Vol. I. 



DES MOINES JANUARY, 1870. 



No. 1. 



WESTERIT POMOLOGIST. 



Conducted by MARK MILLER, 

 Assisted by J. A. NASH. 



Single Copy 8 1.00 



To a Club of Five 4 50 



Twenty 15.00 



With an extra capy to the agent, without re- 

 gard to size of club. 



Queries. — We invite questions from our 

 readers upon subjects pertaining to Pomology, 

 upon wliieh information may be desired.— 

 Little items of experience are the spice of such 

 ajournal as we propose to make tliis. 



Meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural 

 Society, 



It was our good fortune to be present at 

 the four days meeting of the Illinois State 

 Horticultural Society, which commenced its 

 fourteenth annual session at Ottawa on the 

 14th ult. From every point of view it was 

 a meeting of which the Society, and the 

 people of the Empire State of the West may 

 well be proud. There was represented in 

 that venerable body tlie wisdom and experi- 

 ence of the Horticulturists of Illinois. The 

 attendance was large, and the character of 

 the men impressed us much — men who have 

 grown gray in developing the vast resources 

 of the West, very many of these men began 

 when their State was new, and much of 

 their work was experimenting. Time, 

 money, thought, and experiments oft repeat- 

 ed were necessary to determine the adapta- 

 bility of the various sorts and varieties of 

 fruit to their soil and climate, and nobly have 

 they succeeded. Many of them have been 

 long and intimately identified with the 

 Pomology of the StUe, and it is largely 

 owiugto their labors that portions of Illinois 

 are now laden with fruit. Their long and 

 well.tried experience is now the property 

 of the State, and of the West. They have 

 labored long and patiently and others are 

 entering into their laljors. 



All honor be to the old pioneer fruit 

 growers of Illinois, many of whom, for the 

 first time, we had the pleasure of taking by 

 the hand. They have done a noble work for 

 themselves and for posterity. 



On the arrival of members they were ta- 

 ken in charge and snugly stowed away under 

 the generous hospitality of tlie citizens. 



We there met, by far, the largest body of 

 professional fruit growers that it has ever 

 been our pleasure of seeing in the Korhwe^t. 

 In fact, without any disparagement to the 

 Illinois State Horticultural Society, the 

 meeting might not inappropriately be class- 

 ed as a Western fruit growers' meeting ; for 

 there were in attendance representatives 

 from all the adjoining States, and also from 

 some of the Eastern States. The treasurer's 

 report shows the financial affairs of the so- 

 ciety in a prosperous condition. It has an 

 annual appropriation from the State of 

 13000, from which flOOO to $1500 is expen- 

 ded upon the annual volume of its transac- 

 tions. The volume for 1809, contains about 

 350 pages of matter in small type, and is 

 every way worthy the society it represents. 

 The collection of fruits was not very ex- 

 tensive, for the reason that it was presented 

 for inspection and comparison only, and not 

 for competition. Messrs. Ellwanger and Bar- 

 ry had upon the table {not " for an advertise- 

 ment ") a very large collection of pears con- 

 sidering the season. It numbered some 

 thirty to forty varieties of winter pears, and 

 which afforded a seasonable opportunity to 

 visitors to inspect everything in the line of 

 winter pears, and to make up their lists un- 

 derstandiugly for cultivation. Little can be 

 learned of the relative merits of winter 

 pears at our fall meetings beyond mere size, 

 as at that time they are not in season. 



The assortment of apples was fair. Among 

 them we found two or three seedlings that 

 promise well, one of which, called the "Mon- 

 to Bello," was in season, an illustration and 

 description of which will be found upon an- 

 other page. 



Mr. M. T. Nelson, of Wibnington, handed 

 us a seedling sweet apple, a winter fruit. It 

 has some of the striking characteristics of 

 Tall man's Sweet -aline, or rather two, on 

 opposite sides, running from the stem toward 

 the apex, also furrowed; color green, with a 

 faint blush on one side. It is represented by 

 Mr. N. as a lotig keeper, and of excellent fla- 

 vor. Judge Brown, of Alton, handed us a 

 specimen of Spark's Late, a winter fruit, 

 very attractive and highly esteemed by the 

 Judge. When in season, we shall try these, 

 to us new varieties, and give to' them due at- 



tention by way of illustration and decrsipt- 

 tion. 



President.— W. C. Flagg, Alton. 



Vice-Presidents — IstDist., 4 L, Woodward, 

 Marengo; 2d Dist., Sam'l Edwards, La 

 Moille ; 3rd Dist., A. C Howard, Moscow ; 

 4th Dist., Tyra Montgomery, Mattoon ; 

 5th Dist, J. M. Fletcher Ceutralia ; 6th 

 Dist., H. J. Hyde, Godfrey ; 7th Dist., A. 



M, Brown, Villa Ridge ; 



Secretary— O. B. Galusha. 



Asst. Sec'y — H. J. Dunlap, Champaign. 



Treasurer. — J. H. Huggins. 



Galesburg was selected for holding the 

 next annual meeting. 



lu our next issue we shall speak of the 

 sayings and doings of the meeting. On 

 another page will be found the annual ad- 

 dress of President McWhorter. 



Plant Young Trees. 



R. W. Furnas, says in the Nebrcmkn Ad- 

 veiiuer: " We not only advise but urge the 

 planting of young, small trees, especially if 

 they are brought from a distance. We 

 know that most persons have an idea that 

 the older and larger a fruit tree is, the sooner 

 they will get fruit. This is a great error, 

 and can only possibly be true when trees are 

 very carefully taken up and put in the 

 around immediately. As a rule, however, 

 when trees are sent to any distance, a one- 

 year apple jtrce is preferable to a three- 

 year old one. They cost less— ten cents 

 instead of thirty — less for transportation, 

 less work to handle them, less work to plant, 

 are surer to live, have better and more roots 

 according to their size, arc more easily 

 adapted to a new soil, the tops are more 

 easily trained, and in six years they are 

 ahead of j'our three-year old trees in all 

 respects. In our opinion you will get a 

 bearing orchard sooner with one-year old 

 trees than with three year or older trees." 



Such has long been the teaching and prac- 

 tice of the best nurserymen ; but many think 

 they know better than those who have had 

 experience, and so plant large tree.s. 



They are, however, generally persons who 

 ridicule what they term book farming, 

 and they do not read agricultural papers, 

 and indeed we have but little hope that they 

 will ever abandon their error. 



