sTATi: iioiiTK i"r;i(i;Ai- socii/iv. 15 



within a foot of the surface. I gathered linm two htindrcil \\'iiit'sa]) 

 trees two thousand l)ushels of a])])les. 



Dr. Schneder I had an orchard of Janet on high hmd that 

 yiehled better than tliat. hut \N'ilh)\v Twig wants h)\\ laml. 



W. T. Nelson- When I s])oke of dry hmd I did not mean 

 broken l)hitf land. l)nt tliat whicli is moderately wcil-draiiicd. 



President (lalusha — We shall ln' very glad to licai- from Prof, 

 liudd (in this very im])ortant question. 



Prof. Budd — 1 would much prefer listening to talking. I came 

 down here thinking to advise the good people of Illinois to ])lant 

 some of those varieties of fruits that grow on the oi)posite side of the 

 mountain ranges of TCurope: but did not know before hearing your 

 discu.ssions here this afternoon how much you need these fruits. 

 (3ur orchards of Towa were not partially, but wholly killed, by 

 the cold of last winter: in fact, literally cleaned out. W hen the 

 winter of '70 and '71 killed six hundred Ben Davis trees on the 

 College Grounds I came to the conclusion that we niust have some- 

 thing hardier for lowu, and I now think you need something hardier 

 in Illinois. As to the question now under consideration, it strikes 

 me that it is one rather of soil, or mechanical condition of soil, than 

 one of elevation. 



S. M. Slade- We hardly ever take uj) the apple witlnmt getting 

 things badly mixed. There seems to be a variety of opinions on this 

 question of orchard sites. I know but one orchard in the vicinity 

 of Elgin that ]>ays as a commercial orchard. It was |»lant('d forty 

 or fifty years ago on what is called oak openings, the land slo])ing 

 to the north and west. The trees now look thrifty and healthy, 

 ami have l)orne great (piantities of IVuit. I agree, however^ with 

 what has been said, that fruit can l)e jjroperly grown, as a rule, only 

 on young trees. 



Question — Describe the soil this orchard is on? 



S. M. Slade — Clay loam. grav(dly subsoil, situated on the bank 

 of Fox River. Land undulating: the ravines rather deep. 1 have 

 tried girdling l>y running a saw around the tree several times. The 

 first time I did not lose a single tree: annllicr time a do/en died. 

 The Willow Twig was the only variety that seemed to be benefitted 

 by the operation in the least. 



