STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. ] 47 



Pass ridge is the same as the prairie a hundred miles north, thongli in a 

 finer state of division. At the hitter point, a good < rop of corn can 

 usuallv l)c only secured — except on land fresh cleared of timber — by very 

 early planting and promj)! cultivation, otherwise the summer's drouth 

 will seriouslv damage it; while at the former location, an excellent yield 

 maybe obtained by i)lanting as late as the first of July; the difference 

 being due to soil and atmospheric tonditions. 



The climate of Villa Ridge is always mc»ist, from its low elevation 

 and its proximity to the Mississip[)i river, and the '^oil. (jwing to its ex- 

 ceeding fineness, is in condition to appropriate tiie moisture. The hills 

 two miles south of South Pass, being two hundred feet lower, and but 

 three hundred feet above 1<jw water at Cairo, show a difference of growth 

 that I think is entirely referable to a moister atmosphere than that of 

 the South Pass ridges, which is due to lower elevation. At Villa Ridge 

 the rusty coating upon the pears is probably caused by the moist, warm 

 temperature; the soil and climate together prevent the White Doyenne 

 from cracking as this variety does elsewere. 



In confirmation of statements just made, an illustration can be given 

 from Big Muddy; a little band of loess reaches far up this stream over- 

 laid by the Big Muddy — white-clay soil — the gentle slopes often make 

 this band of loess the surface soil, which can be traced, in the month of 

 July, through acorn-field by the lively green and fresh ai)|)earance of the 

 corn grcnving in it, while the rest of the field will be drooping or of in- 

 diflerent growth. 



A long, dry summer is the regular order of the season in Lower 

 Pvgypt ; as a consequence fruit trees come into bearing early and bear 

 with great regularity unless allowed to exhaust themselves too much. 



In the counties bordering the upper portion of the Illinois river — say 

 from Hennepin eastward — there has been a fine apple crop this year, and 

 was a fair one last year. There have been three successive years of dry 

 seasons and above an a\erage in sunnner lem])erature. This has had 

 the very natural result of making the orchards fruitful like those uf)on the 

 hills of Egypt; it is also noticed that the apples in the region named 

 are so fidly matured this autunui that their keeping ipiality is imijaired. 



From these remarks it will be seen how )iuu h mllucnce climate ex- 

 erts in mo(lif\ ing the products of the soils; and in cduiparing soils either 

 by general ai)pearance,cheniical analysis, or their produc lions, no comi)ari ■ 

 son can be a fair one without a proper exhibit, in ( onnection therewith, 

 of the difference of meteorological condition. 



Mr. M. 1.. DuNi.AP, another member of the committee, had no 

 written report, but he was ready to make a few remarks in relation to the 

 subject : 



" The soil in the north y)art of the State, about (lalena, has a 

 tenacious clay sub-soil, but more ])orous as we come south. All such 

 soils need under-draining, or to be so managed that the water shall pass 

 down through them. It is found that throwing the land in ridges an- 



