22 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



kindly accompanied us on our visit to the fruit farm and experi- 

 ment grounds of the venerable Mr. George Peffer. At the sta- 

 tion we were met by his daughter, Miss Kate, who drove us 

 through the village of Pewaukee to a place recently purchased 

 by Mr. Peffer and designed for his future home. This is a tract 

 of land located at the top of a hill overlooking a lake. The 

 natural beauty of the place has been greatly enhanced by Mr. 

 Peffer, under the direction of the former owner, by the planting 

 of shrubbery, evergreen and ornamental trees. Mr. Peffer has 

 given up many of the labors of his earlier years, but he is by no 

 means inactive, and his small fruit plantation shows excellent 

 care. In years past, he has been an enthusiastic fruit grower 

 and experimenter. He is the originator of the Pewaukee 

 apple, and has a number of promising seedlings now fruiting 

 upon his grounds. The Pewaukee he regards as the best winter 

 apple for Wisconsin, and has great confidence in its future. The 

 principal objection to this fruit is its tendency to drop its fruit, 

 and in Illinois this would be sufficient to condemn it for general 

 planting. 



Among the new varieties that Mr. Peffer thinks worthy of 

 trial is Newton, a seedling of his own raising; season, late 

 winter. 



Clark's Orange, an upright grower, full of fruit at the time of 

 our visit; season, February. 



Pfeffer's No. 20, which we saw in nursery row laden with fruit. 

 Early winter. 



Peffer' s No. 3 pear is a seedling of Flemish Beauty which it 

 greatly resembles in appearance of fruit. The tree has never 

 blighted and is a great bearer. Excellent for canning. 



The original tree of Gibb's Crab still stood in nursery row. 

 The variety was selected by Mr. Gibbs from a large number of 

 seedlings for its quality. It ripens late in the season and is said 

 to be very superior for cider and for canning; with a few peaches 

 to flavor, cannot be told from that fruit. 



Digressing for a moment from fruits we examined Mr. Pef- 

 fer's silo which may interest some of our members. The silo is 

 twelve by sixteen feet on the bottom and sixteen feet deep, and 

 is slightly larger on top than at the bottom, each side having a 

 slight inclination of two inches from top to bottom. When the 

 material with which the silo is filled settles it tightens and more 

 perfectly excludes the air on sides and corners. The corn fodder 

 is put in whole, alternating the ends of each layer and every two 

 feet in depth the position is changed to right angles to the layer 

 below. 



Of raspberries he considers the Nehami to be superior to the 

 Gregg. 



Newman's thornless blackberry he considers of value. There 

 was certainly an excellent crop of fruit on the canes, but they 



