STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 159 



maple and basswood, trees that form the greater part of the forests 

 of this same Atlantic region, in the same latitude, farther east; and 

 this, it seems to me, if found, will be the rejison why fruit trees can 

 not be grown in Central and Northern Illinois as successfully as 

 there. 



The author tells us that Illinois and the adjoining states has a 

 rainfall equal to that enjoyed by the Michigan peninsula, but not- 

 withstanding this it is a prairie, while nearly the whole of this 

 peninsula was once, if not now, covered with forests. From my ob- 

 servations I think that along with this amount of rainfall should be 

 taken into account irlieu it fnlls. Usually, we would say that a given 

 •state, as Pennsylvania, with a given rainfall, has its hillsides and its 

 valleys covered with a heavy growth of diversified timber. The 

 same' table, we may supjjose, says that Illinois has the same, or nearly 

 the same rainfall, hence her hills and valleys and plains should be 

 covered with like forests. But such is not the case, and the reason 

 seems to be that the greater share of the rainfall is during spring 

 and fall, there being, perhaps, not every year, but every few years, 

 not far from two months when no rain falls, or so little that it does 

 not effect tree growth. During the wet spring and early summer 

 the trees made rapid growth, which would be about as much checked 

 <Iuring this rainless period as during the winter. These rainless 

 periods come to a close usually from the middle to the last of Sep- 

 tember, from which time till cold weather begins there is moisture 

 enough to start a new growth. If the dry period had been a pro- 

 tracted one, the tree might also put forth new leaves and blossoms, 

 as t have seen done during the past season. If the fall is favorable 

 for the ripening of this new wood, or fitting it to withstand low 

 temperature before freezing weather comes, the trees usually stand 

 these extremes of wet and dry; but if cold weather comes before 

 the trees are thus prepared, the freezing kills them. In some cases, 

 however, if the trees put forth a luxuriant foliage in the spring and 

 the soil contains considerable clay, or has a clay sub-soil, then a pro- 

 tracted drouth may l)ake and crack the ground so that the tree may 

 not only stop growing, but the leaves wilt, wither and die. The fall 

 rains will fail to revive trees in such a condition. Of course the more 

 tender trees will lie the ones that will first yield to these influences, 

 such as beech, chestnut, etc., while th<^ slow-growing, as the oaks, 

 will be the last to die. Trees that grow in the bottoms of rivers 

 will derive more moisture from the soil during such a drouth than 

 those on the uplands, and hence are less liable to be killed. I have 

 seen just these conditions the jjast season. Oak trees on a clay loam, 

 that before the close of the <lry ])eriod were in every stage from 

 good foliage, as found near a pond or in a bottom, to the wilted and 

 dead foliage of the upland. It seems to me that here is one of tlie 

 potent causes why this State or region is largely a i)rairie, one that 

 must go with the amount of moisture a land enjoys. 



