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trees come into bearing if given good cultivation, and young trees can be bought by the 
thousand very cheap. A good and cheaper screen can be made by planting two or three rows 
of the acorns of the common black or scrub oak, which retains its leaves all winter, and 
with good cultivation will grow rapidly. Fruit trees in this revion should always be planted 
out in the spring, as they are much more likely to live than when set out in the fall. An 
important consideration is to set good trees. The best I have, and the best I have seen, came 
from Wisconsin. From some cause eastern trees do not succeed so well here; they are grown 
too closely in the nursery and have long, naked stems ; no fruit tree for the prairie should have 
a naked trunk of more than two feet. 
I have experimented somewhat with pears, as I have a great desire to grow them, but my 
efforts have not been sucessful, and, without having a single pear, my trees are now all dead. 
Ihave also tested several varieties of plums, but find none that will pay for cultivation. 
They are all too tender here except our native wild plum, of which we have an abundance, 
of good quality, in our groves, and which can be readily transplanted to the orchard, where 
they will produce abundantly._ 
Cherry trees of the Morello class grow very well, and are hardy, but they have not yet 
been very productive of fruit with me. 
The Concord grape grows well, and produces abundantly and generally ripens its fruit. 
It has never been attacked with mildew or rot, but the vines need protection in the winter. 
The Catawba ripens its fruit about one-third of the time when they do not rot. 
FRUIT CULTURE IN WESTERN MICHIGAN. 
Henry 8. Chubb, corresponding secretary Lake Shore and Western Michigan: 
Horticultural Association, writes as follows of the Grand Haven fruit region : 
The prospect for peaches among the orchards of this vicinity is excellent. Every living 
peach tree has on its limbs a superabundance of rapidly advancing fruit. The prospect for 
apples is not as large. Strawberries are very abundant and are selling at from 10 cents to 
15 cents per quart. The late exhibition of strawberries and other small fruit, at Spring Lake, 
showed that this sandy region is well adapted to the production of these first fruits of the 
‘season. Gooseberries, currants, and raspberries also promise well. The cherry trees are 
laden with fruit, and, notwithstanding the curculio, there will be a fair crop of plums. 
Grapes, also, are looking well. 
An orchard of 20 acres, peaches and apples, planted about 10 years ago in this city, is for 
the first time bearing a full crop. It is estimated that there will be about 3,000 bushels of 
peaches this season, besides the apples, pears and grapes, which occupy more than half the 
enclosure. The other old orchards of this vicinity, some of which have borne well before, 
are also heavily laden with peaches. 
The upward tendency of prices in fruit lands is a sure indication of the increasing interest 
attached to fruit-growing in this vicinity. Large tracts of land around the city, purchased 
less than a year ago for from $5 to $11 per acre, have been selling rapidly in ten acre lots at 
from $25 to $100 per acre, for fruit lands; while close to the city, one-quarter acre lots in 
almost inaccessible positions on hillsides, &c., held for years at $25 a lot, are now selling at 
$75 to $100. Some of the ten-acre lots, sold for fruit lands at $100 an acre late last fall, are 
now realizing $800 per acre in quarter-acre lots. Fruit land in eligible locations can still be 
had for $25 per acre in the wild state, but this price is very likely to double before the close 
of this season. Improved fruit lauds vary from $500 to $800 per acre when in bearing. 
These prices, however, do not include the present crop, which promises so well that it will 
almost purchase the land at these prices. 
FRUIT CULTURE IN WISCONSIN. 
L. L. Fairchild, of Dodge county, Wisconsin, writes as follows in reference 
to the progress of fruit culture in his section of the State: 
There are a goodly number of orchards in this county, producing from 200 to 500 bushels, 
and occasionally higher, up to 1,500 bushels. We are in latitude 434° north, and the sever- 
ity of our winters (the mercury occasionally running as low as 35 degrees below zero) makes 
it absolutely necessary that only the very hardiest varieties of fruit trees be planted. Many 
having failed with favorite trees brought from the east, thought it useless to try to grow 
fruit, but the persevering ones who kept on trying have found a few varieties that bid fair to 
stand the test of our severest winters. The Duchess of Oldenburg, Red Astrachan, Golden 
and Perry Russets, Winesap, Tallman’s Sweet, Fameuse, and some others seem reliable. 
The quality of our apples I think superior to fruit produced in southern Hlinois. 
