ing them. Of those I know I like the Bartlett best. My peach trees bring me regularly a good crop every two years; when they do not bear it is because the winter's cold has killed the fruit buds, of which they are full every year. Peach trees demand a high and dry location; the higher the better, so has experience taught me. I first planted my peach orchard on the hillside, but not on the highest place of my farm, though only a few feet below it, and it never brought any fruit, so that I had to dig up the trees again. I then planted other trees on the top of the hill, which is but little above the general level of Looking-glass prairie, and there they bear now once every two years regularly.

I have seen in my neighborhood that on the highest places along Silver creek peaches bring the most regular crops. I am not experienced enough to make out a list of the best kinds for our region, though my trees are all budded and raised by myself.

Of cherries, I have only the acid kinds, the Morellos and Lowell. I tried the Bigarreaus also, but without success; they are too tender. I think the early May or early Richmond to be the most advantageous. I am trying the Duke also.

For orchards it is necessary to choose a dry location, or else drain it by under, or at least by surface, drains. The land must be plowed very deep, the deeper the better, and subsoiled if possible.

Apple and peach orchards need to be cultivated at least till the trees bear well. Till then I had my orchard planted every year in corn, potatoes or other hoed crops. When the trees are growing large it is rather difficult to plow and cultivate the land, for the roots are broken by the plow; and as the trees ought to be grown with very low heads, there will soon be too little room left for plowing. I am planting apple trees at a distance of 25 to 30 feet, according to the kinds and the habits of the trees. Peach trees I plant from 16 to 20 feet apart.

When I cease cultivating the land I sow it in clover. I have never seen that the trees suffer by it. They will perhaps not grow so vigorously as when they were younger, but they become more productive. The clover I cut for soiling cattle and hogs, and also for hay. Cherries and pears I plant in the sod, in clover and timothy, making large sized holes for them before planting; they grow vigorously enough without cultivating the land. Only while they are yet small I keep a little space around the trunks and above the roots clean by the hoe, and mulch them with straw or chip manure, or any such material.

We gather our winter apples in dry weather, and put them in a dry and cool cellar on shelves, where they keep very well. We have often kept some till the following summer, when the earliest summer apples commenced ripening. The little Romanite we find the best keeper. Sometimes when the weather is favorable, we leave them for several days in heaps under the trees, for sweating, before putting them in the cellar. This is a good method.

My fruit trees do not often suffer from disease. Sometimes the borer will attack those which are not vigorous, but I cut him out and cover the wound with grafting wax, and commonly save the tree in this way. Last season the apples were much attacked by the codling moth, and the great drouth in connection, caused many to fall off before ripe.

To prevent this in future, as much as possible, we shall have to gather up the fallen fruit every day and feed it to the hogs, or when ripe enough make cider vinegar of it. The green pippin, and most all other pippins I am acquainted with, rot badly on the tree, stung or not; cf the former there were hardly any sound ones left to be gathered.

T. Engelmann.-The attention of the farmer being directed exclusively to the raising of wheat, little care only is bestowed upon orchards, although apples and peaches succeed to great perfection. Large numbers of trees have been planted of late years, but most of them have failed to grow or have been destroyed again by cattle or on account of neglect. Some old orchards in the neighborhood bring almost yearly good crops of apples, mostly seedlings or of inferior quality, which are turned into cider. To the Gilpin (little Romanite) and the Janeting preference is given for that purpose.

My own orchard covers seven acres of ground on the northern slope of the hill. It was planted in 1850, partly in 1859, with select varieties of apples, some pear and some peach trees. The apple orchard brings full crops of fruit only every alternate year. Without a market of easy access and without railroad connection, summer and early fall apples are of but little value. The late fall and winter apples sell readily for cider-making.

Pear trees do not succeed with me; most of them are already dead, and those that remain have all exhibited signs of disease.

Peaches succeed to great perfection, equally well on the northern as on the southern slope of the hill.

The borer has made its appearance within the last four or five years, and is very destructive to young trees. Wood ashes, which I have applied, appear to delay, but not to cure, its destructive work.

G. C. Eisenmeyer.-Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, etc: The cultivation of these fruits is only to be recommended for family use; the land being better adapted to cereals than to fruit. Of apples, the little Romanite, Pennsylvania red streak, limber twig, big hill and Shiloh pippin, are the best and most profitable varieties. The ground should be plowed 15 inches deep before planting, and trees set on the ridges 20 or 40 feet apart. If they are planted 20 feet apart they will have to be thinned out when they become too thick. They should be planted as shallow as possible and pruned very low. The stem should not be more than 3 to 4 feet high. The old practice of deep planting and long or high stem pruning, is now considered, and really known, to be destructive to successful fruit culture. A great many orchards are ruined by cultivating small grain, such as wheat, oats and barley, which is very ruinous to an orchard; hoe crops and corn are the only things that should be planted among trees for at least the first 5 or 6 years; afterwards you may sow it down in clover for a few years.

The best insect destroyers are a number of hogs turned in your orchard as soon as the trees are large enough to admit of it without injury to the trees.

J. Barber. Of the summer apples which have succeeded best with me, are the red Astracan, red and yellow June, and summer queen.

Fall varieties are principally Rambo and bellflower.

Winter varieties-wine sap, limber twig, Janeting, Ben Davis, Milam, Rhenish May, etc.

Pears have not succeeded on my high land, on account of the blight, but, near me others have succeeded in obtaining a few good good crops on heavy clay subsoil. The peach is my principal market fruit, and I have more of these than all others put together. The varieties which have proved successful are the Troth's early, early Crawford, royal Kensington, large early York, yellow rareripe, late Crawford, old Mixon, smock free, and heath cling. Serrate early York is one of the earliest, but it rots so badly on the tree just at ripening, more especially on old trees, that

it is not worth cultivating. I begin to market the Troth's early and early Crawford, about the 25th of July, closing with the heath cling, near the latter part of September. The three best varieties for market purposes, in the above list, I consider to be the early and late Crawford and heath cling. The best flavored are the royal Kensington, large early York and old Mixon.

I have had quite a number of varieties of the fine (?) cherries, but some of the trees are very tender, and are easily winter-killed, and most of the others which have lived through long enough to bear, rot their fruit at or near ripening. The only variety which has succeeded well is the early Richmond or May.

My ground is prepared for orchards by deep trench plowing and thoroughly pulverizing. Apple trees were planted 40 feet each way (too wide by 7 feet), and alternated with peach, making 20 feet from tree to tree, The peach trees die out by the time the apple trees are large enough to fill the space. Early spring is the best time for planting; if done in the fall, the trees are liable to be lifted by the frost during winter. The orchards are usually cultivated with corn the first two or three years. After the peach trees come into bearing, the only cultivation is by shallow plowing and harrowing twice each season.

The apple trees are pruned mostly in fall and early winter, by thinning out. Shortening in the branches is done in the latter part of July, in order to develop fruit buds. Peach trees are shortened in early September.

Winter apples are gathered just before cold weather, and kept in shallow bins or drawers in a dry cellar. Packing for market is done in barrels, excepting the very earliest, which are often packed in boxes similar to but larger than peach boxes. Peaches are laid in regular tiers in boxes made of slats. Size of box, in inches, 5x8x22 Cherries are sent to market in shallow berry drawers,

The caterpillar and apple tree borer are the greatest insect enemies to the apple tree. Rabbits are also very destructive, girdling whole orchards in the winter, when not protected. I have used soft soap as a preventive. This is also greatly beneficial in destroying larvæ of insects, and gives the bark a healthy and beautifully smooth appearance throughout the succeeding summer. It is not always infallible against the rabbits. Branches of late fall and winter pruning are left beneath the trees, thereby bribing these destructive pests against depredations upon the trunks.

The borer is the greatest enemy to the peach tree. They are cut out with the knife in the spring. There are some few curculio which attack the fruit. They are partially destroyed by turning hogs in the orchards, which eat the fallen fruit, and thereby preventing their propagation.

Sometimes

It is unques

As to value of orchard products, I cannot give precisely the amount. more and sometimes less, according to season, market prices, etc. tionably greater than grain crops. On one peach tree alone, of Heath cling, I realized $30. This is an exception, not a rule.

J. Warder. The cherry has not done well with us, but perhaps we have an indifferent variety. The quince grows here of superior size, also the damson plum. Our best apples for winter are the Spitzenberg and Pryor's red.

Our main fruit is the peach, but the rough roads and distance to market are discouraging. We dry most of the crop.

My plan of a dry house is cheap and may suit persons of small means. It is built of hewed logs, 12 feet square and 7 feet high, the cracks well pointed with lime and sand. Tight floor laid over head, dirt floor below. Stove standing near the center, with door opening towards the door of the dry house, so that wood can be put in

conveniently. The fruit is put on movable shelves, from 4 to 6 feet long, 18 or 20 inches wide, with strips on the bottom, 14 inches wide and of an inch apart; these are arranged all around the house on bearers, about 6 inches between them, and may be taken out to a shed to be filled with fruit and replaced in the dry house at pleasure. Moderate attention to the fire will dry them to a nice brown in twelve hours or less time. Peaches dried with the skin on should be placed skin downward; they will dry quicker and nicer. Apples and other fruits may be dried in

the same manner.

13. SMALL FRUITS.-Grapes, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries: varieties preferred: mode of preparing ground: planting, cultivation, pruning, draining and gathering; value as a farm crop: insects and diseases.

E. Moss.-Grapes, currants, gooseberries, blackberries and Wilson's strawberries all do quite well

M. A. McConnell.-Grapes and currants can be cultivated very successfully. Blackberries, raspberries and strawberries can be grown very profitably in this climate.

H. Pierce.-Concord, Delaware and Hartford prolific are our best grapes. Red Dutch currant and Houghton seedling gooseberry. No blackberries have been tried here, since the Lawton has failed, long enough to speak with certainty. I have a few mammoth Missouri that are all right yet, and they are exposed to the winter. Doolittle's black cap is the best raspberry. Wilson's Albany strawberry for market,

and Smith's buffalo and triomphe de gand for table.

J. Tefft.-Isabella, Clinton, Diana, Hartford prolific, Concord and Catawba are the grapes now under cultivation. The Catawba does not amount to much in this section, and the others need to be covered in winter. Prune any time after first of November to first of March. Currants-white and red and English black. Gooseberries -Houghton's seedling is the variety most in use. Raspberries-a black cap, called by some, Blue Antwerp. These are hardy and produce well. Strawberries-the variety most in use is Wilson's seedling, which succeeds well.

A. Rankin. Have a number of varieties of grapes; but the Concord is the grape for everybody. However, the Hartford prolific, Delaware and Clinton do finely, and a great many others do well some seasons. Have a number of varieties not fruited yet.

Have the common red currant and the Houghton gooseberry. are profitable with very little cultivation and care.

Both do well and

Have several varieties of raspberries. Doolittle's black cap is the best, and is very profitable.

Consider the Wilson the best market

I have a large variety of strawberries. berry; but the Jenny Lind, early scarlet, Shaker's, Triomphe de Gand, and some others are good for the table. Do not think strawberries a paying crop for farmers, except for their own use.

In cultivating and pruning grapes I do not believe any general rules can be adopted; for, while some require high manuring and cultivation, others need the poorest ground to check an overgrowth of unripe wood, mildew, etc. Some bear pruning vere much, others not at all. Some varieties do well in some localities and not in others. I think, too, the soil and locality have their effect on the grapes, as to ripening and so on. The seasons also have their effect, some years one kind will ripen first, the next year some other kind. The same, also, can be said of their

diseases. A man should buy the kinds that generally do the best, and get instructions about planting and pruning from some nurseryman, and notice the effect. At the same time he should exercise his own judgment. All, or nearly all the ground for fruit of any kind should be thoroughly under-drained, as stagnant water soon rots the root.

J. R. Tull.—There is a great deal said about grapes and grape culture within the last few years, and of the great profit atending it, as well as of the great number of new varieties claiming superiority. But it is found some, at least, of the varieties for whom such high merit was claimed, prove for most purposes entirely worthless, while the older sorts are the ones to rely upon. My experience is that the Concord is the best grape, for all purposes, that is cultivated. But for profit, the currant is in advance of the grape. As much wine can be made from an acre of currants, taking one year with another, as from an acre of grapes, and with half the labor. Here, the best article of currant wine is worth $4 per gallon, while the grape is only worth $2. The currant is much the surest crop. It scarcely ever fails, and is not subject to disease like the grape, and its merits only need to be known to be appreciated.

T. Gregg.-Grapes: for market-Delaware, Concord, Hartford prolific and Catawba. For wine-Delaware, Concord, Catawba, Clinton, Norton's Virginia and Ives' seedling have the preference. But a number of other sorts—as Iona, Isabella, Anna, Diana, Rebecca, Cynthiana, Crevelling and several of Roger's hybrids—have been tried with varied success, and many others are now on trial.

Currants-red and white Dutch predominate; cherry has also been planted; black Naples is hardy, prolific and valuable.

Gooseberries-Houghton seedling and American seedling; the former mostly

planted.

Blackberries-Lawton does well with proper care. Raspberries--Doolittle and an ever-bearing black cap (name not known) are much esteemed. All of the suckering varieties are generally discarded. Strawberries-their name is legion; Wilson is most relied on. I have had good returns from McAvoy's superior, Longworth's prolific and necked pine. Have Triomphe, Agriculturist, and a dozen of the newer sorts on trial.

A. O. Hammond.-The Catawba, Concord, Hartford prolific, Delaware, Creveling, Clinton, Norton's Virginia and Ives' scedling are our popular grapes. The white grape, red Dutch and cherry currant, and Houghton gooseberry are most valuable. The Lawton blackberry is losing its popularity, and will probably be superseded by some of the new varieties. Among raspberries, the Doolittle, and among strawberries, the Wilson take precedence. As a farm crop they are not valuable, on account of the attention required in cultivating and training; yet every farmer should have his fruit garden, from which to draw daily supplies for his own table. H. Sodowsky.-About 19 years since I first gave attention to small fruits. I think the Catawba and Isabella are not grapes for this climate, they are too often killed by hard freezing. The Concord is very hardy and will hang on the stakes or trellis all winter, so will the Clinton, and both bear well. The Delaware is a very sweet, small grape. I have 8 or 10 varieties, but think the Concord and Clinton are the grapes for this climate.

In currants, I have the white, cherry, purple and red Dutch, but think the white the finest and sweetest I ever saw. The cherry is a fine large currant, but not so good a bearer as the red Dutch,