84 TKANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Mr. T. F. Leeper — I am interested largely in growing apples. 

 Now if you plant a tree what is the object? To make money? If 

 so, why prune it to death? Why not let it grow and make money? 



The President now called for the 



AD-INTEKIM REPORT FOR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. 

 BY T. E. GOODKICH. 



Alton is one of the oldest cities in the State of Illinois. Tradi- 

 tion saj's that years ago when any one was locating St. Louis they 

 always said, " A little town on the Mississippi river near Alton." 

 Be that as it may, it has long been one of the most celebrated fruit 

 regions of the Mississippi Valley. It has been noted, and justly so, 

 for its rich grapes and luscious peaches. Built upon a high lime- 

 stone bluff, too high, it was thought, to be scaled by frost; sheltered 

 to the west by the Mississippi and its bayous, and still farther to the 

 west by its cotemporary, the Missouri; ample protection was prom- 

 ised to the tender buds of the orchard, a promise that nature has 

 sometimes failed to keep. 



It was with pleasure that I accepted an invitation to be present 

 at the September meeting of the Alton Southern Illinois Society. 

 Secretary Riehl's expression was, ''Come among us; see what we are 

 doing and how we are doing it." The meeting was an exhibition of 

 fruits and flowers, followed by the usual discussion. Although the 

 day opened raining and unpropitious, so much so that more than one- 

 half of the membership were unable to be present; yet the exhibit, 

 as regards quality and nomenclature, would have been a credit to a 

 county fair. Let me digress far enough to say that fruit exhibitors 

 at agricultural fairs ver}^ often fail to accomplish the good they 

 might, for the simple reason that the specimens are too often incor- 

 rectly named. 



Sow is one to learn new varieties, or a beginner the old ones, 

 with any degree of accuracy from such tables? There is little dan- 

 ger at a stock show of a Holstein receiving a premium for a Devon, 

 or of a Chester White being labeled Berkshire; but in a fruit exhi- 

 bition mistakes are much more easy. The members of the State 

 Society could do a great educational work by assisting in this matter 

 at their respective county fairs. It is important also that consumers 

 learn the names of the best varieties; but how are they to do so it 

 growers are incapable of correctly labeling their packages. 



The fruit farms around Alton and Godfrey seem larger and their 

 products more diversified than those of other parts of the State. 

 Perhaps this is the more correct plan, for a greater acreage would 

 naturally lead to a more extended rotation. It would also afford 

 better facilities for the growing of the grain and provender required 



