162 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



June 



late, while tlie brains ranst be added ; 

 l^rains in farming liave become a staple 

 commodity quite indispensable. Lay 

 well your plans and steadily carry them 

 out ; get the best farm tools and keej) 

 them in the best of order ; look to yonr 

 liired hands and see that they keep 

 their tools in order and lay out their 

 labor to the best advantage. Watch 

 your bees and keep out the miller ; if 

 they have not plenty of liowers sow 

 buckwheat for them. 



The trees planted last tall, or within 

 the past two months, may now have 

 the mounds taken from them, if they 

 have been banked up, and the roots 

 mulched with well rotted manure. If 

 the heads of the newly set trees have 

 been properly shortened in, no leaves 

 or shoots should be taken from them ; 

 they need all then^w leaves to develop 

 the roots. 



If you do not live well this month 

 lay the fault to your own neglect. 



The Fruit Prospect. 



In consequence of the unfavorable 

 winter, people are anxious in regard to 

 the fruit crop, a crop that has become 

 a necessity and the loss of which is 

 almost, if not quite, as serious as that 

 of the potato crop. 



li^ince our trip of last Jamiary to the 

 orchards in the south part of the State, 

 we have not been five miles from home, 

 and ranst write now mostly of our own 

 ground. At this date, May 14rth, we 

 have determined the amount of blos- 

 soms or their absence and are thus eu- 

 abled to foreshadow the prospect. 



THE APPLE. 



Never have we seen a better bloom 



ron the orchard, and with short, well 



"^ matured wood, the indications must be 



taken as favorable to an abundant crop 



of this fruit. Many varieties in the or- 

 chard are white with bloom. Nature 

 always has some compensation or coun- 

 terbalance to severe losses, and in this 

 case she appears striving to make some 

 amends for the loss of the peach crop. 



PEARS. 



This fruit comes out equally fine 

 with the apple, but as the tips of many 

 varieties were more or less frosted, we 

 shall look for a large falling off of the 

 embryo fruit, yet we do not despair of 

 a full crop. Thus far this fruit has 

 given us great satisfaction. Since the 

 plan of setting the dwarf pear below the 

 junction of the graft the trees stand 

 well and make a good, healthy growth. 

 Our list is reduced to something like a 

 dozen varieties, which may account for 

 our success to some extent ; instead of 

 running after the new sorts we have 

 been content with a fev/ well tried old 

 friends. 



PEACH. 



The winter has proved very disas- 

 trous to this fruit, not only killing the 

 crop but lai-ge numbers of the trees. It 

 is probable that most of the old trees 

 are either dead or will die durine' the 

 summer. The borer in many cases 

 has iniured the trees which will has- 

 ten their end. But we have a worse en- 

 en)v tljan that — the curl. We see in- 

 dications that this disease is attacking 

 the trees, and in case of the old trees, 

 weakened by the winter will doubtless 

 finish most of them. The picture that 

 we drew of this fruit in Januarv, is • 

 proving too true, and as there indica- 

 ted, the young trees will be all that is 

 left to tell the tale of the winter of '64. 

 We have great faith in the peach for 

 this part of the State, but it must be by 

 continued planting and the dependence 

 on young orchards. Two or three crops 



