TRANSACTIONS OF ALTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 313 



Mr. Riehl — I think fall best, but spring is good, and if ready to set 

 them, would not wait till fall. 



Col. Fulkerson said he had a fire run through a part of his orchard, 

 and supposing the trees dead, dug them up. 



Mr. Riehl thought he would have done better to let them stand, as 

 they would sprout at the ground and make a tree quicker than in any 

 other way. Others thought that if the burning was not severe, the tree 

 would have made the connection and outrlived the damage. 



Mr. Hayden exhibited a handful of peach buds all right yet ; but 

 considerable fear is had that they will not stand the usual freezes of March 

 weather. A few days of warm sun will put the peach trees in full bloom. 

 In some localities, the early Crawford variety is seriously injured, but all 

 other varieties have sufficient buds for a full crop. 



Mr. Hollister presented the request of a man at Shipman, asking 

 for the best varieties of sweet cherries, particularly the earliest sweet 

 cherry. 



Mr. Riehl advised the gentleman to let sweet cherries alone in the 

 locality of Shipman. 



The varieties named were, Knight's Early Black, Governor Wood, 

 Yellow Spanish and Elton. Others were named, but it was thought that 

 these would bring disappointment enough. 



Mr. Hayden had some encouraging words in favor of the Wild 

 Goose plum, providing it could be got true to name ; whereupon a gen- 

 eral discussion upon plum culture followed, showing a diversity of opinion 

 as to varieties and profits that was remarkable. 



Mr. Draper and others considered the Chickasaws the only vari- 

 eties of plums that could be grown with profit in his locality. He 

 questioned if that was not the fact generally. 



Mr. Riehl argued that if a man was going into plum-growing, he 

 had better get the choicest varieties, and prepare to take care of them. 

 If he will do this, and run the curculio catcher, he will find profit in 

 plum-growing — not otherwise. He thought it was a mistaken notion 

 that the curculio did not work on the Chickasaw plum. The fact is, 

 the depredations of the insect are not obvious, because of the abundant 

 crop. 



Mr. Stewart wanted to know how Mr. Riehl managed to catch the 

 curculio. He had never seen a tree upon which the curculio catcher was 

 run that was not injured. 



