300 . TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



"ist. The wholesale destruction of grape-vines, by the drouth of 

 the autumn of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and the cold, snow- 

 less winter following. A large portion of Catawba, Delaware, Iowa, 

 and all the half-ha-rdy varieties, being killed or hopelessly injured. 



* " 2d. The unprecedented failure of the small fruit and cherry 

 crops. 



" 3d. The very abundant Apple crop, and the large per cent, that 

 was unfit for market, proving conclusively that some way must be de- 

 vised to utilize the waste of the orchard, if the business is to be made 

 profitable. 



" 4th. Our comparative exemption from the ravages of the codling 

 moths, indicating that some natural enemy has been preying upon 

 them; probably our feathered friends." 



Below is appended i. Verbal remarks on the question ''^ Pears — 

 Will they Fay?" made by Mr. Charles Willis, of Hamilton, at the July 

 meeting; and 2. Report of Committee on Orchards, made at Septem- 

 ber meeting: 



PEARS WILL THEY PAY.' 



Mr. Willis said : That since he had commenced pear-planting in 

 this vicinity, about sixteen years ago, he had planted and had the care 

 of, for himself and others, perhaps twenty-five hundred trees, standards 

 and dwarfs. Of these, he would judge fully one-half are now dead. 

 Of a lot planted in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five, all are 

 gone. And of trees planted on his own grounds, seven to ten years 

 ago, quite a number are dead and a large number of others badly af- 

 fected with the blight. And how long those yet alive may continue to 

 live and be a source of profit, he could not say. Yet with all the draw- 

 backs to which pear-culture is liable, he was prepared to answer the 

 question in the affirmative. Pear-culture 7vill pay ! He had trees that 

 had yielded six or eight to ten dollars per tree in one year, and he could 

 now afford to let those trees die — if die they must. He confessed to an 

 utter ignorance of the cause or remedy for blight. His trees were 

 blighted badly this year — more than ever before ; and yet he had, in the 

 fall of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, root-pruned a large portion of 

 them. Of one thing he felt assured- -that if the root-pruning did not 

 check the blight, it did induce fruitfulness. His trees had good crops 

 this year. He was satisfied the disease did not have its origin in the 

 root ; he had examined the roots of badly blighted trees, and uniformly 

 found them apparently as sound as the trees not blighted. 



Mr. Wm. N. Grover — What varieties, say three, would you say 

 have proven the most profitable, in your experience .? 



Mr. Willis — I should name the Flemish Beauty, Bartlett and Belle 

 Lucrative. They are prolific and early bearers, and the two first are 

 large and attractive. Certain varieties I would not plant as standards, 

 the Duchess is one of them. As dwarfs, the fruit is larger and better. 

 In answer to a question, he stated that, in the Keokuk market, he had 

 sold as low as three dollars and as high as six and eight dollars per 

 bushel. 



