STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 151 



circumstances^ and conditions reported at the time of their occurrence. 

 They ought to be considered by some central head or committee, carefully, 

 all the way through the season, and not let your reports extend over the 

 whole year when they cover so much ground ; get your reports week 

 after week, and you can arrive at reasons for these conditions. 



Mr. Flagg — I do not think there is any doubt as to what caused 

 the death of these trees. I would like, however, to say a few words upon 

 this point. It has happened to be my fortune to get hold of a number of 

 facts dating as far back as three years. The idea I have is something 

 like this : That the summer of 1870 had some very severe drought in it ; 

 that it was continued through the fall and through the winter, and, I 

 believe, into the spring — an excessively severe condition of things. The 

 summer of 1871 did not make up the deficiency of moisture, and the 

 same thing was continued through the winter, and into the spring of 1872. 

 We have had this condition of things more severe, relatively, South than 

 North. Following up this great drought, and the second great bearing 

 which left the trees in a very enfeebled condition, was the excessive cold 

 of last winter. Through the line of Jacksonville and Decatur was the 

 intensest cold in this State ; and while it was a good deal warmer in the 

 latitude of Alton and Cairo, yet it was colder than ever before. 



Now what I want to insist upon is that the relative hardiness of Mo- 

 rello and Mahaleb stocks could not be decided by this test ; both of them 

 were swept off, to a great extent, and if either of them did escape it was 

 owing to peculiar circumstances. And so in regard to our hardy apples — 

 the Duchess of Oldenburg, and others of that kind. In Wisconsin it was 

 claimed that they were less hardy than some other varieties. 



Mr. Daggv — In the same locality I have had a little experience with 

 the different stocks. Perhaps there is no actual test of the good qualities 

 of one and the bad of the other ; but the fact is that neither of them 

 stood the severity of last winter and the preceding drought. I had them 

 on their own roots — the Malahcb and the Morello — in bearing, all of 

 which were killed. This is in the line of the suggestion of Mr. Flagg. 



Mr. Wier — There is not a bit of doubt but that the Red Astrachans 

 have been worse killed in my ground than the others ; but we have to 

 look at some other cause besides the winter for that, because they have 

 stood 40° below zero in other places. ^ 



Mr. Rice — There appears to me another fact not yet stated : All our 

 trees went into the winter in ripened condition, peaches and all, and 

 they had an equal chance, consequently the peach trees stood the climate 

 as well as our apples, which was never the case before. 



