TRANSACTIONS OF NORTHERN ILL. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 287 



There is only one series of conclusions to be drawn from what has 

 been written, which I will briefly give to conclude this part of my paper. 



1. Select young trees for orchard planting whose stocks and grafts 

 are from varieties which have succeeded in similar soil and location. 



2. Plant in early spring, in good, mellow and moderately damp soil. 



3. Cultivate, adding manures where needed, so as to keep the trees 

 in a healthy, moderate growth. 



4. Allow the side branches to remain sufficient to break the force 

 of the sun's rays upon the trunks of the trees, or keep them partially 

 shaded even to the ground. 



5. When the trees come into bearing, furnish them with nutriment, 

 and prevent, by mulching or otherwise, too deep drying or freezing of the 

 ground. The oft-recommended plan of growing clover upon the ground, 

 and letting it remain as a mulch, is perhaps as good as any. If this 

 method, or that of mulching, is adopted, however, a slight mound of soil 

 must be raised about the base of the trunks each fall, to be removed in 

 spring, to prevent damage by mice ; or the grass or mulch may be cleaned 

 away for about two feet all around. 



6. Prune no more than is necessary to admit of gathering the fruit ; 

 and, I will add, 



7. By all means, so pinch off or shorten in, while the trees are young, 

 such branches as tend to form crotches or forks, as these would almost 

 certainly split off when loaded with fruit. 



II. VINEYARDS. 



Vine-growing in Northern Illinois receives but little attention from 

 the large majority of farmers, yet it is literally true that every one of them 

 may, with but little labor and expense, "sit under his own vine," and 

 that, too, during the season of fruitage, loaded with palatable, health- 

 giving fruit. 



The few words I shall say upon this topic will be in the direction of 

 demonstrating how this fruit — the grape — can be cheaply grown, what 

 place it should occupy in the list of the farmers' products, and how it can 

 be used beneficially. 



Any soil which will jjroducc a fair crop of corn will produce a crop 

 of grapes, if provided with drainage, either natural or artificial ; simply 

 throwing the ground into ridges before planting the vines is sufficient to 

 draw the surplus surface water from the roots. These beds, or ridges, 

 should of course be sufficiently wide, and the furrows between sufficiently 

 deep, to effect the purpose of allowing the rain to filter through the soil 

 and pass off in the gutters. 



But there is, perhaps, not a score of farms within the bounds of 

 this society upon which there are not vineyard sites near the dwellings, 

 where draining is unnecessary to produce crops of Concord grapes. Tiie 

 soil should be deeply and thoroughly prepared, yet not manured at first, 

 unless much worn out ; the vines should be jilanted in rows north and 

 south only, if trellises are to be used, or both ways if stakes. Eight feet 



