342 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



doing. Let us take good care of our trees, study their habits and 

 condition, and never neglect to do for them what they evidently need. 

 Prune them moderately, not severely, and keep them vigorous. 



After an exhortation from brother D. C. Scofield, to report to the 

 Secretary all the conditions of soils, subsoils, etc., of our orchards, and 

 an announcement of the programme for the evening, the Society adjourned 

 until seven o'clock this evening. 



TUESDAY EVENING. 



President Ellsworth called the meeting to order promptly at seven 

 o'clock. 



QUESTIONS ON BLACK HEART. 



Mr. McWhorter read the following questions, which were handed 

 him by S. T. Bradstreet, of Monticello, Iowa : 



1. Does cutting off the seedling apple root below the cion, as usually 

 done in root-grafting, produce " black heart " in the future tree? 



2. Does "black heart," in any instance, commence at the root, and 

 extend upward through the tree ? 



3. Does "black heart" increase in size, or spread by contagion to 

 other parts of the tree ? Or, to increase in size, must the same conditions 

 follow which caused the original "black heart," thereby repeating the 

 effects in subsequent wood-deposits of the tree? 



Mr. Nelson — Instead of discussing these questions at present, I 

 move the appointment of a committee of three to report upon them. 



This motion was agreed to, and Messrs. Nelson, McWhorter and 

 Wier, were appointed as such committee. 



DISCUSSION ON PRUNING RESUMED. 



The discussion on pruning orchard trees was then resumed, and 

 many members participated in it, repeating, in substance, much that had 

 been said in the afternoon. 



Mr. McWhorter said that if you chop or cut into the dead wood 

 in the interior of a damaged tree, and admit air and rain, rotting would 

 ensue ; but if the air and rain were excluded, in case it was necessary to 

 cut such trees, they would live on, and, with good care, be productive. 



