FRUIT CULTURE IN WISCONSIN. 
327 
FRUIT CULTURE IN WISCONSIN. 
The Essay to which a Premium of $25 was awarded by the Ex. Committee, Dec. 20th, 1859. 
BY 0. S. WILLEY, OF JANESVILLE. 
The first consideration with every one, in planting an orch¬ 
ard, should be, whether the soil and exposure are adapted to 
its necessities. 
Aspect. —Where a choice of position can be gained, I would 
always choose a northern aspect , (except for small fruits). Let 
it be high, dry, and airy; ravines and sunny hill-sides are to 
be avoided, the reasons for which are obvious to many who 
have observed the difference in commencement of growth, and 
frequency of late spring frosts. 
Upon a northern declivity, of not more than twenty degrees, 
I have found from four to six days difference in time of leafing, 
other things being equal, as compared with level surfaces; be¬ 
sides, declivities give the best kind of surface drainage —a con¬ 
sideration of great importance, as saving the expense of under¬ 
draining, which would otherwise be imperatively necessary— 
particularly in very wet seasons, such as 1858, when a cold 
wet spring was followed by a succession of heavy rains in 
June, and the earth was kept nearly to the freezing point by 
night, and the atmosphere warmed to nearly 100° by day, thus 
producing a difference of fifty to seventy degrees between earth 
and air, or the tops and roots of trees. Perfect drainage ob¬ 
viates this very undesirable condition of things. 
I would not say that expensive under -drainage is absolutely 
necessary to the growth of fruit, but in this country of uncer¬ 
tainties, and on much of our level prairie where a clay subsoil 
overlies the gravel, it is very much to be desired; though as 
