ESSAYS. 
THE CAUSES OF INJURY AND THE MEANS FOR 
PROTECTION OF ORCHARDS. 
PRIZE ESSAY BY A. G. TUTTLE, OF BARABOO. 
Whatever may be true of other portions of our country, in Wisconsin no 
very tempting fruits grow spontaneously. Well directed, perserving efforts 
are necessary for their production. Situated beyond the ameliorating in¬ 
fluence of the ocean, or lakes, we are exposed to the sub-arctic blasts of win¬ 
ter, and the dry winds of summer as they sweep over the plains, or sparsely 
wooded regions beyond us. To form some estimate of the modifying in¬ 
fluence of large bodies of water lying in the direction from whence comes our 
greatest cold, we need only to turn our attention to that portion of Michigan, 
lying opposite, and even farther north than Green Bay, where the pear, plum 
and peach flourish in great prefection. It is not strange, that, exposed to 
severe and long protracted cold unlike that of any portion of the country ly¬ 
ing east of us in the same latiude, our prgress in fruit growing should have 
been slow, as our eastern experiences were of little avail to us. 
The selection of varieties of the apple made by the first planters was, 
with a few exceptions, most unfortunate. Those well known kinds deservedly 
popular at the east, were found unsuited to our climate, and the result of this 
first trial, seemed to have left the very general impression that we could not 
succeed in growing the apple here. 
The enthusiastic, intelligent cultivator however, satisfied that extreme cold 
was the principal cause of injury, now turned his attention to those varieties 
which had their origin in high northern latitudes. The result was satisfac¬ 
tory. Then commenced our first real progress. Many varieties were intro- 
diiced admirably adapted to our climate, and the orchardist can now plant 
with as much certainty of success as in those regions more favorable to the 
cultivation of fruits. 
It is said that in the interior of Russia where the climate is similar to ours 
—in the region extending from the lakes to the Rocky Mountains—apples, 
pears, plums and cherries are grown in great abundance, even as far north 
as the fifty-seventh parallel. In view of the perfect adaptation to onr 
climate of the Russian fruits, already introduced, would it not be well to 
36 Ag. Trails. 
