1861. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEM^.R 



297 



fererce to the low heads. His favorite summer 

 varieties are rhe Keswiuk Codlin. Early Pennock, 

 Dutchess of 01J<^nburg, and Sweet June ; for 

 fall: Ramho, Fall Wine, Fallawater and Fa- 

 meuse ; winter: Brabant, Bellflower, Smith's Ci- 

 der, though of late it has been seriously injured 

 by the bli.ht, Wmesap, Willow Twig, White 

 Winter Pea- main, Little Eomanite, Yellow Bell- 

 flower, Domine, an I Maryland Queen. There 

 are other varities on trial that may prove equal. 

 ly valuable, but these have been eo thoroughly 

 tried that they have become favorites. Eaulse' 

 Janet does not give Mr. P. satisfaction. Green- 

 ing, Esopus, Sfitzenburg, Baldwin, and many 

 others have failed and been discarded. 



PEARS. 



Mr. Coehas not succeeded with the pear, while 

 the trees planted by Mr. P., in well sheltered lo- 

 cations, have done well, and at this time he has 

 a good stuck of f-uit. -Vir. P. says it is useless 

 to plant pears without having them well protect 

 ed from the wind. Bartlftt, White Doyenne and 

 Flemioh Beauty do well either as standard or 

 dwarfs. 



ASPECT. 



A portion of the orchard was set on flat land 

 but most of the tiees have either died or proved 

 barren by fi^st. w-iile those on the swells hav^ 

 done well The soil in a sandy loam with an 

 open fub-'oil, requiring but little more than sur- 

 face drainage. All this part of the land lying 

 between the Eock and the Meredosia rivers is 

 more or less sandy or a sandy loam, and pro- 

 duces abundant crops of spring wheat and oats, 

 and the farms are but a succession of fields of 

 these cerpal'', now mostly in shock, with only 

 now and then » piece of late oats uncut. 



On our return we parsed a seedling orchard 

 well loa 'ed with fruit, but the quality is so poor 

 that it is of Utile value except for cider. 



A FRUIT CAVE. 



Mr. Coe hai just completed a fruit cellar or 

 cave, a description of which will be of interest 

 to our readers. It is at out thirty rods from the 

 house on the northeast slope of the hill. The 

 walls. are of limestone, eighteen inches thick, 

 and arched over with hammered stone, laid in 

 mortar and cemented jver ; on the outside it is 

 thirty-seven feet long, thirteen wide, and sixteen 

 high, to be divided into two stories, the lower 

 one of which is sunk in the hill, the upper part 

 is to be covered with earth, roof shapen, and 



turfed with blue grass. It stands in the midst 

 of the orchard, and the large trees shelter it 

 from the sun. It is well arranged for ventilation 

 and cannot fail of being one of the most admira- 

 ble of places for the preservation of fruit. In 

 one corner will be a bin of ice, which will add to its 



coolness. 



HOGGING DOWN. 



Mr. Coe has a good opinion of the value of 

 clover in the orchard, to be pastured with swine. 

 The swine 'will give the surface a partial culture, 

 and the clover roots, which are biennial, will add 

 value to the soil by keeping it open, and by 

 decay enrich it. They will also gather up all the 

 early windfalls, many of which contain insects, 

 and thus prove of benefit. 



PKESERVATION OF FRUIT. 



The fruit is hand picked, and the summer and 

 autumn apples taken to market in a spring wagon. 

 The winter apples are put in barrels, the heads 

 firmly pressed in and headed up ; there is no 

 sweating of the fruit before putting up, b it it is 

 oicked when dry by hand, and put into the bar- 

 rels at the tree, and a few holes bored for venti- 

 lation; these are drawn to the house on a stone 

 boat, and left out under the shed until the weather 

 begins to freeze too solid to plow, when the bar- 

 rels are put into the cellar. In this manner they 

 keep remarkably well with little trouble, and sel- 

 dom repacked for sale. 



TO ORCHARDISTS. 



We most especially commend the practice of 

 Mr. Coe in orchard planting and management. 

 He has certainly been most eminently successful 

 with the apple. With the least labor he has one 

 of the best, if not the very best, orchard in the 

 State, and yie are satisfied that on the prairie it 

 is the best mode that can be adopted. Here is 

 no swaying of trees to the east, no scalding of 

 the west side of the tiunks in the sun, to make 

 lodgment for borers ; no sweeping off of the 

 fruit by high winds; no long days uf toilsome 

 labor in pruning ; no needless waste of time in 

 balancing the heads ; no spoiling of the fruit 

 by its falling a long distance to the ground ; no 

 tedious efforts in picking ; and, to crown all, we 

 have an early fruitage and abundant crops. Let 

 us hereaiter throw aside the whips, or cut them 

 back within a foot of the ground, to send out 

 new heads, and to plant only such varieties that 

 have pro\ed hardy and abundant bearers under 

 ordinary exposure aud culture. In such an or» 



