STATK Hoirncn/ruHAi, sociktv. / 



well with iiini tliis year. l)iit the Kin^' of Tonikins (county and 

 Cooj)er. with other varieties are dead and dyiny. in my (»wn orchard 

 the Keswiek ('(idliii. Snow. New York Vandevere. Joiiatliaii. AVinesa}). 

 Doiiiine. and (iolden Iviissett. have heen reasonahlv productive the 

 ]iresent season, especially the Keswick Codlin and Winesap. hnt the 

 hoinine is sickly and dying. Raniho and Maiden's Hlush about all 

 dead. The Lowell seems healthy. l)ut did not hear this year. The 

 Ponnne Gris hore a fair crop, the BellHower a very light (jne. 1 

 sometimes replace the dead trees -with vigorous growers, and my 

 method has been successful as far as I have tried it. It is this: Dig 

 out the old stump the fall I)efore 1 expect to plant the young tree, 

 leaving a deep, wide hole f»pen during the winter. In the sju-ing, 

 l)efore planting, fill it with straw and burn it. then u^e rich surface 

 soil to till u]) with, and ])lant Duchess of Oldenburg. Helltlower. or 

 (ioldeu Hussett. giving them no cultivation, but thoroughly mulch- 

 ing for two years, and have never met with a failure yet. On the 

 grounds of M. Barnard, which are adjoining my own, the varieties 

 giving the best results this season are the Snow. Roman Stem and 

 (Tolden Russett. in the order named. In the east part of this dis- 

 trict the Snow, this year, has been especially productive and vigor- 

 ous, retaining its leaves till very late in autumn. William Cooper, 

 residing near Kankakee, has had success with none but the Duchess 

 of Oldenburg and the Snow, which yieliled a good crop. He has two 

 large orchards situated on high, rolling prairie, without tile drain- 

 age, the younger of which is dying badly; Ben Davis nearly all dead. 

 What 1 have said of these orchards will apply to his brother We.s- 

 ley's. ailjoining. and in fact to all in the neighborhood and county, 

 with few exceptions. 



On the 2oth. of September. I called on P. A. Bonvallet. the pro- 

 prietor of the Golden ('resent Vineyard, near Bell Park, in Kanka- 

 kee County, who has inaugurated a new departure in grape culture. 

 Having located on a high hill, he conceived the idea that such land 

 itnisf l)e good for soiiii'tli/u(/. ami being an emigrant from grape- 

 growing France, decided to try gra])es. and has been abundantly suc- 

 cessful. He has twenty-five acres planted to this fruit three or 

 four hundred to the acre. i)rimes very little, trains them on a single 

 wire, gives them no protection, and no cultivation; in fact there is 

 not a foot of fence about his premises. He wants no obstruction to 

 the free circulation of air among iiis vijies. not even a large i)Ost. 

 His vines don't grow very large, but are smooth and healthy in ap- 

 pearance, while the fruit is large and fair, ami of an excellent (pial- 

 ity. For market he grows (.'oncord and Delaware, principally the 

 former, and sells in Chicago, his receijits for which this yeai" are six 

 or eight hundreil dollars. For wine he grows the O])orto and Mar- 

 tha, and some other foreign varieties. The land is a clean, tine yel- 

 low sand, and in a state of nature su]»i)ortcd a scattering growth of 

 scrul>by oak sajjlings. 



