221 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ALTON-SOUTHERN 



and should be given up as soon as the trees have got a fair start. 

 Have not had a plow in my orchard for fifteen years. I have just 

 planted an orchard of Le Conte. I do not consider it a good or 

 profitable pear; the tree is very subject to blight and the fruit 

 rots at the core before ripening. But it is a fine grower and 

 makes good roots. Hence I plant it and then after a year or two 

 will graft over with any other desirable kind. Bartlett is per- 

 haps the best paying of all, but with me Howell has always done 

 just as well. We need a good early pear. All fruit, to be profit- 

 able with us, must be early. Our market is in the north and 

 west, and we must get our fruit there before they have their own. 

 A very good early pear is the Tyson. The Keifer is not a good 

 pear for eating, but is unsurpassed for canning. Clapp's Favor- 

 ite is no good; it rots at the core. 



Mr. Jackson — What is the best to seed an orchard with? 



Answer by Mr. Riehl — To insure a stand it is best to mix several 

 kinds of seed and sow thick. The kind of grass in an orchard 

 matters but very little, just so it covers the ground and kills out 



the weeds. 



VINEYARDS. 



Mr. Browne — Grapes have rotted very little since last meeting, 

 not more than two per cent. I have a splendid crop. 



Mr. Riehl — Have done no spraying. My grapes are nearly all 



gone. Jewell and Cynthiana have rotted but very little, nearly 



all others have rotted. Am not yet convinced that spraying will 



save them; we must experiment another year yet to be sure. 



Our friends, Hayden and Browne, are very fortunately situated, 



and no doubt their success is due partly to this fact. My grapes 



have not paid for work done on them and will dig out most of 



them. 



REPORT ON SMALL FRUITS. 



BY E. A. EIEHL, ALTON. 



The harvest is past, and now is a good time to consider 

 if we have learned anything and what had best be done in the 

 future. In the way of strawberries we have no new varieties 

 that can be recommended for extensive planting in place of old 

 well tried sorts. Each planter should keep on planting those va- 

 rieties that have proven most satisfactory with him, planting 

 a limited area only 'of such newer varieties as promise well. I 

 will, another season, make increased plantings of Bubach, Haver- 



