POMOLOGY, GARDENING, FORESTRY, HORTICnLTURE, RURAL ARCHITECTURE, BEES. 



Vol. II. Des Moines, Iowa; Leavenworth, Kan., Nov., 1871. No. 11 



MARK MILLER, 

 Editor and Publisher, - - De» Moines, Iowa. 



DR. J. STAYMAN, 

 Associate Editor, ■ - Leavenworth, Kansas. 



DR. WM. M. HOWSLEY, 

 Corresponding Editor, - - Leavenworth, Kansas. 



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American Pomologlcal Society. 



Presidbnt Wilder's Address. 



We transmit to our columns such portions of 

 Hon. Marshall P. Wilder's address before the 

 American Pomological Society, at Richmond, as 

 will most interest our readers. We should be glad 

 to give the address intact, would our limits permit 

 without too much curtailment of the usual variety 

 of other matter. 



LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE. 



THE IKFLUENCE OF WARM, DRY SEASONS. 



Among the lessons which we have learned we 

 may mention as settled and acknowledged prin- 

 ciples the following: 



The observation of the last few years, under the 

 influence of warm, dry seasons, would appear to 

 have established the principle that such weather 

 (without excessive drought), especially in the ear- 

 lier part of the summer, is more favorab'e to the 

 perfection and ripening of fruits, particularly 

 grapes, than cold wet seasons. The iact is promi- 

 nently shown in California, as we have witnessed 



by personal observation; and is especially to be 

 seen in the cultivation of the grape there, and also 

 in Europe, and in our Northern States, where un- 

 der the influence of such seasons, neither the vine 

 nor its fruit is affected by disease of any kind. 

 These conditions we have noticed are also pecu- 

 liarly advantageous for the formation of fruit-buds, 

 and the storing up of the necessary perfected food 

 for a future crop, and for the ripening of the wood, 

 so necessary that it may endure the winter with 

 safety. 



DRAINING OF FRUIT LANDS. 



In conformity with the foregoing remarks, we 

 see the importance of thorough draining of our 

 fruit lands, which produces in soil not naturally 

 possessing them, the conditions of warmth and 

 dryness which we have named, thus rendering the 

 condition of the earth, in respect to warmth and 

 dryness, analogous to that of the air, of the import- 

 ance of which we have before spoken. Besides 

 hese advantages it is the thorough areation of the 

 soil, whereby it is able to absorb fertilizing matter 

 from the atmosphere, rain, and snow, and moisture 

 evaporated from the springs below. Thus para- 

 doxical as it may seem, the same means which 

 guard against excessive wet, also serve to supply 

 moisture in excessive droughts. How aptly does 

 the poet describe this condition : 



" In grounds by art made dry, the watery bane 

 Which mars the wholesome fruit is turned to use. 

 And drains, while drawing noxious vapors off, 

 Serve also to diflhse a full supply." 



PEEPAKATION AND CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 



It seems scarcely necessary in this presence to 

 say that thorough preparation and enrichment of 

 such soils as are not already rich is essential. Or- 

 dinary farm culture will not produce the highest 

 class of fruits ; they must have garden culture, and 

 with this they never fail. After this thorough 

 preparation, the cleaner the culture the better, at 

 least in our older States, where the soils have been 

 depleted by cropping. But one of the lessons 

 which experience has taught us most impressively 

 is, that, contrary to our former views, this after- 

 cultivation should be shallowed so as not to injure 

 the roots, but to preserve them near the surface. 



MANURES AND THEIR APPLICATION. 



The subject of manures is a most important one, 

 and every year becoming more so. The supply of 

 manure in the older part of our country is unequal 

 to the demand, and every year increases the dis- 

 parity. What would be our feelings if the supply 



