4 
R. M. KELLOGG'S GREAT CROPS 
were noted as follows: The first twenty 
colts, being of considerable intervals apart, 
were veiy fine. The next twenty several 
grades lower, while the last degenerated to 
the merest scrubs, the last of the whole being 
almost worthless, and finally no foals were 
secured at all. 
Precisely the Same Tiling happens 
in plant life. If the vitality of the pollen is 
low there will be little development of seeds 
and berries will be small and flavor poor. 
/ have res/rained this propensity for years 
in all my perfect flowering sorts by remov- 
ing the buds before they opened and ! am 
The Beder Wood. 
satisfied beyond all question the stamens 
are not only larger, but fecundating dust 
more plentiful and potent. 
When the Importance of this matter 
is fully understood among fruit growers, as 
it is among stock breeders, no grower will 
ever be found guilty of using a perfect 
flower or bi-sexual plant, whose powers are 
below the highest standard. 
PREPARING THE GROUND. 
(The following extract was taken from an address de- 
livered at Dixon, Illinois, by R. M. Kellogg, on the eve- 
ning of December H, 180+, before the State Horticul- 
tural Society at their special invitation, on the occasion 
of their thirty-ninth annual convention, the subject be- 
ing " The Drouth, and How to Fight It.") 
After giving a series of illustrations of the 
movement of water in the earth, by the aid 
of different soils in glass cases, and demon- 
strating the absolute necessity of having the 
ground deeply brolcen and made perfectly 
fine clear to the bottom to aid capillary 
action in bringing water from the subsoil to 
the surface, he gave his method of preparing 
the ground, setting plants, and after cultiva- 
tion, as follows: 
n We plow about .six inches deep. A 
disk harrow or cultivator may be used, in- 
stead of the plow, to break the surface up. 
It is now rolled and harrowed until as 
fine as ashes; then plow about ten to twelve 
inches deep, taking care not to bring up too 
much subsoil at once. This plow is follow- 
ed by the subsoil plow, which acts like a 
huge ground mole, going down as much as 
twenty inches further, breaking the subsoil 
up fine and leaving it at the bottom, but 
making a complete reservoir to hold water 
to tide over the summer's drouth. Our sub- 
soil plow was made by the John Deere Plow 
Co. of IMoline, Illinois, and is as perfect a 
tool as could be desired. 
The subsoil thus loosened will hold sever- 
al times more water than before being brok- 
en up. Capillary action will hold it there 
and bring it to the surface for the use 
of the plants, and by keeping the dust 
mulch, as explained further on, the ground 
cannot dry out for weeks. We now roll the 
ground so as to mash all lumps possible, 
then harrow, cutting it up till as fine as 
dust so you could force your hand clear to 
the bottom, always finishing by rolling down 
smoothly. 
