262 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



What has caused all this? The good work was laid out by the 

 Northwestern Fruit Growers' Association, and so ably and earnestly 

 carried out by the members of this Association, the first of whom were 

 the leading spirits in that, and not a few of whom I see before me, gray 

 haired, and yet working as earnestly as of yore, with the younger brethren 

 who year by year have fallen into line in this noble work. If no other 

 good work had grown out of the labors of the members of this Associa- 

 tion than the fostering of tree-planting, that alone would remain as among 

 the most beneficent ever undertaken in the West. 



It is not alone our State that has profited by this work. It is the 

 Great West beyond, that, profiting by our example, laid the foundation 

 for groves and shelter-belts when first the trans-Mississippi region was 

 settled. State after State, and Territory after Territory, as we go west — 

 Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, have raised barriers 

 towards heaven to sift the wind and break its force and power. 



Our tree-planting necessities are over. We have timber enough. 

 One-tenth the State in timber properly distributed will enable us to reach 

 the best results in tillage. We have far more timber than we had twenty- 

 five years ago. Let us keep it intact. 



How about the planting of orchards? Many persons used to believe 

 that trees would not grow on the prairie. When asked why, the answer 

 was, "Oh, because they don't." A few thought differently, and planted 

 orchards, a very few of which are now forty years old, more of them twenty 

 years old, but the most of them have been planted within the last ten 

 years. There are yet plenty of persons who believe that fruit-trees will 

 not grow well on the prairie ; and they will not for them. They either 

 will not plant, or else neglect them after planting. Such, however, are 

 never the men who make the horticultural history of a country, or, in 

 fact, any history at all. These would neither assist in the formation of a 

 society nor attend the meetings after it was formed. The orchards scat- 

 tered all over Northern Illinois tell a different and most eloquent story 

 as to the adaptation of the soil to the growth of the apple, that most 

 noble of orchard fruits; they will grow if cared for, and furnish a most 

 important and agreeable means of sustenance to the intelligent planter. 

 We may congratulate ourselves, therefore, that the mission of this Society 

 in two respects has been crowned with success. We have been the means 

 of causing the planting of groves and orchards, the first of which lies at 

 the very bottom of all successful agriculture in any prairie country. 

 This planting of timber has not been confined to Illinois. The impetus 

 given to the planting of groves and shelter-belts has extended as the 

 settlements of the West have extended, and, growing almost solely out 

 of the efforts attending the earlier plantings in Illinois, concurrent action 

 of the people of this and other States at last waked up Congress to the 

 necessity of protecting the industry connected with the growing of 

 timber. Feeble though this protection was, it has nevertheless worked 

 much good. So also in orcharding we have been able to live down the 

 idea that fruit would not succeed in Northern Illinois, by showing that it 

 can be raised about as easily as Indian corn, at least so far as apples, 



