406 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
beauty and health of tree and fruit, is attributable to their un¬ 
stimulating soil and equal, cool climate. If, in the valleys of the 
Ohio and Mississippi, blight runs riot, it must be chargeable to the 
excess of humus in the soil and other causes which produce an 
excessive push of sap. The summer of 1871 was remarkable 
for its many showers, followed by hot suns and humid atmosphere ; 
and the unprecedented blight of that season is yet fresh in the 
memory of the fruit growers of the west. But even then, a marked 
difference was seen in favor of lean soils and airy locations. With 
the advocates of the fungoid theory, I say check the circulation, 
as a remedy, but as a preventive, regulate the circulation by 
proper soil and culture. We must be satisfied to secure a mod¬ 
erate annual growth. We should be more patient, and willing to 
wait for a slow development, in soils less stimulating, but which, 
by early and faithful tillage, will grow frees as fast as consistent 
with health, or even retard the summer growth by other crops, 
when any danger of blight is apprehended. 
/ 
MARKET GARDENING. 
From advanced sheets of the Horticultural Report for 1873. 
BY J. M. SMITH, GREEN BAY. 
Our first and oldest record regarding the labors of our race is 
in these words : “ And the Lord, God, took the man and put him 
into the Garden of Eden, to dress and to keep it.” This com¬ 
mand is a very short as well as a very general one; yet it cer¬ 
tainly implies that the garden should be kept in order. It was to 
be their home, and it certainly should not be allowed to become a 
disagreeable or unsightly place. Our race was then in its infancy, 
and the reasonable expectation would be, that we should improve, 
and that succeeding ages would perfect what was then instituted 
as the first labors of our race. But has this been the case? I 
fear not. Whatever may be said with regard to the improvements 
