TRANSACTIONS OF ALTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 323 



and after awhile take out the old ones. I consider this a great error, 

 averse to scientific and practical knowledge. The tree roots that have 

 spread themselves through the whole area of the site have fed upon the 

 material qualities of the soil that are necessary to form wood and fruit, 

 and at the age of the tree have exhausted these qualities from it, and not 

 merely from the small space around each tree, as many insist. Constant 

 renewal of the tree-food will prolong the profitableness of the orchard, 

 but I would not advise the planting of a new one on the same piece of 

 ground, upon the death of the old one. You might as well expect to 

 raise a succession of ten first-rate crops of timothy hay upon the same 

 plat, without renewing its nourishment, as to succeed with the new trees. 

 My conclusion is, that all kinds of fruit-bearing shrubs, vines and trees, 

 have a lifetime peculiar to themselves, and a profitable producing period, 

 and when it is ascertained that the plant has a near approach to that 

 season, the fulfillment of fruiting, a new beginning is recommended upon 

 a soil well supplied with nutrition, thereby saving a vast amount of 

 expense in supplying food for them. 



THE MAY MEETING. 



The May meeting of this Society was held at the residence of Capt. 

 Stewart, strawberry king of this district. 



ON ORCHARDS. 



Capt. E, Hollister read a paper an tlie golden mean of pruning an 

 orchard. The two extremes of pruning too much and too little were 

 commented upon. Quotations were made freely from the State Horti- 

 cultural Society's proceedings, showing the extreme views of fruit-growers 

 upon this subject. The essayist contended that the truth lay between 

 these two extremes. Some pruning was needed, but it was easy to prune 

 to excess. 



Dr. Long was called upon to give his views upon this subject. He 

 responded by saying that he had no new views to advance upon the sub- 

 ject. What he had written and said in the Society for years he would 

 still say. He had no new light upon the subject. He would answer any 

 questions that might be presented. He believed that he had learned the 

 A, B and C of growing fruit, especially apples. He believed in plant- 

 ing young trees. He thought here was the error, in planting too large 

 trees. His first planting was made many years ago, of 3 28 trees. They 

 were one year old, and not one of them died. His second planting was 



