SOCIETY OF CENTEAL ILLINOIS. 119 



if not quite, require the best efforts of the specialist, so from you 

 tob, I must be divorced. But when I come to our Local Society, 

 every member is a brother, every horticultural fact adduced and 

 every false theory exploded is a landmark for me, therefore, I feel 

 like saying, " Yea, thou art bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, 

 and whithersoever thou goest, will I go, and verily I will remain 

 with you all the days of my life." But happily this is not so, you and 

 I are permitted to enjoy and drink from the fountain of all these, 

 and we are blind to our interest an(f negligent of our duties if we do 

 not do this. 



But the whole question of successful fruit growing is not solved 

 by the use of London purple, for we find a little worm forcing its 

 way through and through the apple, and the scab upon the outside 

 and some of the croakers exclaim, '' what is the use of spraying to 

 kill the codling moth if these other pests are to prevail?" I know 

 of no way to ascend a long staircase, except step by step, and this 

 is but illustrative of fruit growing. 



Cooperation is a necessity in successful fruit-growing, or, as our 

 Secretary expressed it some years ago, ''united systematic effort." 

 Prof. Forbes has solved the codling moth problem, and farmers are 

 availing themselves of the benefits of his experiments with much 

 success, and whether Prof. Burrill's experiments with bacteria is 

 frightening them, I do not know, but pear blight has been less for 

 the two past years than formerly. 



It has been asserted that there is less hiorticultural interest in 

 Illinois now than formerly, but allowing this to be true ( and I am 

 by no means sure that it is true) what does it prove, only that it, like 

 everything else, has its rise and fall; extremes of heat and cold, of 

 wet and dry, have had their devastating and depressing effects, but 

 I am confident that the greatest depression has passed and the horti- 

 cultural skies will continue to brighten for a terra of years at least. 

 But in our eagerness to regain our losses let us be careful to make 

 no mistakes, don't let us draw to heavily upon our lands without 

 returning an equivalent in the way of fertilization, any more than 

 we would upon a bank account, or sooner or later our drafts v?ill be 

 dishonored. Failures are not confined to our State, New Jersey and 

 New York sends up the same doleful cry and within their borders 

 may be seen neglected orchards where many of the trees are dead or 

 dying. 



The truth is, the great mass of the people are woefully ignorant 

 upon the subject of fruit growing. Looking for results without 

 labor, and expecting the earth to yield spontaneously everything val- 

 uable for human sustenance is a fallacy that should be abandoned. 

 Persistent labor intelligently directed would, and probably will make 

 our beautiful State abound in orchards, gardens and vineyards equal 

 o any on the continent. Last year we met at Elmwood in the midst 



