TEANSACTIONS OF THE HOETICULTUEAL 



and makes a good start, and the ground is cultivated in corn from 

 two to five years, is sowed to clover or timothy, which is mowed in 

 June, and the ground exposed to the full force of the summer's sun, 

 and as soon as the grass starts again is pastured and tramped; this 

 repeated year after year till the tree comes into beaHng. A favor- 

 able season overloads it with fruit, and in its starved and exhausted 

 condition, the hard winter kills it (or rather it was winter-killed in 

 summer). It would be strange if it did not die. The only wonder 

 is that it did not die before. And 1 repeat here what I have said be- 

 fore, that there are, and will be, more trees killed in Central Illinois 

 by improper handling, poor planting, abuse, starvation, insects and 

 sod than ever have or ever will be by hard winters. 



Having enumerated some of the harder problems of the amateur 

 horticulturist who grows for his own use, let us see how it is with 

 the professional and commercial one. Having encountered all the 

 ills spoken of and many more, he has at last produced an abundant 

 crop of fruit. Here his trouble just begins; having headed ofE the 

 codling moth and curculio, next come the birds, and if too bad you 

 can shoot them. Then the boys come. What will you do, shoot 

 them? No; they are too valuable for that; What then? Why, 

 that is too hard for me. After the boys comes the gathering, and 

 how to get this done properly is a problem requiring much study, labor 

 and anxiety, and can be solved only by faithful study and care in each 

 and every individual case. But having the berries ia the box, the 

 apples in the barrel, and the peaches and grapes in the basket, then 

 comes the problem how to dispose of them so as to pay cost and leave 

 a fair margin for profit. The Secretary did not require me to solve 

 all these problems, and I leave this to some of those who sold 24-quart 

 cases of strawberries in Chicago at ninety cents per case, apples 

 seventy cents per barrel, etc. There must evidently be some way 

 out for the same parties keep right along, even if they do have to 

 sell at from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of the cost of their fruit. 

 Their success lies in perseverance. 1 believe that with the rich soil 

 of Central Illinois thoroughly cultivated, properly planted with a 

 well-selected assortment of fruit, the same well cared for, the fruit 

 carefully picked and assorted, and all pushed with energy and persever- 

 ance, success will be insured, and success solves even the hardest hor- 

 ticultural problem. 



Dr. Hall — I am^ satisfied that we do not always get honest 

 returns for our fruit. I shipped apples to Chicago, and the sale was 

 reported at $1.25 to $1.75 when I knew that the same quality of 

 apples were selling much higher. 



Mrs. Meade — The farmers and horticulturists of the country 

 are largely in the majority, and if they would work together and 

 demand their rights, they would not so often be made the victims of 

 middlemen and sharpers. 



