STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 79 



The trees in the nursery are tender, but in the orchard the tree is hardy. 

 We have had good chances to compare it with others. We have the Stark 

 and the Ben Davis grafted on the same tree, and I think the Stark has 

 produced one-third more apples than the Ben Davis. 



Mr. MiNKLERsaid he had found the tree tender. 



Mr. McWhorter said it received the most injury in the winter of 

 1872. 



Mr. Cawkins (of Iowa) said that he had the Stark top-grafted, and 

 they have not been injured with him. He hears no complaint in this 

 direction. The tree is a very rampant grower — a little better than the 

 Ben Davis. He had them at home larger than anything he saw here, but, 

 after all, did not think there was anything in them to give us great en- 

 couragement. He would rather have one-fourth of a bushel of Grimes' 

 Golden than five bushels of Stark. 



REPORT ON GEOLOGY. 



Prof. A. H. Worthen (of Springfield) read the following interesting 

 paper. No discussion followed, owing to the lateness of the evening. 



ORIGIN OF SOILS. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



I appear before you at this time, at the request of your worthy Presi- 

 dent, to say something upon the origin and formation of the soil, and its 

 relation to the geological structure of the country; and as this theme is 

 by no means a new one, I fear I may not be able to offer anything that 

 will throw any additional light upon a subject on which so much has been 

 already said and written, or to advance any theories that will be new to 

 many in this audience. 



Nevertheless, the character and treatment, as well as the origin and 

 mode of formation of the soil, are subjects in which we are all directly 

 interested, inasmuch as we are dependent upon its productive capacity 

 for all the physical comforts we enjoy, and hence the consideration of 

 this theme becomes a matter of such general interest, that even a repeti- 

 tion of well-known facts and observations may not be quite out of place 

 on an occasion like the present, and before an audience composed largely 

 of those who are directly engaged in agricultural pursuits. 



Every close observer of natural phenomena will notice the sudden 

 changes that frequently occur in the character and quality of the soil, 

 even in our own State, where its general uniform character is proverbial, 

 and it is both interesting and important that we should understand the 

 causes to which such sudden changes are to be attributed, and hence we 

 need to become acquainted with the general laws that govern the forma- 

 tion and distribution of the soil. 



