16 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



The Kittatinny blackberry, on my grounds, bore alight crop of very 

 fine large berries. 



Cherries were not an average crop. 



Strawberries blasted ; so strawberry festivals were generally post- 

 poned until another year. 



Grapes were in great abundance, and most varieties ripened well 

 and were of good quality. The Delaware, as last year, failed to ripen 

 in flat prairie soils, while it ripened well on high rolling ground. 



S. S. White, who made a very valuable report for this Society last 

 year on grapes, writes me this year as follows: 



Dr. a. G. Humphrey. 



Dear Sir — As you have inquired, recently, about the Siglar Grape, I 

 beg leave to state that it maintains its reputation. I left it on the trellis last winter and 

 it came out all right in the spring, made a large growth of wood during the summer 

 and bore a heavy crop of fine fruit. 



Being anxious to save as much wood as possible I did not prune the vines at all. 

 It is four years old and with me has been as hardy and healthy as the Concord or Ives' 

 Seedlins;. 



'&• 



Dr. J. G. Zeller, correspondent for Woodford County, writes me 

 as follows • 



" The Apple Crop in this county has been the largest known, since the county has 

 been organized. The hot and dry summer of 1871 and especially the dry fall checked 

 the growth of wood and produced an abundance of well matured buds. During 1871 

 the fertility of the soil had been kept dormant for want of sufficient moisture, but the 

 growing season of 1872 had enough rainfall to unlock the latent fertility of the soil, which 

 was necessary for the development and maturation of a large crop, of prime quality. 

 The price for cider apples ranged from ten to twenty cents per bushel ; winter apples 

 from twenty to thirty cents, the purchaser picking and hauling them himself 



In that part of the timber region of this county which is situated along the Illinois 

 River, consisting of about three full townships, not less than three thousand barrels of 

 cider were pressed. Cider was sold according to quality, at from three dollars and fifty 

 cents to five dollars per barrel, the purchaser finding barrel. The farmersin this vicinity 

 leave no fruit on the ground ; if not taken to the cider mill, the orchard is opened to 

 the swine. 



The Pear Crop was good and of fine quality ; this crop is annually increasing, as 

 more trees are coming in bearing. Pears sold from two to three dollars per bushel-^ 

 formerly as high as four and six dollars. 



Peaches yielded a good crop. The trees in this neighborhood are nearly all seed- 

 lings, but there is some very fine fruit among them, especially of the clingstone variety. 

 The crop supplied more than the home demand of the county, and large quantities were 

 marketed at Peoria, averaging about one dollar and fifty cents a bushel. 



Giapes were a moderate crop. Concord yielding the most ; Catawba and Isabella 

 suffered badly from grape rot, and still more from mildew of leaves. Virginia Seedling 

 brought a large crop of well matured grapes ; the wine of this variety commands the 

 highest price in the market. Delaware was damaged by leaf blight and tettigonia ; 

 Rogers' Nos. 3, 4, and 15 were all attacked with leaf blight. 



Cherries and Plums were nearly a failure, the fruit being badly stung. 



The Small Fruits brought a medium crop. 



SOILS. 



Our best apple orchards are found on clay soil with sufficient surface drainage, 

 which seems to be all that is necessary for the healthfulness of the trees. The stratum 

 of clay is frequently forty to fifty feet deep. It is generally believed that apples raised 

 on clay soil are of superior quality and keep better than those raised on sandy soil. lo 



