zu 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEil. 



ITov. 



apr, n the open prairie, then why should we ex- 

 pect immunity for the more tender apple, pear 

 or cherry. — Ed] 



The foregoing proposit'on is made patent to 

 all who are acquainted with the productif^ns of 

 the two localities, without consulting tbermome- 

 trical tables, from a consideration of the fact 

 that the larger var-eiies of Indian corn will ma- 

 ture in Northern Illinois, while only the smaller 

 Tarieties wi 1 mature in the Eastern States in 

 the same latitude. The former requiring a 

 greater degree of, and longer continued heat to 

 mature them than the latter, not, as some erro 

 neously suppose, a more generous soil. For, if 

 we go south along the bank of the Mississippi, as 

 we proceed the size of the corn increaees, and 

 that, too, on soils that migrated but a few centu- 

 ries ago, from beneath more northern and less 

 genial skies, in t^e shape of Mississippi mud. 



Perhaps, twenty centuries ago, the same soil 

 was so far north as to be bound in frost for eight 

 months in the year, con-equently, could not pro- 

 duce even th6 smallest variety of Indian corn 

 known. In short, tropical skies only, withour 

 artificial aid, can produce tropical fruits, al 

 though a superior soil can be dispensed with in 

 the productions of a given plant — a suitable 

 temperature cannot. The same causes that pro- 

 duce a large growth of corn, also produce a 

 large growth of wood in fruit trees, and whene- 

 ver the growth is continued late in the season, 

 as is the case when the months of August and 

 September are moist and warm, followed by a 

 rapid fall of temperature in the months of Octo- 

 ber and November, the result is generally disas- 

 trous to all of the tender vaiieties of fruit trees. 

 It will be seen that unless there is a long season 

 of moderately warm weather, after fruit trees 

 have quit growing, the new wood will be unripe, 

 not fitteJ to endure the intense cold that is usual 

 here as early as the middle of November, unless 

 they are of the most hardy kinds. 



The summer of 1854, previous to the severe 

 cold winter that destroyed so many fruit trees 

 in Northern Illinois, was very hot and moist, the 

 mercury varied from 96 ° to 98 ° above zero, at 

 1 o'cloak P. M. in the shade, on the first four 

 days of September, at which time most fruit 

 trees were growing as rapidly as at any time 

 during the season, the apple making shoots from 

 three and a half to four feet in-Jength, and the 

 plum, ia extraordinary cases, even eight feet. 



When the first snow fel3, late in October, much 

 cf the foliage of the apple was still on the trees, 



and nearly as green as in mid summer — the 

 young shoots almost assuccnlentas growing com. 

 The winter following was intensely cold, the 

 mercury fell to 25 ® below zero in the early part 

 of January, '55, a variation in four months and 

 a half of 120 ° to 123"= in temperature. We 

 wish it understood that we do not attribute the 

 destruction of fruit trees in the winters of 1854 

 and '55, alone to the intensity of the cold, but 

 mainly to the large and late growth of the pre- 

 vious summer and autumn, without a sufficiently 

 long season of suitable weather to ripen the new 

 wood before cold weather set in. If the degree 

 of cold was the only cause, then last winter 

 eught to have been equally disastrous to fruit 

 orchards, as the mercury fell to the same fig- 

 ure. 



We have said this much in regard to the effects 



of our climate on fruit culture to show that if 

 we wish to raise fruit, we must plant hardy kinds 

 and varieties, for this is the only remedy, as the 

 climate will not adapt itself to what we wish to 

 grow, unless we wish to grow what is adapted to 

 the climate. 



Another cause of failure is found in the fact, 

 that large importations of trees from the east 

 have been made without respect to their adapta- 

 tion to the climate of the west, and in conse- 

 quence of the condition they were in when re- 

 ceived, not more than one-half ever giew, and 

 two-thirds of the remaining half were either un- 

 productive varieties, or too tender for this cli- 

 mate. 



[We think our friend over estimated the danger 

 from the late growth of the season of 1854. It 

 is true that the growth waslate, and the first frosts 

 of autumn killed the succulent shoots, but to the 

 long continued cold of the winter, not its intensi- 

 ty, we apprehend, much of the mischief was 

 chargble. 



The fall wag open until late in December, 

 when we had a sudden change, sending the ther- 

 mometer down to 20 to 25 ° below zero, and 

 for three months the cold was intense, without 

 the usual warm spell known as the January 

 thaw. At the same time the ground itself was 

 well protected by snow, but the wind was unu- 

 sually severe, yet trees protected from the sharp 

 wind by belts of trees or buildings, escaped, while 

 those were destroyed exposed to the glare of the 

 snn in the afternoon, thawing out the sap to be 

 frozen solid again. — Ed.] 



/SPEOT, VARIKTIKS AND SOIL. 



Of those varieties that, after trial, have failed 

 to produce remunirative crops, little jiAl be said 



