86 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



short grass, with a narrow border surrounding each row of trees, and 

 kept well cultivated by hand. The trees were in a thrifty, vigorous 

 condition of both leaf and limb, nearly free from blight, and were 

 bearing satisfactory crops of fruit. A corner of bottom land was 

 planted to asparagus. The principle industry of the place was the 

 grape, and in the two vineyards were 7,000 vines, nearly all Concords. 

 Both vineyards occupied very steep hill sides, each row in the center 

 of a narrow terrace, formed by plowing and sodding. These vine- 

 yards were never plowed, but were worked with hooks by hand. This 

 mode of cultivation is, I believe, quite general at Alton. 



Vice-President J. S. Browne showed me, on his grounds, a 

 Kieffer pear tree, four years old, that was, for its age, well loaded 

 with good sjiecimens of fruit. The tree was well maintaining the rep- 

 utation of this variety for fruitfulness and vigor. The fruit was 

 neither as large or as highly colored as its widely-scattered portrait, 

 yet was of fair size, though not large, and good shape, and a few 

 days longer on the tree would tend, doubtless, to greatly remedy both 

 defects. The tree was exceedingly vigorous, and full of glossy dark 

 green foliage. A well-kept vineyard, the satisfactory net profits of 

 which Mr. Browne attributes to thorough under-draining, thus, in 

 his opinion, relieving the ground of excessive moisture, allowing the 

 vines to start earlier in the spring, and secures the fruit a greater 

 freedom from rot. Under-draining is well worthy the consideration 

 of fruit growers every where. 



The place is so near the city that Mr. Browne is enabled to sup- 

 ply himself with several hundred wagon loads of stable manure 

 yearly, at little more than the cost of hauling. 



H. G. McPike is a business man of Alton, with a beautiful home 

 in the suburbs, where he cultivates fruit more for a gratification of 

 his rural tastes than the pecuniary result. Gentlemen of means and 

 leisure have it in their power to render great assistance to the sci- 

 ence of horticulture. They can experiment with new varieties, new 

 methods and uiachinery. Thousands of dollars are annually lost to 

 the fruit growers and gardeners of Illinois by drouth. Now, if some 

 rich, public-spirited man would demonstrate a cheap, practical plan- 

 of irrigation (something really efficient and within the reach of com- 

 mon men), the benefit would be very great. 



William Jackson, of Godfrey, leaves his pear trees in sod, and 

 secures greater exemption from blight. He spoke well of the quali- 

 ties of Kieffer pear if ripened off the tree. He makes a specialty of 

 the Sharpless strawberry, and spoke well of that variety. Every one 

 readily concedes that this variety has several most excellent qualities. 

 It carries well, sells well, and when kept up to its best is certainly 

 large and fine. The dark red of the berry contrasts well with the 

 bright green calyx, and it is very handsome fruit. But if the soil be 

 impoverished, or the rainfall insufficient to develop berries, then the 

 calyx, which is generally as large for a small berry as a large one, 



