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1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



301 



, The special committe on Planting Trees, report- 

 ed as follows : 



Mr. Fresident : The committee appointed at our 

 last meeting to prepare a table of distances for 

 planting the various kinds of fruit trees, shrubs, 

 vines and plants, offer the following for the con- 

 sideration of the Society . 



Apples 30x30, pears, 25x25 ; root prunes 15 ; 

 dwarf 10x10 ; peaches 18x18 ; plum 18x16 ; quince 

 12 ; grape 4x6, 6x6 , blackberry 2x3 ; currant 4x6; 

 gooseberry 4x6 ; raspberry 2x6 ; strawberry 1x4 ; 

 hills 1^x2. 



Wc would here mention the advantages of set- 

 ting peach orchards in squares, each kind in a 

 square of itself, thus : if 100 of a kind, set 10 each 

 way. This will, by packing in the centre of the 

 kind, be found an economical method. 



The orchards should also be so arranged that 

 hogs can be kept in such as it is desirable. 



The above is respectfully submitted. 



F. STARR, 

 J. HUGGINS, 

 E. CURTIS. 



The subject was then taken up 



A. S. Redfield thonght the report gave too wide 

 distances for apple trees. He would crowd trees 

 close east and west. 



Dr. Long plants 33x33 diagonally, making the 

 distance 27 feet one way. 



W. T. Miller would plant 35 feet rather than 

 less. 



E. A. Riehl — Every one should plant according 

 to the fertility of his soil ; not less than 30 in 

 poor soil, and not less than 40 in rich. 



J. Huggins — Set first at 32 feet ; 16 years later 

 at 30 feet, with additional tree in the center of the 

 square. Late spring at 25 feet. 



Report was adopted. 



An essay was read by Mr. J. E. Starr, and re- 

 quested for publication. 



Mr. Riehl from the critical committee read a re- 

 port on Mr. Johnson's mistakes in culture. 



Dr. Long said it could not be shown that a right- 

 ly managed grain crop would injure an orchard. 

 The Dr. would cultivate immediately after remov- 

 ing the grain crop. 



The Secretary distributed copies of a pamphlet 

 on trees and tree planting presented by H. D. Em- 

 ery, of the Prairie Farmer. 



A special committee on the best time and meth- 

 od of planting was appointed, consisting of Messrs. 

 Huggins, Long and Flagg. 



Dr. Long presented specimens of clover stools 

 tightly wound together by a leaf-roller and killed. 

 Has found it only on clover of two years growth. 

 Referred to committee on Entomology, 



Other insects presented were similarly referred. 



It was voted that the Society send a contribu- 

 tion of fruits to the State Fair at Decatur. 



Maj. Geo. Abbott, Stephen Ebert, Prof. Warren 

 Leverett, Prof. Washington Leverett, Louis Stier- 

 itz, Jas. Smith, jr. and laam Allen, were elected 

 members. 



A committee was appointed to examine a speci- 

 men of Catawba Wine of 1863, presented by Mr. 

 Stieritz, reported : 



Mr. President: Your committee on Winea 

 beg leave to report on specimens of wine made 

 from the Catawba grape of 1863, by Louis Steiritz 

 —of true flavor, high color, owing to the must be- 

 ing allowed to remain with the skins and sterna. 



This latter mode of treatment also imparts an as- 

 tringency to the wine which is considered by some 

 an excellence, and no doubt adds to its value in a 

 medical view. Wine very clear and of great body. 

 Your committee regret to add that sugar was mix- 

 ed with the must previous to fermentation They 

 think that wine from grapes should be pure^ with- 

 out intermixture either of sugar or alcohol. The 

 different quantities of grape sugar in the difft^n-nt 

 varieties of grapes will make an agreeable variety 

 of wine and serve to indicate the quality of the 

 grapes and their perfection; whereas if sugar 

 be added it produces not only a sameness of flavor 

 but at once loses the character of pure wine. 



Your committee dwell upon this because they 

 think it very important that any of us Avho con- 

 template making any wine should start aright, and 

 this they cannot do if they begin by adding sugar 

 to the juice of the grape. 



Respectfully submitted, 



J. M. PEARSON, Ch'n 



J. M Pearson was appointed an essayist for next 

 meeting. 



The October meeting was arranged to be at Mr. 

 Huggins', and the November one at Mr. Flagg's. 



Mr. Huggins called special attention to the How- 

 ell pear as a fruit of great excellence and promise. 

 Endorsed by Dr. Hull. 



The meeting was largely attended by ladies ns 

 well as gentlemen, and the repast furnished by the 

 hospitality of the lady of the house added no lit- 

 tle to the feast of pomological reason and flow of 

 horticultural soul. 



The Messrs. Curtis occupy 100 acres of land five 

 miles distant from Alton, and within less than a 

 mile of the Mississippi. Forty acres are in or- 

 chard, 30 in other crops, and 30 in woodland. The 

 orchard contains about 2,500 apple trees, 12 years 

 set, consisting mostly of Janet, Newtown Pippin, 

 Ortley, Pryors' Red, Alexander, Yellow Belleflow- 

 er. Fall Pippin, &c. The Alexander has proved 

 very profitable with them, and they approve also 

 of Early Harvest, Red June, Newtown Pippin, 

 Hawles' Janet, Pryors' Red and Ortley, as good va- 

 rieties. Baldwin bears well ; but here is an early 

 fall apple. Roxbury Russet drops badly, ripens 

 early and is unprofitable. 



There are also 600 peach trees in their orchard, 

 50 pear, 50 quince and 1^ acres of strawberries. 



The apple trees are set 33x33 feet, with peach 

 trees between a part. Since coming into the hands 

 of the Messrs. Curtis, the orchard lias been either 

 cultivated or kept in clover. 



Adjourned to meet at Jonathan Huggins', near 

 Woodburn, on the Alton and Woodburn road, at 

 10 o'clock on Friday, Oct. Yth. — Alton Telegraph. 



44N- 



A Primeval Forest. — ^The little town of Ega, 

 on the Upper Amazons, in the heart of South 

 America, originally a mission village of the Jesu- 

 its, but now a thriving Brazilian settlement, lies 

 pretty nearly in the centre of the most extensive 

 unbroken forest on the surface of our globe. It 

 requires little effort of imagination, even to those 

 who have not traveled beyond the limits of Eu- 

 rope, to form some general idea of what such a 

 realm of arboreal vegetation must be ; lying with- 

 in a few degrees of the equator, bathed all the year 

 through in an atmosphere like that of a forcing 

 house for plants, drenched by tropical rains and 

 heated by a vertical sun. The total length of this 



