82 STATE HOETICDLTUEAL SOCIETY. 



full are Ben Davie, Willow Twig, Col vert, W. W. Pearmain, Early Har- 

 vest, Pryor's Red, Keswick, Rambo and Rawles Janet; average in full- 

 ness, Jonathan, Winesap, Baldwin, Roinanite, Astrachan and Pickard. 



The pear suffered more than the apple in last spring's freeze. 

 Many varieties just on the point of blooming were totally destroyed; 

 others, seeming to be all right, and showing a full and, to all appear- 

 ances, a healthy bloom, have blasted and are dropping. With me the 

 Bartlett is the latest to bloom, and has come out the best. Varieties 

 fullest of fruit are Bartlett, Seckel, Flemish Beauty, Rostiezer and Buf- 

 fara. 



Quinces were all frozen. Peaches killed in January. Plums and 

 cherries have come out fairly and will give us a moderate yield. 



Our hopes and wishes for a good fruit crop have been partly filled, 

 but we must rest here and await the coming of another year to ask— 

 What shall the harvest be? 



In the meantime, let us not be idle. Let the endeavor of every 

 fruit-grower be clean and thorough culture. In this I firmly believe 

 we have a better antidote to insect foes than so much labor expended 

 in spraying; not that I have no faith in the latter — far from it. We 

 must use every means we can to rid us of these pests, and where one 

 remedy fails, try another. 



Fruit this year with us is very perfect; never saw it more so. 



Respectfully, J. A. Durkes. 



Care of an Orchard. 



By iomer Keed, Kansas City. 



It is generally agreed that the hill lands are the best lands for an 

 orchard — better than black prairie soil ; and I will assume that the or- 

 chard is planted on the hill-lauds, near the river, or on such lands as 

 are generally selected for orchards in Southern Missouri. I will as- 

 sume, then, that the orchard is planted on hill-lands, sufficiently smooth 

 for easy cultivation. The lines where the trees are planted should be 

 deeply plowed, and with a subsoil plow, if possible, for a width of at 

 least four feet either side of the tree-row. The under, or subsoil, of 

 our hills is a tough, water-tight clayish formation, and the breaking of 

 this subsoil allows the roots to find the depth necessary to withstand 

 the harmful influence of the certain drouths of August and Septem- 

 ber. 



The trees should be thrifty two-year-old trees and not pruned nor 

 cut back, unless pruning be required to preserve the center stalk or 



