1861. 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMER. 



135 



cropping of the "Niagara limestone," which is 

 preseatel at various points in the neighborhood, 

 and provides workable quarries both of magne- 

 sian and quicklime. It requires no stretch of the 

 imagiuation to conceive that in this neighborhood 

 there might be also outcrops of tLis limestone 

 now weathered down to soil, and ffhich, of course, 

 in its structure woull essentially differ from the 

 diluvial drift of the common prairie soil, and just 

 such a spot is this upon wbich stands the build- 

 ings and bearing orchard of Mr. VV., and just such 

 another, but to a smaller extent, is that upon 

 whicU the orchard and house of the former resi- 

 dence of Mr. C. VV. Martin, in the same town- 

 ship. At these joints the soil has a natural 

 draiaage ; the wells are deep, but when water is 

 reached it is of an excellent quali y and abun- 

 dant We could point i>ut fcimiiar places scatter- 

 ed over the neighborhood of this i.-utcrop of lime- 

 stone forma.ion. Mr. W.'s orchard is large, 

 somewhere in the neigiiborhood of eighty acres; 

 the trees are thrifty, but we wou d venture the 

 prediction that the iuortheast part of the orchard, 

 standing, as it does, on common prairie soil, will 

 never be very remarkably produc;ive, at least no 

 more so than other points to the north of it. AVe 

 wish to be understood in this matter, as we do 

 not wish any person to draw the conclusion that 

 all of thi' Cottage liill neighborhojd is so pecu- 

 liarly adapted to fruit growing, for even with its 

 elevat'o >, a portion of it is no betier than the 

 rolling piairie to the west of the creek; but we 

 wish 10 call attenti n to the fact that t .ere are 

 in the neighborhood outci ops of natu- m1 soil made 

 from the disintegration of the litnestoue foraia- 

 tioii and not covered with diiuv.al prairie drift, 

 and that on those outcrops, the drainage being 

 perfect, so much so that ihe cellars are dry with- 

 o'lt the usual drains, and the soil beii'.g strongly 

 limestone fo.'maiion, fruit trees thrive well, and 

 all orchards thus situate I produce remarkable 

 good crops. Aside from this, the bearing trees 

 of Mr. W. are upon a northeastern tlope and 

 protected on the southwest tv an artificial grove, 

 which gives them the advantage that we have con- 

 tended for — in artificial belts on the souih and 

 wes'. You would hardly call that a peaty, 

 spongy soil, when a cellar six feet deep is always 

 dry without a drain, where the wtll is twenty 

 feet deep, and in which the water never rises 

 within ten or fifteen feet of the surface. Plant 

 fruit trees on such a soil and protect ihom on the 

 south and west, and we will ask no oi e to say 

 that these are not advantages. It is true, tnat 

 at the base of this slope the land is spongy, 

 where the drainage of the formation above is dis- 

 charged through ihe drift clay of the common 

 prairie but on this soil are no bearing trees, and 

 witbout thorough underdraining there probably 

 will not be. Another advantage in this location, 

 is the fact that for two or three years before the 

 planting of the orchard, from one to two thou- 

 sand sheep were herded upon this orchard ground. 

 We contend that this small tract of land nas ad- 

 vantages that do not often occur, and to say that 

 because any particular variety of Iruit willtiour- 

 ish u,-on it, that it follows as a matter of course 

 that it will succeed anywhere is a greart mistake. 

 These very grounds of Mr. W. is one of the strong 



points illustrative of the theory of protecton set 

 forth in our address at Blooraington, that the 

 south and west sides of the orchard most needed 

 protection, and that the east the least of all. To 

 ward uff the sharp southwest wind we have found 

 to be the most beneficial. In our orchard at Ley- 

 den, three miles distant, the same phenomena 

 has been abundantly verified. 



A word or two as to the 



MAY CHERRY, 



Which is not the one described by Downing 

 as a Morello, but is a Kentish, a sub variety 

 of the Early lli^hmond, very similar in 

 quality and the habit of its cousin, or may 

 be parent. It is very productive in all parts 

 of the State, and adapted to a great variety 

 of soils; but without protection and thorough 

 underdraining we cannot expect that it will 

 make the enormous annual returns that Mr. 

 W. claims for it under all circumstances, 

 taking his own trees for a guide ; in fact, 

 some of his own trees, standing on common 

 prairie soil, have not come up to his stand- 

 ard, while those near the house have aston- 

 ished visitors with their loads of fruit. We 

 are not particular about the name. At Cin- 

 cinnati it is well known as " 3Jay,'' or " Early 

 May." No one there calls it the Early Kich- 

 mond, and it is fast becoming the great mar- 

 ket cherry. We are satisfied to call it simply 

 May, to distinguish it from the Morello ciier- 

 ry of the same name, or our fruit growers 

 may call it by any other name. Call i't what 

 you will, it is destined to find a place in 

 every orchard in the Northwest, and to a 

 great extent will take the place of all others. 

 It will be to the cherry family, what the 

 Keswick's Codlin is among apples, or the 

 Black Cap among raspberries. 



To Mr. W. is due no small meed of praise 

 for his exertion in behalf of fruit culture, 

 and for the introduction of the May cherry. 

 But for him, it might continue to be confined 

 to the grounds of Mr. Bronson, near Lock- 

 port, who brought it with him from near 

 Cincinnati, but now it is rapidly extending 

 over the north part of the State. At the 

 same time we will rescark, that it would at 

 no distant day have reached the same point 



