146 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



We shall say nothing about varieties, as nothing reliable can be sug- 

 gested owing to the unfavorable circumstances attending the fruit raised. 

 Apples and pears bore a very light crop, scarcely sufficient to supply the 

 demands of insects, which were very numerous. The absence of peaches 

 and cherries caused the curculio to confine its work to the apple. Some 

 isolated apple orchards bore fair crops of fair fruit. 



I will conclude by introducing here the report of Mr. J. Edward 

 Clark, of Grayville, Illinois, calling your attention to the fact that his 

 report covers the southeastern part of the district. He writes : 



" I give you such information as I possess in regard to condition of fruits in this 

 section this present season. 



'■'■Apples will be rather below the average, but in fair quantities. 



"Peaches — I can hear of a few in some places, but as a crop this year, in Wabash, 

 Edwards, Wayne, and White counties, it must be considered a failure. 



"■Pears are not grown largely here ; crop small. 



" Small fruits generally good ; Strazuberrics, fair. 



" Raspberries, plentiful and fine. 



" Blackberries, not so good. 



" Grapes fine and plentiful on vines. 



" Many parts in this section of countiy are broken, yet beautifully adapted to Apple, 

 Pear, Peach, and all the small fruits, all of which have been very plentiful and good of 

 late years, except this year, and one year six or eight years ago. In my own small 

 inclosure, in Grayville, I have all varieties of Peach from earliest to latest, and always 

 (this year excepted) had an abundant supply for my large family, to eat, can, and even 

 dry. My Grapes are Concord, Catawba, Delaware and Isabella, all full of as fine look- 

 ing Grapes as I could wish ; my Raspberries, white and black, are plentiful and good ; 

 my Strawberries did not do so well this year. Altogether, I certainly should say, from 

 eighteen years' residence here, that our soil is eminently adapted for all the various fruits 

 suited to this latitude, and we only want proper cultivators to make fruit-raising a com- 

 plete success." 



Respectfully, B. PULLEN. 



DISCUSSION ON MR. PULLEN'S REPORT. 



Mr. Flagg — I notice that Mr. Pullen speaks about the crown- 

 borer, and I v/ant to ask Mr. Riley, or some one else, what is its preva- 

 lence this year, and the best means of getting rid of it ? 



Mr. Riley — In that crown-borer you have a very good illustration 

 of what can be done in the way indicated by Mr. Greene's resolutions. I 

 have always been anxious to get observations of the different insects. This 

 one was first described by myself three years ago, and I there and then 

 stated that our ability to get rid of it depended upon its habit. If it 

 turned out to be two-brooded, we should have difficulty with it ; if it was 

 single-brooded, it Avould be easily mastered. The beetles do not mature 

 until the fruit ripens, and if you will only plow up your vines and destroy 

 them with their contents — if you will adopt the renewal system, instead 

 of allowing simply the runners to replace the old vines — you will destroy 

 them. You must light the larvae in the roots of the strawberries, all 

 through the spring months, until late in June or the beginning of July. 



