SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 209 



jiiuiip elevated on top of lii,i!;li \vii<>;ou-box. and driven alonj^' each side 

 the rows. A ])ound of arsenic to forty i^aHons of water thus applied 

 will keep off the codling' moths and destroy leaf-eating insects. This 

 has paid a lar«;er }>rotit on cost of material and api)lication than any 

 other horticultural o|)eration. Three car-loads of apples from an 

 orchard thus treated for several successive years, were examined last 

 fall, and hut one irornii/ ((jjpJe found ! 



In many portions of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin 

 the soil is thin and the siih-soil *i;ravelly and very jjorous; and in all 

 such lands thorough surface cultivation for a few 3'ears, and mulch- 

 ing afterwards, seems the only way to secure reasonable health, pro- 

 ductiveness and longevity to apple orchards, and the practice of 

 allowing clover to fall and remain ujion the ground is the easiest and 

 }irobably the most effectual way to afford both food and clothing, 

 and at the same time inducing the growth of roots near the surface. 

 Trees so treated will be in better condition to withstand excesses or 

 drouth in summer and cold in winter than those in orchards which 

 are closely pastured or starved by continual cropping with cereals. 



Small orchards com])rised of one-half Early Richmond cherries 

 and one-half De Soto jjlums, will be found generally [)rotital)le under 

 similar treatment. It is advantageous, however, to plant these where 

 domestic fowls will range through them. 



ORCHAKD CULTURE. 

 BY A. BRYANT, JR.. PRINCETON. 



I sometimes think that many of our subjects are rather stale 

 and nearly worn out, making it difficult to write anything that will 

 be of interest to those who listen to us, but when I remember that 

 each volume of our transactions has many new readers that are 

 anxious to gain the very elementary knowledge in horticulture that 

 we have studied and learned years Ijefore, the necessity of repeating 

 the directions and methods of proceedure is very apparent. 



The topic assigned me is one that has been written about and 

 discussed a great deal, and still one that interests every person that 

 owns a few acres of land. The where, hoAv, and what to plant, are 

 always very essential questions to be decided before beginning work. 



Recently various writers in agricultural and other papers have 

 been advocating planting the apple on low lands, citing various in- 

 stances of orchards on such locations that are in much better condi- 

 tion than others in the immediate vicinity on higher ground. The 

 term high and low lands, as ap))lie(l to the land on our streams and 

 rich prairies, mean very different conditions of soil and surroundings 

 of an orchanl planted on them. While the orchard planted on the 

 bluffs would b«' likely to suff'er in a dry season from lack of moisture. 

 we think that cnie ])lanted on high prairie, unless underlaid by a 



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