178 * TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



of Oldenburg. Why is it a success ? Nature had done to that tree 

 what we ought to be able to do for any other. It tends to fruit spurs, 

 not to wood. It spreads out, naturally, to the air and to the sun. 

 We find similar examples in other things. 



The summer having been very warm and dry, followed by a warm 

 and moist autumn, we get that condition which induces growth at 

 the end of the season, and that is the cause of the destruction of trees. 



Mr. Bryant — I have come to the conclusion, in my experience in 

 orchard culture, which has been about 35 years, that it is better to 

 plant an orchard about every 20 years and cut down the old one. It 

 is well known that most of the varieties in favor in our State are 

 those which bear early, and it is a principle of nature that early 

 maturity invites early decay. I have old trees which have produced 

 little or nothing, and the fruit is worth little or nothing, and the crop 

 is small. If you planted them in blocks as put forth by our Secretary,, 

 they might be preserved, and the others destroyed. I have no doubt 

 that that would be the best way of doing these things. The labor 

 of gathering fruits and keeping the trees in condition is very great,, 

 where the persons employed are so entirely ignorant as with us. 

 You can not get a hired man to prune an apple tree for me. Our 

 rich soil produces tenderness in the tree^ and the extremes of cold 

 and heat destroy it, so that they are not to be depended on for more 

 than ten or fifteen years, after they come into full bearing, for profit. 

 That is the result of my experience. 



Mr. Hilliard — I have an orchard of 40 acres, from 20 to 30 years^ 

 old, which is as thrifty and makes as large a growth of wood gen- 

 erally as it ever did. There is but one variety that has failed, and 

 and that is the Sweet Bough. 



Mr. Murtfeldt — I have been attempting to compare the preaching 

 and practice of some of our orchardists. I went into the orchard of 

 Mr. Phoenix, and I found there open tops — very high tops. I have 

 seen the same in other orchards. Some of the handsomest trees I 

 ever saw were root-grafted and top-worked. I know this is not 

 very palatable speech generally to our nurserymen, but it is the truth. 



