STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 3 



trees and shrubs, and in the progress of horticulture generally will compare favorably 

 with an average of the State. But I regret to say we have no local horticultural 

 society, and our county agricultural society, which has a horticultural department, is in 

 a languishing condition — and what life it has has an absorbing taste for /lorsejlesh." 



In regard to other portions of the district I am unable to give any 

 report, from the fact that correspondents failed to report to me. I will 

 now give a brief report of my own county (Will) : 



Apples were very scarce and badly injured by the Codling moth — 

 Maiden's Blush, Willow, Fameuse and Stannard producing the most ; 

 Pears — a good crop of Flemish Beauty and Bell Lucrative ; Cherries — 

 Early May and Late Richmond, a fourth of a crop ; of Grapes, the Con- 

 cord and Clinton bore a full crop ; Gooseberries — a good crop ; Currants — 

 half a crop, except White Grape, which bore a full crop ; Raspberries — 

 Doolittle and Miami bore a good crop ; Philadelphia, Thornless and 

 Purple Cane, half a crop ; Kittatinny Blackberries were killed to the 

 ground ; Strawberries — a light crop, on account of the drought. 



Apple orchards were badly injured by the cold winter; trees of 

 nearly all the varieties, in some orchards, being killed outright, while 

 others, badly injured, lived through the season, but their vitality is so 

 impaired they will, I fear, not survive another season — as was the case in 

 1856. Pear trees in orchards, except Flemish Beauty, were badly injured; 

 Seckle, mostly killed, notwithstanding its hardiness heretofore. Early 

 May and Late Richmond Cherries, though slightly discolored in wood, 

 passed the winter safely. In the nursery, four year old trees of all the 

 varieties of the apple with me were badly injured — Jonathan, White 

 Pippin, Keswick Codlin, Golden Sweet, Grimes' Golden, Northern Spy, 

 Maiden's Blush, Smith's Cider, and Stannard, injured the most, and 

 many of each of the varieties named were killed down to the ground. 

 Two and three years old trees the same. I had about forty thousand one 

 year olds ; about the middle of May I cut them off at the ground ; the 

 roots appeared uninjured, but not one in a hundred sprouted, but all 

 died. I cut off, for an experiment, a few two year old Ben Davis, Willow 

 and Roman stems at the ground, and all failed to grow. The injury to 

 fruit trees the past season presents some strange features ; of the same 

 varieties standing in the same nursery rows, you will find those in which 

 the injury is slight, while many are badly injured or killed to the ground ; 

 and this state of things is not confined to any particular varieties, whether 

 they be the so-called "Iron-clads" or the more tender ones. On low 

 land the injury to trees appears greater than on high, rolling land; also 

 greater on new, rich land. All fruit trees that I examined in spring 

 were badly discolored in wood, and have all remained so, making a 

 moderate growth the past summer. 



Pear trees in nursery were much injured ; those that were not 

 entirely killed, and were cut back, have made a good growth. 



Cherry trees from one to three years old, of Early May and Late 

 Richmond on Morello stocks, were iminjured, while the same varieties 

 on Mahaleb, one year old, nearly all root, killed, while the tops were 

 uninjured. 



