212 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



hardy even to our most northern limits, and in exposed 

 situations sometimes fail after a winter not noted for 

 severity, has at different times attracted attention, but 

 the significance of such failures does not seem to have been 

 duly appreciated. On consulting the records it is found 

 that orchard injuries and exceptionally severe winters do 

 not coincide. The autumnal conditions of the trees clearly 

 has to do with the results, and this again depends upon 

 the developments of the growing trees. One of the worst 

 things that can happen to trees is the failure of a sufficient 

 supply of soil moisture. A continuous supply of water 

 is essential to all the vital processes of vegetation. Apple 

 trees severely suffer when not so supplied/' 



The bulletin continues at considerable length along this 

 line, and then presents two very striking cuts on pages 

 126 and 127, one showing the orchard upon the college 

 farm with trees hanging full of fruit, the other of an ad- 

 joining farm with neglected trees uncultivated, bare of 

 fruit and almost minus of foliage, and the bulletin concludes 

 by referring to the cuts in the following manner: 



"The photographs were taken in September, 1897. The 

 tree in the foreground of the college orchard, with its 

 wealth of foliage and bending under the weight of its load 

 of fruit, tells its own story, and stands forth in marked 

 contrast to the preceding picture, which is bare of fruit 

 and almost minus of foliage. From the contrast there can 

 be but one conclusion drawn, that while other things have 

 greater or less effect upon an orchard's health and condi- 

 tion, the prime requisite to successful orcharding in Illi- 

 nois is thorough and systematic cultivation." 



While the principles involved in the Illinois bulletin 

 are important and valuable in that state, they are vital 

 with us in the semi-arid section. The prevailing idea, 



