22 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



seedling apple trees. The fruit is valuable for dessert purposes, for cook- 

 ing and preserving, for jellies, and for cider and vinegar. The green fruit 

 can also be recommended to make doctors' bills. 



Pomona: What fruit next presents itself '? 



Pecir: The pear, full sister of the apple, whose history ours much 

 resembles. More than two thousand years ago we were grown by the 

 Eomans, but were so coarse and harsh that Pliny says: "All pears are 

 but heavy meat unless they are baked or boiled." 



Pomona: How have you been improved? 



Pear : Partly by selection, but many varieties are due to Andrew Knight, 

 of England, and others, who practiced crossing. The pear is naturally of 

 longer life than the aj^ple, but the period is usually shortened by blight 

 and neglect. It is one of the most luscious dessert fruits and has no equal 

 for preserving. Pear trees are often budded upon quince stocks to hasten 

 their bearing period and improve their quality. 



Pomona: The peach, of the stone fruits, comes next. 



Peach : If not sisters we can claim to be first-cousins to the apple. The 

 peach is a native of Asia, and occupied the same jDlace in Chinese mythology 

 that the apple did with the Greeks and Romans. At one time it was 

 thought to be poisonous. Most of the varieties are selected seedlings, but 

 we owe many of them to the labors of Mr. Rivers, who spent a lifetime in 

 improving the peach by crossing and hybridizing. It is propagated by 

 budding upon seedling stocks. Much has been written about the red- 

 cheeked fruit, and many consider it the most luscious of all fruits. 



Pomona: From whence has come the plum? 



Plum: Most of the varieties in cultivation, are thought to be derived 

 from the bitter sloe of Europe. Many American varieties are now being 

 introduced, but those derived from the wild Chickasaw plums are not pro- 

 ductive at the north. Plum stocks are generally used for the European, but 

 the American varieties are often budded upon peach stocks. Plums are 

 not only valuable for dessert and cooking purposes, but many kinds are dried 

 and sold under the name of prunes. 



Pomona : What can you tell me about the cherry ? 

 . Cherry : Our varieties have been derived from European species. They 

 were first introduced among the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, and men- 

 tion is made of eight varieties grown by them. The Heart cherries are large 

 and sweet, but are not quite hardy enough to withstand our severe winters. 

 The Kentish and Duke varieties generally siicceed better. Some species 

 grow to a large size and furnish valuable timber. Cherry trees are prop- 

 agated by budding upon cherry stocks. Their symmetrical forms, and beauty 

 both in blossom and fruit, make them desirable ornaments, while their 

 fruit is valuable for dessert and cooking. 



Pomona: What other fruits are found in the Rose family? 



Sirawberr/j : The strawberry although placed among the small fruits, 

 can not be denied a high rank in the sisterhood. The earliest of them all 

 to ripen, it ushers in the fruit season, and the work is then taken up by 

 other varieties. Derived for the most part from the common wild straw- 

 berry, the cultivation has greatly increased, until now poor indeed must be 

 the man who is not able to raise strawberries — with a spoon. Since the 

 time of Hovey's Seedling, thousands of varieties have been introduced, but 

 few of them have survived the test of time. This most delicious and most 



