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Springfield July 29th 56
Mr Charles Kennicott
Dear Sir, I suppose you have plenty of Strawberry Plants for sale notwithstanding the hard witner; we would like a thousand, 500 of the Necked Pine & 500 of the Large Carly Scarlet; you are at liberty to fill out the thousand with others if you do not happen to have these though we would prefer the two varieties I have named. The winter did not serve us as bad as I expected it would, it is true it killed nearly all our Peach Tree root & branch, with the exception of those we got of you last Fall which were heeled in & set out in the Spring and are now growing very well though we have had a very[underlined] dry season, the Plum Trees were nearly all killed to the ground, but are growing finely above the graft; our Apple Orchards stand well; out of one Orchard of 250 Trees, but 14 were killed & some of them are growing finely above the graft; a number of others are injured in the Trunk, but the growth is thrown to the sound side, & with but very few exceptions they look a though nothing had happened to them. another orchard of about half the number of Trees, (which were raised by ourselves) has suffered more severely. The Trees in the first Orchard I have named, were raised in Louisville Ky, with the exception of a few which were raised by Ellwanger & Barry, there appears to be no difference in the hardiness of the Trees, & I am strongly of the opinion that
that[strikethrough] a single season will so acclimate foreign Trees that they are upon an equal footing with native ones, at least it has proved so in the course of my experience. The Sweet Apple Trees suffered the most, nearly every one being killed. The Baldwin suffered some, about half are badly injured though but two are dead; the Northern Spy are injured in the Trunk, but still are growing finely, not one out of 32 being killed; the American Golden Russitt appears to be injured some, but none killed, the Green Newtown Peppin, Esopus Spitzenburg. Prior's Red. & Peck's Pleasant, of which we have a great many Trees of each are but slightly injured; the Herefordshire Learmain appears to be the hardiest variety we have, not one out of a dozen appears to having having[strikethrough] sustained the least injury. Our Dwarf Pears were killed to the ground, (with but one exception) but are growing finely. I fear your Catalogue of injuries is more extensive. Write to me on the receipt of this, if you please, & if you are not to busy give me an extended account of your losses; we have had a fine rain within a few days which encourages me to hope for more, so as to give us a fine opportunity for making a Strawberry bed. Send the plants when you think it is time to set them out; suppose it is too early at present, though the ground is in fine condition.
Yours &c L.C. Francis