TRANSACTIONS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OP NORTHERN ILL. 249 



Currants. — Red Dutch, White Dutch, Cherry, Victoria, White Grape 

 and Long-bunch Holland. 



Gooseberries. — Houghton and American Seedling. 



All of which is respectfully submitted. 



S. M. SLADE, ) 



C. R. POWELL, ^v Committee. 



D. W. SCOTT, ) 



ACTION UPON FRUIT LIST. 



Mr. Galusha — Mr. President: We find ourselves in a dilemma 

 such as the State Society has often been in, and which induced that 

 Society to abandon the practice of publishing recommended lists of fruits. 

 As was remarked by the chairman of the committee : It is impossible to 

 make up a list of any considerable number of varieties of any species of 

 fruit which will be best, or even profitable, for all fruit-growers within 

 even a small area. 



The strawberry which, from my present knowledge, I would prefer 

 above all others is not mentioned in the list ; this is the Charles Downing, 

 which has been tried over a great extent of territory, and on a great 

 diversity of soils, and has been pronounced best everywhere (all things 

 considered), producing even more bountifully than the Wilson ; the fruit 

 is fully equal to that sort in size, and much superior to it in flavor — bear- 

 ing carriage tolerably well. It seems to me that if we are to adopt a list 

 at all, we should discriminate closely, putting only those on the list for 

 general cultivation which have been thoroughly tested and found good 

 on the different soils of the district — and placing other valuable sorts on 

 lists for home use, home market, or for trial. 



Mr. Slade — It is impossible to adopt lists of fruits which will be best 

 for a considerable length of time, even upon the same soil. Ten years 

 ago, if I had planted one thousand apple trees, to raise fruit for market, 

 five hundred of them would have been Carolina Red Junes — from former 

 recommendations of the Societies — but now I would plant very few of 

 them. 



The members of the committee are not satisfied with their report ; 

 but we did our duty according to the best of our knowledge. We do not 

 consider that we can report lists, especially of the small fruits, which will 

 be good over all the district. Five years since I planted three hundred 

 Red and White Dutch currants, and fifty Long-bunch Hollands, and 

 have picked three times as much fruit from these fifty plants as from the 



