STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 163 



THE DECLIJ^E OF ORCHARDS IN ILLINOIS. 

 BY DANIEL SHANK, CLAYTON. 



Seeing my name on the programme for an essay on "The De- 

 cline of Orchards in Illinois," 1 respond briefly, knowing that many 

 of the causes, herein mentioned, have often been brought up for your 

 careful consideration, while other thoughts may be out of the gen- 

 eral line. 



Having had twenty years of experience in fruit growing and six 

 years in the nursery, I am fully satisfied that continued reproduction 

 by grafting from grafted stock has no effect whatever in weakening 

 the vitality of the species. 



This we find demonstrated in the fact that each individual va- 

 riety of apple has its own peculiar characteristic. If we take a Ben. 

 Davis apple and place it on the French crab if you please, and on 

 ever so small a piece of root you will find 90 per cent, of the trees with 

 only lateral or brace roots, regardless of how many times they have 

 have been propagated ; while you may take the Rambo, all else be- 

 ing equal, 50 per cent, of them incline to tap roots. And the same 

 may be said of Maiden's Blush. Vice versa the Jonathan. Each va- 

 riety always retains its own individuality in forming roots, stem and 

 branches. 



Now, you may use the same varieties on whole roots, and the 

 result will be the same, and the tree will bring out its own character- 

 istics, regardless of how many times it has been re-propagated. 

 Hence T think we find no natural causes for decline in this direction. 

 The common causes, such as bligVit, mildew, borers, etc., all con- 

 tribute largely to the destruction of our orchards. Also do the ex- 

 tremes of seasons play a very important part in the decline of 

 orchards, and especially the winter season. Many of our trees are 

 killed by the alternate freezing and thawing of the south and south- 

 west sides of the trees. Take it in mid-winter, where the trunk of 

 the tree becomes warm, and the sap is excited to action, the sudden 

 lowering of the temperature at night causes the sap to freeze, which 

 expands it one-ninth of its bulk, and thus expands the cells of the 

 liber and cause them to retain a greater portion on the following 

 day, which, on freezing at night, again expands one-ninth its bulk, 

 which now makes two-ninths; and this, continued for several days 

 in succession, will entirely destroy the lacticiferous tubes; and when 

 spring comes you see no outward effect, but as the sap starts on its 

 upward flow, when reaching those ruptured cells it fails to circulate, 

 and, like the broken vessels on your finger cause the blood-blister, so 

 this escaped sap secretes here; and as the weather becomes warmer, 

 this confined sap begins to ferment, and causes blood-poison to the 

 tree, and the strong odor arising from this fermented sap serves to 



