blue grass, which in some lands otherwise favorable, will make a hard impervious crust, which it takes days for water to get through. In short, anything that will keep water from running away rapidly is a sin against the first great principle, and must be avoided. In such soils you must have orchard gi'ass, sweet vernal grass, or any tussocky thing that Avill not defeat your one great object. In all these matters you musi use common sense. Grass, remember, is of no use only as it serves to darken and cool the surface, and encourage the roots to keep near the air. If it brings on some other evil — if it soddens your soil, or impoverishes the trees, as in some half starved lands it may — or if you can cool and darken the surface in some better way, avoid grass by all means. Sometimes you can do much better than grass in various ways. Some soils are so rich that you can plant them, without danger of starvation, so close that their own branches will make a grateful shade for the roots, which will then hover very near the surface. At other times you can cut weeds, briars, or trash from the hedges, fence rows and swamps, and strew on the ground between the trees. It matters not, gen- tlemen, what you do, only give plenty of shade to the roots, plenty of food, plenty of vapor, plenty of oxydizing gases, and you have mastered the alphabet of fruit- growing, and your success will be chiefly in the common sense you apply to it. STATE HORTICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 205 I say chiefly will your success depend on conunon sense, but not altogether; for there will always be some local or accidental causes which will operate to your dis- advantage. But with the greater health of your trees, you will be astonished how they will improve. It is remarkable how people will declaim against climate and everything else but their own ignorance of first principles with the facts directly against them. You have no doubt heard men say their locality would not grow grapes, when if they would go to the nearest wood, where by the shade of the neigh- boring branches, or the abundance of other trees about it, the roots were tolerably dry, cool and shaded, a grape vine would wander in profuse luxuriousness. Or apples, perhaps, would not do now as formerly they would, while in the nearest neglected fence corner, where perhaps a specimen has got into a patch of blackberries or elders, whose branches keep the fallen leaves together to rot for food, and shady, to let the roots reap the advantage from the fortunate circumstances, you may find an apple tree in vigorous health and loaded with fruit Tears, peaches, raspberries, gooseberries, currants — all tell the self-same story. I will venture to say that I will go into any part of the United States, and wherever I go point out to you specimens which have got somehow out of the I'uts of what is sarcastically called good cultivation, and into some happy spot where they can pusli forth theii* roots on a rich, cool, shaded, and regularly humid surface, that you will say with me, that you have the best soil and climate in the world for fruit-culture— a perfect paradise of good mate- rials; and that if you fail it is not the fault of this Elysian field, hut of your own Inability to use wisely the tree of knowledge, of good and evil. There is yet another principle of fruit culture worth considering, which has a great influence on success . In practice it would come under the head of the use of the hnife. Let us begin at the beginning of plant life. You know that plants are made up of single cells, which, uniting together, make up the various forms we see. We have a fashion of talking about the lowest forms of life of plants and animals as well. Now these lowest forms are nothing but single cells, which perform every function of nutrition and propagation within themselves. Can you imagine that in these little floating cells are beings like ourselves— like these majestic trees which we see every- wdiere about usl' Yet by the latest researches in science there is little doubt but that in these simple forms every function and every attribute exists that rinds a home in the highest aggregated forms. They have their loves and their hates, their hungers and their thirsts, their love of life and their dread of death, as much as any of us. This fact cannot be appreciated by our senses, but by inductive reasoning there is little doubt of its truth. The whole cannot be greater than its parts ; what it possesses it receives from them. These cells, having all the functions of large aggregates, find that they are to go into situations where they cannot protect themselves against the elements and other enemies, and they join together for mutual aid and defense, just as indi- viduals do when they proceed to form a strong central government. Rights and functions which in their highest individualized conditions they enjoyed, they now sacrifice for the good of the whole. It is exactly the same with these cells. Those of animal nature each give up their little breathing organs, digestive apparatus, circu- lating mediums and so forth, and concentrate them in one central, governing part of the organic form; and thus the motion which we can see in animals, the taste, smell, touch hearing, and all the faculties which they possess, are but the total sums of the single contributions of millions of cells. Is it not wonderful , when we contemplate 206 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS the ultimate conclusions from these remarkable facts. These eyes, which enable us ta perform such wonderful works ; these hands— all that we ha^e— are the contributions of all these litttle cells, given to us in this highly concentrated form because we can better take care of and protect them all from injury in the circumstances in which they are placed, than they could possibly do for themselves— and as others of their kind do when left in circumstances which do no violence to their individual existence. The tree is like the animal. The nutritive and the digestive organs, and all the reproductive functions which it exercises, originally belonged to each single cell ; and each of the cells which go to make up the organic form of the tree still continue to have an interest in all the operations of tree lile. I do not know that all of you are acquainted with these new revelations of science; yet they have been proved as conclusively as ihat the world goes round the sun, and in nothing perhaps is the proof greater, than that it makes many of the operations of natiu-e clear which was once mysterious; and as we shall see to-night, enables us to understand the right and the wrong courses in fruit culture almost as clearly defined as day is from night, and to reconcile the conflicting experiences of excellent observers whose contrary opinions often amuse much more than they edify mere lookers on. You know that one of our most intelligent friends has reduced the science of pruning- to this aphorism : "Prune in winter for wood, in the summer for fi'uit." But on the cell theory I have given you, wood can not be had by pruning at any season. I know — we all know — that when we cut away a branch in the winter time, the parts just about the spot cut away will push stronger than if such cutting had not occurred, but the rest of the tree will be weakened, because the immense number of buds cut away will be prevented Irom doing their duty to the mirnons of cells which depended on their future action for existence. Branches push out strong after winter pruning,, we all admit, but it is a temporary effort— a shock to vitality. Just as any of us pursued by a mad bull, might make a mighty leap for life. It ^vould be perhaps a wonderful effort and exhibit our great strength; Init like the battles of many nations, a tew more such victories would be death to us all. . That this holds good exactly as I have put it, you can find proofs every where about you. If you live in an old established town, where some of the inhabitants annually lop oft" the heads of their trees, compare them with some neighbor's across the street who never cut them down, and you will find that the untrimmed. trees in ten years are double the size. Or go to a willow field where oziers lor baskets are made, and the tops cut off every year, you will see that in twenty years, if the stocks have not given out entirely, they are scarcely a foot thick, and you know how large the White or Red Willow should be in twenty years. Or nearer home — examine .«ome neglected Osage orange hedge in ten or twelve years, the stems are timber trees, but in a hedge cut low every year the stems would hardly be as thick as one's Avrist in a whole life time. Pruning therefore for wood is ah error, whether done in winter or summer. It must he so, from the principles of cell growth which I have explained to you, and that it is so, you have seen from the examples I have given you. Yet pruning, as a temporary escape from a greater evil, like a leap from a mad bull, is often of great service; but we need not be leaping or pruning forever. Common sense must tell us when to jump or when to pnuie. It is just .so with summer prvmnrj for frv.it. You will get Osage orange balls from STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 207 your unpruncd trees in twelve years; but you may summer prune your Osage hedge for twenty years, and never see a flower. 1 have drawn a parallel between the existence of a government and the life of a tree, the likeness is perfect, and it enables you to understand the principles of fruit culture better than anything I can say. We say of governments that they are supposed to be created for the benefit of the individuals who are governed; and of tree life we say that leaves, and roots, and branches — the officers which compose the government of the tree — arc for the benefit of the individual cells which conferred the power on them. Great wars are \ iolent efibrts to right some wrong, when it seems necessary to sacrifice many individuals for the good of the whole. So in pruning, there are many occasions when a sacrifice of a portion of the aggregated cells is a benefit to those which are left; l)Ut it is just as rational to say that systematic war would be a benefit to a nation, as that systematic priming is a benefit to a tree. There can not be the least doubt but that continued pruning weakens vitality, and lays the tree open to the attacks of numerous diseases and foreign enemies; and that the continued propagation from everlastingly pruned trees is one of the great causes, of the modern failures in fruit growing. Mr. Meehan — While I was reading this address it occurred to me to remark further, that verj^ often customs and habits remain in exist- ence long after the reasons which induced them have passed away. It seems to be the case in man}' things connected with this question of fruit culture. It seems strange that at this late day we should have to show that the keeping of roots near the surface is right, and that one of the leading practices in planting fruit trees is that we should never plant them deep ; and yet, after planting them in that way, we seem sometimes to take especial pains to destroy them. It seems sometimes necessary to show that roots will not grow healthily except near the surface. I have brought with me some suckers which were taken off last spring. These three specimens had a few roots at the bottom, and were planted down eighteen inches, and they scarcely came out at all until the part of the plant near the surface of the soil came in contact with the atmosphere, and roots sprung from it there. Mr. Wier — I wish to make a few remarks on this lecture. It eeems very strange to me that our State Horticulturist and brother Meehan have found out how to make the leaves of trees grow better than God Almighty. They say you cannot have leaves grow well unless they have the light of the sun. Now, it seems to me that our great 208 TKANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Creator made a mistake in having leaves grow on the north side of a tree. [Mr. Meehan said light, not sun's rays.] Mr. Barry — Speaking of the ground being frozen, you say that the tree would grow having the roots all frozen. Is that your state- ment ? Mr. Meehan — Yes, sir ; that is my statement. Mr. Barry — 1 could hardly agree with you there. I think our trees would make very poor progress if the roots were frozen all summer. You know the trouble we have to get bottom heat. We all believe that a certain amount of bottom heat is necessary as well as top heat; otherwise we should expect the tree to fail. The instance of the grape-vine would hardly answer for an illustration ; but even they are found to bear much better when the borders are warm. They cover them and they heat them in England, so that I think your statement would bear modification. Mr. Meehan — Yes, I know that English grape-growers do take pains to keep the heat in their borders. My statement was that people frequently attributed to wet what ought to be attributed to heat. Keep them warm and tolerably dry. The statement I made was simply an illustration, and I should be quite willing to let it stay where Mr. Barry has left it. Mr. Barry — There is another point, which is in regard to main- taining moisture in the soil. Now one of the best ways to keep moisture in the soil is to keep the surface of the ground well stirred — in a finely pulverized condition. I have always found that where the ground was constantly stirred and kept finely pulverized it was moist even in drouth. I am only stating my own experience now, and I would like to hear you explain that point a little further, be- cause I got the impression that I should keep it covered with grass instead of exposing it to the sun, according to your views. Mr. Meehan — Your experience agrees with mine partly, and partly not. I get my information from thermometrical experiments. I find that our observation deceives us. I tried particularly with the ther- STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 209 mometer about four years ago, and gave an account of these experi- ments in Mr. Harris's Rural Annual, at Eochester. I found the soil was 115®; and the soil under a closely-mown grass lawn, not, per- haps, a dozen yards from it, was not much more than 85® or 90®. There was a very great difference between the two, and every circum- stance of exposure to the sun was precisely the same^ and the soil under grass was colder and moister by a considerable degree than that with the loose surface. It appears to me there is no getting over these figures. You may imagine the soil is moister, but you will find that it is not really so. We think this loosening of the surface is favorable to moisture instead of a hard baked surface. Letting the grass be long I admit that it bakes the surface hard, but when you keep the grass mown short the state of affairs becomes different. If you take an Osage orange hedge and let it run up twenty-five or thirty feet high — then you will find that the roots are only about as far away as the branches grow. Keep your grass down, and you will find that the soil is looser and cooler than in the other way. Mr. Earle — Have you seen tested what effect clover has compared with common grass ? We^ in Southern Illinois, are trying red clover. Mr. Meehan — I should think that a crop of clover would do as much harm as by leaving the soil entirely exposed. I should think that the soil would be made particularly dry by the roots of the clover. Mr. Earle — It leaves a very perfect mulch, does it not ? Mr. Meehan — It is simply returning to Paul what has been taken from Peter. Mr. Earle — Would there be any compensation to the soil by the decay of the clover roots ? Mr. Meehan — It seems to me that you would do better by covering it with mulch, and jou would do more good by applying a top dress- ing than by relying on the destruction of the roots. Mr. Bliss — If I understand it, the moisture is drawn from the atmosphere. The atmosphere is kept moving very slow, and in sum- is 210 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS mer the air will be condensed on that pitcher of cold water. It is not drawn from the ground, but the ground only receives moisture every nightjand even at ten o'clock, or at mid-day, you may wet your boots in the clover while the common ground is throwing off its steam from the great heat. Mr. Meehan — Yes, I think that is correct, and perhaps the plants absorbed a little of that moisture. It preserves the plants from withering away until such time as they can draw some moisture from the soil. I should not think that they draw much from the atmos- phere, but simply to supply the deficiency from the soil. Mr. Bliss — I think our knowledge here is that it may teach us a different lesson in the West from what you learn in your district. The surface with us is always moister with clover than with any other crop. Mr. Meehan — The surface for half an inch or so, no doubt, is mois- ter, from condensation of what was in the atmosphere, but I should not think that there was as much moisture in a general way. Mr. Pierson — If a fruit-grower has an abundance of mulch, in the form of forest leaves, or straw, or hay, would you use it or let the ground go over to grass ? Mr. Meehan — Use the mulch, of course, especially in the West, where you have to burn so much. Mr. Pierson — You would prefer it, of course ? Mr. Meehan — Yes, sir; considerably. Mr. Humphreys — Do you think that mulching would be preferable to stirring the soil ? Mr. Meehan — Yes, sir; I think so, considerably, I should prefer mulch to anything. Mr. Nelson — Did I understand yoa that we were not to prune any ? Mr. Meehan — Under certain circumstances it might be an advan- tage. If a man broke his leg, it might be advantageous to cut it off, but otherwise it would not. To prune with the idea that you help the vitality of a tree is simply an error. Mr. Barry — There is a point where we do help the vigor of a tree STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. " 211 by pruning. Now, take a yearling tree, or one two years old, and the leaves are very- feeble. Cut that tree back to one or two eyes, and you will slowly start a very fine foliage, which will draw vigor- ously from the sun and air; whereas, if we had left it with the little leaves all over it, it would have made very poor growth ; and it is on that very same principle^ precisely, that we prune a few buds away in order that the remainder may fulfill their work perfectly. That is my notion as to the benefit of pruning. Mr. Meehan — That is one of those cases •where, of two evils, we prefer the least. There are many operations going on in plant life. There is evaporation where there is no growth, and in some cases where there is a reasonably quick growth, the leaf growth is out of proportion with the stem growth. Cutting off a portion of it, there is less work to be done. That is a choice of evils, as I said before. This continuous pruning, which is kept on forever, will weaken the tree. So, also, in transferring trees, we prune for the same reason ; the roots become disproportioned to the branches, and we cut off a portion of the evaporating surface so as to give the roots less work than they would otherwise have to perform. It is an evil, and a continual succession of these evils would produce a diseased body. Dr. Hull — I do not know whether I understand your statements correctly or not. Do roots have the power, in winter, of forming cellular growth — adding a single cell? Mr. Meehan — I do not know. They have very late in the fall — up to winter time. Yes, they do add cells through the winter season. Plant a hyacinth root four inches in the ground, and it comes on to freeze, a foot thick if you like, and it continues to do so until Feb- ruary, and you will find that its leaves are level with the surface — that it has made roots six inches deep — thawed its way right through the ground. That is a beautiful experiment. It thaws its way by its own internal heat. I did not recollect this experiment at first* but I fortunately remember so much as, I think, answers the question completely. Mr. Earle — I would like to ask Mr. Meehan what is the practical 212 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ZLLINOIS effect of this grass system in the orchards he has been in. Do they succeed in grass? are they longer lived? and do they bear fruit that is worth having? Mr. Meehan — If you travel through Pennsylvania you will be astonished at the great number of pears, apples and cherries which are healthy and bear large amounts of fruit, and you will find that the}' are protected by briars, raspberries, &c. On the other hand, if you will look at the cultivated ground you will scarcely ever see a healthy tree. This wiirshow that these trees are better than when cultivated on the regular garden plan. In the latter case they are almost always affected with leaf-blight — the leaves fall off at the end of August, and then there is no more ripening for the fruit. Dr. Hull— Explain the cause of the leaf-blight — this peculiar form of it. I think you mentioned something about it once to me. Mr. Meehan — It first makes its appearance about the middle of July. You have to look closely to observe it. You will, by holding the leaf up to the light, see faint yellow patches, and if you place them under a microscope you will see a j^ellow, round fungus. As each fungus develops itself, the tissue in the immediate neighborhood dies, but whether it breeds in the tissue, or whether it is drawn into its system through the roots, or whether the spore attaches to the outside of the leaf, I have not seen any experiments that would prove it to me. There is one thing j^ou can observe in connection with it, and that is, that the weakest fruits and the weakest trees get attacked by it first, and that would seem to show that the tree whose vitality is weakest is more favorable to the progress of the disease than if -.the trees were perfectly healthy. Mr. Pierson — In the case of a pear or apple orchard, at what age - in the history of that orchard would you commence the system of mulching, either by grass or artificial mulch? Mr. Meehan — That would depend entirely upon the peculiar cir- cumstances of the case. The physician would have to see the patient ^nd that is exactly how I should be situated in judging of the time when I would commence mulching. If the surface of the soil was STATE HORTICULTUR^VL SOCIETY. 213 porous, you need not commence mulching for many years — you need not, in some cases, commence mulching at all. You see it depends altogether upon the peculiar circumstances of the case. Mr. Earle — I would like to ask Mr. Meehan this question : Do you find the grass system to be a remedy for leaf-blight, almost uniformly? Do these pear trees which are so subject to the early loss of their leaves, hold them when in gi'ass ? Mr. Meehan — I do not know how that would be. After once having contracted a disease, by bad climate or any thing else, T do not know whetuor ciny amount of grass or good treatment would restore them. But I do know that trees raised in grass from begin- ning to end have the leaf-blight far less than others. All those who are in the habit of raising pear seedlings know that that is so. When they are in open ground, as soon as the weather gets very hot, leaf- blight commences. But if the pears be shaded, by having apples growing between them, they do not get the leaf-blight; therefore, the probability is that they would not have the leaf-blight when shaded so much as when exposed. Last year I put some pear seed- lings under a hot-bed sash, and some in the open ground alongside of them. The latter were completely destroyed by leaf-blight, while those under the hot-bed sash were not one of them destroyed ; so that it shows that keeping down the intense heat of the surface keeps down leaf-blight. Mr. Douglas — I would ask if the leaf-blight on the seedling of the pear is what you speak of? Mr. Meehan — That is my understanding. Some commence by having a yellow patch in the leaf, and there are some which I am well acquainted with where it commences on the edge of the leaf. Mr. Douglas — The leaf-blight on the pear seedling — the leaf gets spotted and falls ofP— the sap of the tree does not seem to be affected by it. Generally it puts out new leaves. This leaf-blight we are speaking of generally blackens the stem. Mr. Woodard— I should like to ask a question. In our northern climate the frost is so intense that our orchards suffer damage from 214 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS it. "We plow the ground — raise it — sometimes to the depth of a foot next the tree. Now, as he spoke of planting the trees on the surface, and keeping the roots near the surface to strengthen the tree and its foliage, I would ask if keeping the roots near the surface would not cause them to be injured by the frost in our cold climate ? Mr. Meehan — If the tree were unhealthy, I should think it would be injured, but if the tree were healthy, I do not think there would any danger. If the tree were not adapted to the climate it would make some diiference. Mr. Woodard — Two years ago the frost was so intensely severe that some trees were frozen so that they were dead in the spring; that was when the soil was dry in the preceding summer. Mr. Meehan — Destruction seemed to follow quicker after a dry summer than after a wet summer ? Mr. Woodard — That is true. Mr. Meehan — The atmosphere is made so intensely dry that it is just the same as if it were to be a burning sun. In a state of low temper- ature there is just the same result as in a state of high temperature, and we frequently see that plants die in the winter just in the same way. If the summer is very hot and dry there is not anything to keep the plant alive during the winter, and those that are left alive are unable to appl}'- themselves to recuperation. Mr. Woodard — Would it not be well to cover the roots in winter? Would it not be best to raise the earth above the roots, perhaps a foot in winter? Mr. Meehan — It would have the effect of lifting it out of the water, but I do not think it is of much benefit. Mr. Hubbard, of Detroit, told me his cherry trees died as much that waj^ as they did the other way. Mr. Woodard — You will find that James A. Wakeman has an orchard of 80 or 90 acres. His orchard looks like the waves of the sea. He says that by this process he gains temperature, and his trees bear late in the fall and commence early in the spring. He says he gains tem- perature, and by that means produces good fruit. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 215 Mr. Meehan — That is exactly in accordance with the principles I have advocated to-night. If the water will drain away it is an excellent plan. I thought he had simply reference to raising it in the summer and depressing it in the winter. Dr. Hull — I have been very highly entertained by this subject of drying out as a killing process, especially in our evergreen trees. I would have it borne in mind that this is no test of hardiness in the trees. Now out of about 80 varieties tested in Illinois, nearly every foreign variety has gone by the board, simply by this drying out process, as it is well understood that the leaves of evergreen trees are the recep- tacles of plant food. Now the conditions here are such that our winters dr}^ up the foliage on our evergreens, not by hard freezing, but by drj'ing. I hope that will be recollected, and that persons will not consider that because it was taken from an altitude where the temper- ature was many degrees below zero, it would necessarily make them hardy. Mr. Pierson — What is your opinion, Mr. Meehan, of tile draining? Mr. Meehan — I would not put an orchard where it required tile draining. I never found any profit from tile draining in fruit orchards. Mr. Earle — I would like to make a statement as to this ridging up. I have found that plowing up to trees — and that is what, I take it, this means — unmistakably furnishes the conditions of this root fungus growth. In all soils that furnish the conditions of decaying wood — which I think is the main cause of fungus — I think it will be found fatal to the trees to do this. I would like to say this too, that we have a good many facts in our neighborhood to show that the seeding the ground about trees by clover — and I presume that grass is the same — has restoi'ed the health of trees in regard to leaf-blight. I instance the Louise Bonne de Jersey in particular. This past year, and the year before, the leaves were well held on the tree, and maintained a fair color, and the fruit was of very fair quality, the clover having been sown two years ago last spring. I know some others that have sown clover on their land for the last six or eight years, and the trees have regularly held their leaves and matured fruit of excellent quality. It 216 TEANSACTIO:^fS OF THE ILLINOIS is simply this spot on tte leaf which Mr. Douglas has named. Now if the grass system will enable us to keep the leaves on the trees, I am going for the grass. RAILROAD FREIGHTS ON NURSERY STOCK. Mr. Wier — I am requested by Capt. Mann to introduce the follow- ing resolution : Whereas, It is a well kuowu fact that the i-ailroads m this and other States dis- criminate unjustly, as we think, against the shippers of trees and other niu-sery pro- ducts in the classification of their freight tariff tables ; therefore, Eesol/ved, That a committee be appointed by this Society to confer with the oificers of the railroads of this State for the purpose of procuring from them a lower and more just freight tariff on nursery products. Mr. Douglas — We are not a society of nurserymen, and I shall object to it on that ground, and also on the ground that it is only fooling away time. Mr. Wier — There is not a man in the State of Illinois but that is interested in this resolution. Pack them as closely as you please, and they charge double first-class freights. Mr. Brown — Do you think it would do any good ? Mr. Periam — They take up the room. On all through freights they will give you as cheap rates as they can, but to local tariffs they will put on all they can. Mr. Wier — I move that the resolution be adopted. The motion prevailed, and the resolution was adopted by ayes 21, noes 16. Mr. Daggy — For the convenience of parties going away, I move that when we adjourn to-morrow, we adjourn at 11 o'clock A. M. Carried. TILE DRAINING. Dr. Hull — Tile draining in orchards is not worth a fig. In the State of Michigan I have been in one hundred and fifty orchards in which it was resorted to, and in all of them the ditches became filled STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 217 up. I expected to hear a paper on that subject, showing the useless- ness of tile draining. You cannot take it up when defective, in con- sequence of the roots. EEPOETS OF COMMITTEES. Messrs. Wier and Edwards, from Committee on Testing New Varie- ties, submitted reports as follows : Ottawa, His., December 15, 1869. Hon. Tyler McWhorter, President Ills. State Hort. Soc: But little opportunity has been enjoyed )iy me for observation of the value of new varieties of fruits, during the past year. The Kramer Strawberry with me, Iruited for the first time, is of small size; an abundant bearer; of fair quality ; vine hardy. Michigan, a seedling originated by B. Hathaway, Little Prairie Ronde, Michigan, is the only variety of fruit received for trial by me, in accordance with the solicitation made in the Prairie Farmer, by the committee. The vines promise well. Jucunda, on all soils, tried for years, is worthless. Miami Raspberry is considerably larger than Doolittle; a little later in ripening. Philadelphia bore abundantly of good fniit ; too soft for shipment. Clarke, of liner quality and less productive. Long Bunched Holland Currant is still thought desirable, as the latest variety in ripening, and retaining its fruit and foliage until late in the season; it is thought by some that it bids fair to succeed farther south than other varieties. Cuttings have been freely distributed by me at several of our horticultural meetings. The first sent out must bear, in many localities , the coming season . The committee have had a strawberry presented in alcohol, and photographs of same size as the fruit, bv Wm. B. Nefl', of Ottawa, which has been fruited three years. Full notes of this variety are presented by Mr. D. B. Wier of this committee. The testimony before us is such as to Avarrant us in recommending it for trial, by those who are testing new varieties, with a probability of its becoming more valuable in our State than those originated in foreign lands or distant points of oiu: own. Finley Pippin apple presented by Mr. Neft", is described in notes of Mr. "Weir; is of fine quality. D. F. Kinney, of Rock Island, presents a seedling apple under name of Black Hawk. Fruit of medium size; crisp; juicy; mild sub-acid flavor; form, very heavy; color, red; keeps till May. Tree gives indications of being very hardy , making short joints between buds; leaves hang very late. RespectfiiUy submitted. SAMUEL EDWARDS, One of committee on testing new fruits . 218 TRA^'SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR TESTING NEW FRUITS. At the last meeting of this society, a committee was appointed to receive and plant any new fruits that might be sent them, and report on their value. This committee, for the northern district, gave notice through the horticultural press of their willing- ness to receive such fruits and to report on such officially to the society, as to their merits. Individually, I received no fruits of any kind from originators, therefore properly I have nothing ou which to report. But having procured some new varieties, and having seen some others in fruit, I thought an opinion on their merits might be interesting to some. STRAWBERRIES. Charles Dmvning. — This is a fine fruit, originated by J. S. Downer, of Kentucky, and appears to be peculiarly adapted to the climate of the west. It is a sturdy and vigorous plant; fruit of the largest size, highest flavor, and brilliant color; quite late in season; it will, without doubt, I think, prove valuable. The Mexican Ever -hearing. — I procured this great wonder, and planted plants of it in different soils and in different exposures. The result has been just what I had antici- pated. I had paid my little three dollars a dozen for the old Monthly Red Alpine, or perhaps a seedling from it. This species of Strawberry reproduces itself almost exactly from seed; and the seedlings, for a few years, show more vigor and productiveness than the parent, but they invariably return to the normal type. But so long as our most prominent nursery firms advertise and sell the Alpine varieties, why persecute individuals for doing the same thing? Nicanor.—'Shxs variety has proved to be all that was claimed for it by its originators, with me, planted on different soils, after two year's fruiting. I think it worthy of general cultivation. Seedlings grown hy W. D. Neff, of Ottatva. — My attention was called to these last win- ter, and I intended to have visited Mr. Neft''s place while they were in fruit, but could not find time to do so. But from testimony placed before me, and collected by myself, I am convinced that the varieties vinder the names of Ottawa and Prairie Farmer, are remarkably fine fruits, in size, productiveness, flavor and vigor. They were raised from the seed of the Agriculturist; the flowers were probably fertilized wholly or in part by the Wilson, which was growing near. Among those that we have tested, that have shown no desirable qualities, I would name Dr. Nicaise, Ida, Stinger's Seedling, Philadelphia — in fact every one of the newer varieties tested. RASPBERRIES. I have procured and fruited as many of the new varieties as my very limited means would allow. If any are slighted in this report, it is their fault, not mine. Of the varieties fruited, I would recommend as promising well, for family use, Elm City, Clarke, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Davison's Thornless, Large Miami, (the McCormick of this society. Mammoth Cluster of Purely and Johnston). For a home market. Elm STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 219 City, Clarke, Philadelphia, Davison's Thornless and McCormick. For shipping, perhaps Philadelphia, (though a Uttle soft), Davison's Thornless, McCormick. I have fruited all of these two seasons, most of them on different soils, and cannot see but what they are all of them worthy of general cultivation— certainly worthy of extended trial . BLACKBERRIES. I have succeeded in getting together quite a collection of the newer varieties of the Blackberry, but have received none ft-om parties wishing them tested. The Kittatinny.— The more we see. of this tine variety the more we think of it, and I do believe that all who plant it and care for it properly will be rewarded. Perfect under extreme drouth, wet, heat and cold. But I do hope for a variety as good in every way, or better, with less briars. Missouri Mammoth.— This still proves hardy with me. summer and winter. It does not fruit young hke the Kittatiimy, but the fruit is of most excellent flavor, though not of so large size as we had reason to expect, but it is of fair size and handsome appear- ance. It may prove of value, but we cannot recommend it for general cultivation without further trial. Wilson's Early. — This has so fax with me proved utterly worthless, being tender summer and winter. In the three years we have had it, it has given no perfect fruit. I have many other varieties that have fruited but little, some of them showing great promise. One in particular, which I received without name, which is entirely without briars, shows promise of hardiness and productiveness. If it should prove to have these points to a desirable extent, it will prove of great value. Crystal White. — A bright yellow variety; has shown good promise. CHERRIES. Berrhard.— Thin is a seedling of the common Black Morello, grown in our town, which 1 have taken the liberty to name after the person in whose garden it originated . The tree is a very strong grower, perfectly hardy; an upright grower of l>eautiful form; foliage light green; young shoots slender, of a light brownish-yellow color; fruit of the same shape, size, flavor, color and season of the English Morello, but with the pit much smaller and round. This is the most vigorous Morello I have yet seen; will make a most beautiful ornamental shade and fruit tree. I hardly think it pro- ductive enough. I think that this tree, owing to its great vigor and hardiness, will make the very best stock on which to top-graft the tender varieties. I have seen in fruit this season a seedling of the Kentish jamily, said to have been produced from seed brought from Connecticut twenty years ago. It is said to have been in bearing fifteen years on the open prairie, and never failed to produce a full crop of fruit. The tree has the same appearance as the Early Richmond; the fi'uit is the same size, shape, color and flavor as that variety, but ripens about two weeks later. Though not very distinct from the old late Kentish, it appears to have more youthful vigor and hardiness. 220 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS GRAPES. I have fruited none of the newer varieties, except my own seedling, the Lacon. This seedling is of 1862, of the Concord. It fruited slightly the second year, and has fruited each year since, continually increasing in size of bunch and berry ; has with- stood our late extreme seasons as well as its nolle parent. It is not quite so large in bunch and berry as the Concord. The berry is round, or a little oblong, entirely without toughness in its pulp, the seeds separating freely; its flavor has generally been called first-rate. It has never failed to ripen from a week to ten days earlier than the Hartford Prolific. The vine has also been fruited near Chicago and at St. Louis, and has attracted favorable mention at both places . POTATOES. Early Rose.—l hs^re fruited this variety— which has been "blowed" as thing was never "blowed" before— two years. We find, perhaps, six days earlier than the Early York, but not of near the value of that old variety, for the reasons that it is no better in quality ; it keeps in a fit condition to eat but a short time, and rots seriously. APPLE. « Finley P«^^m.— Presented by "William D. Neflf, of this city, who will be pleased to furnish scions to any persons wishing to test it. We think it well worthy the attention of all fruit-growers, especially north. The apple was brought many years ago from Judge Finley' s orchard, Hancock county, Indiana, where it is supposed to have originated. The tree has been in fruit in this neighborhood for twenty -five years, and during that time has never failed of producing a full crop of fruit. The tree is per- fectly hardy and vigorous, and has the peculiarity of uniting freely with the common wild crab of the woods, making a fine tree when grafted thereon. The fruit is of full medium size, of fine form and color. The fruit matures early in winter and remains in perfection a long time. As Mr. Nefl'is present, w^e would refer members to him for further information. EespectfuUy submitted as one of tne committee, D. B. WIEPt. COMMITTEE ON TREASURER'S REPORT. Mr. Hilliard reported : — Ottawa, December 15, 1869. Your committee have examined the Treasurer's report, accompanied with vouchers, and find the same correct. There is now remaining in the hands of the Treasurer $1,174.58. All of which is respectfully submitted. A. A. HILLIARD, 1 W. T. NELSON, \ Committee. J. W. FLETCHER,] STATE. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 221 COMMITTEE ON DECEASED MEMBERS. Mr, Bryant submitted a report : Whereas, we have learned with deep regret the decease of Benjamin D. Walsh, A. M., State Entomologist; Hesolved, That, in view of his scientific acquirements, which had secured for him a national reputation; his zeal in investigation, and his practical mode of communicating his discoveries, we consider his death, in the vigor of intellect, as a loss to the pubUc not likely soon to be repaired. Eesolved, That, by the death'of All)ert S. Coe, of Rock Island, this Society has lost a most worthy friend and co-laborer — a man, alike esteemed for liis public and domestic virtues . ARTHUR BRYANT, Chairman. PAIR. Mr. Flagg offered the following resolutions : Besolvecl, That the Executive Committee be instructed and authorized to confer with the officers of the State Agricultural Society, and to propose to join them in holding their annual fair; provided they can do so on the following conditions : 1. The Horticultural Society, through such superintendent as it shall select and the Agricultural Society shall approve, shall take charge of the horticultural department, and use all diligence to secure a good exhibition, properly arranged and decorated, of that department. 2. The Agricultural Society, in preparing the premium list for articles in the horti- cultural department shall consult the Horticultural Society as to the suitable objects and amounts of premiums, and make them proportionate to those offered in other departments, 3. The Horticultural Society shall receive a dividend of the profits or pay an assess- ment of the deficits of the fair, proportionate to the amount of premiums awarded in the horticultural department, Mr. Flag-g — I would like to offer these resolutions, because I think that under our appropriation it is our duty to do something, and a also think it is better to do it in co-operation with the agricultural fair than attempt it by ourselves. We have made at least two attempts to hold a fair without obtaining a financial success, although w^e succeeded otherwise, and the Agricultural Society is not making a very good success of its horticultural department. 222 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Dr. Hull — I think a condition ought to be inserted. I think the payment of a dollar to the State Agricultural Society constitutes membership, and also admits them to the grounds. Now, the pay- ment of our membership ought to admit us. Mr. JFlagg — Is there any membership of the Agricultural Society ? Mr. Daggy — There is not any. Mr. Flagg — I would accept an amendment in that direction. An additional resolution was then added. Mr. Emery — I do not see that a man's being a member of one society should constitute him a member of another society. The President — As the chair understands this question, there has been one motion made first, and then an amendment, and then there must be a vote made on the amendment. Mr. Flagg — I will not accept the amendment, but let the Society vote on it separately. The question then being on the adoption of the amendment, it was lost. ■ The question then being on the original resolutions, they were adopted. On motion of Mr. Flagg, the meeting adjourned until to-morrow morning. FOUETH DAY— MORNmG SESSION. The Society met at 9 o'clock, pursuant to adjournment. President McWhorter in the chair. The proceedings were opened with prayer by the Eev. Mr. Lewis. SPECIAL ORDER. The special order being the resolution of Mr. Shepherd, it was called up. The President — It will be necessary to hurry things through, and we should only devote about fifteen minutes to that subject. STATE HORTICULTUllAL SOCIETY. 223 Mr. Brown — I move that the vote be taken on that subject not later than half-past nine. Carried. The resolution having been read, Mr. Flagg called for a division of the question, which was allowed. The first section being read, tlio following discussion ensued: Mr. Flagg — I am of opinion the organic law of the State now cor- responds with the organic law of Congress, and anything which looks to a change in the present framework of the University must go clear back to the organic law. Mr. Brown — I did not wish to argue this question, but I hope the resolution will not pass, for the reason just given by Mr. Flagg. For another reason — that it seems to me illiberal. The object seems to be to exclude all classical and literary studies. If we could do that, I do not think it would do any good. I do not see why a farmer's son should not study the languages as well as other branches of knowledge, and if the scheme is to teach classics, we must have all the machiner}^ for it, and therefore it is just as easy to teach a large number as a small number. I think there is no necessity for this resolution whatever. The assertion that this institution was a mere classical institution, running in the old ruts is not true. No reason- able man would expect that an institution of this sort would spring full grown and fully armed into existence, as Minerva sprang from the brain of Jupiter. Now, we assert that there are no men in this State of Illinois who are more determined to make this institution "what the people expect it to be — that is, an institution for the horticul- tural, agricultural, and mechanical interests of the State — than the trus- tees and regent of that institution ; for I do think that there is no man in the State who has a fuller appreciation and a wider comprehension of the subjects to be taught than Dr. Gregory. There have been false impressions gone abroad about it, but I can say that they are rapidly bringing the institution up to a point to Avhich public senti- ment says it should come. Only a few days ago we appointed a director of mechanical industry, and he will be there on the first of Januarj^. 224 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Periam — I, for one, do not imagine but that the board of trustees are doing everything in their power to forward this enterprise, in the fullest acceptation of the term ; but I am not one who believes that Dr. Gregory has this great comprehension of industrial education which he has been said to have. I do not say anything about classics. I do believe, however, that the student of that college should go there from other colleges, rather than that he should go there to obtain the knowl- edge that he can obtain elsewhere. The institution has been carried on against the wishes of the people of the State of Illinois, and the course of study at that college, at the time of the commencement of the present term was such, that just one hour per day was devoted to agriculture. But, sir, I say also, to-day, that the State of Missouri, in sending gen- tlemen over the countr}^ to examine into this question, ignored the State of Illinois entirely, and directed them to make investigations in Michi- gan, Wisconsin and Iowa. It looks as though there was good ground for this action, when the institution is not carried on as it ought to be. Mr. Flagg — Do you consider the Wisconsin college in any respect an advance upon Illinois? Mr. Periam — I do not know. I simply state this fact. I hope, sir, that this matter will continue to be brought up before our body, until we get a radical change in industrial education. If our students go there with a full knowledge of the classics, so much the better. But give them so much ©f chemistry as will enable them to understand the com- position of the soil, so much of botany as will enable them to under- stand the structure of plants, so much of medicine as to understand the diseases of their stock. Mr. Shepherd — I v^^ant to talk some on this subject. I believe it is well to hear all that can be said for or against a subject, and I think it is well to spend our time in long and patient hearing on this subject. I went to Bunker Hill last time to ventilate this subject. I came here, and waited patiently, and now I do not know how to say what I should on this subject. Well, sir, I was one of those who aided in eliminating the idea that has brought the agricultural and mechanical education of the people to be considered a great national matter. I gloried in its STATE HOETICULTUllAL SOCIETY. 225 attaining some position. Notvvitlistanding the popularity of the ques- tion, I have received as much mean treatment for doing this as I have done for being an abolitionist. I have been contemned and derided for advocating this — for teUing the people to come out and say what they need to know. Not what a classical man would love to teach them, but leavino- many of these things, when the limit of three score years and ten does not allow a man to spend ten or fifteen years in classics, and then set about digging in the dirt and doing all these things ; he will have been so much engaged in acquiring knowledge that is not neces- sary for him, that he does not fall to the other properly. The lectures that we have heard here, at the same time that they have demonstrated that the understanding of the laws of light, and vegetable growth, and social intercourse, are imperative, show clearly that a classical knowl- edge, great and good as it is esteemed by many of our eminent men, has no tendency to develop this knowledge. Why has it not, in the two thousand years that it has gone on, spread out a knowledge of agricul- ture or the mechanic arts, as more important than anything that has ever been known ? Why is it that it does not do this ? I do not care how classical your education — if the farmers and machinists stop, we are gone. It is imperative that we have our own farmers educated in these things. Look at the productions of the soil: wheat has gone down fifty per cent, corn nearly in the same ratio. I remember the time when we could go next summer and reap 30 to 50 bushels per acre with much more certainty than we can now. We use up our fields and go further west, instead of improving our land by scientific farming. How much further west will you go ? One more State to the southwest, and we get to the verge of civilization. At the present rate of progress in destroying our soil, in less than 75 years the question will be : Where shall we get bread to put in our mouths ? The Almighty did not see fit to make another Mississippi valley in any part of the world. If we despoil this territory, woe be to us. Notwithstanding the projectors of this scheme might be poor unin-' structed dunces, they cast about and they thought we ought to have such knowledge of geology as was eliminated by the professors here the other 16 226 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS day, that 'we ought to know something about botany. They found that there was nothing known — that we had first to begin and build up a knowledge of these facts bj- long continued reiteration, and a lifetime would not be long enough to meet the matter successfully. Now we ask no place of honor or profit about it — we hope to see and know^ and let those who come after us know, that their advantages and future prosperity here will be better and more respectfull}^ treated than we have been. Dr. Hull — I move that the resolution be laid on the table. Mr. Baldwin — I have been one of those who thought the plan pur- sued not the best, but on investigation last week^ I am satisfied that the course pursued is much better than it has been, and that the course pursued by the trustees is deserving of a good deal of charity, because they had no data by which they could be governed. I want it to be just such as father Shepherd desires it to be. Mr. Shepherd — I do not impeach any of the trustees; that is far from my thought. The question being on Dr. Hull's motion to lay the resolution on the table, it was carried. DETERIORATION OF THE APPLE. Mr. Flagg read a letter from Robert Manning, of Salem, Mass. : Salem, December 8, 1869. • My Dear Sir: — You ask my views ou the causes of the failure of the apple in the older States, and though I have had but little time to give to the subject, I lay before you such thoughts as have occurred to me. in the hope that they may prove a small contribution to a full understanding of the cause, and the discovery of an effectual remedy . Though there are men who boldly deny any such deterioration, I think an over- whelming majority of orchardists will justify you in assuming it. It appears tome that the first thing to be done is to define, if possible, exactly wherein this deteriora- tion consists, and that if we could agree upon this point, a great and necessary step would be gained towards ascertaining the cause. So far as I am aware, it is not asserted by any one that the young trees in the nur- sery are any less healthy or vigorous, or that the raising of them is attended with any more difficulty than heretofore. Nor do I know that the trees when planted in orchards exhibit marks of decay, except it may be "SAith a few varieties. The deter- STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 227 rioration appears to be confined to tlie fruit, and here I may particularly specify : 1st, A greater liability to the attacks of fungi of diflferent kinds; 2d, a want of fairness— an outside knurllness, accompanied by hard concretions within; and, od, where no unsoundness can be discerned by the eye there appears a tendency to earlier ripening, or as is more commonly stated, " the apple don't keep," indicating a change in the constitution or "makeup" of the fruit. I confess that my ideas on this point are not so clear but that I find difficulty in expressing them with precision, but I think many others must have noticed the same changes. I know of some who have— and who will understand what I mean. Connected with this appears to be the change before mentioned in the texture of the skin , rendering it more liable to the attacks of fungi. There is no doubt that with careful cultivation, as good apples, to aU appearances, can be grown now and here as ever could be grown any where, but they no longer have that almost spontaneous growth of former times, when trees in swarded pastures, entirely neglected and aljandoned to the mercies of the caterpillar and borer, and only visited annually in the autumn for harvesting, yet yielded a marvelous abundance of sound, fair fruit, never ripening prematurely. And it is to be observed that the change in the " make up " of the fruit is found not only in that from neglected ti-ees, but perhaps exon more in that under the highest cultivation, as if the fertilizers used had warmed up the soil so as to produce a similar eflect to that caused by a warm sandy soil, as compared with a strong loam or clay. Now, what is the cause of this deterioration ? I do not think it can be laid to insects. With one or two exceptions, it is questionable whether there has been any increase of insects within the last fifty or even one hundred years. About seventy years since the canker worm prevailed in many parts of New England, and appears to have been qviite as destructive as at present. Orchards were entirely defoliated, and for several years the crop of apples was much diminished or entirely cut ofl by these insects. It is beheved that very little was done to check their ravages, but they were finally destroyed in the larval state by a June frost, and their extermination was literally complete. For more than half a century following the canker worm was so rarely seen that on its re-appearance it was scarcely recognized. The borer, codling moth, tent and autumn caterpillars, are no new enemies of the apple, and can scarcely have aided in the work of deterioration. The last two are sufliciently disgusting, and I have spent a good deal of time in destroying both, but I have never known any per- manent injury to result from them when looked after to any reasonable extent. The borer undoubtedly has inflicted lasting injury on trees, and, perhaps, along with other unfavorable influences, destroyed their lives, but I do not think it can have had generally a pernicious eflect on the fruit. So also the canker worm, when allowed to continue its ravages for a series of years, stripping the trees of their foliage and forcing them into late growth in the attempt to renew it, has, especially when the trees were allowed to stand in grass ground and unmamu'ed, caused the death of many trees, but the deterioration of the apple crop is far more general than the spread of the canker worm. The insects before alluded to as forming exceptions to the general rule of non- increase during the present century, are the curculio and apple maggot {trypela pomo- nella). (See American Journal of Eorticulture, Vol. 11, p. 338.) The fonner is too well known to require comment; the latter, whenever it has appeared, is one of the greatest 228 TEAlSfSACTIONS OF THE ILLI]S01S pests known to tlie orchardist. The codling moth confines itself to the core and a single passage outwards, but this comparatively minute insect perforates every part of the apple, rendering it a mass of honeycomb as far as structure is concerned. They appear to he especially fond of the portion next the skin, through which their tracks may be observed, and I think they are also partial to sweet apples. I have gathered bushels of summer apples, hard, and, to all appearance, sound, but by the time they were mellowed sufficiently for eating — only a few days — e^s'ery apple was utterly spoiled by these pestilent insects. I think they were entirely unknown here twenty — cer- tainly thiity — years ago. This view of the non-increase of insects, I should suppose, would hardly apply to New Jersey, for the only insect mentioned by Coxe in 1817 is the caterpillar, to which he devotes a chapter of just twelve lines. It is equally incredible to me that there could have been no other insects there, or that so careful and accurate an observer could have failed to notice them. At any rate, one has only to read Dr. Trimble to feel sure that there are enough there now. Thus far I had written, when I found my time would not allow me to linish as fully as I had begun ; and perhaps you will think I have made my story too long already . I do not think the stochs on which trees have been grafted will account for deteriora- tion. Fungi and littei' rot have greatly injured the fruit, but why some varieties and locations are free from them and other's not, is difficult to determine. I have lately examined a collection of apples from Nova Scotia which were so fair that it was a pleasure to behold them. I believe the only one showing any fungus was the Fall Pippin, which had a few spots about as big as a pea, of a grayish, scaly fungus. There were aboiit fifty varieties, many of European origin, and old sorts. On the contrary, apples from Nebraska, no doubt from young and thrifty orchards, were badly infected with a fungus taking the form of little black dots, about the size of a pin-hole . Perhaps, however, the season was exceptional in both these cases . As to soil, I doubt whether an orchard planted in newly cleared ground here would produce more perfect fruit than our old gardens, though further information is needed on this point. Climate and atmospheric clianges have not been observed with sufficient accuracy to judge of their effect. There is great need of investigation of this point, and I think it will be found to have exercised a powerful influence. Much is due to varieties. Whatever view may be taken of Knight's theory, or any other theory, the solemn fact remains that varieties do become practically worthless , and must be replaced with new kinds. The Danvers Sweet, which originated in an adjoining town, and was a great favorite there, had, a dozen years ago or more, so far degenerated that the farmers reluctantly grafted over their trees. And this deterioration is not confined to fruit, but is common to flowers and vegetables, and is not local, but is, or will be, conunon to all parts of the country. DAMAGED OSAGE ORANGE PLANTS. Mr. Daggy — I would like to call the attention of the meeting to the damage of the Osage Orange by the frost. Dr. Hull — You will see that that was overtaken by the force of extreme cold when it was still growing, and it caused the bark to burst. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 229 STANDING COMMITTEES. Mr. Flagg announced the list of Standing Committees, as follows Meteorology-~^as. W. Tollman, W. M. Baker, John H. Tice. Geology and Soils— ii . Shaw, TV. F. Bliss, 11. C. Freemaii. Botany and Vegetable Physiology— K. H. McAtifee, T. J. Burrill, Geo. Vascy. E/itomology—Wm. Le Baron, C. V. Riley, T. A. E. Holcomb. Ornithology— Z . Periam, G. W. Minier, J. E. Starr. Ornamental and Timber Trees— Samuel Edwards, J. W. Fell, A. M. Brown. Fruit Faclages—U. D. Emery, E. A. Riehl,P. R. Wright. Testing New Varieties— 1. J. W. Cochran; 2. Samuel Edwards; 3. D. B. Wier; 4. M. L. Dunlap; 5. B. Pullen ; 6. H. J. Hy.le; 7. P. R. Wright. Ad Interim— J. W. Cochran, D. B. Wier, Parker Earle. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. Mr. Bryant, Jr., presented Eeport of Committee on Apples Exhibited, which was adopted : The Committee on Apples would beg leave to report an unusually fine display of fruit on exhibition, one that would have done credit to former years, before the rav- ages of the codling moth and curculio had become so prevalent. Mr. A. C. Hammond, of Warsaw, made the largest exhibition— 41 varieties, finely grown and correctly labeled ; among them, one variety, called Monte Bello, of great promise. S. G. Minkler showed 10 varieties of very fine specimens. A. Bryant & Son had 10 varieties on exhibition; among them, the Jonathan Broad- well. Dr. John Paul showed specimens of 9 varieties of very splendid apples, grown by Gibbons Parry, M. D., of Ohio. One of the most showy collections on exliibition. Nickajack, from California, attracted universal attention by its smooth, highly pol- ished appearance; also, Broadwell and W. S, Paradise, shown by Parker Earle. Cullasaga — Sparks' Late and Terril's Late, long-keeping Southern varieties, were on exhibition. Several other small lots of fine fruit that the committee did not learn the names of the exhibitors, wei"e worthy of mention. There were several lots of seedling apples, exhibited by difl'erent parties, that seem to promise well, some having unvisually good points. Two varieties of seedlings, shown by W. T. Nelson, Wilmington; one, a long-keep- ing sweet apple, which if as good as it promises, will be a great acquisition. D. F. Kinney, Rock Island, exhibits a late winter apple of fine flavor, and appar- ently a long keeper. E. C. Hathaway, Ottawa, 111., shows two or three varieties of seedlings, that seem worthy of further attention. A. BRYANT Jr., 1 i)' f' KINNEY ■^' I Committee on Apples. S. G. MINKLER .J 230 TRAJS^SACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Mr. Holcombe presented the report of the committee on final resolu- tions, which was adopted. Your committee beg leave to offer the following resolutions : Sesolved, That the increased attendance at this meeting evidences a zeal in the cause of Horticulture which is pleasant to ourselves, and will be profitable to the State of niinois; and we hope it will continue until the society shall embrace within its mem- bership all the horticulturists of the State . Resolved, That the thanks of this society are due to the citizens of Ottawa, for their kind and generous hospitality, which will be long remembered by every member of this society; to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad, the Illinois Central, and Chicago, Alton and Saint Louis railroad, for their liberality in returning members at reduced rates; to the retiring oflicers, for their able and faithful services to the society, and especially to Hon. W. C. Flagg, who as secretary of the society has so ably edited its proceedings, and contributed in so many ways to the advancement of the science and art of horticulture. Thanks are also due to the Chicago daily papers, and to the various horticultural papers of this and adjoining States, whose reporters have diligently attenaed to spreading the doings of this society before the world. Resolved-, That we will spare no pains, as members of the most important horticul- tural society of the great west, to disseminate the principles of the elevating science of horticulture. T. A. E. HOLCOMB, A. BRYANT, Jr., iSIARK MILLER. Many thanks are also due to 3Iajor Taylor, clerk of the supreme court, lor the use of the court room in which the session has been held. Mr. Brown offered the following resolution, which was adopted : Resolved, That the interests of horticulture throughout our State demand that sys- tematic and persistent efforts shall be made to extend among the masses of the people, and especially in the rural districts, the knowledge of the general principles of tree and fruit culture, and the means of defending trees and fruits from insect enemies and common diseases. Resolved, That the plan of schoolhouse lectures, which has proved so eflective in spreading political and other information among the people, is equally available in the cause of horticulture and agriculture , and that we recommend to the members of this society to secui'e the delivery of familiar lectures or talks on horticulture, at the several schoolhouses in their respective neighborhoods. Mr. Emery submitted a report of committee on fruit packages : FRUIT PACKAGES. The;:e has been little noticeably new on the subject of fruit packages. The large mass of peaches and pears from a distance have reached the Chicago market in the usual slatted boxes, which are in my mind the worst possible form of package, the STATE HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 231 edges of the slats almost iuvariably injuring and bruising a large proportion of the fruit. The round package with smooth inside is much more desirable : for instance the slatted basket ; but the carrying of these packages by railroad cannot be properly done until the transportation companies will make the necessary arrangement of cars for packing so as to be protected from injury from being piled more than one tier high. The experiment of bringing fruit irom California has been tried the past season, some car loads having come through in excellent condition, comprising pears, peaches and grapes. The size and shape of the tirst shipments are now considered fiiulty, and the size of packages tor the larger fruits now thought best are boxes of convenient size for handling, not to exceed eight inches in depth, and that for grapes not to exceed four inches in depth. As the condition in which fruit reaches market has much to do with the profits of the business, it is evident that more attention can profitably be given to the subject, always packing so as not to l)e injured by irregularities of package, and remembering that neatness and taste in the package always has a good effect in the pocket. H.D.EMERY. Mr. Flagg offered a resolution, which was adopted, and at his request added to the final resolutions. [This resolution, which was mislaid, was a vote of thanks to Messrs. Barrj- and Meehau.] The President — It is proper for me to mention that Mr. Barry was written to to come here, and he has declined to accept any compensation for it. He has shown great generosity in coming here, and I know that every member of the society will return him thanks for it. On motion of Mr. Flagg, members of the society attending the meet- ings of the horticultural societies of other States were authorized to act as delegates from this. After brief congratulatory addresses from Mr. Murtfeldt and Mr. Periam — The President said : Allow me to express my sincere thanks for the good attention and order which have been shown. Of course, toward the final break-up, we always expect to have a little confusion. That, however, is nothing, and I feel thankful for the respect and good feeling which has been manifested. Mr. Flagg — I move that we do now adjourn, sine die. The motion prevailed, and the society adjourned. 232 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS EEPOETS, ETC., EECEIVRD AFTER THE MEETING. VICE president's report of 11th district. The large extent of territory wMch includes the 11th District, together with my ab- sence at the East during the late autiimn, precludes my furnishing a report of any but a small part of the District, and that of my own locality only. The season has been a singular one. The spring was backward and continued rains delayed plowing and planting. We were not, however, troubled with such excessive rains as were experienced in a more Northern portion of the State during the summer. Perhaps it would not be out of order to say something in reference to the success of the fruit growers' operations in this vicinity (Marion county) during the past season. I am the more inclined to do this, as the whole matter is ready furnished to my hand, in the shape of a letter wrilten by our President and published in the Western Rural, who, from his own experience and knowledge, is so much better qualified to give a reliable statement, that I shall ofler no apology for appropriating it : * ■;■:- a ^e have had an abundant crop of all kinds of fruit gro-s^ai here, except peaches. The loss of this crop is not so much felt as formerly. The more hardy fruits are coming into profitable bearing. Our apple crop I do not think could be excelled either for quantity or quality. The early and severe cold caught many on the trees, and rendered them worthless except for cider. Pears were a full crop, but rather under size on accoiuit, I think, of overbearing. We have much to learn here about the management of this fruit, if we wish to obtain fine fruit and preserve the trees. Over bearing is against both. Thinning out must be resorted to. A better knowledge of the time to gather this fruit, and more careful handling, will add much to the net profits of the producer. " Although we did not have a full crop of peaches, yet a great many have been shipped from this place and points near by. A few orchards have borne full crops of very fine fruits ; nearly all had more or less fruit, there being but very few entire fail- ures. All cherry trees -were loaded with fruit. The Early May varietyMs almost ex- clusively grown here. The weather during the ripening season was very unfavorable, and they rotted badly. Grapes, a full crop, but damaged much by rot; strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants, all full crops. Prices obtained were generally satisfactory; so you see we have not much to complain of. "The most gratifying news I have to chronicle is our comparative escape from the depredations of msects; even the birds that usually take the lion's share of our cherries passed us by unmolested. Curculios were not near so niunerous as last year. Codling moths have done us but little damage. Last year it was alxaost impossible to find a sound peach or apple. This argues well for the futiu"e. A new insect, to us here, has appeared on our strawberries for the first time the past season, damaging the crop very much. It resembles somewhat the chinch bug, so destructive to our wheat and corn, and judging from the pecuhar odor they emit on being mashed, should think STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. , 233 tlieiii very nearly relateil. Some elaiin that they are of a dift'erent species altogether. "Whether this be so or not, those interested in the cultivation of the strawberry are anx- iously looking: forward to another season to see if they are to continue their depreda- tions. I observe much less of the pear and apple blight than formerly. ' ' The correctness of the opinion expressed by Dr. Hull, our State Horticulturist, that the spur blight on our apple trees (especially tlie Wine Sap variety) and the deformed and imperfect fruit, were occasioned by the apple tree aphis, is about to be demonstrated. There are no eggs of tliis insect to be found on the trees at this date; audi hardly think there will be any deposited after this, should this prove true, and the Doctor's opinion correct, we will have no spur lilight next season. Last fall, our trees, at this time, were lined with the eggs of this insect. In the spring, as soon as the buds began to push out, they hatched apparently as by magic, and covered every shoot and fruit bud on the tree. I notice that this blight is spreading more and more to other varieties than the Wine Sap; Rome Beauty, Red Baldwin, and others are ])e- coming badly affected with it. P'ruit orchards genei'ally promise well for next season. "B. PULLEN." Dr. N. ^y. Abbott, who owns a large farm near Kinmundy, in Marion county, has sent me the following statement in reference to his orchard, manner of cultivation, varieties of fruit, productiveness, itc. : LETTEK FROM DK. N. W. ABBOTT. * * " In relation to my orchard, I have to say, that at the time I bought the farm, there was a mnall orchard otlan/e trees, several of which are the large Romanite. The trees are fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter. They bear annually large anil fine crops. I generally gather about forty bushels from each ti'ee. There is never anything the matter with the large llomanite. " I have set on the fai-m aliout l,riOO apple trees since 1862. Most of them are now in bearing. My manner of cultivation is as follows : I plow a ridge by back furrowing. I start with the ' Peiler plow,' which consists of two plows on one beam; one fol- lowing the furrow of the other. It plows a fiuTow twelve to fourteen inches in depth. It reiiuires four heavy horses. I plowed a space of some eight feet in width. In the center of this I set my trees, twenty-five feet apart each way. I might tell about my method of setting, &c., but will not, as that subject has been discussed so often. I cultivate corn for the first five years between the rows. "My trees have grown finely. The "Willow Twigs have so far done better than any other variety, not only as to growth, but as to bearing qualities. INIy Willow Twigs have for the last three years been loaded down with large, fine-looking apples, of quite uniform size. They keep well until June or July. The Snow apple has been next to this in productiveness. It is a fine apple in its season (fall). The Fall Pear- main has done well with me. It is a splendid apple. The Yellow Mewtown Pippin is slow in coming into bearing, but is a fine, showy apple when you get it. The Yellow Bellefleur is a shy bearer with me. I have some trees fifteen years old, bearing very sparsely good, first-rate apples. One cannot att'ord to grow them for sale. On the contrary, the Maiden's Blush is a'good bearer, and there is no apple that brings a better price in Chicago. It is not a first-rate eating apple, but looks well and cooks 234 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS well. Like the Ben Davis, it will do to sell to those who do not know what a good apple is . *'My maimer of protecting young apple trees from rabbits is the oiling process with crude oil. It is no protection against field mice. Cleaning the weeds, grass and other rubbish from about the trees will protect them from the ravages of mice. I protect from depredations of the borer by rubbing the trees in May with common bar soap. It is effectual. " My peach orchard consisted originally of three thousand trees. Some died in con- sequence of the wet winter of 1866 and 1867. My cultivation had been too level for that unusually wet winter. Three-fourths of my peach trees are still living, and are rallying from the shock. * ' I have some six hundred Early Richmond and some sweet cherries ; all of which seem to do well so far. My pears blight, I think, for want of care. "N. W. ABBOTT." The fourth annual meeting of the Centralia Fruit-Growers' Association was held January 1st, 1870, at which time the following persons were elected as officers for the year 1870 : Fo?' President — G. L. Brunton. Vice- President— A. Mitchell. Secreta7'y—3 . W. Fletcher. Treasurer — T. R. May. With the exceptions of a few nights in June and July, when the weather was hot, the nights short, and the members busy, our meetings have been fairly attended, the discussions spirited, and the interest well sustained. That they have been of advant- age to the members and useful to the public is the opinion of Yours, respecfuUy , J. WARREN FLETCHER. REPORT OF VICE PRESIDENT 12tH DISTRICT. Mr. President: In making a report for the 12th district, I would first remark that the district is a very large one, having the whole length — north and south — of the counties of Madison, St. Clair, Randolph and Monroe, lying on the Mississippi river and extending eastward to, and a little beyond the Illinois Central railroad, aflording a great variety of soils, locations and exposures for horticultural purposes. In some portions of the district, as in Madison, St. Clair and parts of Clinton counties, the severe weather of December last, at the time of our annual meeting at Bunker HiU, proved nearly fatal to the Peacli crop; while in Washington county, and especially the eastern part of it, this desirable fruit almost wholly escaped, the yield being large for the number of trees in bearing, and the quality superior, the curculio even not appear- ing in numbers sufficiently large to cause serious damage. As to horticultural matters in the county of Madison, you are respectfully referred to the proceedings of the Alton Horticultural Society, which will doubtless be incorporated with the doings of this body, and to which I shall not presume to add anything of value or interest. Some portions of the district are so remote from railroad travel — as the counties of Randolph and Monroe, that I have not been able to gather much information horticulturally from STATE HORTICULTUR.VL SOCIETY. 235 them, even by correspondence. In Clinton county, I am informed, a moderate degree of success has been met with the past season. Tlie apple and pear crops have been very good, while small fruits and vegetables have been unusually abundant, and of superior (luality. The general subject of horticulture is receiving more attention than formerly. St. Clair county presents a strange mixture of failures and successes. Peaches, the past season, were almost a total f\iilure. Many cultivators are becoming greatly discouraged as to this fruit. Apples give greater promise of success, but are subject to scab and bitter rot in some varieties. Pears blight, and grapes I'ot. Not- withstanding all this, progress is made and difficulties overcome. Small fruits thrive with more or less certainty almost everywhere. In "Washington county— as in Jladi- sou — direct railroad communication with the large towns of the north has developed an interest in horticultural enterprises which, the past season, has been reasonably well rewarded. Insect enemies of various sorts, blight in pears, scab in apples, rot in grapes — all these have been encountered in a greater or less degree, as usual— and yet the average result is fairly encouraging. Washington county has one horticultural society . All of which is respectfully submitted. G. WILGUS, V. P. 12th Dist. WILLOW CULTURE. The subject of willow culture is one which is deserving ot as much investigation and explantion as any other branch of our horticultural or agricultural pursuits. A\'hen we consider that about !^250,000 are amuially sent to Europe for an article which we can grow here as good, if not better than there, the (luestion very naturally arises, why do we send this amount of money to Europe? and why do we not raise this article of commerce ourselves? It is the object of the undersigned to answer this question by saying : We c;ui and ought to raise all the willows needed ourselves. The cultiu-e of the willow is not only simple, but very prodtable; it requires no great capital to start a wiUowry, and not even the best land we have is required ; on the contrary, wet laud is not only desir- able, but may be reclaimed and improved by planting rows of willows, or alleys ol willows, on such wet land, to absorb the superfluous moisture, whereby the adjoining- land is put in a condition to produce crops, which otherwise would not grow, LUit it must not necessarily be wet land; any laud that produces corn will produce willows. The average yield per acre is from 3,000 to 4,000 pounds, and the average price from six to fifteen cents per pound. There are something like fortj' varieties of willows known to the botanists ; about twenty-five are found in our country, and named by Gray as follows, to-wit : 1. Salix, Willow Osier. 2. S. Candida, or Hoary 'W'illow. 3. S. tristis, or Dwarf Gray Willow. 4. *?. humilis, or Low Brush Willow. 5. 6". discolor, ov Glaucous Willow. 6. S.eriocephala, or Silkj'-headed Willow. 7. *S'. sericee, or Silky-leaved Willow. 8. S. petiolaris, or Petioled Willow. 9. S. imrpuna, Purple Willow. 10. S. cordata. Heart-leafed Willow. 11. S. angmtata, Narrow-leafed Willow. 12. S. rostrata, Long-beaked Willow. 13. S. iihylicifolia. Smooth Mountain Willow. 14. S. alha, White Willow. 15. -5". //■a(7^7w, or Brittle Willow. 10. ^. m>m, Black Willow. 17. S. lucida, or Shining Willow. 18. S. habijlonica, or Weeping Willow. 19. S. longi- 236 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS folia, or Long-leafed Willow. 20. S. pecUcellaris, or Stalk-fruited Willow. 21 . -S". uva ursi, or Bearberry Willow. 22. S. repens, or Creeping Willow. 23. S. herhacea, or Herb-like Willow. 24. ,S. viminalis. Basket Osier. This last is the willow which is deserving our attention, and which I Avoukl hereby recommend for general cultivation everywhere , and at least to the extent of the demand for the same . The next question would naturally be the preparation of the soil, and perhaps it would not be out of place here to give a description as I tind it in Johnston's Encyclo- poedia, to-wit: "The mode of planting is very simple; it is, lirst to dig the land from six to twelve inches, and then to prick down cuttings of four years' growth and eight- een inches long, at about three feet distance from each other. The soil may be moor or clay^, or any that is low and wet. ' ' Now I will give you my own modus operandi : 1 plow the land as deep as I can, (alwa5^s bearing in mind the deeper the better) , and make it as fine as rolling and har- rowing will do it. This is all that is and can be needed by waj^ of preparation of soil. It should be done in the latter part of April or the first days in May, according to the season. Now we are ready for planting, which is done in rows of 30 to 30 inches apart, for the purpose of using a small one-horse cvillivator between the rows^ the young willowry reciuiring very clean culture the first year. The cuttings in one hand, a line having been previously stretched where the rows are to be, we proceed to stick them in the ground about 8 or 12 inches apart; and if the cuttings are kept fresh, and are of good size — about 6 or S inches long — and receive sufficient cultivation, 99 out of every 100 are sure to grow, mostly reaching a height of 4 or 5 feet the first season. During the winter or early spring they are cut down to within 3 or 4 inches of the ground, and the cuttings can be used for small baskets, or for the purpose of tying grape vines, roses or the like; they are, however, not so valuable for that purpose as the yellow willow, not being so tough as the latter. The ground should be again kept clean the second year, as well as ever after, though each succeeding year less and less labor is required. Your willows are cut down the same as the first year, and prepared for market or use. Care must be taken not to cut them after the sap rises, as that will prove injurious to your willow stimip or stalk. When cut down they are tied in bundles, and put upright in a pond or brook one or two feet deep in water, so as to make them groAV or keep the sap rising, when at any convenient time — especially on clear days — they are taken ovit, peeled and sun-dried, after which they are ready for market, or can be kept for years in a dry, airy place. But let us not stop here, with the practical and useful only; but let us rather pro- ceed to the both ornamental and beautiful, by recommending the planting of the salix BabyloniccL , or weeping willow. In my opinion no dooryard is complete if there is not one or more of said trees in it: it is of a rapid growth, a beautiful green, and withal one of our handsomest ornamental trees. Nay more, it might be grown for the pur- pose of wood, it making the best charcoal in use. Mascoutah, St. Clair Co. G. C. EISENMAYER. STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 237 HORTICULTUEAL HISTORY. EDGAR COUNTY. This county was represented in tlie last Transactions of this Society as having a Hor- ticulture, but that no farther intelligence could he ohtained of it. I propose to hreal- that silence, and to enlighten the fraternity a little as to what has been done in that line, in tliis part of the Eastern Egyiit of Illinois. I am a native of this county, my life has been devoted to its Horticulture since my earliest recollection, and not the study of the language, by which I may convey that intelligence to others. The first orchard planted in this county was that planted by Daniel Lane, of Mass. , (three miles east of Taris.) in the year 1817, with seedling, yearling apple trees. At that time grafted trees could not be obtained west of Ohio. These seedlings were grown from seed taken from apples brought from Mrs. Vandeburg's orchard, at Yincennes, Indiana, in the fall of 181">— planted at Terre Haute— where Mr. Lane lived two years before he came back to this x)lace. The original plat contained 178 trees, of which ;!!» are now living; are in moderate vigor, apparent health, and productive. One-third of these are sound, and look as if they would stand while several generations of men pass away. The largest tree now measures seven feet six inches in circumference one foot Irom the ground; another six feet nine inches; one six feet four inches. A Golden Willow, at this place, in perfect health, supposed to have been planted about the time the imjjrovement was made, measures eleven feet and six inches around the body, anywhere six feet above ground . This was a productive orchard, and proved remunerative to the planter by the sale of fi'uit, until orchards of gralted varieties came into plentiful bearing; after which there was no sale for the seedlings, and he made them into cider. In this he was particularly successful. He possessed a recipe or process by which he prepared the liquid, that it kept in Its original purity or .sweetness for years, as many yet bear witness. This process was known to him alone ; his most intimate Iriends and acquaintances could not prevail on him to gi\ e his management. At his death his family were uninOnmed as to it. He used to argue that seedlings were about as good as any, and the most profitable; but when the fine fruit drove his out of the market, (about the year 1842) he aban- doned that notion, and the writer, then a boy, was engaged to graft a few hundred seedling stocks that stood in his garden, with which he intended to plant a new orch- ard, which was done with the best varieties. AVhile thus occupied, he frequently brought out his pitcher and glass of that excellent cider, (to which we did full Justice) remarking that the Curtis' could beat him with apples, but he guessed he could beat them on cider. The orchard was in grass at my earliest recollection. Martin HousomCr the present owner of the place, says it has been thus treated since his knowledge of it. 238 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS Although seedling-, it has produced three varieties worthy of notice : one a winter sweet apple, (Mrs. Lane's favorite) which she called Pumpkin Sweet. This was taken to Massachusetts by Jas. Dudley as Lane's Sweet, and to the north of this State by L. Montague as Illinois Pumpkin Sweet. As fruited upon the original tree, it was very delicious; but as far as I can learn, grown elsewhere, fails in its tine flavor. Another named by my father. Lane's Eedstreak; very large, bright red, striped dark red, beautiful and first-rate; season of Fall Pippin, and much more productive; compares favorably with the best autumn varieties. There is also another variety, a late keeper; tree of great size, 50 years old, ivithout a blemish on it— an immense annual hearer. Fruit large and always smooth, of very superior quality. Augustine Boland, (from Connecticut) who now lives on the east border of this prairie, (79 years of age, having lived here 52 years) was one of the first two settlers, planted the second orchard, and taught the first school in this county. He planted his first orchard on the farm now owned by M.^Step, axid disposing of his claim, in 182i, planted another of 140 trees, where G. W. Kimble now lives. From these, in 1829, he gathered five bushels of apples, and the following season Oie orchard produced con- siderable of fruit for market. He gives an interesting account of those early times, the perils and privations of the settlers, their energy and determination. They used husk collars, linn bark traces^ truck wheel wagons, and wooden moldboard plows. The snakes were so numerous that they had to plow furrows across the prairie to the schoolhouse, to make paths for the children to get to school. So rapid Avas the growth of the settlement, that in 1823 the first school was attended by from thirty to forty pupils. The prairie wolves were in force, and bears in less numbers. The panther was also frequently seen in the great forest that extends from this prairie to the Wabash river, and like the wolf carried oflf pigs and lambs. The first nursery in this county, and also in the State, was that planted by my father, Joseph Curtis, in the spring of 1818, on the north arm of the grand prairie, four miles east of Paris.* He was a native of New Jersey, removed with his father when a boy to 3Ianchester, Adams county, Ohio, where he lived some fifteen years. Made an experimental nursery, devoting much of his time to fruit raising and experimenting in a liorticultural tvay: he raised new varieties from seed, collected and tested — both in orchard and nursery— tne best varieties that could then be procured. He grafted and budded on stocks above ground ; but not having as manj^ as desired he thought : Why not graft on pieces of roots? and trying it, found that they did well. So far as he knew this was an invention of his own, which he continued to pratice many years; and also to graft small stocks at the collar by tongue or whip grafting, and large ones by cleft grafting. Neither of these methods had ever been practiced in the nurseries of the United States, iintil after his introduction of them. A man (whose name 1 have forgotten) learned root grafting of my father, in this country at an early day, and took it to the eastern States and sold it as a secret art, charging one hundred dollars each for individual rights. Another mode ot raising trees that originated with him, is that which lie styled propagating by genuine roots . To obtain these roots , the grafts were planted a little deeper than usual, or the eai'th drawn up to yearlings, either of which would cause *Johii Smith, of Greenville, Bond county, planted one in same year. (Crardener's Monthly, Vol. 3, p. 112.) Also. Wm. B. Archer same year. In Clark county.— Seceetary. STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 239 the lower part of the scion to put out roots freely. These grew stronger than the seedUngs below, and were esteemed genuine and preserved for multiplying the variety. Pear grafts, thus managed, did particularly well; and in three years made good sale trees, on their own roots. Early in Ajnil these roots were planted in borders, six feet wide, by laying them flat on the surface full length across the border, one foot apart and covered with three inches of soil. The following spring to be taken up, divided, and the sets planted in nursery rows, four feet apart and one foot in the row. Two year old trees were also layered in this manner, to get the genuine roots. A supply once obtained, they were cut in pieces four inches in length, and planted in nursery rows, upright, with the top of the root barely above ground. He believed that trees on their own roots were the most valuable, and grown with the least labor. The following are the varieties wliich he collected in Ohio, New Jersey and various other States, and brought to Fort Hanison on the Wabash, in the year 1816, and planted where they made two seasons' growth; and in the autumn of 1817 they were removed to this place, and planted in nursery and orchard. Winter Ap2}les— J unnette, (or Neverfail), Yellow Pippin, Milam, Smith Cider, Sweet Rhode Island Greening, Winter Queen, Hannah, Newtown Pippin, Newtown Spitzen- berg. Large Romanite, Little Romanite, Winter White, Black Gillyflower, Ladytinger, Hard Red, Shaker Red, and Priestly. Autiwm — Rambo, Fall Winesap, Fall Pippin, Harper's Sweet and Taylor. Summer — Sweet Harvest, Early Pennock, Sour Harvest. Pear — Pound, Early Sugar, Mammoth, (or Miller), from the great Mammoth Pear tree, near Vincennes, Indiana; and the Harvest, (or Large Bell). Cherry — Black Morello and Virginia red, a dwarfish heart-shaped sort, of the Morello class. Quince — Orange and Italian. Plum—Lav^Q Damson. Peach — Large Y'ellow Free. Grape — White Cape and Black Cape. These varieties composed the first orchard of grafted fruits planted in Illinois. After the lapse of half a century, not more than ten per cent, of these are living. The largest tree, the Edgar llusset, measures eight feet and five inches in circumference one foot from the ground; is forty-five feet high, with diameter of the head sixty-one feet. Another tree eight feet and two inches, diameter of head sixty feet. These two trees, I presume, are the largest fruit trees in this county. The original Bellefleur Pippin six feet four inches, diameter of head fifty feet. A Hannah apple tree, six feet seven inches; Sweet R. I. Greening, five feet; Newtown Pippin, five feet three inches; Romanite, six feet three inches; Smith Cider, five feet three inches; Jennett, four feet nine inches. A large proportion of the trees living are sound and in lively condi- tion. The Milam has been planted more extensively in the orchards of this county than any other. There are to-day more bearing trees of it than any other six varieties. It is a staple production ; there are no orchards without it, and although a tender tree, there are many orchards of from one to ten acres, and not a tree but Milams. It is as popular here among apples as the Bartlett is among pears. This fruit has been so abundant that I have seen them cribbed like corn, in rail pens, hy the thousand bushels in a single orchard, with no other protection than a lining of straw and covering of 240 tea]sisactio:ns or the Illinois boards : and to keep thi'ough winter in tills manner with the trifling loss by freezing of a few inches on the out edge. Some of the learned nurserymen of the West have kindly suggested that the Milam was not a very good apple; but the farmers in old Edgar continue to grow and to appreciate it as one of the indispensable varieties. The Pear. — Strange to tell that the pear, the most delicious of all fruits, should have been neglected as it has in this country to the present time. When I was a boy there could be seen on most of the old farms a few large bearing trees of the Pound Pear, Sugar, Great Mammoth, or seedling pear trees. But on a recent tour of three days, in examining these old orchards, I find that not one of them are not living. (The same may be said of the first generation of Morello Cherry trees.) A tree of the Pound Pear, planted by F. Freidy, west of Paris, some forty years ago, did good service until the last year; it was broken down in a storm. The largest pear trees that 1 can find in these parts are in an orchard of 176 trees, planted by my father in 1840, for the express purpose of proving the value of the various varieties. At that time there had not been a half dozen sorts in bearing in the county. A part of these trees were root- grafted, most of them stalk worked, four feet high, when in the nursery ; a few were seedling stocks planted in the orchard, and budded in the limbs a few years later. Over fifty varieties were planted, most of which came into bearing; many of them finally blighted, or otherwise died back to the stalk, and have grown up seedling. About three-fourths of the original trees planted are yet hving, in good bearing con- dition, from twenty to thirty feet high. The following are the only surnivors except the seedlings: White Doyenne, Flemish Beauty, Urbaniste, Bartlett, Julienne, Col- mar's Van Mons, and Winter Baking. These have not only resisted tJie UigM, but have withstood the teirille winter of 1855-56, in which the mercury fell to thiHy degrees 'below zero (the lowest degree ever felt in this county — so said the oldest inhabitant at that time), which proved so destructive to all tender trees, and to many previously thought to be hard}'. They have Ijeen 'ai^ free from Might and other diseases as the hardiest apple trees, and have failed in but three crops in the last twenty years. The largest tree, the White Doyenne, measures in girth three feet six inches; a Bartlett, three feet five inches ; a Colmar's Van Mons, three feet three inches ; an Urbaniste, two feet seven inches, and the largest seedling tree, three feet five inches. This orchard was cultivated for six to eight years, and then put dov^m in grass, and has not been culti- vated but one season since. The White Doyenne is pre-eminently hardy ; its close, firm and well-matured growth has been entirely free from blight; a great bearer, fruit scarcely surpassed in quality, but not as large as desirable for market. On dwarf trees, for a few years past, this variety has been aflected considerably with scab and cracking of the fruit: but on standard trees invariably smooth avd fine. The Bartlett, a young, full and annual bearer of large and handsome fruit, has proven to be the most valuable, though the Flemish Beauty, nearly as large, hardier, freer from blight, superior in quality , and scarcely less productive, is a strong rival of that variety for the popular favor. Elijah Bacon brought thirty varieties of pear from New York, and planted on his farm, in the north of this county, in 1815. These were (every tree) killed, by the severe winter above named, except the Flemish Beauty, and they were injured, but produced abundant crops, many years later, of as fine pears as I have ever had the pleasure of examining. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 241 Among the pioneers of thi.s county, who settled on the north arm of tlie Grand Prairie, I would also name R. Blackman, Elijah Austin, Col. J. Mayo, John Stratten, \vho came in 1818; and Col. J. M. Blackburn, Gen. J. Sandford, Wni. Murphy, Laban Burr and E. Pursell, who arrived in 1819; all of whom planted orchards. That of Col. Blackburn was one of the best of these early orchards, being planted of givafted varieties and suckers from trees that had been known to produce good fruit. He was the originator of the Red Hughes'' Crah, from seed of the Hughes' Virginia Crab, which is larger and superior to the old sort, and decidedly the best cider apple known in this country . Paris and Vicinity .— The city of Pai'is was laid ofl' in 1823, by Samuel Vance, wlio planted an orchard the following spring of seedling trees, brought from Wm. Archer's nursery, in Clark county. In this orchard originated the Vance's Harvest, a popular midsummer apple, which has been extensively disseminated. Smith Shaw, who settled in 1822 in what is now the east part of Paris, and removed a few years later to the beautiful site where E. P. Shaw now lives, was the first inhabitant of the place. Of the trees and fruits that he planted none remain but a few very large apple trees— the city having extended over the orchard and nuich of the farm. Nathaniel AVayne was the first tavern keeper; planted the orchard now in the south- west limits of the city; sold out to the late Gen. M. K. Alexander, who was an ardent amateur Horticulturist. Wm. Means and Adriel Stout, settled iu the vicinity of Paris in 1822, and planted orchards in the spring of 1824, of which there are now living some very large trees. Wm. Shrader, John Shrader, and Joseph Hite, were the first to plant orchards in the southwest part of the county. The latter brought the May Cherry from Jctterson county, Ky,, in the year 1827, this 'being its first introduction into this State. Tradition says that it was brought from Virginia to Kentucky by a man by the name of Reynolds; and I have no doubt that it is a native of that State; as many of our best fruits are known to be of Southern origin. It was obtained on its own roots, and has proven to be the most valuable cherry yet thoroughly tested here. Its great hardiness and value was not known until after the memorable winter of 1855-56, in which almost all other varieties were entirely killed. The May is productive, hardier, and ten days earlier than the Early Richmond. Grape.— '^\\Q Black and "White Cape were the only varieties cultivated here till 1836, when my i'ather introduced the Catawba, Isabella, York, Madeira, and Clinton. These all did well until about the year 1853, when they began to be aflected with the rot, except the ^V^hite Cape, which is yet free from that malady. Evergreens . — This county has no native evergreens except the Cedar. There was a <;onsiderable of a grove of these at what was called the Cedar Clifl:', on Bruelitt's Creek, in the northeast part of the county. Many small seedlings were taken from these and planted on the farms l)y the early settlers, where they have grown into nice shade trees, and make pleasant many a cottage home. The first evergreens of the finer sorts iu this county were planted by my esteemed friend, Elijah Bacon, a quarter of a century ago. His Fir, the Pines, and the Spruce, are of majestic size, and beautiful to behold. His experience of over fifty years, his zeal in the introduction and cultivation of tine fruit, nice trees and shrubs, and hia 17 242 . TKANSACTIOJS^S OF THE ILLINOIS great liberality in the distribution of seed, buds, and scions, has done a vast deal to huild up tlie Horticulture of this part of the State. In 1852 the Curtis Brothers planted specimen trees of a variety of evergreens in their nursery grounds north of Paris, and began to import and propagate them for sale. These specimens are from 25 to 38 feet in height; the tallest tree is a Balsam Fir, 38 feet high and 37 inches in circumference : the largest one is a White Pine, 37 feet high, and 45 inches in girth. NURSERIES OF THIS COUNTY. Joseph Curtis commenced the nursery business here in 1818, and continued in it until 1845. From 1835 to 1840 he received from the Indiana and Ohio nurseries, from the east, and from various States of the Union, a very large collection of Apple, Pear, Cherry, Peach, Plum and other fruits; many of which when put on trial here were found to be possessed of far less value than where grown , from whence he obtained them. Jas. Dudley planted a small nursery in 1820, and continued to propagate trees for some three years, and sold out to Mr. Olmsted, who removed the entire stock to Coles county. Ebenezer David commenced a nursery on Clay's prairie, in the northeast part of the <;ounty, in 1833, and continued up to 1852. P. D. Elliott was also in the tree trade from about the year 1836 to 1853. D. S. and B. O. Curtis kept an extensive nursery from 1845 to 1855, when D. S. Curtis withdrew from the business, and your correspondent continued in it until 1868. I know of but two nurseries at the i^resent time in this county: Wm. B. Caldwell^ of Paris, has been engaged in the nursery business here for some nine years. He cultivates a very select list of the leading and most valuable varieties of truit and ornamental trees, shrubs and plants. He is also extensively engaged in the culture^ keeping and sprouting of the Yellow Nansemond Sweet Potato. D. S. Curtis has returned to the loved avocation of his youth, and has for several years been getting out a large stock of trees and hedge seed on the old home farm, where our father commenced the nursery fifty -two years ago. He cultivates only the best, hardy, most reliable varieties in both fruit and ornamentals. He has had large experience in the tree trade, and acquaintance with varieties adapted to this climate, and now has superior facilities for obtaining every new fruit for propagation as soon as it is known to be of undisputed value. "With these nurseries to select from, I indulge the hope that the farmers and fruit growers of eastern lUinois may at least have the privilege to plant largely of the best quality ot home grown trees and plants. Time and space fails me to tell you of the more recent condition of our horticulture. Paris, Ihs. B. O. CURTIS. REPORT OF ELIJAH B.iCON. Bloomfield, Edgar Co., Ills., 30th of the 12th mouth, 1869. In the fall of 1844 I brought from my Uttle nursery in Steuben county, New York, a lot of very small grafts chiefly worked on roots, and set them on this, my present farm. STATE HOKTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 243 They consisted of several varieties of choice fruit. Apples, fifty varieties, of which I select the following: Duchess of Oldenburg, Maiden's Blush, Ranibo, Henry Sweet- ing, Northern Spy, New Leathercoat, Black Winter Sweeting, Rome Beauty and .Jennetting are all hardy, good bearers, saleable and good fruit. Pears, thirty varieties; the Flemish Beauty is my best pear. Peaches, seven varieties; the Early York and Honest John are the best and most salable. . Plums, thirty varieties. Cherries, sixteen varieties; the Early May and English May Duke are both hardy and good bearers. In the fall of '46 I commenced setting an apple orchard of twenty acres, planting the trees forty-four feet apart at right angles east and west by north and south. Many of my trees, both stationery and nursery, were destroyed by the rab1)its, early frosts and severe winters ; so that I now have but few^ trees of my first setting. The present year however, I had of early and late near one thousand bushels of choice apples. Yester- day I measured more than one dozen apple trees (mostly of my first setting) , measuring girth, one foot above the ground, forty-two to fifty inches. They branch out from the main stem three to four and a half feet above ground with spreading, well-balanced tops, about seventeen to twenty feet in height, having a good show of health and vigor. My pears, peaches and plums have not succeeded very well : indeed, my plums are a total failure, and most of my cherries have also failed ; and as for pears and peaches I cannot loudly boast without a blush. My quinces have not been very liealrhy or productive, but my grapes, currants, gooseberries, and raspberries are unexception- able, and taking my fruit and ornamental trees as a whole, I have no cause of com- plaint, but much cause of ascription of praise and thanksgi\ing to the Author of all Good. At the time of my Ijcginning here I had knowledge of but one orciiard of much consequence in the north part of this county. That belonged to John Somerville, and was beginning to bear. It is now the property of that worthy gentleman, Cliarles T. Caraway. It is situated al)0Ut two miles east southeast of me. Orchards of i)romise have since sprung up, and are springing up on every side of me. In the fall of '44 I also brought both deciduous and evergreen ornamental trees. They were small— ten to fifteen inches high; and, for aught I know, evergreens were first introduced into this county l)y me, but now they are everywhere to be seen. My white pines now measure (one foot above ground) thirty-three to forty-five inches in circumference and forty-five Icet in height; Norway pines twenty-five to thirty-two inches girth, forty-five feet high; fir balsam thirty to thirty-five inches, and fifty feet liigli; European w^eeping spruce forty to forty-five inches in girth, and fifty leet high; red cedar thirty-five to forty-two inches, and forty-five feet high; larch, a deciduous pine, twenty-five to thirty inches, forty-five feet high, very durable timber; Chinese silverleaf, raised from slips and cuttings, of nineteen to twenty-two years' growth, iheasure sixty-five to one hundred inches in girth and fifty to seventy-five feet high. It is valued for shades and summer wood. I am having some logs sawed, and think it will make good lumber for many uses, if kept dry. Used for posts set in the ground it will not last more than five years. Respectfully, ELIJAH BACON. P. S.— In hastily sketching the foregoing, I forgot to state that I was a frontier settler for some two or three years, all north of me in this county being an expanse of virgin prairie, abundantly stocked with wild flowers, grasses and venomous snakes; but now much of it is in a good state of agricultural and horticultural husbandry. I 244 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS also forgot to say thit two eminent pioneer settlers near Bloomfield (Elisha Holt and John McKee), bad at the time of my arrival some apple, peach and cherry trees begin- ning to bear fruit, but many of their trees by severe winter, want of care, and other contingencies, have since become unfruitful and ultimately perished. E. B. LOGAN COUNTY. As regards the early orchards, nurserys, etc., in this section, my father, Jabez Capps, who settled in Sangamon county about fifty years ago, informs me that previous to that time he Jived a short time in St. Louis, and while there he became acquainted with Governors Soulard and Chouteau, the old Spanish and French Governors, and that he brought from their gardens a few currant and grape cuttings and other things, and planted in his garden. This, he thinks, was the first eflFort towards Horticulture made in this part of Illinois. He afterwards removed to Spring-field, being one of the first settlers of the place, and had some choice fruits for those days in his garden. He got scions and plants from St. Louis, and from older settlements in Illinois. The' grape which he introduced, he thinks, was the same as the Isabella. The rose bugs were so troublesome that up to 1850 it was a rare thing to see a bunch of cultivated grapes. "We never see a ro-3 bug now; the race seems to have become extinct. My maternal grandfather, Oliver Staftbrd i>lanted seed of apples and damson plums which he brought from the shores of Lake Champlain about the year 1825, and raised an orchard from them; most of the fruit was inferior. A Mr. Dryer had a small nursery in Springfield where Armstrong's woolen mills now stand, from about the year 1830 to 1837. My father bought out the remnant of his stock. During those j-ears the Springfield market was supplied with apples princi- pally from Smith's apple orchard in Bond county. A Mr. Lapham also had a small nursery on Friend's Creek; he got his scions of my father; he used to peddle his st jck through the country. My father^says he has seen him out budding his stock using at the same time a chair and umbrella. This county was then part of Sangamon. My father was the first settler at this place in the year 1836; he acted for a short time as agent for Prince's nursery, of Flushing, N. Y., and ever since that time has done a little at the nursery business himself; we now have about thirty acres of nursery. The oldest orchards that I have heard of are two orchards of seedling apples planted about the year 1826 or 1827, by John Downing and Jeremiah Birks. John Van Devender and Robert Downing planted seedling orchards in 1830, and about the same time Carter Scroggins planted an oi'chard of grafted apple trees, mostly Penuock, Gil- pin, Fameuse, Janet and Horse Apple; and Wm. McGi'aw planted some apple trees (that he brought from Kentucky in his saddle bags) in the old town of Postville. The fruit of the old seedling orchards was very indifierent. During the past twenty-five years we have iutroduded many choice varieties of fruit into this county. C. S. CAPPS. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 245 COEEESPONDENCE. Arenzville, December 6, 1869. Dear Sir : Some time ago you requested me to give my experience in rearing new varieties of grapes from seeds, but I believe you will have to excuse me for not com- plying with your request, for two reasons: The first reason is that I do not consider myself enough master ot the English language to undertake the task of writing an article for such an intelligent body of men as the Illinois Horticultural Society; and the second reason is, that I must have a few more years' experience with most of my seedlings before I can form a definite opinion about any of them. I will, however, say this much to you individually: that my present experiments are almost made exclu- sively with the Creveling, of which I have some three hundred seedlings, besides a few of other kinds. My former experiments ^^ere mostly made with Concords, but the seedlings from it that I had in bearing had all, more or less, that flat, foxy, Concord flavor, which some people delight to call rich and aromatic; as in the case of the Martha, which is praised almost into the heavens, of which I had the pleasure of fruit- ing twice, and which is probably a little sweeter and also a little more " aromatic" than the Concord, but can not, in my estimation bear comparison with the Delaware and Creveling, my two favorites. I have this foil planted aljout one pound ot seeds again, of the following varieties : Delaware, Creveling, Cynthianu , Louisiana, Rulander, and a few seeds of the Riesling, a Gennan grape which I fruited in the open air. As to other fruits, I have not much personal experience. 1 will, however, mention a cherry called the Belle Magnifique, which I think valuable, if grafted on the Morello stock. I grafted a few trees at my former place, (at Beardstown), which has never failed since the grafted top was three years old to produce enormously. It blossoms two weeks later than almost any other cherry, which made it bear here, in 18G8, a full crop; while the Early Richmond and the common Morello were a perfect failure, because they were in full bloom when we had a hard frost. There is another cherry here, without a name, that I am propagating a few from. It also belongs to the Duke family, is almost as sweet as a Heart cherry, and is a good bearer. From description that I have of the Belle de Choisey I would pi'onounce it that, but is more produc- tive, which they claim is not the case vdth the Belle de Choisey. Of Strawberries I tried over fifty varieties, including Jucundas, Golden Queens, Agriculturist, Ida, Brooklyn Scarlet, Rippowan. Durand's, &c.,&c.; but my three best are the Green Prolific, French Seedling and Wilson Albany, Yours truly, HENRY" TIEMEYER, Dear Sir:— You ask for my experience with individual varieties of apples, and 1 will attempt to give the facts with pleasure, premising that this northern fruit district is adjacent to the south banks of the Fox river of the North, in -i-i degrees north 246 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLi:^ OIS latitude. The country is as line a farming section as can be desired, nearly all the lands being from rolling to fine swells and elevated ridges, with scattered hills of con- siderable extent. This wheat and apple country, with Green Lake county for its center, comprises, perhaps, from 900 to 1,000 sections, nine-tenths of which has good natural drainage, with a strong infusion of available lime in by far the larger portion of both its tine prairies and variable timber soils. In an orchard set by me on the north slope of a white oak ridge, in 1852, Fall Wine bears well; fruit fair and good; tree a medium grower, and passably hardy. The Fall Pippin, of Philadelphia, is doing finely. The tops of the trees are now fifteen feet across. The tree seems to be hardier than when younger, and now produces paying crops of fair-skinned and magnificent apples. The present owner, Henry Vine, prizes this apple highly. Rhode Island Greening is also doing pretty well, yielding paying crops of unblemished fruit since the trees recovered from the pinching winters of '56 and '57, and the more recent injury inflicted by millions of the cicadas in the summer of 1863. The bark louse also inflicted a severe check to the same orchard from '6i to '67, but now these oyster-shell sap-suckers are well nigh gone. ^Esopus Spitzenberg does well as to tree; a medium grower, but hardy, while the apples are the very best of the old winter varieties; but only a few of them. I shall suggest root-pruning to induce fuller bearing, the tree being sufliciently hardy and vigorous in this climate. The Northern Spy are the finest trees, and evidently the most hardy and rapid growers in the orchard. But while large enough to produce two barrels, if fairly loaded, they yielded only three or four bushels each in '69. Root-pruning is here again suggested as a corrective. Three trees of Northern Spy, growing on an adjacent ridge, more fully exposed to wind arid weather, bore five barrels to the tree last season; trees same age as shyer bearers. There are other varieties of good apples that do well; and also three varieties of pears that bear fair crops in this orchard. But time fails me. In another orchard northwest of my house, set out also in 1852, and very badly managed for eight or ten years — a part of which is on too low ground, bringing the roots too near a wet subsoil for the best health of the trees — the following facts are established. American Golden Russet, of Barry— the branches interlock at twenty feet between the trees; the tree is vigorous, hardy, and an annual bearer of moderate crops of unblemished and first-quality fruit; and, 1 may add, this apple is very much grown in this district of country for long keeping. About thirty Yellow Bellefleur trees — more than half of them vigorous and healthy, and their heads interlocking at twenty feet — sujjply from forty to seventy bushels per year; about half the years bearing well, and then lightly, alternate years. This is a popular and profitable apple hereabouts ; and a man, who is a good judge of apples, planted out si.x; or seven hun- dred of them in a young orchard, three year ago, a couple of miles distant. In our orchard, setting of 1852, Spitzenberg is a healthy tree, full in the middle, but quite a shy bearer. I will trv root-pruning in spring with it. Nevvtown Pippin exhibits the same medium rate of growth and fair hardiness as Spitzenberg, but is much more productive, only a little spotted. Several trees of Rhode Island Greening, that seem to have taken on a new life since the terrible visitation of cicadas in 1863, bear abundantly of perfect, large apples. I find there are also a number of bearing- Greening trees in other orchards within a few miles. Westfield Seek-no-further is a vigorous tree, and in several years has yielded full crops of fair, unblemished Iruit, not nearly as salable as Bellefleur, from not being near so good a cooking apple. Bark STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 247 lice attacked one or two trees two years ago, but the vigorous growth last year has defied injury from their suction. Black Detroit is a vigorous growing tree and hardy, but apples only third-rate; still, as M. L. Dunlap says, it sells simply because it is a red apple. Hold a red rag before a cock turkey and he will ' ' gobble, gobble. ' ' Winter Swaar bears well annually, but the tree is too tender in branch and too weak in the roots to be profitable; in fact, like some other organic things, they are dying out. An apple that tastes like the Cranberry Pippin grows on a vigorous, hardy tree, anil the apple is a good and late keeper. Speaking of "keepers," one of my old townsmen. Col. David Lee, has one hundred bushels of Gilpins now in pit, precisely as potatoes are pitted, which he expects to take out and sell at ^l.To per bushel first of June next, having done this with this <et is universal— in tlie ul)i(piity of its uuuibers, legion. To tliis universal monster birtli r^'Siionds tlie bird, incessantly a.:tive with the swiftness of his wing. Tlie great moment is that when the insect, develoiiing its'lf through the heat, meets the bird face to face. • the l)ird multiplied in numbers— the bird whieh, having no other sustenamie, must feed at this very moment a iiuiiierous progeny witli her living prey. Every year the vegetable world would be endangered if the bird could suckle; if the aliment were the worli of an Individual, of a stomacli. But see '. the noisy, restless brood, by six, ten, twenty bills, cry out, more ! more ! and the exigency is so great, such the maternal ardor to respond to this deman?!, t!iat even the little titmouse will carry three hundred caterpillars a day to satisfy the wants of its young; and even in the gloomy months of winter, when the sleep of nature so closely resembles death, we have birds who are actively engaged prying into the affairs of the ins^^ct world, often laying was e the prospects of a promising family by one stroke of tlie bill, and liiiuting up insect life so diligently as to entitle them to the honor of bsing the friends and co-laborers of man. To-day, from our window, as we write, we s:;e the active, cheerful chick-a-dee, engaged in this warfare against the insect; and though it is tin; depth of winter, are carefully Inspecting every liranch and sliout for the eggs of the tent caterpillar, and every cranny and loose piece of bark for tlie pupic of the codling moth. AVc confess that we have noticed for many years, with painful feelings, the efforts of several eminent men in our State to influence tlie minds of our State legislators to repeal existing laws for the protection of birds; and some have even gone so far as to proscribe a number by name, and demand their destruction. This is all a mistaken pre.iudice. We hold, with Ur. H. Shinier, " that birds are Nature's scavengers, in the field, the garden, the orchard, everywhere; and that the man who kills one for mere sport, or from blind prejudice, is a dangerous man in the community." We regret that so many practical horticulturists ignore ornithology, and think it unworthy of tlieir attention and study; and do not know, or care to know, the injurious birds from those that are beneficial. lu their ignorance they discover that some inj urious insect is destroying their crops, and orders are immediately issued to shoot indiscriminately friend and foe. This ignorance ouglit not to exist any longer: it is high time, even now in this enlightened nineteenth century, that everyone engaged in tlie culture of fruit, and especially the intelligent members of this noble society, should know tliat the woodpeckers, the robins, the nightjars, the fiycatchers, the titmouse, and wrens, the swallows, the swifts, the shrikes, the vireos, the nuthatches, and the rest of tlie creepers, the blue- bird, the meadow lark, the cedar bird, tlie sparrows and the orioles are not deserving of death, but are the friends and co-laborers of the horticulturist. Di\ Hull asked if the gentleman was certain that the oriole caught and ate the plum curciilio? Robson — Yes ; all the statements made in the paper wore facts ; had observed them busily engaged among his plum trees, and on examination found they were catching citrculios. Dr. Hull replied that at Alton they had fully investigated this matter, and they had come to the conclusion that it was impossible for this bird to catch this insect on account of its habits. At Alton they had been compelled to shoot this bird in order to protect their fruit. He charged that this bird destroyed more of the cannibal insects, which were our best friends, than of the vegetable eating insects. To keep down the injurious insects we mui^t rely more upon the cannibal insects than upon the good offices of the birds. Mr. Rolison stated that his remarks were intended to apply to Northern Illinois, and they might or might not be applicable to Alton. That the oriole did and could catch the curculio was a matter of fact. He did not claim that the curculio was caught on the Iruit, but was caught after it fell to the ground. Mr. Harris, of Galena, took up the matter, arguing that, though pleased with the bluejay and bi'own thrush, he could but consider them enemies. • Mr. Robson could defend the bluejay only because of its beautiful plumage. The 256 TRANSACTIONS OF THE NORTHERN brown thrush he defended. All birds were native, and it was unjust, he argued, that we upstarts in their midst should expel them from their home. Considerable punning and sharp shoooting followed, when the subject was dropped for the time. H. H. McAfee, of Freeport, read an essay on "How to Popularize Botany. " REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BOTANY — IIOW MAY IT BE POPULARIZED? BY' HENRY H. M'AFEE. That a science which embraces SO much which pertains to man's well-being as does botany— the systematized knowledge of the whole vegetable kingdom— should be so far removed from the mind ol the masses of mankind as it is may seem strange to us, upon a cursory view; and yet there are cogent reasons why such general ignorance prevails. To call attention to this general neglect of the science of botany, to assign reasons for such neglect, and to suggest some means of popularizing so useful a study, will be the scope of this report. The unpopularity of botany iu schools, and among scholars everywhere, is well known. Occa- sionally little classes of romantic uiisscs are org.iuized aud drilled during the spring and summer terms of school, and a few showy flowers are analyzed; aud Just enough Is learned to be forgotten without mucli effort. The profounder depths of vegetable physiology are not invaded by the amiable young ladies. Perhaps the language of flowers is studied, but rarely the mysteries of osmose, or the greater wonders of fertilization and embryonic growth. Such casual skimming over the surface of science is generally the extent of the progress of the botany classes iu our schools, unless the prospect of a too rigid examination drive the unwilling student a little farther into the merits of his or her study. But few students really study botany in school: in truth, most of the botanists are made such bj' self-culture, after the school days are over, and when the desire to penetrate the mysteries of creation becomes a motive power in the soul. To the^ grasping, yearning intellect, never satisfied or satiated witli Nature's lessons, a science, however, hedged about with aiffioulfies, will not long be an obstacle to progress; it will be mastered in time; but put a few long, hard names, and a little intricate reasoning before the sluggish, unwilling student, and you have effectuallj' fenced him out of the "green pastures. " Why is botany unpopularV Why do not the people know botany— the people who grow the grains, the grasses, and the fruits'? I answer, ijrimarily because of defects In the arrangement of the science as now presented to the student; and, secondarilj', because of the general faultiuess of our present system of primary education, which crams tlie immature mind with dry masses of alistractions during all the first years of school life; crowding the natural sciences out of the primary school entirely, and making them "high school " studies. As a rule, every technicality in anj- science or art is a direct bar to the acquisition of knowledge; and, indeed, it is a fact, that a large share of the technical terms used in the arts, and also in the sciences, were invented and applied for the express purpose of concealing material facts from the masses, and making the acquisition of knowledge diflicult, thus securing to experts and scientists a sort of royalty . In botany this masking of meanings by the use of unfamiliar technicalities has been carried to a great extent, because there is so much of forsn and structure to treat of that descriptive terms accumulate , aud form a great part of the bulk of the science. Without a glossary or technical dictionary, no student, not a classical scholar, could master botany at all; and the direct tax upon the perceptive faculties imposed by this mass of new terms is the means of driving off all but the most persevering..students. Common people, boasting only of common sense, can hardly see why "aculeate" is better than "prickly," or why "adsurgenf is better than "ascending," or " alabastrum " better tliau " flower buds. " To say that tliese technicalities are derived from the classical languages is no excuse for such excrescences upon a most useful science; and the botanical author in the coming future who will have the courage to eliminate as much of this trash from his pages as has been introduced in the interest of exclusiveness aud pedantry, will well deserve the thanks of all the thoughful people. I know that the claim of a more perfect description is made for the present system, but if the defini- tions are true, and they are much shorter, easier, and more consonant with the common language of the people, there remains no vestige of a reason for using the technicality. To popularize botany, then, tlie first step must be to rid it as much as possible of all the unfamiliar, unnecessary technical teruis whicli it is possible to dispense with, aud even then in tlie nomencla- ture (which, of course, could not be changed) we would have enough to task the memory. When this is accomplished, and when the primary education of our schools shall be made up of facts relating to material tilings, and deductions from tangible data; when the young undeveloped mind is strengthened and developed by feeding upon the pabulum of nature, not dwarfed, as now, by the abstract sciences— then will botany be a popular science. ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 257 To a liorticultiirist liavingr any enthusiasiii for liis pursuit. It Is always a matter of refrret tliat tlu' great si-ifiicc wliirli uiiik rlies all organic I'xlsteiK-e is an unpopular stiiily— that all tlicse vital ((ucs- tions of "(icvilopnicnt," "variation," " iuln-ritancc, '' " hybritlizatiou, "' anil "selection," are yet sealed and liidilen from so many of our youth, who are to he in time the producers of the nation. As horticulturists, then, let us seek to simplify and utilize the science of botany, and make it a powerful agent in tbe development of the youthfid mind. Dr. Mj'gatt, ol Richmond, made a short report on Entomology. He called attention to the o\ jster-sliell bark louse, whieh was not now so destructive as it was a dozen years ago. THK OYSTEU-SIIELL I'.AltK LOISK. For sixteen years past the writer has watched the effect of these insects on our fruit trees— on the apple and pear very closely. They evidently do less injury to the trees than they did twelve to lifteen years ago. This is accounted for l)y our late lamented Walsh and Dr. Sliimer in the fact that a very minute Insect, called a mite, pierces the shell and ortant for all to know the time of hatching, as that should guide us in our n'Uiedies, as most remedies are mucli more efficient soon after hatching. I propose a rule which, to me, has been lnvarial)le. It is useless to try to lind the young insects before the petals of the apple blossom have fallen and the young apple begins to grow, say the size of a large i>ea: tlieu watcli closely and you will see them— a minute white insect— crawling lively for a few hours. They then pierce the tender bark with their beak, and become sap-suekers for the summer, and never move after they liave pierced the liark. They tix on every part of the tree, from the ground to the farthest branch. On the body and large branches of the tree they get under tbe rough bark and find shelter and succu- lent and tendi'r bark to llx on. Some tix on the extreme branches, and even a few on the young apple, and young growtli so far as it is ileveloped. It is my opinion that the active state is very short if they tind a place that suits them to tix. Wlien you can see tliem numerous one day, you will tind very few in nn)tion the next day. When they get on tlie ground or dry lind)S, or lialdi on recently l)runed liml)S, they remain active longer. The time of hatching, of course, varies with the season, in Northern Illinois say from the 25th of May to tlie lUth of June. The insects were active in niy orchard last summer on the 7th day of June. The growth of the insect is gradual, but by August it has its fidl size, and during the latter part of that month, if the scale of tbe new insect is lifted, eggs will be found, some twenty or thirty under each scale. If any one desires to .see the egg, let them cut otf a small infested branch and take it to a room out of the winil, and ovi'r smooth paper raise the scales with a point of a knife, and a white dust will fall, which, when examined with a common magnitler, will be found to be perfect eggs, a little oblong. Harris, in his excellent treati.se oji insects, states that there are two broods each year. In this 1 dift'er with him, having seen no evidence of it. How do tliey get from (Uie tree to another? This has lieen a perplexing iinestiou to the entomolo- gist. Some think they are carried by birds. This, to me, seems unite imi)roliable. It is my opinion— that is, 1 gues.s— that they are blown from the infested tree a part of the way to the clean one, and. if not overtaken by storms, a very fiw out of many hundreds reach another tree. I have seen them dro]) otf from the end of a dry limb, aiid.tliiuk thai many might be blown otf or some might crawl down the body to the ground. All this must hapixn in their active state, as alt<'r they are once lixed they never move again. THE BEMEDIES. The remedies nselying it. 2d. Grease or oil ai>plied to tlie scales will penetrate them and destroy tlie eggs. It is my opinion that lani or any kind of grease or oil-will destroy them, (iood observers have strong objections to the n:e lialf tlie strength used in nudcing soap. It toolv the lice, leaves and young growth all ort'. The tree did not die but soon put out leaves, not so large or numer- ous as before, except on the fruit spurs— they were killed. The same strength of lye was reduced half and applied to another tree with no perceptible effect on the lice and slight damage to tlie leaves. One quart of soft soap to a pail of water, making a strong suds, was tried on another tree with no good result. This should Ije tried with a much larger proportion of soap, say one tliird. But it will then take the leaves. Lime water has been used with the lime stirred up when used, and applied witli a syringe. It took otf the young apples, a part of the leaves, and a large share of the lice. Carbolic Acid— A .weak solution was tried without effect. The medicinal solution found at the drug stores is too weak and expensive. It is my intention to try the crude as being cheaper and more efficient. Six ounces of the solution (costing 5U cents) as found at the drug store, in eight quarts of water, had no effect on the leaves or lice. A dry brush will destroy all it touches, but many hide out of its reach. We use the common black- ing brush in applying lard or soap. The infested branches soon after hatching have been dipped in a strong decoction of tobacco with- out any effect on the lice. The decoction of (luassia which I discovered by experiments over twenty years since as being so certainly destructive to the leaf louse or aphis, has no effect on the young bark louse. The Asiiidlotus, Harrissii, or American white variety, is quite as destructive to the apple and pear as the ovster shell or brown variety when it is as numerous. It looks something like a sprinkling of whitewash on the body and limbs. Tills kind is severe on tlie pear tree, whereas the brown is never numerous enough to injure it. Tlie eggs are of a reddisli color, an and common apple. That the varieties are running;- out seemed to be a fact. The Winesap and many others had sadly deteriorated. l{lvlM)]tT OF (.'OMMITTEK ON FKIIIT LIST. The hist suiiiinci- was cliaractt'ii/.eil tlii'dii.iiliout tlie ^ri'atcst part of tlu' .state liy cxccssivf wetness and unusual dcterioiatiDii t a few of whieli came under my ohservation, were larger and fairer than usual. ( )iie of these, a (iohlen Ku.sset from the Kast, liad for >ears previous lieen so defecti\e as to lie of no value. I liave heen assured hy jientlemen from rutiiam county tliat in tluit section the orchards witliin one or two miles of tlie Illinois river liore fair and hands(nue fruit, while in those more remote it was Mn).sfly defective. The ahove facts involve (iuesti to reject it altogether, as has been done with the Ortley or White IJelle- flower. It seems proper therefore to su^'f;est its omission from tlic list. Should the evil iirove tem- porary, it can be re))laced; if otherwise, the Society will escape llie im)iulalioii of recommending Worthless varieties. 260 TRANSACTIONS OF THE NORTHERN Anioug fall apples the Tall Wine has of late years ilcterioratetl in fairness and productiveness. It appears to be one of those varieties which do well wliile the trees are young, hut fail as tliey grow older. The AVestlield !^eek-no-furtlier is reconniicnded for family use and market. Is this recommenda- tion hased upon experience iu Nortliern Illinois, or upon its Eastern reputation? Of its quality I sliall say notliing, as there is no disputing about tastes; but a good market apple it certainly is not in the section where 1 live. The Ifomaii Stem is undeniably an apple of superior ipiality, liut has, I think, been placed on the list as a market fruit by the strenuous recommendation of a single imlividual. I have raised it for thirty years, and It is one of tlie last among very good apples which I would select for market. "When sold at all, it was at a price below the average. Of the AVlne Sap I sliall merely remark that on rich prairie soil in Bureau county it has thus far disa])pointcd the expectations of cultivators. Among pears the Flemish Beauty has of late shown such a disposition to crack as to lead to the apprehension tliat it might be necessary to abandon Its cultivation. Still we can not afford to give up a pear possessing so many gi>od (jualilies without further trial. No new fruits have come under my notice during the past year which I feel justified in recom- mending. The above remarks are respectfully submllted to the consideration of the Society. ARTHUE BRYANT. Mr. Scott, of Galena, gave a history of the Soulard crab, and claimed that it could not be a seedling of our native wild crabs, all of which are known to be uniform in character, and very different from this crab, which is a long keeper, keeping well into the summer. Mr. Bryant stated that the wild crab is often a long keeper, and also, when fully ripe, of a yellow color. There was nothing that would lead him to consider it any- thing more than a native crab apple. The point was figured at length, without differ- ent results. Quite a discussion arose on the Soulard crab. Several gentlemen from Galena, where it originated, spoke warmly in defense of its hybrid character and good qualities. There is considerable disposition on the part of many members to ignore these crabs entirely, thinking that they are of very little value, except for jelly or preserves. Dr. Hull wished to know if a crab was good for anything until the crab was all hybridized out of it. Mr. D. C. Scofield, from the Committee on Ornamental and Useful Trees, made a report. He regarded all tree planting as ornamental and useful; therefore those that were the most useful would be the most desirable : He urged the planting of trees along all the highways, and at least one-sixteenth of the whole area of the farm. He would ask that Congress provide for planting large tracts of both conifer and other forest trees in our Western plains; that the bill of Mr. Medill or one similar for the planting of trees along our roads, and one excluding stock therefrom ought to be passed. This report was received with hearty applause. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: Your Committee on "Ornamental and Useful Tree I'lantations.'" fully aware of the importance of the duties imposed on us as relating to the future wealth and pnisperity of our covnitry, and our eon- cious inability to present to tliis honoral)Ie body a report that will be adequate to the great interests involved, respectfully submit the following: 1st. NVe regard all tree jilantations as ornamental and more or less useful. In each, the varieties of timber whicirenter most largely into, and supply the wants of man, should comjirise nearly the en- tire forest plantations. It is not presumed that this connnittee is to designate what these varieties are; your last volume of "Transactions,"' exhiljits the varieties recommended by the committee for this purpose and the unanimous adoption of the report. ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 261 2il. In vii'W of till' npiirojR-liin^' cml ol the prcsiiit i)liic' IVnTsts of our coiiulrj', aiul tlu' imreasiii^ (Idiiaiiil anil consi'niuiit iinroaf^ing inicc of Inniln'r; the wiilc-si)roail liiulii'ilcss prairifs ami i)lains, as well as the alreaily Avull iiijrli total destitution of the oldei- eastern distriets of the I'niteil [States, wliere once tindier abounded, we most earnestly reeomniend the adoption of a system of tree plant- inj; hy every ftirni holder in the country, both in the form of protective belts of timber alonn the bonndries of farms and hij.'lnvays. as well as around orchards and farm buildinjts. Also in larjier bodies. t'Udiracin;; at least oiie-sixteenlh part of each farm. 3d. To eneourajre and facilitate this movement, we further recommend that the intlnence of this Society be extended to obtain such state anil national patronaf;e as shall encourajre and securt an im- mediate prosecution of a work so essential to national jirosperity. 1th. To secure this enil we recommend that this <'on\ entioii adopt measures to secure the iiassagte of a bill in this session of (onjjress, extendinsr such Ktli. Tliat we ur>fe upon our reiueseiitatives in both houses of Con^'ress tlieir support of any meas- ure that maybe iiitroduceil for the encourajremcut of a system of forest |)lanlin^' in an\ and ever>' portion of the United Slates wherever scarcity of tiinl)er exists. titli. AVe recommend that every State };o^t'i'""ii'"t (that has not already done so.) extend patron- age by premiums or otherwise, to all who will i)lant torests witliin their borders. It niay not be out of place for this connnittee to state here, that an honorable Senator now in Wa.sli- ingtoi\ is en^ra^fcd in collecliui; statistics from the princii)al lundier manufacturers and dealers in the country, relative to the amount of ])iue timber land in the United States and their probable duration, thereby to enforce tlie claims of a bill to secure liov ernment patrona^'C in planting forests on western plains and prairies. Finally, your comndttceare happy to Join in con^'ratidatiii^: this Society and all who feel an iiderest in, and have lon^ advocated the principle and necessity of ^'eneral forest culture, and the country at lar};e, that so deep and widespread interest prevails on this sidtjicl. D. C. SCUFIELD. Mr. Edwards stated that in the Convention there were some sixty lawyers, some half a dozen farmers, but not one horticulturist. He therefore moved that copies of the report just read be forwarded to the Cliairman of the Committee on Agriculture. Mr. IJryant, Sr., thought that the plan of planting trees alongside the roads, as proposed, could not be carried out, and that part of the report relating to Mr. Medill's amendment was stricken out. Messrs. Bryant, Edwards, McWhorter, Ellsworth, and Scofield were appointed a committee to memorialize the Constitutional Convention in regard to tree planting. Mr. S. G. Minkler, of Oswego, i)resented a report on orchards and \ineyards. He reported that the Early Richmond cherry had lieen a failure the past season in North- ern Illinois. Currants and gooseberries were abundant. Grapes poor, with an excessively abundant bloom. We have had a small crop, and he suggested that this matter of blooming might have something to do in indicating the coming crop. He also called attention to the value of thick leaves with a downy or pidjescent growth on the under side of the leaf as proof against the thrip and leaf hopper. Those varieties with downy leaves had the finest fruit the past season. Dr. Hull stated that dry lime sifted over a tree, or lime water thrown over it with a garden engine, would destroy the lice that cause the apple to scab. The lady bird feasts on the eggs of these lice, and when the lady bird is abundant the lice do little damage. The application should lie made just before or after blooming. (^uite an interesting discussion took place on this aphis ;lit explain how and wliy they lind their way to every ])art of the plant : liut many of the suiistaiiees recpiiieil liy tlie plant are not in a sositioii was observed to take place, soon renderiiiff the solutions unfit for the liirtlier .uppoil of tlie iiiant, ami even iiosiliveiy destructive. I'rof. .lolinsou says tliat '•The roots of a plant liave the |iower to decompose salts— e. ;;. : nitrate of potash and cliloride of amimniiuui— in order to aiiiiropriate one of their ingredients, tlie other being rejected." With these facts in view, we may readily see why soils are so stranj^ely altered by continual crop- pin^'. First tlie roots use up certain parts of tlie soil, and secondly, they f-ive rise to new bodies— their refuse or rejected matter. Here are two ^:ood reasons for rotation of crops. One crop brings its power of chemical selection to bear upon the soil till the material to act upon runs short, when another kind of ffrowtli may step in ami liinl food from tlie original iii}iree protection most, Groves and shelter belts of rapid growing trees can lie grown of size to be a good protectb>n in five or six years, at merely a nominal cost. If each owner of ai)rairle farm would plant for his own necessity, the country at large would, in a few years, be exempt from the full force of the terrilde gales, which in some instances sweep over our prairies willi but little let or liindrance from the Kocky Mountains to Michigan, when the mercury is twenty or more degre(!S below zero, before wliicli aninuil life, without extracu-dinary protection, can not exist. For one of the best cheap screens of rapiil growth, the White Willow is recommended, A cutting of it, planted on bank of a sod fence, spring of 1845, never receiving any attention, now measures twelve feet and live inches in circumference, two feet above ground. It is a more desirable timber than has generally been supposed, IMr, Jesse W, Fell, of P.loomiugton, brought from ('hesler counly, I'a., last summer, a piece of White Willow rail, which har(ssed firmly at the bottom— are certain to grow, if in good con- dition when ])lante(l. A more rapid growth is oblained by using cuttings an inch or more in diame- ter, though those an eiglith of an inch or even less succeed well with proper care. Hows may be four or five feet apart, running north and south, two feet apart in the row; cultivate three years. The thinnings first seven years will repay all cost, or if all cut down, enough can be grown on an acre to make three miles offence five poles in helglil. wliieh will last until an Osage liedge can be grown. Sprouts grow vigorously from the stumps: can be cut in four years again. It is largely grown in Geruuiny for fuel, cutting it every third or fourth year. Evergreens are, of course, the best trees for screens, and are not expeu.-5ive at present, but reijuire more time to become of size for an efficient screen. Norway Spruce lias no superior for large or medium sized screens. Double rows are generally planted, alternating tlie trees in one row with spaces in the next. They mav be set ten or twelve feet apart— plants two to four feet in height are of desirable size. For single row, six to tight feet apart is suitalile distance. Hedges are made of it in Denmark, plants three feet in the row. They bear clipping to any desired extent. The American Arbor Vita' makes a good screen of medium height, especially in wet soils, lleadock is very beautiful, especially in partially shaded locations. The I'ines in general are well adapted for planting in clumps or groves. It is well to intersperse and surrouml them when grown for timber, with deciduous trees of rapid growth, to protect the leading shoots from being broken oft" l)y high winds before they acquire woody fibre. For this purpose the European Larch is admirably adapted, and will doubtless be largely used in the plantations to be made on our prairies. Enough has already been- done by a few individuals to establisli the fact of the practicability of tlie work, and that it will prove a very profitable investment. Henry C. Chapnuiii, of Sublett, Lee county, bouglit one thousand small Norway Spruce a i'L'n- years since. He tliis winter refused an ofter of the amount originally invested and one hundred per cent, per annum, preferring to plant them in screens for his own use. The planting of timber for agricultural and manufacturing purposes will doubtless receive at the hands of this Society the pre-eminent place in its deliberations which its im))ortance demands, as so ably set forth by our President in his opening address. Whilst Kansas, Iowa, and Wisconsin have nobly led the way in giving encouragement to the perfornnince of this imperative duty we owe ourselves and posterity, it is ln:)pe2 inches; capacity. 120x14x4,^^—7140 cubic in. =30 210-231 gallons, which is heated to the temperature of from 65° to 70", with one quart of oil in 24 hours. I use 12x18 of single lights, of glass, making a * ' lean to," to cover the whole length of the tank; the lower ends of the glass rest on a small strip nailed inside }£ inch below the top of the tank, to keep them in place. By using the glass in single panes you can cover from one foot to the whole tank. Last month our friends Rural and jNIr. Edwards visited our citj'. j\ty tank had not been in use for seven months; never leaking. I always let the water stand in it. I filled it up to 4}^ Indies— 30>2 gallons of water— at 4 p. m. ; I lit the lamp; the water then was at U" ; at 9 p. m. I removed the lamp, as the disk was filled with drip; I removed it and replaced the lamp, with water at 56° ; at 7 next morning I trimmed and filled lamp ; water at 64° , and at 10 a. m. when tliey visited me the water was at 6S>> ; the bottom boards were heated, and it could then be run for months without a variation of 5°. One improvement has been suggested— making the tank of zinc or sheet iron; this would;be an oversight. Metals are the best conductors of heat we have. Wood is among the worst. Tlie object is to utilize the heat generated in the tank; not radiate it In the liouse. I do not think a (juart of oil would heat 15 gallons of water up to 50° in a metallic tank. Such, Mr. President, is the apparatus. I liave given you simply tlie results of our experiments and observations. If any lover of flowers should from its use realize that we luive added to their enjoyment in the growth of flowers and plants, tlie only and sote interest I have In it Is realized. It is susceptible of so many modifications that it can be applied to either parlor or green-house. Nothing new is claimed for it. Tanks have been in use since how long, Kural?— I don't know. The Wardian case lias been in use for years, and had lamp attachment. The natural laws by wliich plants are propagated have always been and will ever remain unchanged. What then has been done ? Nothing else in my opinion but putting our tools to a better use— a better understanding of laws always in force— which may be stated thus: \. The tank should have a lieating apparatus separate and Independent from that used for heating the green-house, thus securiug constant and uniform heat to the roots of the cuttings. ILLINOIS HORTICULTURiVL SOCIETY. 269 2. The tank should be constructed with materials that are poor conductors of heat— that will retain, not radiate it— thus utilizing the greatest portion of tlie fuel used. I am aware that every professional tiorist believes tliat his mode of striking is the l)est; that they look upon any innovations relating to tlieir way coming from an amateur with distrust, and are very lotli to believe any improvement can be made. Yet, if they will reflect a moment, tliey will realize the fact that tlie amount of fuel requisite to keep tlie water in the tank at 70" would not when the temperature was at 10" above O" outside keep tlie liouse from freezing. Your Secretary, Mr. Scott, has had some exi)erieuce, and can inform you that in his grcen-liouses there are more clays tlian one during winter when he could not raise tlie temperature in the houses to over 45" : that the water in his tanks heated by a coil in the house furnace was boiling up to 212o . This excessive heat destroyed all the stuff in liis tank. Mr. Groner, of our city, a florist and boot maker (he regularly makes one pair of fine boots every day), has two commercial green-houses nearly as large as Jlr. Scotfs. He propagates all his plants for sale in a single tank the size of mine, using the same size lamp boiler. lie lias had no trouble. On a cold day he fires up his stoves to keep his house up to the proper temperature: llie tank takes care of itself, I give you, Mr. rresideiit, a statement of tacts as I have observed them, and believe tliat any one who will can succeed in starting cuttings, with but very little trouble; that ladies may, as a number of ours have, miniature green-houses constructed upon Dr. Kittoe's plan in successful operation in their parlors, thus adding to the beauties and attractions of home. Propagation is eflected by keeping up an equal temperature in tlie tank. A tank heated by the same apparatus, that heats the house. "We are mucli indebted to Dr. Kittoe lor the progress we have made in the growth of plants. The fir.st tank erected by the Dr. was built with brick heated by the pipe which heated the liouse. We have now something better. The communication of captain Beebe was received with so much applause and approval that we entered into the enthusiasm displayed, and could not report correctly. ADDRESS rilOM JUDGE KNAPP, OF WISCONSIN. We, the delegation from Wisconsin, thank you for the kiud' reception which we have received. Though coming from a sister state, I believe tliat we of Southern Wisconsin and you of Northern Illinois are twins. Our temperature, our trees, our insects, our birds, our interests are identical; but you have the advantage of us as regards numbers, and yon being stronger, we invite you to come over and help us in our weakness. Much encouragement is held out to farmers of that State to plant belts of forest trees. Anyone who plants one-fiftli of his farm with trees is entitled to one hundred dollars prize, but strange to say not one of our citizens as yet has claimed tlie reward. We fear tlie time is coming quickly when the country north of us on the Chippawa, the St. Croix, the Menominee, and other sections will lie denu'<'S of latitude in extent, from north to south, and that the fruits and the varieties which maybe adapted to the central and southern portions of the State, may not be adapted to its northern portions. And furthermore, as 1 understand it, this Society of Northern Illincds is organized for the particular purpose of attending to tlie wants of our own portion of the State, without any interference with or detraction from the views and measures of tlie organizations whose wants and conditions are ditterent from ours. Indeed, we can safely say, as men wlio accept the situation and are proud of tlie capacities and future prospects of the section in wliich we live, that our t!iocii'ty should be niaile in every respect the peer of any organization of tlie same eliaracter, in the whole State. As horticulturists we have the brains, tlie soil and the means, and we should be ashamed not to possess tlie energy and enthusiasm which will not fail to make our Society self-supporting, independent and etlicient for the purpose lor which we labor. With so many resources as we possess, it is and ouglit to be a burning disgrace to us to allow our l>roceedings, as we did last year, to be i)rinted in a volume which assigns to us only a subordiiuite and local imsition, not more prominent than some single county society. lint 1 am diverging from the subject, which was to consider some of the new varieties which prom- ise hardiness and productiveness beyond any older varieties, which for the last twenty years have caused so much disappointment, loss and discouragement. The Duchess of Oldenburg is a perfect type of the class called Kusslan apples, and if crops that I have raised on sixty-two trees for the past live years may be taken as an example of productiveness of'the new kinds which are now being tested, it is certainly aiiroinising experiment. This variety (the Duchess) is found ipiite hardy as far north as St. Paul, Minnesota, but unfor- tunately it does not till the jilace of a winter apple, and if among the nineteen varieties which I now offer to this Society, should be found one winter fruit as hardy and productive as the Duchess, I should consider it a more enduring and lionorable monument than to have a marble stal lie erected to niy memory. But it is olijected to these fruits that they are coarse and not equal to tlie older sorts in flavor, tiranted; but are we to reject the fruits which nature lias placed within reacli of the poorest and humblest citizen, who, but for these hardy fruits would as seldom know the flavor of an apple, as we do of the pine apple? The great Nortliwesf, including North Dlinois, on Its southern boundry, and tlie extensive wheat- growing regions of ISritish America, on its nortliern frontier, is a region vast in its extent and important in its future destinies. In all this immense region, there is every i-eason to believe that the improved Kussian and Siberian apples will find a congenial home, while most of the older and more tender sorts will be partially or wholly excluded. We are aware tliat the wliole of this great territory, including the northern part of this State, is looked uj)on by fruit culturists further south as the "'natural market for their products." Hence, some have gone so far as to discourage anil sneer at the idea of introducing coarse Kussian apjilcs and Siberian crabs into our discussions, and who, by certain line spun theories and impracticable expedients, would induce us to believe tliat we can render hardy the old time favorites, which, during a (|uarter of a century we have found it impracticable to grow in our capricious climate. But the people of Nortlieun Illinois have suffered too much in time, money and disappointment, to allow them to discard such promising sources of supply for that most iudlspensable of fruits for all seasons, the apple, and that, too, grown in our own orchards. We feel here a common sentiment with our neighbors in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, one of whose delegates has so truthfully described "our trials, our soils, our climate and our condition" to be theirs. The Northwest Is undoubtedly the most promising, and at the same time the most difliciilt field for the fame of those who asi)ire to become our National Pomologists, a fact that some societies and horticiilturalists further south may well take note of. Meanwhile, as true patriots and philanthro- pists, and 'genuine lovers of Nature's good gifts, let us continue our efforts to improve and disseiu- Inate the fruits which Nature distributes as the reward of patience and industry. The growing interest we have in hardj- varieties ol apples should make this subject of interest to every grower of fruit. This Society was formed to meet the exigency of our portion of the State. We have the brains, and we have the energy also, to carry out those interests which will improve and bless this great Northwest. The Duchess of Oldenburg is a peerless type. Their excellencies are these: Hardiness, produc- tiveness, beauty, excellence, suitability. Some are early fruit, some are late keepers, and though they may be rather coarse in flesh, they will always secure a prolitalile market. In closing, the essayist oflered nineteen scions, one of each variety, to each 272 TKA^'SACTIOKS OF THE NORTHERN member and to any other Avho may 1)ecome a member. Also scions of the true Duchess of Oldenbui'g to any person applying, enclosing an envelope with stamp. The liberal ofler of Mr. Skinner was received with a vote of thanks. Moved by Jlr. Schofield that the Transactions of this Society be published in a separate form, and not attached to the transactions of any other. Lost. Essay by Suel Foster, the veteran Iowa Pomologist. He recollected when grafting ^vas performed by inserting large branches, forty years ago. It is to our shame that even now we know so little after all the improve- ment we have made. Why are our young men not studying horticulture? How many of our schools are teaching this science? We know of no one who is a really and thoroughly practical professor of the science to teacli our young people. He related an incident of an Iowa member of Congress who had deeded a deed of trustee to each of his daughters, for 160 acres, who would learn to graft an apple tree. Mr. S. urged upon ladies the propriety of practicing Horticulture, as l)eing of immense benefit and interest to the sex. The speaker then took up the production of new varieties of fruit, and in closing, lamented that Professors of Horticulture were so few. Indeed he did not know of one. AFTERNOON SESSION. Mr . I. S. Piatt , a gentleman who has had considerable experience in handling and selling California fruit, entertained the Society for a short time. The Bartlett pear grown in California could not compare with those grown in Southern Illinois ; in fact, most pears raised there are not equal to those raised in Illinois. There are some exceptions, the Winter Nellis and Gray Doyenne were excellent. The quality of most of them is about equal to a good turnip. He doubted that pears could be sent to Chicago from California at a profit. So far it has not paid. The grapes from Califor- nia, however, are better than ours; and it is possible that grapes may hereafter be supplied to us in sufficient quantities to injure the raising of grapes for market in Illinois. TLie size of the California fruit has been much exaggerated. The list of ornamental trees was passed without revision. Mr. Budd, of Shellsburg, Iowa, read an essay on "Grafting Pears on White Thorn." He had not found anything so effectual to prevent blight as grafting them upon thrifty young White Thorn one foot from the ground. Some varieties forma good union with this stock. Some varieties outgrow the stock. The White Doyenne is one of the number that forms a good union. The reason of failure heretofore has been that pears had been grafted on our common bushy thorn. The stocks must be grown from seed, and it is necessary to get genuine White Thorn {Crategus coccinea). The seed is mixed with cornmeal and fed to cattle; the droppings are gathered and planted. The expex'iment is worthy of trial, and if successful wall be valuable. GROWING THE PEAn UPON" WHITE THOIJS'. AVliatuvcr disagreenienl there may be among those who have experimented, thought and written upon prairie pear growing, upon two points tliere seems to be a general unity of opinion : First, that fire bliglit is the giant obstacle in tlic way of profit;ible pear growing; secondly, that root-pruuing, or neglected cuUure by way of shortening up the supply of sap from the roots, has proved the most available preventive to blight. For the purposes of this brief paper it is not necessary to philoso- LLLLNOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 273 phise upon the mysterious causes of tire blight. Any plan tliat decreases the natural supply o( sap, and yet which keeps tlie roots in a liealthy, sound condition, seems to answer the rc(iuired purpose to a suflieieut extent to malce pear growing a source of profit. During the twelve years past tliat I have given this matter close attention, I have Iace of ton minutes or more, now, if possible, more cautious than ever before, still true to its former nature, depending upon playing the 'possum" for safety. At length after all has remained s^ill and quiet for a long time, it commences very slowly and cautiously to continue spinning its web. and now apparently feeling safe from danger, it works rapidly as before, occasionally shifting half way around in the direction of itsiliead by a (juick jerk : in this way its very flexible tail has access to every part of its cocoon. During my entire oliservatiou of several hours, it holds its l)ody in the same plane— tlie plane in wliich it was curved when I saw it commencing its work, and doulttless remained in this position within the cocoon. Thus it worked, and on the following morning I found tliat the outer visil)Ie worli was comi)leted. In the centre of tlie tliinly scattered outer fibres it has formed a closely woven subspherical cocoon, very smootli exteriorly, of a light gray color, about the size of a No. 1 shot, slightly prolate-spheroidal, 0.16 by 0.125 inches. Afterabout one month the perfect insect lifted off a lid, which it had previously prepared, and came forth, at first quite tender but soon, by exposure to tlie air, hardened and developed into the perfect insect. During the entire autumn I saw an unusual number of this and other species of the lace-wing flj- 011 the wing, even as late as December 1st. May not the perfect insect live over tlie winter to deposit its eggs in the spring? The pupa, however, appears in a better condition to weather the storms of the frozen season. In the early part of September I beheld many of these lace-wing flies in the corn where I was conducting my observation, for 1 had au acre of thickly sown com near at hand for a breeding c;ige, and I found it a much better one than I ever had in the studio. As I mowed this corn for fodder from time to time, every stroke of the scythe would cause three or four dozen of them to ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 279 rise i>ii tlu' wing. In the cviMiiny: twiliprlit I nsnally s;nv very many of thoni In volnntary tlif^lil. very many more tlian at any other time, presentinjr (juite an interesting spectacle as they staggereil along in their awkwanl, unsteady tlight."— (I'roe. Ent. Soe., Jan. 1805.) 15ut Irom these few remarks aljont jrolden eyed laee-wing Hies you mnst not he led to believe that they are good for nothing except to murder eliineh l)ugs, for this is tint a minimum of the good work they constantly perform. The chinch Inig has dei)arted but tlie lace-wing Hy is ever among us, feasting upon plant lice, etc. 1 have learuele bark lice, he describes the young of those he observed as liaving six legs. Subse(|uently when I visited him at Rock Island, he asked me if I had ever found any siiecimeus witli six legs, and wlien I assured him that after frequent microscopic, examinations of specimens of all sizes I had seen none but eight legged specimens, he remarked that as he had not used a microscope but instead, a good coddiiigton lens, it was barely possible that he had not ' detected one pair of legs. This discovery however confirms his )vritten history of these mites, that there is a variety, with but six legs in the young state, although I erroneously had thought dill'erentl)', and that those that 1 originaly discovered and described as Acarus? Mains, probably always have eight legs, at least this is the appearance so far as I was iible to oliserve. If this proves to be strictly persistent, in this manner, we must have two or more species of mites, and probably of different *Even there my "prophecy " is good, because chinch bugs have not, so far as I can learn, been as numerous as in those of their palmiest days. ILLINOIS IIORTICULTUliAL SOCIETY. 281 genera as camilbal parasites of tlie apple ami otlicr liark-licc, aii again; and the mineral elements derived from the soil go back to the soil again. Decomposition is but a slow combustion; and the decay of vegetation sends off in gasseous form all that belongs to the ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 287 air, and i-ctiinis in ashes all that boUiniiS to the soil. Rotting is hut a sUnv tire; ami tlie tree is thus lionest when it gives I)aeli. to nature the materials drawn Ironi nature. The in(iuiry then boeomes interesting as to where the atmosphere obtains the vast amount of air food and air driulv necessary to build iip the forests and clotlie the continents with vegetation. A part of tills air food is gathered from the slow conbustion or decay of vegetation on tlie land; but the greater part of this air food of plants comes froin the moist breath of the sea forever breathing over the land and carrying to tlie trees not only tlielr air food but their drlnlv also. The in\ isihie lingers of the atmosphere thus feed the forests and carry to them drink from the sea. To illustrate the agency of the ocean in the economy of nature and the growtli of vegetation, tlie lecturer described some of Its clilef characteristics—its great curreuts, whirls, and ceaseless agita- tions—its flows, now rising to the surface and now sinking to invisible depths; all controlled by the great laws of heat and cold, and the dltterences in temperature between Polar and Tropical waters. One of these, the great Gulf Stream, a river in the Sea, was fully described, flowing with vast volume almost round the Atlantic. This gathers up the wood and vegetation constantly borne to the sea by tlie rivers, and sweeps along l!ie immense amount of algea or sea weed, constantly torn loose from their frail moorings. These gradually center towards the middle of the Atlantic. Mariners call this comparatively still part of the Atlantic Ocean, the Sea of Saragossa— a sea in the ocean larger than the valley of tlie Mississippi Hiver. Its surface becomes covered with drift weed, so thick in places that a ship can not sail tlirough it. This vegetation is constantly decaying and throwing oft" its gaseous elements into the air; and loading the air with the food of plants. All oceans and all seas produce similar phenomena. In this way tlie ocean becomes the great Labo- ratory of nature, where the air food of plants is largely eliminated and manufactured. The ocean— never at rest, pulsating and throbbing like the great heart of God round the world— thus puriflcs itself, and thus gives up by its breath and from its life, a part of its own plant life, to feed the vegetation on the land. This breath of the Ocean then— these breathings of the sea— are the winds. At rest, we call them the atmosphere, in motion we call them the wiiuls: when the spirit of the storm is aroused, we call them the hurricane and tornado; coming from the sea to the land we call them the Breath of the ocean on the land. The same causes move the winds and give them their circuits, which move the waters of the sea, where this breath of the ocean comes fresh to the land from favorable seas forests grow up and vege- tation grows and blossoms. The winds are thus the express carriers, agents, and servants of the sea, bearing to the land the food and drink of vegetable growths; and the forests through their leaf lungs, in some mysterious way, breathe in and exhale the elements which minister to their growth. This thought was illustrated by reference to wind charts, precipitation of moisture, and the isother- mal lines in North America. Those which come fresh and moist from the ocean to the land confer fertilit)', and forests spring up; those v.iiich become exhausted of their food and moisture make deserts out of fertile plains. The breath of the I'aciflc l)uilds up gnat forests in California; the breath of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico makes the Eastern part of the ilississijipi valley and Xorth America green and rich. The hot breath of torrid ilexico makes our ^^■estern Sahara desert. The lecturer then spidic of the manner in which the air feeds and waters trees. The milHoned hosts of the forest leaves hang trembling in the atmosphere. The leaf performs functions similar to the lungs and stomach. It is full ot invisible mouths, which breathe in and exhale the atmos- phere; which take in moisture and air food, and tlirow out poisonous and worn out elements, which the plant has already used, and desires to free itself of. The leaf and every inch of surface soil suck in the rains and dews and nutritious gases. iSoth roots and leaves play important parts in the economy of vegetable growth. The question, somewhat discussed, as to whether plants absorb their air-food directly through their leaf-lungs, or whether it is carried by rain water into tlie soil and thence absorbed into tlie general circulation by means of the roots, aiipertaiiis to the province of vegetable physiology . For the purposes of this lecture it can make no difterence The organic elements of the plant are obtained chiefly from the air, either directly by the leaves or from the soil through the roots. The lecturer then passed to man's influence over the forces of nature. lie showed that the condi- tions of the atmosphere necessary lor tree growth were heat, humidity, and light. He argued that man can and down all our pine and other timber producing trees. The lecturer then reverted to the ground climate of trees and plants; and showed that liere man could greatly modify nature, and that CIILtivation is the very substitute of climate. The conditions of tree-growth, so far as this ground climate is concerned, are heat, humidity, and air, or porosity. Air and heat must find their way to the roots of vegetation, especially air. Exclude the air from a root and that root will die. Exclude it from a seed, and that seed will never ger- minate. And here we may note a great practical thought in horticulture: that is, prepare the soil so that the air can circulate round the roots of the trees, and so tliat heat and humidity may be retained . Tlie closest sedimentary soil, where no tree will flourish, if spaded up or subsoil plowed to a great depth, and mixed with gravel or coarse materials, will produce vigorous tree-growth. They under- stand this in planting vine}'ards in the North. Bj' thus working at the soil so as to open its pores to the circulation of air and tlie introduction of a bottom heat, we produce very marked results in hor- ticulture. Tlie lecturer closed with tlie thought that our horticultural conventions spent too much time in discussing mere vai'ieties of fruits, modes of grafting, and insect foes; but did not devote suflicient altentiou to the elements which surround the roots and tops ot the tree itself; and hoped that his remarks might stir up thought and turn attention in these directions. Mr. Shaw was listened to with atteution^ and the address was one of the most valuable presented during the session. APPLES FROM NEBRASKA. Mr. Shearman had just returned from that State, and brought with him samples of Fall Pippins, Ben Davis, Tulpehocken, and Pennock, all large and showy, similar to those grown here 10 years ago before the advent of the codling moth and the scab. The fruit was contributed by Colonel Furness, President of the Nebraska State Horti- cultural Society. Think of this— a State society of that new State, thus sending greeting to the fruit-growers of Illinois. Judge Knapp, of Wisconsin, in answer to an inquiry, said that he had lieeu one of ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 289 a committee to report iipon the effect of cutting away the forest in Wisconsin. His observation was corroborated by Prof. Shaw, that the plains of tlie territories could never be cultivated or timbered. The extent of country where timber and corn can be grown he thinks does not extend more than 100 miles west of the Missouri river. The question had been asked where we were to get oiu- agricultural and horticultural professors. If he was going to learn Chinese he should not go to England, if he was going to study the wants of this State, he should not go to either England or even to Michigan for men to tell us what was wanted, but should look at home for men com- petent to instruct us. Judge Knapp spoke at some length on the isothermal conditions of the Northwest, and was listened to with attention. The climatology of a country was the A of agri- cultural science, and your Professors don't know anything about it. He had consulted Prof. Henry at tne Smithsonian Institution for facts, but they could only give the temperature and the rain-fall. This was the straight side of the letter B, but the crooked side, or the amount of evaporation, no one knew. This was the commence- ment of the alphabet, and our Professors should study first climatology, and then sources of heat and cold. A committee of five was appointed to inquire into the manner in which the Industrial University is conducted, consisting of Messrs. S. J. Davis, L. Ellsworth, Smiley Shepherd, J. B. Turner, and Arthur Bi'yant, Sen. AFTERNOON SESSION. SMALL FRUIT— STRAWBERRIES. T. McWhorter thought we ought to be seeking for some berry to take place of AYilson ; this will not endure drouth or unequal temperature, need more care. Thought "• McAvoy's extra red " a l>etter one for general cultivation. Wier— The only objection is, it is a pistillate variety of Iruit— with " large early scarlet "—have it nine years, producing large amount of fruit. All others have been run out l)y grass and weeds, one plant in twenty, to fertilize it. Dunlap—That the Wilson was the most persistent bearer and durable. Wier— In all cases has stood its ground against all. Ellsworth wanted to know if the Wilson was arraigned. McWhorter again stated his objections. The Wilson was worse killed out than some other varieties. Ellsworth— Except the winter (always mulch), the AVilson stands better than any other. Wier offered to send "McAvoy's extra red." Ellsworth— Have discarded all the McAvoy's. The Prairie Farmer— Neff's seedling from the Agriculturist, believed to be hybrid - izetl by the Wilson, flavor more Wilson than Agriculturist. Dr. Warder— Buftalo seedling and McAvoy's superior are identical. Mr. Nefl— So superior in quality and prohfic. Nicanor. Wier— Think it the best market berry, season longer, stands drouth better. 20 290 TKANSACTlOlSfS OF THE NOKTHEEN Ellsworth — Have had it three years, plants do well, fruit has not answered expecta- tions, fruit small. Wier — Productive, smallish. McAfee — Produced this year, found compared with Wilson, bore more herries of about equal size, planted all at same time and soil — loess soil. Dr. Nicaise — Ellsworth asked for information. Wier — Have had two years a few large specimens of good quality, consider it worth trial. McAfee — Coincided with it. Ellsworth— The same on short trial. Cramer — Wier finds it a pistillate plant berry small, dark, for table l)erry far better; to market will not sell, color and size against it; for canning it is superior; firm in flesh. Budd— In Iowa acts like Russell, when fertilized gives good results^ fruit about like Green Prolific. Edwards — Fruit small, plant hardy, quality good, productive. Wier — In picking fruit last season found strawberries piled up through the field in small piles equal to }£ the crop. Napoleon 3d. C. C. Miller — Have thousands of plants with no fruit,will sell at $1 each to repay me for experiments. * ' Peaks Emi^eror. ' ' Colfax — Pistillate, of medium size not very productive. Van Epps— Thanked the society for hokling there session and inviting them to Dixon for future meetings. -V;". President and Gentlemen of the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society : In behalt' of the citizens of Dixon, we feel to retuni to you oiu- sincere tlia,nks for having held your tliird annual session in this city, and now at your adjournment we would extend to you a cordial and standing invitation to return to our midst at the return of your annual or other like calls of your hody, as may meet j'our pleasure, believing the seed here sown will bear fruit abundantly . And, if in your wisdom, you should at any time deem this city a suitable place for holding an exhibtion of horticulture, we pledge the hospiialities of the citizens, and will hold ourselves in readiness to meet any and all requirements, knowing your members to be a reasonable people. Wier — Had some seedlings second summer, given the culture through the season in order to find how many fruit buds could be produced at that age — one had fifteen — all were allowed to raake one runner. McAfee — A friend in Freeport kept oti' runners producing immense heads of plants with numerous fruit buds. The Spring was a beautiful sight had not a single good sized fruit, fully one half of buds producing no fruit; what is the matter. The Wilson goes to work in the Spring and produces runners and then stops, does not make the second growth of runners that many of the newer varieties do. Had severe rains, but otlier buds, not so treated, fruited vvell. Wier — Apples often produce much more bloom than they can perfect, is rare to find over seven fruit buds where the runners are kept ofl" and three where not. U. J. Duulap— Stated that any person who would try to cultivate strawberries on the hill will make a failure. Hathaway — Difier from Dunlap; am an advocate of hill culture; my method is to cultivate 3 or 3i feet apart, and 2 feet in hill, cultivate with horse. ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 291 Hathaway — Have distributed seedlings, wash, mix with sand and sow at once, used a spent hot bed, sowed tlie seed, wet down, covered the bed, corner up in ten days, kept shaded when necessary, by middle of September had as nice plants as from old beds, last of June or lirst of July. Mexican Everbearing Strawberry . Build — Have eaten the fruit, old red Alpine, watched the habit itc. ilo not believe that it is a new species, have produced abun- dantly. Rice — Have liad it in A\'estern New York for over twenty years, grows wild in New Y'ork, in swamps and marshes, berry not half the size. Edwards — Twenty years ago had a strawberry in New Yoi"k, called mammoth Alpine. "Wier — Had it last Spring, tended it thoroughly, got small fruit, sour. Lipsey — Had it last week in Indiana in fruit at fair, discarded it. McAfee— Is evidently the same species (Fragaria Vesca) as our wild Ijerries of Wis- consin, fruit small, insipid and small fruitage. Dr. Warder — Have seen it under fu\ orable cirt'umstances, a variety of Fragaria Yesca, distinct rcniarkal)le instance. Bubach— Think we had the same berry twelve or tifteen years ago. Mr. Wilson had bloom, green and ripe fruit. Hathaway — Referred to the honesty of the disseminators and those who have seen them. ItESOHTi'OX. Resolved, That we, Uie lueiubevs of tlie N'oftlieni Illinois Horticultural Society, have tested the strawberry liuown as tlie Mexican Everbearing, under tlie most lavorable circunistiiuces, and lliat we find in it uotliing new or valuable, and consider it even valueless, other llian as a curiosity for the curious amateur; and would recommend that the people let it and its disseminators severely alone, and lieep their money in their pockets! Adopted unanimously. Raspberries, McAfee— By proper pruning the crop can be doubled, pinch oil tlirce or four canes when they are 8 inches high, and the laterals at one foot long— remove berry wood next Spring. The nearer you can get the fruit to the ground the better. In the row three feet apart. ^V'eir — Agree with last speaker. Purple Cane F., Philadelphia F., Minnesota Amlter F. , and M. Doolittle, McCor- mick, Davison's, Thornless. McAfee— Moved that McCormick and Davison's, Thorn- less, be atlded to list, so done, Canada Black Cap — Lipsey asked for information of this berry, grows more in clus- ters, a little larger. Hathaway— The growth of the cane is similar to the wild, have not fruited it. Blackberry— McAfee moved the list remain as now stands. The Kittatinny the only one. Rice— Says Barns Bros, considers the Lawton the better berry. Bryant— Don't wish for a better berry than this when ripe. Dunlap— With the same treatment as directed by Mc.\tee, on open prairie, has done well without winter killing, while others protected were killed. Hathawaj-- Sowed grass among my blackberries, and got plenty of berries; unless covered there is no. 292 TRAILS actio:ns of the northern EUsworth—Lawton has been a failure for want of protection, have discarded it. Ellisdale Raspberry— Ellsworth— Desires information ; here left plants out. Budd— New blackbeny leaf, fruit of Philadelphia shape; wih propagate from tops of fruits . Wier — Fruited three seasons; is larger than purple cane: hardy, strong grower, fruit good; upper fruit from it all among the leaves; one berry at once. A LITTLE MORE GRAPE. McAfee described his method of covering, and moved the list stand as adopted now. Delaware — Ellsworth — Stated that he had not succeeded witli it so far as growth is concerned, and enquired for information, McAfee — Of several hundred vines, all leaf mildewed. Bliss — Often hear of strong vines; never heard of but one sold by me which grew strongly; this turned out to be a Clinton. Ellsworth— Have seen thrifty, hardy vines at the East. Skinner — Have fifty acres at Hammond; ft'uit of Delaware. Wier— Eleven years ago; strong layers; frozen roots. Bubach wants to know if anybody has succeeded on prairie. Perkins — McAfee says it is a poor sour grape; would place it alongside of Concord. Budd — The German colony have it, and like it for grape, and speaks of Chrustime as good in quality of fruit and leaf. McAfee — Would prefer Perkins to Muscadine. Rice — Have fruited it in western New York; inferior to Muscadine, rots and drops. Wier — Six or seven years ago recommended the Tokalen; was good every way; never got a perfect berry since. Rogers' Hybrid— McWhorter—Exhvmied all too late; Nos. 1, i, 9, 15, 10, first year; none got fully ripe, skin tough. Robson— No. 15 ripens up at Galena; heavy fruit and well ripened. Judge Knapps — No. 4, 15, 22, at Madison and Boonsboro, ripen well, and much esteemed ; superior in flavor to Concord. H. Shaw says that the flying squirrel is carniverous. Striped Squirrel will eat mice, white grub and May bug; destroys rats and large field mice. TRAINING OR BURYING GRAPEVINES. Hathaway Concord, Hartford Prolific, Rogers' Hybrid. Rogers' Hybrid — Was enthusiastic, now am cautious. 1, 5, 4, 5, 15, 19 were fine; No. 3 earliest; would plant No. 5 only; all bore remarkably; second year failure. ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 293 THURSDAY EVENING. Mr. Robson addressed the meeting upon tlic influences adverse to the progress of horticultural knowledge. Tlie principal reason that our children do not care to learn horticulture, is that the lathers and mothers allow their children to grow up with their eyes blind. They do not observe and know all the thousands of In-ight truths of nature, and this is the fault of the parents in not drawing out the children's capaci- ties. He contended fervently for the high calling ; labor is the highest liadge ol honor. He described a normal school at Galena, under the charge of Prof. Werin, which is carried on by a working teacher, who has made the school a great success by teaching it to work horticulture, his pupils Ijcing adepts in budding, grafting, planting, etc. Called attention to many of our native llora, which, which if brought from a long distance, would attract attention, and bring large prices; urging the adoption of many of them in our gardens. McWhorter— Endorsed the remarks of Mr II. contrasting the common farmers' home with what might be with better care and attention. We should urge the cul- tivation of more rural taste to make our homes attractive. Letter from Mr. Soulard— Has been a nurserymen in the West fiftv-ttve years, thirty- five of this at Galena; the letter accompanied a history of the Soulard apple. Grafting— McAfee sliowed a small twig showing a method of grafting cherry and plum. Neff— Have practiced that and found it successful— Budd, has practiced it, makes a perfect union and rapid, would suggest that crown grafting of cherry is ecjually good that way, practices the same with plum root grafting. Tear Grafting— Wier, called attention to his practice of grafting; grafted as apples, planted the scion % of the depth in the ground and nuilched to nearly the top of the graft, take up in fall, and bury the plant out in spring four or five inches deeper than the previous year. 294 TRANSACTIONS OF THE NORTHERN DOCUMENTS NOT KEB^ERRED TO JN THE REPORT OF THE PRO- CEEDIXGS. A PASTORAL. To Samuel Edwards, President of Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, this poem is inscribed by the Author. BY T. HEMPSTEAD, WINDSOR, BROOME COUNTY, NEW YORK. It is winter on the prairies, stretching outward far away. Blank and drearj' in tlieir vastness and tlie dusli of closing daj; 'Tis as If some angry Presence, from the black vault stooping down. Passed, and trailed along the world its robes of cold and sullen brown. Banishing the pleasant sunshine, sealing up all tuneful lips With tlie sliadow and the sorrow of their stern and dark ecUiise; Not a flower expands its golden cup in all the lifeless view. From the dead grass not a violet turns its eye of tender blue, Not an oak in all the landscape lifts its broad and kingly form. Rustling in the gales of summer, wrestling with the thunder storm; Not a chestnut nor a poplar rears its many twinkling crest, AA'here the jay may find a covert or the eagle build her nest; Verdureless expanses, dreary as night without a morn, Jliles of empty, sullen grassland, broken stalks of earless corn. Through whose gray and battered husks with a sad, inconstant moan, Runs the wind, a thousand shudders In each deprecating tone: Here and there a lonely dwelling, thrust afar from every tree, Where a sprightly wren miglit build, or hum a honej^-laden bee: Further frowns the dull horizon rising like a wall of lead, 'Gainst whose face no forest rustles, not a lir tree leans its head — "Whilst 1 sit and muse and struggle with the gloom without, within, I^isteniug to the rain's dull jjatter and the northwind's roaring din. Thoughts of other days come o'er me, thoughts that lead my feet away. Through the long years' deei^ening shadows to m^' boyhood's greener day. And again I tread the vallej'S, climb again the rugged hills, Vocal with the notes of woodbirds and the headlong dash of rills, Pleasant with green nooks of mosses and the trailing of the vines. And the dancing feet of breezes in the tops of rocking pines. O, I sigh, if I could reach them, could I seize them, bring them lieru. In tlie prairie's heart to flourish and my daily paths to cheer, C'oidd I have the jjines and spruces I with thoughtless hands have burned. Seize the symmetry and greenness I have heeded not or sjiurned. Here in ranks could 1 behold them, in their undecaj'ing bloom. Bringing springtime, shedding glory o'er the prairie's desert gloom, I would rather clasp the treasure tlian a palace in Broadway, Piled with plate and drowned in perfumes and with Brussels carpets gay— Rather that these sylvan children with their deathless green were mine Tlian to own a baron's castle with its vaults of hoary wine. Then I float on glimmering dreams of woven boughs and snowy bloom ! Sparkles into life around me mj- ideal Prairie Home — ILLINOIS IIORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 295 And iiiste:ul of dreary pastures swept by roaring winds of March, Kise llie Ion;; donsc ranlis of maples, groves of walnnt, birch and larch;— From the mountains of Virginia, from Minnesota's lakes and streams. From wliere St. Lawrence with his thunder shakes the boatman ia liis dreams. Anil, his forehead wreatlied with snow and scarred witli lightning, gray Kutahdin Sees the climbing sun a hundred silver-sanded lakelets gladden, From the wild Canadian forests, from Wisconsin's glassy rivers, Or where the restless aspen's top beside the Susquehanna quivers. Prom the vales of Colorado and the wilds of Michigan, From the fountains of the Ganges and the valleys of Japan, From the heights of Scandinavia and tlie lone wastes of Mongolia, From Campania's purple past\ires and the slopes of Anatolia; Fi'om all tluse my hands should gather treasures living, rare, unknown. Tree and shrub and root and scion, polished nut and hooked cone. Thus I long for what 1 have not, thus I chase my fair ideal, Emerald glories, trailing splendors, would to God that they were real '. Yet behold my fancied treasures, walk within my airy Eden, Soil as deep and rich as ever daintiest plant might ask to feed in; Lime and phosphorus and potash, soda, carbon and ammonia, Food for fir and rose and lilac, grape or crocus or bignonia; Loads of brown leaves from the forest, tempered by the Irost and rain. Mouldering refuse from the stable, dripjjings from the kitchen drain, Tliese through root and Ijark and chalice shall ascend, till on my roses, Phloxes, dahlias and carnations all the rainbow's glow reijoses. See my cherry trees and apples, plums and mulberries and peaches, Apricots and ruddy crab trees stretching by la gracefid reaches; Not a caterpillar, borer, not an aphis to be found. Not a dead branch nor a sucker, not a weed on all the ground ; Every trunk is snmothly polished, every branch is In Its place, Bu[orris reds are Hushing in the golden August air; Some, imprisoned on a trellis, shimmer, spreading like a fan. And with golden globes are bending, sweet as those of Ispahan- Room for shrub and bull) and climber, lioneysuckles and altheas. Jonquils, amber-throated lilies, and the glory of spireas! Walk among my royal willows, hoary oaks and mountain ashes. Through whose stems each ru