Winter Meelins.. 353 



ANOTHER WORD FOR THOROUGH CULTURE. 



Barring, Knox County, November 22nd, 1901. 

 Hon. L. A. Goodman: 



My Dear Sir — Your notice and program for the meeting of the 

 State Horticultural Society received. Thanks. I am sorry that I am not 

 able to. attend, but will be with you in spirit, and the best wishes for a 

 pleasant and cheerful meeting. I was pained recently to read of the 

 death of Treasurer A. Nelson ; he has gone to his reward. He will live 

 in the history of coming generations as a man worthy of immitation by 

 all good men, especially of the horticultural profession. 



This has been an unfavorable year for horticulture, and agriculture 

 as well. This season puts me in memory of the year of 1854, which was 

 similar in regard to drouth and extreme heat and very short crops. We 

 had about a half crop of strawberries ; other kinds of berries mostly dried 

 up on the bushes, except gooseberries and currants. We had a fair crop 

 of cherries and about a half crop of plums and peaches. 



Grapes, w'here properly cultivated, were a good crop without rot or 

 mildew, but the young wood on many vines remained green until frost, 

 so there will not be the usual amount of ripe bearing wood for the next 

 crop. This season has fully convinced me of the utility of cultivating 

 trees and vines of all kinds. I have about thirty pear trees in my gar- 

 den, mostly of bearing age, which I cultivated with hoe and rake, keeping 

 a dust mulch several inches deep around them, which perfected a fine 

 crop of pears, while I have a row of Kiefer trees at the west end of our 

 door yard, around which I spaded a space about eight feet square, but 

 gave them no more attention. This row looked hard, the leaves dropped 

 during the hot spell and I was afraid they would perish, but they man- 

 aged to live, but the pears did not get much bigger than crab apples. 

 Those trees in the garden never flinched during the hot spell. Several 

 observing visitors were struck with the difference between the two lots 

 of trees, and remarked that it was a lesson worthy to be remembered. 

 I have come to the conclusion that it would be best for all intending to 

 plant an orchard to never plant more trees than they could or would 

 take the best care of. It has often pained me that within the point 

 of my observation orchards are so badly neglected, the old orchards are 

 going down hill at a rapid rate, and the young orchards are sadly neg- 

 lected. I know of very few that get half proper attention. To sum 

 it all up in a nutshell, there is room for some specialist to plant orchards 



