1863. 



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THE ILLmOIS FAKIEER. 



135 



not failed within the past twenty years. In this 

 county the apple crop has never been known to 

 fail, though the orchards have been in bearing over 

 thirty years. 



The budded peach trees are liable to lose their 

 fruit at the tim« of blooming when young, but 

 they improve in this respect by age, and now the 

 old orchards are being looked upon as quite cer- 

 tain of good crops. The fruit crop at the south 

 part of the State has two drawbacks, the rot and 

 insects, the worst of which is the curculio. We 

 shall always have to depend upon Egypt for early 

 peaches and many other fruits, but the great sup. 

 ply of apples must come from Central Illinois. 



The Lawton Blackberry wants threa years to be- 

 come established, when, with a little cutting back, 

 in August, and a slight covering of straw in win- 

 ter, they ought to fruit even in Iowa. 



There can be no question that the sudden 

 changes during the winter damage the cherry tree. 

 All the cherries that we have tried here, except 

 the Morello family, have proved tender, and some 

 of them even have failed. The Carnation being 

 the most tender. We have none on our list as val- 

 uable as the May Cherry, (Kentish of Downing) 

 Large English Morello, Reine Hortense, and of the 

 Dukes for further trial Bourman May and Belle d' 

 Choisy. 



As a country for fruit Egypt must stand forth 

 unrivalled, when we take into view the great num- 

 ber of varieties that can there be produced, from | 

 the fig to the long keeping apple. Her soil is 

 among the richest in the world, and with half ju- 

 ditious culture her orchards will teem with great 

 harvests of fruit. Other parts of the Northwest 

 will prove profitable for certain specialities, but 

 Egypt sweeps the whole list within her grasp. — Ed. 



How to grow Early Melons. 



Tremont House Gardens,) 

 Chigcago, Mar. 18, '63. f 



M. L. DuNLAP, Dear Sir: I send you by ex- 

 press one package of early and one of large late 

 Nutmeg melon. I also send you a few D. O'Rourke 

 peas. You may have them. There are many peas 

 so called, that are not true to name. The Eugenie 

 pea also sent, you will find valuable. We are now 

 selling radishes at two cents each, and sending to 

 market twenty dollars worth of lettuce daily, so 

 you see gardening pays after all, and we can alFord 

 to buy gold. 



The early nutmeg sent you are the most delicious, 

 but the late are large and sell well. 



The first of April, (with you the middle of 

 March,) I make a hot bed, am particular to have a 

 a good heat. I then go on to the prairie, taking 



with me a strip of fencing six inches wide ; this I 

 lay on the prairie sod, and with a sharp spade cut 

 directly through the turf, then turn over and re- 

 peat until I have a width equal to the length of my 

 board, I then place the board across these cut 

 strips at right angles, and repeat the operation thus: 



These sois should be four inches thick, present- 

 ing when taken up a cube of four by six inches. 

 Thus sods are placed on the hot bed, grass side 

 down, the middle of the sod is mellowed with a 

 stick and the seed planted and covered with a. mel- 

 low soil an inch deep. When the plants are up, 

 thin the hills to two or three plants. With a good 

 bottom heat and plenty of air in good weather 

 they will grow stocky, and should be kept in the 

 beds until in bloom, they are then put in the open 

 ground under boxes with glass covers, but if plant- 

 ed two or three weeks later, they can go into the 

 open ground without the boxes. Should the 8tri| 

 ped bug trouble them, sift on ground plaster, (gyp- 

 sum) when the dew is on, and they will let them 

 alone. I should give you one caution when the 

 plants are in the hot bed, not to keep them too 

 wet, as in that case they will damp ofi". 



You will find the hot bed better than the green 

 house, as in the former they grow much more 

 stocky. 



I would not advise the u-se of pots, as the sod is 

 much the best ; the plants in this case experience 

 little change in transplanting. 



I picked from one acre of ground last season, of 

 the early nutmeg in one day, one hundred dozen 

 melons, and sold the most of them at two dollars 

 per dozen. The same melons retailed at twenty to 

 twenty-five cents each, but most of them went on 

 the hotel tables. Yours truly, 



Levi Emery. 



[The above is from one of the best, if not one of 

 the most successful market gardeners in the North- 

 west. The Tremont House has long been known 

 as one of the best hotels in the county, and much 

 of its prosperity is due to its most excellent gar- 

 dener, who has supplied the table with vegetable, 

 in season and out of season. 



The nutmeg melon is little cultivated by our 

 farmers, but now when the mystery that enveloped 

 the production of an early crop is removed, pre- 

 senting a cheap and easy method, no f irmer's gar- 

 den should be without this delicious fruit. Water 



