STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 35 



A1)-1NTK111M REPORT— NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 

 BY MILO BARNARD, MANTENO. 



Mr. President and Members of the Illinois Horticultural Society: 



Being one to whom the Ad-interim work for the Northern i)art 

 of the State was assigned, and unable to find a substitute, 1 was 

 forced to undertake the work myself. 



The year 1880 has been, taken as a whole, rather encouraging 

 to the horticulturist, mainly, of course, in the small fruit line, as 

 this, including the grape, is now our main dependence for home- 

 grown fruit. Strawberries were a grand success, both in quantity 

 and quality — shortened slightly in some localities by the drought. 



l\'uspl)erries yielded fairly, but the weather was too dry for a 

 full rrop, except in favorable locations. Currants and gooseberries 

 did well, when Ihe currant worm let them alone; but this pest was 

 more destructive in my locality than T ever knew them. Blackbarries, 

 while green, were a sight to see. Never before had we seen such a 

 pros])ect for fruit; but the drought continued, and after a few pick- 

 ings the Ijerries were hard, dry and tasteless and not half their usual 

 size. Where the ground was heavily mulched, the crop was fair to 

 good, showing the great benefit derived from this mode of culture. 



But the grape was our trump card, excelling all other kinds of 

 fruit, both in quantity and quality. Never since the oldest inhab- 

 itant settled this country have we grown such a grape crop. It 

 made no diffprcnce where the vines were, or how trained, or whether 

 they had any training or j)runiiig, or left to take care of themscdves, 

 they were all loaded with fruit, on stakes, trellis, trees, fences, build- 

 ings, or on the ground, it was all the same. The dry weather and 

 scorching sun, that dried n\) the blackberries and wilted the corn 

 leaves, seemed only to make the gra])e laugh and grow fat, for the 

 absence of moisture not only prevented mildew and rot, but added a 

 sweetness and richness never known before. Tt was not only the 

 hardy varieties, such as Concord, Moore's Early, Martha, and those 

 of like hardiness that did well, but the hybrids and more tender sorts 

 did ecpudly well, retaining their foliage uiitil killed by frost and 

 ripening splendid clusters of fruit. 



This season has abundantly proved that at least two of onr 

 most common kinds of fruit, the grape and the blackberry, require 

 exactly ojjposite climatic conditions for their jierfect develo])ment — 

 the grape requiring dry. hot weather, the blackberry moist and co(d. 

 Here is certainly proper and legitimate work for an Ex j)eii merit 

 Station, to teach us how to obtain both of these conditions at the 

 same time, on the same farm. 



