460 BLACKHAWK COUNTY, IOWA. 



larch, white ash, and nut-bearing trees, with the exception of 

 chestnut, which is too tender for this climate. Every nook and 

 corner and some very poor land in England is planted to larch, 

 for gates, posts and common building lumber. The white ash 

 is good for mechanical purposes. For protection I prefer white 

 pine, Norway spruce and arbor vitse. This latter is also good 

 for screens or ornamental hedges. No man in Iowa should be 

 buried in a coffin if lie has not planted a tree to make one. W. 

 C. Bryant, in his " Forest Hymn," writes : " The groves were 

 God's first temples." But I say artificial groves are the plant- 

 er's living monuments, showing the work of our hands until 

 our name and even our generation pass away and be forgotten. 

 They are also things of beauty, which are joys forever. 



ORCHARD. 



Having had eighteen years' experience with my orchard 

 since I planted it, my dead trees have taught me a lesson as to 

 what an4 how to plant. I planted trees recommended by the 

 Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, such as Early Joe, 

 Early Harvest, Gilliflower, Little Red Romanite, Domine, 

 Yellow Bellflower, White Bellflower, White Winter Pear- 

 main, English, American and other russets, Rambo, Milan, 

 Northern Spy, and many others. More or less of all these 

 are dead and dying. I would choose for planting, Jonathan, 

 a beautiful apple, early, and a profitaible bearer ; Rawle's 

 Jannet, a small apple, but a good keeper ; Sops of Wine, Fall 

 Wine, Yellow Jenneton, Fall Swaar, Seek-no-further. I 

 would also recommend Ironclad ; they have given solid satis- 

 faction. For Summer, I choose Duchess of Oldenburg and 

 Red Astrachan. For Fall, Fameuse or Snow and Wagner. 

 For Winter, Tallman Sweet and Willow Twig. 



I have three and one-half acres of orchard ; one piece of 

 two acres, has borne for ten years ; the other piece has died, 

 and I have replanted it. I planted the trees twenty feet apart, 

 but would recommend twenty-five feet for hardy trees, three 

 to four years old, and procured of some reliable nurseryman. 



