Horticulture in Wisconsin Territory. 57 



to an impression which seems to prevail, very generally, that 

 fruit trees will not succeed here. This, in regard to apples, 

 plums, pears, and the common red cherry, I am satisfied is 

 incorrect, though I doubt not that, from the peculiarities of our 

 soil and climate, they will require a course of treatment 

 somewhat different, and perhaps more careful, than is gene- 

 raUy pursued at the East. The smaller fruits, as I before 

 stated, flourish here with the greatest luxuriance. 



As to peaches, English cherries, and perhaps grapes and 

 quinces, it will be more difficult to raise them, and yet I am 

 confident that, with the right kind of treatment, they can be 

 grown as surely as at the East, and made to produce as fine, 

 if not finer, fruit. Our climate in the spring, summer, and 

 autumn, is finer, — that is, there is more fair, clear, pleasant 

 weather, than in the same latitude in the more Eastern 

 States. The springs are perhaps more variable, and on that 

 account our crops of fruit may not prove as sure as with you. 

 Our winters are, I think, rather more severe on fruit trees 

 than yours, Avhich is probably because there is so little snow 

 on the ground, and from the openness of the country, so 

 much cold wind ; they are sometimes quite variable, also. 

 Our snows seldom exceed nine or ten inches in depth, and 

 often, and for a long time during winter, are not over six. I do 

 not think we experience any greater degree of cold than in 

 the same latitude East. Our latitude is about 42° 37' north. 

 We are 40 miles west of Lake Michigan, and 10 north fro^n 

 the State line of Illinois. 



The face of the country is from a fourth to one third prai- 

 rie, the rest thinly timbered with but a small proportion of 

 heavy timbered land. The soil is a loam of from one to three 

 feet deep, growing rather more clayey towards the bottom, and 

 resting on a subsoil of gravel, mixed with some sand and clay, 

 extending down as far as the earth has been penetrated, ma- 

 king the best soil possible to withstand either severe droughts 

 or rains, as the surface does not bake, nor the subsoil hold 

 water, as is the case with clay. Pears grow very fast here, 

 when taken care of, — indeed, the greatest trouble with tender 

 kinds has been their rapid and late growth, which has pre- 

 vented them from maturing their wood sufficiently. I have 

 been doing something with fruit trees for the last two years, 



VOL. XI. NO. II. 8 



