46 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



trees that never bore fruit, and are constantly bringing the trees to 

 a state of barrenness/' What we know is, that in our locality if we 

 keep trees over three years in the nursery row and give them proper 

 care, we are very liable to have some fruit, if the trees are barren. 

 There is still another fact of which we are well informed, although 

 not very pleasantly, sometimes. That is, that we may, for instance, 

 take the Willow Twig, and from one block of trees grown in exactly 

 the same soil and under the same condition, sell three or four bills 

 of trees, one man will come and say, " I want more Willows; they 

 make me more money than all m}^ other apples." That man is pre- 

 pared for and should grow Willow. Another says, " Bitter rot spoil 

 mine. Ben Davis make my dollars." He should grow them. An- 

 other says, " They blight, Minkler for me." He should grow them. 

 Now, it seems to me that it makes little difference what the germ 

 originating the plant is, if we have the location where the plant 

 thrives, leading us to believe that there is where the chemical essen- 

 tials are. And on this ground our advice is that, for dollars, men 

 should confine themselves to varieties that produce good results with 

 them, and let others grow their successful kinds, and not try to grow 

 all the different ones mentioned in the long catalogue of names. I 

 think this the desired end of experimental stations; give them a sample 

 of soil and surroundings, and let them analyze and tell you the condi- 

 tions both beneficial and detrimental and govern yourself accord- 

 ingly, if in your power, remedy the difiiculties. See what the exact 

 condition is of some man's land who makes a success of your favor- 

 ite varieties, and if you can make your conditions the same, well 

 and good; if not, try something else. Do not try to force nature to 

 do just your way, because she is obstinate. Let us look at our sur- 

 roundings and see if we have done all we might have done to save 

 our already dead apple trees, and I believe that what is true of trees 

 is just as true of other plants. 



Probably every reader of this volume is familiar with the 

 Legend of the Piasa Bird. A huge painting, or traces, at least, of 

 which could be seen on the cliffs above the city of Alton but little 

 more than half a century ago. In 1669, Father Marquette, the first 

 white man who ever navigated the Father of Waters, saw the paint- 

 ing and heard the Indian legend, which our gifted young friend has 

 told us so well in verse ; and though not horticultural matter, we 

 are sure that all who read the book will be glad to see it in print. 



