250 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



hole in the fall or winter so as to have the surface solid enough to plant on in the 

 spring. Trees planted in the spring should be mulched with straw or old grass 

 until they are firmly set, then cultivate like corn or potatoes, being very care/ul 

 not to plow too deep, not over three inches, and not afcer the first of July, as it 

 keeps the trees growing too late, making wood to stand the cold winters of Cen- 

 tral Missouri, when it sometimes goes down to 16 or 20° balow zero, which is too 

 cold for peaches. 



We grow all our own trees from pits obtained from Tennessee, as they are 

 said to be much better and less liable to be troubled with the flat-headed borer and 

 hardier than trees grown in near-by counties. In badding trees it is found best in 

 this locality to do it when about the size of a large lead pencil, as the bark works 

 better then than when larger. Trees should always be planted when one year from 

 the bud, for if left longer than one or two years the roots get long and hard, and 

 make very bad trees to plant. 



Pruning should always be done in the spring, about first of March. It is best to 

 head back at that time, as it can be seen what to do and where to cut out the dead 

 twigs. Nothing is more injurious to fruit than to have the trees full of dead brush. 

 Very nearly one half of the rot in orchards is caused by too much foliage and dead 

 wood, and great pains should be taken in pruning, as it is the making of the tree 

 when it is old. In my opinion, washing and spraying do not pay in St. Louis 

 county when we can only count upon three crops in five years. 



The following is a list of peaches in the order of their ripening, all thoroughly 

 tested and found adapted to the soils of St. Louis county : 1, Amsden's June and 

 Alexander; 2, Early Rivers; 3, Hale's Early; 4, Cottage; 5, Large Early York; 

 6, Foster; 7, Crawford's Early; 8, Susquehanna; 9, Ward's Late; 10, Crawford's 

 Late; 11, Morris' White; 12, Stump the World; 13, Newington Cling; 14, Imperial 

 Cling; 15, September Queen; 16, La Grange ; 17, Heath Cling; 18, Silver Medal; 

 19, Nanticoke; 20, Freeman's Late; 21, Geary's Hold On; 22, Bilyon's Late Octo- 

 ber. 



WHAT FLORISTS CAN DO FOR ADORNMENT. 



BY EUGENE H. MICHEL, ST. LOUIS - 



Ask three-fourths of the florists and landscape gardeners what they would do 

 for the adornment of a certain place, and they would undoubtedly answer directly 

 or questioningly : " That depends on how much money will be paid for the work." 



Like a woman's dress, it can be made of any one of a thousand articles, or in 

 any of a thousand and one diflerent ways. Some would cost but a trifling amount, 

 others hundreds of dollars, and yet truth must have it that in most instances the 

 inexpensive garment would appear the neatest and by far the most useful orna- 

 ment. 



Thus, in many cases, the florist's accomplishments depend upon the amount 

 of money to be spent by the parties having the work done. But, as in the case of 

 the dresses, it is not always the most expensive that does the best service. Nor 

 would I have you misunderstand me and believe that I would always have the 

 man do the work who did the cheapest, for there are hundreds of incompetent per- 

 sons doing work for little or nothing, yet calling themselves gardeners or florists, 

 and as many more just as incompetent, passing under the same misnomer, but 

 charging exorbitant prices. Many of the latter class blend with the familiar itin- 

 erant tree peddler, that curse of the nursery business who cannot remain long 

 enough in any one locality to reap a just and proper reward from his scoundrelly" 

 labors. 



