WARSAW HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 407 



These varieties are especially adapted to our own region, and 

 have proved good in many locations; yet will no doubt need revision 

 in other locations. 



Mr, A. C. Hammond, Secretary Illinois State Horticultural So- 

 ciety, read a letter from the Missouri State Society, inviting Illinois 

 horticulturists to attend June meeting of Missouri State Society, at 

 Louisiana, Mo.; and on motion the invitation was accepted, and 

 members are urged to attend as far as possible. 



WHAT AND WHERE SHALL WE PLANT? 

 BY A. C. HAMMOND. 



This is a question often and anxiously asked by the discouraged 

 fruit grower as he views the blackened wreck of his once fruitful 

 and profitable orchard, What and where shall I plant? Or shall I, 

 in view of the fact that half of my trees have gone down before the 

 Arctic blasts of the past two winters, abandon the thought of grow- 

 ing apples, and depend on a more congenial clime for my annual 

 supply ? 



The outlook is certainly discouraging; statistics collected and 

 published by the State Horticultural Society show that forty-five per 

 cent, of the apple trees in Central Illinois are dead; and a very gen- 

 eral correspondence with the orchardisfs of this portion of the State 

 leads me to believe that the loss has been under-estimated. We also 

 find that varieties like Ben Davis, Winesap, Janet and Domine, 

 that have been considered the most valuable, and planted in the 

 largest quantity, have suffered the most severely. Planters, there- 

 fore, conclude that these varieties are tender, and fear to plant them 

 again. This is a very natural conclusion; but, nevertheless, in my 

 opinion, incorrect. Uj) to the winter of 'S2-3 the Janet had not 

 been injured to any great extent, but that winter caught this variety 

 in just the right condition to have the bark and sap cells ruptured 

 by the severe freezing, while the Ben Davis came through safely. 

 The winter of '83-4 found the Janet in a more favorable condition, 

 and those that had endured the previous winter came through in 

 safety, while hundreds of thousands of Ben Davis, that had passed 

 through the equally severe winter of '82-8 unscathed, were killed. 

 The winter of 84-5 found fruit trees in a worse condition than either 

 of the previous ones, and the injury was much greater, the lien 

 Davis being again particularly unfortunate, while Maiden's Blush and 

 Rambo, that have been classed among the tender varieties, came 

 through safely, proving conclusively that the injury is a question of 

 condition rather than of variety or temperature. 



We find, however, that many are discarding the Ben Davis and 

 earnestly seeking for something to take its place. What shall it be? 



