STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1 45 



solely through any text-hook that we have, he would have the children in 

 the primary schools not only taught the elements of Horticulture and 

 agriculture from books, but would have them encouraged to plant and 

 cultivate plants and flowers. He would have special premiinns offered 

 for the productions of boys and girls, in these departments, at our county 

 and State fairs. He would have lists of all the native plants and trees 

 of Illinois printed upon cards, and hung in every school-room in the 

 State, and the pupils taught the names and uses of at least all the most 

 important species and varieties. 



JMr. Edwards presented the following resolution, which was 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That each member of this Society shall be a committee to take such 

 measures as he shall deem desirable for the introduction and encouragement of 

 instruction in Horticulture in the primary schools in his immediate vicinity, and 

 report progress to the Secretary at or before the next annual meeting of this 

 Society. 



Mr. Parker Earle — from the Committee ad interim — complied 

 with a unanimous vote of the society, and read : 



P. EARLE'S REPORT, AD INTERIM— VY.KYL^. 



In the division of labor among the members of your Committee 

 Ad hiterini^ the subject of Pears and Pear culture has been assigned to 

 me. While I have not been able to spend as much time as so important 

 an iiikrest demands, yet 1 have examined about seventy-li\e of liie larger 

 orchards of our own State, and some in adjoining states, and will give 

 you the substance of the suggestions which their condition has made 

 to me. 



I have found among pear growers a more general feeling of discour- 

 agement from various causes, than I have before heard expressed. I 

 think tlie conclusion of most men is, that pear-gi-owing will not pay. To 

 this opinion there are, however, some notable and brave exceptions. 



Probably no year before has ever shown so much desti'uction from 

 blight in our State, and this has been common to nearly all soils and 

 methods of treatment. This is doubtless mostly due to the unseasonable 

 cold of the past two winters. Early in December, 1868, we had the 

 coldest weather experienced in many years, which, following a warm and 

 gi'owing autumn, severely tried the hardiness of all young and fast grow- 

 ing trees, especially in the south part of the State. On the hills at 

 C(jbden, the mercury reached 10 degrees below zero, killing tnany trees, 

 and damaging many thousands beyond the hope of future health. These 

 weakened trees, while yet onlv convalescent, were struck by the snow- 

 storm of October, 1869, the devastations of which, in both nurseiy and 

 orchard, will not soon be forgcjtten. Added to this, we of the south 

 endured the still more ruinous snow-storm of the middle of April, 1870, 

 which killed most of our orchard fruits not only, but the papaws ancl 

 persimmons, and hickory-nuts, and acorns of the forest. So we have had 

 three destructive crises of cold following within a period of eighteen 



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