332 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Bradstreet and I have have come here as delegates from Iowa. 

 We are happy to meet you all, and hope you will meet with us at our next 

 annual gathering. 



The President called upon Mr. S. G. Minkler, of Oswego, for a 

 paper on pruning. 



Mr. Minkler — Mr. President: You will excuse me if I do not fur- 

 nish as finished a report as some of my brethren here would do ; 

 I have not the advantages of a good education. When I was young, the 

 boys, here in Illinois, came up almost any way ; some were well brought 

 up, but generally they came up somehow, anyhow; and some came on 

 foot and drove the cows. I used to drive two cows — all we had — and 

 then these died of hydrophobia, and then my occupation and resources 

 were both gone at once, and so I came up the rest of the way in a sort of 

 hap-hazard manner. [Laughter.] Nevertheless, I always try to do what 

 is asked of me, and have prepared a short paper, which I will ask the 

 Secretary to read, as I am at present afflicted with a cough, which prevents 

 me from reading aloud. 



The Secretary then read as follows : ■ 



ORCHARD PRUNING. 



Mr. President and Members of the Horticultural Society of Northern 

 Illinois : 



I feel ill-qualified for the task assigned me ; there is such a great 

 diversity of opinions upon this subject, and results not always being 

 uniform, it is difficult to arrive at definite conclusions. I will confine 

 my remarks to pruning in orchards, and hope, at le^t, I may write 

 enough to elicit discussion, by which some good results may be reached. 



Time to Prune. — Some advocate pruning in the latter part of June, 

 some in autumn, some in winter, some in March, and some prune not at 

 all. Some hold to the theory that all the pruning should be done when 

 shoots first start, and with the thumb and finger — a theory that looks well 

 on paper, but is detestable in practice. 



I will have to quote other authorities to bring this subject clearly 

 before your minds. Dr. Warder says, in his American Pomology, page 

 260 : " When large limbs are to be severed, it should be performed late 

 in autumn, when vegetation is at rest, because it is found that such large 

 wounds, which can not be soon healed over by the new growth, will, at 

 this season, dry in and resist the action of the elements better than if 

 made when the wood is full of sap, and in active circulation." He goes 

 on to say that the "early spring is favorable; but the work must be sus- 

 pended as soon as the buds begin to swell." 



