STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 6 



month of August. The Famcuse, Fall Orange, Lowell and Maiden's Blush have, gen- 

 erally, paid very well for fall apples. The Ben Davis has paid better than most of the 

 winter varieties ; it is second or third rate in flavor, but its keeping qualities are superior 

 to most other varieties in our section. The Willow, Rawles' Janet and Jonathan have 

 also been successful. 



" This orchard has been cultivated yearly since it was set. The j^ast hard winter 

 tried it very severely, but only killed fcjur trees, of the following varieties: one Early 

 Harvest, one Domine, and two Winter Swaar. All three varieties are considered half 

 hardy in this climate. With this exception the orchard looks well, and bore nearly 

 one-third of a crop the past season, which is about the average in this section. 



" Having a general supervision of quite a numl^er of commercial orchards in this 

 and adjoining counties, I tind that in a short distance, with a different soil and location, 

 the fruit varies in size and quality. There is an orchard near Woodstock, in our county, 

 owned by G. W. Bently and others, that was planted some eight or ten years since. 

 Said orchard is situated on a high bluft", sloping to the west and north ; the soil is a 

 sandy clay loam, with coarse gravel and considerable limestone. The trees came into 

 bearing young, with a thrifty, healthy appearance; the fruit is very fair, and each 

 variety of apples is larger than usually grown upon level ground or upon our rich prairie 

 soil. This orchard is also kept under good cultivation. The Ben Davis, Willow, 

 Jonathan, and Rawles' Janet are doing well, and, in fact, the greater part of it seems to 

 be an exception and a very good locality for this county. It has suffered but veiy little 

 from the past winter. 



"Another orchard of five hundred trees, owned by C. Dole, at Crystal Lake, eight 

 miles further east, situated upon level ground, near a small body of water, with a soil of 

 sand and loam without much clay, produces smaller fruit than usual, although the 

 orchard has not had a fair chance, as it has been seeded with clover for the past two 

 years. With the drought we have had, and the past hard winter, the trees have been 

 checked in growth and the fruit in size. 1 advised Mr. Dole to plow and cultivate this 

 orchard. 



" We are becoming quite conversant with most of the orchards of note in this 

 county. Upon close examination we also found a number of old trees that were entirely 

 dead, most of them dying from freezing of the roots in dry, uncultivated soil ; and 

 perhaps there may be a few half hardy trees killed by late and thorough cultivation — 

 forcing the growth late in the fall, and leaving them in an unriiie condition. We also 

 examined several orchards in Kane and the north part of DuPage counties, in a stifi" 

 clay loam, with clay subsoil. Found the Stannard, Bethlemite (or Baltimore), and 

 Keswick Codlin flourishing finely, but bearing small crops this year, the trees being 

 a little checked by the past winter. 



"Shrubs and vines were injured and many killed, as in the year 1869, by the roots 

 freezing in dry soil, the tops being without proper covering in the fall and winter, and, 

 in many cases, without sufficient cultivation during the previous summer. But I would 

 say to horticulturists to watch the laws that govern the vegetable kingdom, as we know 

 that the roots of trees, plants and vines cannot live when frozen in dry earth ; even 

 seeds of most kinds will not survive when frozen in diy soil or without any moisture. 



" In reply to the suggestions of your Secretary as to the inlluence of groves and 

 belts of timber adjoining orchards, I would say, I find, during the past twenty years, 

 that groves or belts of timber have been quite injurious to orchards, especially on the 

 east side, if near enough to shade the orchard in the forenoon; and, in fact, I would 

 prefer not to have an orchard planted in a sheltered location, or surrounded by timber, 

 but would advise planting on northern or northwestern slopes, or out on the open 

 prairie, and let them have all the fall winds, in order to ripen the wood and prepare 

 the trees for the setting in of our cold winters, and for the most severe changes of the 

 weather. I consider the above mode safer than any protection or sheltered places." 



