THE ILLXISTOIS F^HnydCEH. 



11 



HORTICULTURAL. 



AnnualTUeeting of the Southern Illinois Fomolog- 

 ical andlHorticultural Society, held at Tamaroa, 

 Ferry County,!Ill., Bee. 20th, 21st, 1859. 



Wo left Urbana on the evening of the 19th, 

 and arrived at Tamaroa about midnight, and 

 was met on arriral by the President of the 

 Society, B. G. Roots, Esq., who had eecared 

 accommodations among the citizens for their 

 Northern friends. It was with no small de- 

 gree of pleasure that we learned that Dr. War- 

 der of Cincinnati, had arrived in the morning 

 train,;and though bis right eye was under cover; 

 his general health was much improved, and 

 his enthusiasm up to the old standard. The 

 Northern winter has spread its mantle of white 

 over all this region, and tbe farmers are having 

 a rare treat in the way of sleighing. To see 

 the various crafts gotten up for tbe occasion, 

 would be a study for a painter. The cold spell 

 has bad tbe effect tj prevent the farmers from 

 bringing in fruits, and the show was small; 

 BO much so that it was',concladed not to carry 

 out the intended plan of awarding premiums. 



As v» eball have tbe official report in a few 

 days we shall only give a few randam notes at 

 tbis time. 



LARGE YIELD 01* FUXPKINS. 



Mr. D.W.Simpson of Tamaroa, ^^'presented 

 specimens of sweet pumpkin, of the green 

 cheek variety, sometimes called "Ohio Cheese." 

 His crop was eight hundred and ten pounds 

 from a single seed. Tbis sweet pumpkin is 

 valuable for stock, and should be more largely 

 planted. 



Mr. J. M. IInnter,'of the Ashley Nurseries, 

 presented a box of superb frnit,^among them 

 "Bagby Russett," in size and general appear^ 

 ance resembling tbe English Russett, but with 

 faint stripes of red on the suLny side, Mr. H. 

 says it keepn to April, bears large annual crops 

 — tree a good grower with round bead. Tbe 

 flavor is equal to any of the Russet ts. We 

 think it worthy of further triaU Nothing is 

 yet known of its history, whether an old varie-< 

 ty brought by tbe fathers from tbe East or a 

 seedling of E;;ypt. 



Dr. Crane of Burkville, Pulaski county, pre- 

 sented fine specimens of the "Holman," sup- 

 posed by Dr. Warder and others, to bo the 

 "Pottinger" of the Ohio River orchards. It is 

 a very largo, firm and showy apple, much es- 

 teemed ior a market fruit in St. Louis, and 

 along tbe MissisFippi river towns. 



A PEAR ORCHARD. 

 Mr, Wm. Yates ot S,)niij4field, has on his 

 farm two miles from this place, a dwarf pear 

 oriihard of two thousand tress. The trees are 

 four years old, having been planted two years 

 This season they produced three bushels of 

 fruit, and ure now filled with fruit^buds. The 

 growth of the^trees is very fine. And wg 

 shall look forward to this'pioneer effort as the 

 harbinger of the pear in our markets. The 

 soil of this orchard is the common lime mud 

 drift for the depth of two feet, when a stratii 

 of hard pan of four or five inches thick is met; 



id rainiriir 



tho or- 



) low thi- 



ill be taken off, and ulti- 



mat ly tbis bard pan will yield to the influence 

 of the air and become permeable; 



VEQETABLES. 



Messrs. Hutchinson and Hawley of the Cen- 

 tralia House, Centralia made a fine display o^ 

 potatoes and beets. They have demonstrated 

 that potatoes will grow in Egypt. Manure is 

 the eDchanters wand with which tbey tickle the 

 soil and make it bring forth vegetables in 

 abundance. Mr. Hunter also bad fine speoi- 

 mens of potatoes. 



HESWICK CODLIN. 



The writer presented a package of scions of 

 tbis apple so well known throoghout Europe^ 

 and the North part of our own country, fur its 

 great value as a summer cooking apple, and 

 which is believed will prove not only valuable 

 for tbe South for tbe same purpose, but will be 

 one of the most valuable for drying. Tbe 

 scions were accepted and distributed for trial. 



SITE FOB THE ORCHARD. 



An interesting discussion was bad on tbis 

 subject. Ail agreed that the best site is the 

 north slope of a mound, or prairie swell, so as 

 to allow the cold air to settle away from the 

 trees in the low lands down the slope. The 

 great danger is from frost on still nights, and 

 on these elevations the circulation is more 

 brisk than in the valleys. In an early day 

 t'je settler erected his cabin in the valley for 

 tbe purpose of shelter and water, and in too 

 many cases planted bis orchard too near tbe 

 foot of (ho slopes where the water ooxed out in 

 the spongy soil. This was alluded to, and a 

 caution given not to repeat it. 



DIGGINQ HOLES. 



Dr. Warder said there should be but one bole 

 in the field, and that of the size of tae field ; 

 that is, the whole ground should be deeply 

 plowed- — say on tho jir rie, trench plow a foot 

 deep and subsoiled six inches deeper. With 

 this preparation be would be satisfied for a few 

 years, and then the whole orchard should be 

 tile drained. Charles Kinnicott and others fol- 

 lowed in tbe same strain. Thorough cultiva- 

 tion and draining was tbe first great need in 

 orchard culture ; better plant a dozen trees, 

 and plant them well, than to plant a hundred 

 indiff;rently. Ridging up the land for plant- 

 ing was recommended. 



. ,. PROTECTION. : 



With the exception of Kennicott, all agreed 

 that protection on the south and west was very 

 banc'ficial, preventing sudden changes of tem- 

 perature and the blowing off of the fruit. Mr. 

 K. cited many oaees of fine orchards without 

 protection, and contended that it was not only 

 unnecessary but hurtful. 



HONKr. 



Mr. G. Wilgus of Richview, presented a box 

 of pure honey of superior quolity. He Lad 

 taken one hundred and fifty pounds of honey 

 from four swarms the past summer, thus show- 

 ing that bco keeping is a source of profit as well 

 as of pleasure. 



WAX FLOWERS. 



Miss Clara Terrill presented a box of wax 

 flowers of very high merit. Had it been sum- 

 mer no one would have suspected the counter- 

 feit: dahlias, peach and cherry blossoms so 



natural that it almost made us wish for spring. 

 The lillies and roses were also most delicate. 



PRESERVES, ETC. 



Mrs, J. M. Hunter presented rhubarb jelly, 

 grapes in sugar, citron in sugar and canned 

 rhubarb, all of which the committee pronouened 

 very fine. 



THE TPLIP TRIl. 



It is well known that the yellow poplar or 

 tulip tree (liriordendron tulip fera) is one o^ 

 the most beautiful and magnificent of all our 

 forest trees. It is equally well known that 

 ninety-nine out of a hundred of these plants 

 taken from tbe forest die. To remedy this, 

 tbey should be grown in tbe nurserp and trans- 

 planted every second year ; this will give them 

 fibrous roots, so that they can withstand trans- 

 planting. Dr. Warder says, these when set out 

 to remain should be cut back to within a foot 

 of the ground, even if eight feet high. This ia 

 a very importatt fact and should be generally 

 known. 



FALL PLANTING. . 



Fall planting of the apple and cherry was 

 especially recommended, and that at the time 

 they should be banked up and tbe heads prop- 

 erly trimmed out. Small trees were rccom« 

 mended over large ones. Good thrifty trees 

 two and three year old, were considered the 

 best, not only for early fruiting but as making 

 the best trees. Dr. Wardor recommended tho 

 cutting back of the peach to within a foot high 

 and allow it to form a new head. In the plant- 

 ing of evergreens it was deemed best to have 

 tbe ground thoroughly plowed or dug up and 

 kept in good condition. Mr. Very Aldrich of 

 Bureau county, sent a box of apples all of 

 which were not only fine but of valuable varie- 

 ties: Roman Stem, White Pippin, Willow 

 Twig, Raules J.nett, Honey Pippin, Esospns 

 Spitzenburgh, Wagner, White Bellflower, Yel- 

 low Bellflower, Emperor. . ; ^ ■ 



RHUBARB WINE. 



Mr. Norris Sweet of DeKalb Center, DeKalb 

 county, presented two bottles of tbis wine, 

 made from tbe pure juice, by adding four 

 pounds of sugar to the gallon of juice. It was 

 rather too new, not having been fined, but it 

 has body and promises well. Tcie committeo 

 commended it. . . :.r/ \\":,. y'l ./'_'.■■■■'■:- '■:■- 



Messrs. Goodale & Marsh of Centralia, by 

 Mr. Ingrabam, presented specimens of black- 

 berry brandy, blackberry wine, blackberry cor- 

 dial and catawba wine. Tbe committee had a 

 fancy that pure spirits bad been used in mak- 

 ing it, or in plain English, that the brandy bad 

 been fabricated. At all events, we would rath- 

 er risk it than tbe brandy in common use. The 

 blackberry wine to our taste was too sour, and 

 so said tbe committee. At the same time tbis 

 wine is the nearest approach to Catawba that 

 we have ssen. 



APPLES. : ■ '■'^: /'■:'■ i'.- 



The Committee on Apples reported the sam- 

 ples of Rhode Island Greenings not true; Eso- 

 pus Spitzenberg a shy bearer ; Willow Twig 

 very fine and profitable; White Pippin magni- 

 ficent and worthy of general culture; Virginia 

 Greeaing good tor market— a gaod keeper and 

 popular along tbe Ohio river. Yellow Boll. 



