TRANSACTIONS OF NORTHERN ILL. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 205 



where the rows of trees are to stand ; then reverse the furrow slice, and 

 throw up a ridge where the dead furrow was, about six inches higher than 

 the natural level of the soil, taking care to harrow or cultivate the soil very 

 fine. This makes a bed of mellow, fine soil, sixteen to eighteen inches deep. 

 On this carefully set your trees, and by after cultivation the soil should 

 be kept up the highest by the trees, so as to make good surface drainage. 

 The soil should be kept mellow by the cultivator, and some hoed crop 

 raised annually to shade the ground in midsummer. I know of no crop 

 as good and profitable to plant in orchards as sweet corn. It may be 

 planted at different times for six weeks, and fed to stock, or cured for 

 winter fodder, and will bring more money than large corn. If preferred, 

 peas may be sown, but should be left for the hogs to harvest ; but in this 

 country they should be sowed early to make a good yield. 



Selection of varieties is of great importance, and one tiiat will ever 

 be a fertile topic for discussion. Experiments have shown that in jiroduc- 

 ing new varieties from seed, the tree that grows the seed transmits the 

 style of tree, the size of fruit, and degree of hardiness. The male parent, 

 or the tree that grows the pollen that fertilizes the blossom, fixes the time 

 of maturity of fruit, flavor and productiveness. The influence of stock 

 upon the cion, in top grafting, have been known to produce greater 

 changes upon the fruit than are to be found in many that we call different 

 varieties. The Golden Sweet, grafted upon a tree bearing very sour fruit, 

 has been changed to an insipid, tasteless apple. 



Early Harvest, worked on a late variety, has been changed to a fall 

 apple. More than forty years ago these were regarded as fixed and well 

 known facts by us in grafting, and we were careful to observe them, and 

 look to the kind of texture of wood, growth, habits of tree, etc., and 

 many that did do this were often accused of fraud in setting varieties, 

 after they came into bearing. Sweet apple cions should be set on sweet 

 apple trees, and so in relation to sour ones ; early apple cions on early 

 apple trees, and late ones on late trees ; color, size and resemblance, 

 should be observed. Will not this account for what we often hear said 

 about different varieties of Gilpin, Snow, Rawles' Janet, and Duchess of 

 Oldenburg? And have not these sub-varieties been brought about by 

 promiscuous root grafting? It seems to me that this field is one that we 

 ought to stop awhile in and investigate. 



The increase of noxious insects among us should receive our earnest 

 attention, and I would inquire whether we cannot, by legislation, do 

 something to prevent the wholesale shipment of the codling niotli into 

 our State from the East. One of tlie large fruit dealers in Western New 

 York told me, this fall, that they sent them all here, for they would not 

 have them in Boston, but always sent the barrels back that contained 

 them, apples and all. Can't we take a sly hint from this? We can never 

 hope to eradicate them here as long as they are ship})ed here in barrels by 

 the hundreds annually. Shall we not see if this i)ractice cannot be 

 abated as a nuisance ? The ajjple crop has not received the attention :ts 

 importance demands. No crop of grain has produced one-half of the 

 returns in money value that the apple has. I believe that by careful 



