150 Aiiiericnn HorticuUnral Society. 



tion on account of ilicir fruilfulncss, and particularly on account of their 

 superior quality. Thtte berries when grown here have a beautiful appear- 

 ance, a rich, fruity Haver, and reniarkalile solidity, all of which make them 

 very desirable for table fruit, for preserving and for shipment. Riisitberries 

 here may be considered a sure crop, an they do not bloom until the time for 

 spring frost has passed, and the winters are never so severe as to kill the 

 canes. There is here a remarkable absence of nearly all the known fruit 

 diseases and pests, the only one of any serious consequence being the codling 

 moth, and even that in very limited quantity. 



All the fruits grown here are of excoUont quality, being distinguished 

 by their beauty of color and form, their rich flavor and go(xl keeping qual- 

 ities. The Bartlett pear is here a prolific and almost sure bearer of large^ 

 fine fruit, but amongst these good fruits the apple, the king of all fruit, as- 

 serts its royal prerogative and stands up prei-minent above them all, and 

 allows us to form some idea of the reason why our first parents were willing 

 t<» forfeit their title to the Garden of E<len. 



The best way, perhaps, to describe the merits of this noble fruit when 

 grown on the eastern slope of the Sierras is, to state that, in the World's Ex- 

 position, at New Orleans, in 1885 and 1886, for apples Nevada was given 

 first premium for eight varieties, " first degree of merit" and "second best 

 display." also " best exhibit of dried fruit." 



Now, I know that those apples were grown without any idea of exhibi- 

 tion (as I raised most of them myself), and were selected without any par- 

 ticular care, besides were carried a long distiince without ice, and afterward 

 remained in a hot climate about three months before being judged. From 

 this an idea can be formed of what they are in their chosen home. 



Many kinds of apjiles when grown here are so changed in their general 

 character that it is very difficult to recognize them, those only with the 

 most strongly marked characteristics retaining their individuality, and even 

 they get some addition to their beauty ; for instance, the Greening and New- 

 town Pijipin are frequently red-cheeked, the Spitzenberg deep purple, in- 

 clining to black on the side next the sun, and the Bellflower pink on yellow- 

 ground. 



Whether the beautiful color and fine quality of all the fruit grown here 

 is attributable to the soil, which is generally a black sandy loam, rich in 

 potash, ammonia and iron, to the rare atmosphere at an altitude of about 

 5,000 feet, to the long, mellow ripening season that always prevails, or to a 

 combination of all of these, I do not pretend to say. 



I have before mentioned the great impediment to extensive fruit-grow- 

 ing in this part of Nevada — late spring frosts — and to show that this thermal 

 belt that I have endeavored to describe is reasonably free from their injuri- 

 ous eflfects, I will instance my own experience in fruit culture on a part of 

 this belt, perhaps as favorably situated as any, but not exceptionally so; in 

 the past twenty-five years I have had twenty-one full crops and four failures, 

 none of these failures being total, and previous and up to the past year I 

 have had ten full crops in succession. 



