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26 



THE ILLINOIS E^HMEH. 



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Evergreens of most of the hardy var- 

 ieties, two feet high, twice transplanted, 

 can be furnished in this State at from 

 $15 to $20 per 100. Those six to ten 

 inches high, once transplanted, at from 

 $5 to $10 per 100. Native varieties of 

 the latter size $30 to $50 per 100. 



We would recommend early spring for 

 the transplanting of evergreens, before 

 the buds swell. We are aware that this is 

 not orthodox, but we challenge any man 

 in the west to show a greater success in 

 moving these valuable trees than has 

 fallen to our lot when we have moved 

 them while in a state of rest, and we 

 point with pride to the fine growth of all 

 such trees so moved. We have yet to 

 learn of a single dead tree sent out at 

 that season of the year from our grounds. 

 It is true that these trees can be moved 

 at any period of their growth, even in 

 July or August, but we would not com- 

 mend the practice. We seldom mulch, 

 preferring clean, constant culture. 



ORCHARD CULTURE. 



Mr. Bryant spoke at length on this sub- 

 ject. His soil is a strong clay, or rather 

 clay loom, well adapted to the growth of 

 spring wheat, corn and vegetables, and 

 comes up close to the timber land, and much 

 of it was at the time of his settlement cov- 

 ered with hazel, and protected on the south 

 by the forest. It was nearly thirty years 

 since he first put the old cast plow into 

 the virgin prairie and turned up its rich 

 mould. Young and buoyant with hope he 

 entered upon orchard planting, and subse- 

 quently commenced his nursery. For many 

 years the groves poured forth their pomonal 

 products in profusion — the wild plum, the 

 paw-paw, the persimmon and the crab apple, 

 were the auvajit couriers of the more valua- 

 ble apple, the pear, the cherry and the 

 plum; but, alas, his hopes had been sadly 

 disappointed. The severe winter had 

 destroyed many of his best apple trees; the 

 blight had killed his pears; the curculio had 

 stung his plums, and the scalding sun had 

 destroyed his finest cherries; but he did not 

 dispair, with protection and underdraining 

 he believed that he could guard against the 

 Bunden changes of cold. That the blight, 

 like other miasmatic diseases had abated, 

 and might not again return; that the bark 

 louse and the curculio could be successfully 

 dealt with, and that we had in the May 

 cherry, and a few hardy sorts, a fair show of 

 this fruit; the Houghton gooseberry, the 

 current, the strawberry, the Black Cap and 

 Purple Cane raspberries, the blackberry 

 arid the persimmon — all that could be 

 desired in these fruits, both as to hardiness I 



and fruitfulness. He urged deep and 

 thorough culture — would throw up the 

 ground into ridges and set the trees on these 

 very shallow, rather haul up the earth on 

 the roots than to set deep, \cet feet for trees 

 should be avoided. The orchard should not 

 be seeded down to grass, but in case this is 

 done, clover is the least objectionable. Hogs 

 will do good service in the orchard by 

 destroying the apple worm aud in keeping 

 the ground loose. With deep thorough 

 culture no manure is required, nor would he 

 recommend any stimulents unless he was 

 certain the soil was becoming exhausted. 

 On the whole, with the apple he has been 

 successful, but has attributed much of it 

 due the forest and artificial protection around 

 his orchard — on one side is a long belt of 

 the black sugar maple set out some twenty- 

 five years, and now forming a belt of trees 

 unsurpassied in symetry of form, and inter- 

 posing a solid wall against the heavy winds 

 that sweep over the orchard. 



Mr. B. was listened to with a deep interest, 

 as he is one of the oldest and most careful 

 orchardists in the north part of the State. 



Mr, Kennicott wished an expression of 

 the Society on the subject of the proper age 

 of trees planted and recommended the plant- 

 ing of young trees not more than two or 

 three years old. 



Dr. Warder, of Cincinnati, " coincided in 

 favor of small trees, for three reasons — they 

 were better than large ones, large ones were 

 not so good, and small trees were not sub- 

 ject to such heavy freight charges. He ob- 

 jected to the tying up process, preferring to 

 guide the direction, of growth by careful 

 trimming. If he used stakes at all it would 

 be for the purpose of preventing injury in 

 plowing, by wrenching ofi" the bark by the 

 whifiletree, this should be avoided. In cul- 

 tivating among orchard trees a short whiffle- 

 tree should bo used, say one foot in length, 

 this would seldom injure the tree. 



EVENING SESSION. 



A very respectable audience was present 

 to hear an address by Mr. B. D. Walsh, of 

 Kock Island, who proceeded to speak on 

 Insects injurious to fruits and trees. 



Mr. W. remarked that it was not neces- 

 sary in this meeting to comment on the great 

 extent of the injury done to crops by in- 

 sects. It is tenfold that done by all 

 other animals, and amounts annually to 

 hundreds of millions of dollars in the United 

 States. So multitudinous are the destruc- 

 tive insect tribes, that they would speedily 

 lay waste the earth, were it not that by the 

 wise arrangement of Providence, there is for 

 each family of noxious insects another fam- 

 ily to prey upon it and check its increase. 

 Mainly by this agency, the numbers of the 



noxious insects are kept down so thoroughly, 

 that it is only occasionally they become 

 numerous enough to efi"ect a general destruc- 

 tion in any region. Thus in New York and 

 New England, in 1791 and again in 1853, 

 the "palmer worm" stripped not only the 

 orchards, but even the forests almost entire- 

 ly; yet between and since those epochs it not 

 only did not become very destructively 

 numerous, but was in some of the years so 

 scarce that it was difficult to find a speci- 

 men. ' '• \ - 



The speaker suggested that fruit raisers 

 would yet have to rear these cannibal insects 

 (or insects which eat insects) to make war 

 upon the noxious ones which attacked their 

 fruits. This idea might be thought ridicul- 

 ous, but since the French breed fish by arti- 

 ficial means, and the Italians rear the silk- 

 worm, and the Mexicans annually produce 

 by artificial care a million pounds of the 

 little cochineal insect, each pound containing 

 some seventy thousand of the insects, why 

 might not we study the habits of the insects 

 which are hostile to our enemies, and breed 

 them for the sake of securing their help? 



Insects are divided into about one hundred 

 and seventy-eight families, and each of these 

 into numerous species. But all these fam- 

 ilies were grouped into only eight orders, 

 and it was observable that through every 

 group of allied families ran a similarity of 

 a.spect or appearance which would enable any 

 one to easily recognize their relationship, and 

 with this similarity of aspect also went a 

 similarity of habits. Thus there were some 

 three thousand species of ichneumons, all of 

 which lay their eggs in the bodies of larvae 

 of other insects; and there were several fam- 

 ilies of "digger wasps" all of which make 

 nests and imprison spiders in them to serve as 

 food for their young larvae when hatched. So 

 it was far less diflScult than might be sup- 

 posed, to learn to know the general habits of 

 an insect from his appearance, and to know 

 whether he was a noxious or a useful one. 



After dividing all insects Into biters and 

 suckers, and each of these into four orders, 

 whose leading characteristics were pointed 

 out at considerable length, Mr. W. proceed- 

 ed, in answer to questions to suggest the em- 

 ployment of certain described "cannibal'' 

 larvae to rid plants of particular classes of 

 destructive parasitic insects. The curculio 

 might be contended against by the usual 

 method of shaking the tree, or by paving 

 under it or if overhang water, or by cutting 

 off" and burning the black knot, which ho 

 harbored the pest at one stage. He sug- 

 gested burning the weedy edges of fields to 

 destroy the chinch bug in Its supposed win- 

 ter haunt; and also advised springllng co.n 

 with water when attacked by this bug, as 



