STATE HORTICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 27 



known that, as a rule, trees flourish best in their native soil, and that 

 their removal a few degrees of latitude or longitude often changes the 

 quality and time of ripening of the fruit and all the conditions of the tree. 



The Baldwin, so satisfactory in both tree and fruit in the East, is 

 almost worthless here, the fruit being inferior in quality and ripening in 

 October, and the tree tender and short-lived. The same may be said 

 of Newtown Pippin, so long regarded one of the most profitable apples in 

 New York. The Rome Beauty is a native of Southern Ohio, and there 

 ranks high as a commercial apple, but on the prairies of Illinois the tr^e 

 is tender and altogether unsatisfactory ; and the fruit scabs so badly, four 

 years out of five, as to render it unfit for market. 



The popular apples of Michigan are but cumberers of the ground 

 with us, and the Wealthy, so highly lauded in Wisconsin and Min- 

 nesota for its hardiness and keeping qualities, is an October apple in 

 Illinois. 



In my own county some attention has been given to this subject. 

 Seeds of the Bellflower, Janet, Rambo, Romanite and Ben Davis have 

 been carefully planted by different individuals, and in nearly every case 

 the result has been gratifying. The Wythe is a seedling of the Janet, 

 bears and blooms at the same time, and resembles it very closely in leaf, 

 bark and the general appearance of the tree ; but the fruit is much larger 

 and of better quality. We have an apple that possesses several of the 

 unmistakable characteristics of the Bellflower, and evidently a seedling 

 from it, that ought to be disseminated, as it is equal to the parent in 

 quality and appearance, and apparently more productive. I have also 

 had my attention called to two seedlings of the Rambo, one of which 

 very closely resembles it in every respect except color, which is white ; 

 the other is a better keeper and more juicy, and will probably prove to be 

 an acquisition. I have also seen a seedling of the Ben Davis that resem- 

 bles it closely in appearance, and is claimed by the originator to be much 

 better in quality, and is certainly worth looking after. 



I do not wish to be understood as saying that all seedlings are hardy, 

 or that one in a hundred will be of any value. Out of a thousand, grown 

 from seeds — say of the Bellflower — the practiced eye will, before they are 

 three months old, discover that at least nine hundred and fifty are worth- 

 less, while from the remaining fifty one or two of value may be obtained. 

 These experiments require considerable time and money, and will not 

 therefore be engaged in by any great number, but if a dozen members of 

 this Society would consider themselves a committee to grow and test new 

 varieties great good would result. 



It is becoming more and more apparent that commercial orcharding 

 must fall almost entirely into the hands of the specialist, as in these days 

 of insect enemies and diseases the ordinary farmer cannot or will not 

 give his orchard the attention that is necessary to produce satisfactory 

 results. Then, again, the man who has two, three or five thousand bar- 

 rels of apples can make better .sales then the man who only has as many 

 hundred, and if the waste of the orchard is utilized by drying it must 

 be done on a large scale. The same may be said of the making of cider. 



