174 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



A few at a time of the young trees were carefully dug and set on the hill. 

 Last spring they were small and had a fair lot of good roots ; this fall they 

 lose no roots in moving, and we find many in addition. The holes are dug and 

 surface soil thrown in about the roots of the trees. The soil is moist enousrh. 

 The roots are well placed and the soil well tread in about them. The trees are 

 all set with the graft or bud scar to the northeast, and the trees all lean to the 

 southwest. They will all be banked up a little. In a book a plat has been 

 made registering the name and position of each tree. So far, I feel that we 

 have done our part well, setting the trees on the most suitable spot on the farm. 

 If they die next year it will not be our fault. I intend they shall be cultivated 

 with little or no manure, perhaps raising some beans or potatoes for a few years. 

 I want them to grow rather slowly, and may let the grass work in a little after 

 a few years ; this will depend on the growth and appearance of the trees. 



"W. J. Beal. 



IMPORTANCE OF THICK LEAVES. 



The important functions that leaves peform, not only in the growth of the 

 plant, but the ripening of its fruit, make it a matter of vital importance that 

 the leaves remain whole and healthy during the time wood and fruit are matur- 

 ing. Here we meet one of the difficulties of American horticulture. A large 

 part of our plants under cultivation are European species and varieties, or their 

 immediate descendants, selected and grown under certain conditions, meteor- 

 ologic and otherwise, that render a new trial and selection necessary in America. 

 Hence we are going through anew the process of selection, based on the changed 

 atmospheric and climatic conditions of our peculiar climate. 



One of the points most needful to notice in selection is the adaptation of the 

 leaves to our trying climate. Here we have excessive changes, from heat to 

 cold and from cold to heat. "We have long continued rains and protracted 

 drouths. We have insects that multiply excessively, and fungoid growths that 

 spread with marvelous rapidity. All these are trying to plant life, and first after 

 the blossoms then to the leaves. If the leaves are small and thin and smooth, 

 they are apt to perish or become diseased, and the fruit, and ultimately the 

 plant, perish. Year by year we find varieties of fruit, otherwise desirable, have 

 to be given up because of their inability to grow leaves that will endure the 

 atmospheric changes, or the insect attacks of our climate. 



Among our apples we have a notable instance of that very popular variety, 

 the Wincsap, whose leaves, in many years and situations, fail to produce a good 

 growth of wood or fruit. The Pryor's lied seems to be gradually succumbing 

 for a similar reason in Kentucky and Indiana, and the evil will probably spread 

 as soils become more exhausted. A large proportion of the European apples we 

 have in orchards show by their small and scanty foliage premonitory symptoms 

 of failure. On the other hand, we find that the Russian varieties and the 

 Siberian crabs arc now gaining in favor, and notably hardy and vigorous in 

 leaf, with the possible exception of the Tetofski, whose leaf is large but warn- 

 ingly thin. 



This subject has received full attention in the case of the grape, whose leaves 

 have been more looked to than those of any other fruit. The Concord's sue- 



