314 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



not cause moderate growth fey non-culture at first? He suggested that 

 members who have blighted trees would examine them bodily, root and 

 branch, and endeavor to find a cause. 



President Hammond — I conversed with an Alton cultivator who says 

 he has practically conquered the blight by root-pruning. 



Air. Chittenden mentioned his brother's pear trees in Keokuk: has 

 fine crops yearly; trees stand in grass in his door-yard, and are let entirely 

 alone, except to cut back fi*eely. Invited members to go and see 

 them. 



Dr. Hay — I believe we have epidemic diseases that attack trees and 

 fruits. I have read that the rot among grapes was not known in Europe 

 or America till some twenty-five years ago. So mildew was not known 

 till discovered in a hot-house in England. So with blight in frviit trees. 

 So cholera in the human system, though long known in the East, only 

 lately visited Europe and America. It baflled the skill of physicians, as 

 these fi^uit-tree and other diseases are now bafl^ing us. And I am in 

 hopes that they will disappear as they came. Yet I would not recom- 

 mend the do-nothing policy. We must not give up, but use our skill 

 and judgment in seeking for the cause and the remedy. 



February 23d. 



The President, A. C. Hammond, Esq., as essayist for the day, 

 read the following essay : 



INFLUENCE OF THE STOCK AND CION UPON EACH OTHER. 



BY A. C. HAMMOND. 



Whatever opinions may have formerly prevailed among orchardists, 

 it is now generally conceded by intelligent writers and cultivators, that 

 the stock affects the fruit of the cion, in quality, productiveness, and time 

 of bearing. And that the cion increases or retards the growth of the 

 stock, and in some instances imparts its own peculiarities to the root. 

 Because a tree, under certain conditions, is tender and unproductive, it 

 does not necessarily follow that under all conditions it will be so. 

 Every observing orchardist has noticed the difference in the growth, har- 

 diness, and productiveness of the same variety, when a portion of his 

 trees have been root-grafted and a portion top-grafted. Some varieties 

 succeed best on their own stock, others on a borrowed one. It is, there- 

 fore, evident that we cannot be governed by any arbitrary rules in this 

 matter, but must be guided by the light of experience, and should study 

 the habits and peculiarities of each variety, if we would obtain the best 

 results. 



Some horticultural writers tell us that root-grafted trees are short lived 

 and unproductive. Others that they are superior to those propagated in 

 any other way. Probably these opinions have been reached without 

 proper investigation, and both are partly right and partly wrong. For, 

 as I before remarked, it is very evident that some varieties are success- 



