STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 347 



growing, the fruit rots. In many orchards, after twenty-two or twenty- 

 three years, many of the trees, from some unknown cause, die. No 

 orchard, and no known tree of thirty years' growth, provided it has had 

 reasonable cuhivation, produces healthy fruit after tliat age. 



The soil in our county is varied. The swells and hills are generally 

 a warm friable clay, containing considerable oxide of iron, as indicated 

 by a strong reddish color. The more level lands, in many localities, have 

 a whitish appearance, and are composed of soil in a state of very fine 

 comminution. The former appears to be the best adapted to fruit of any 

 kind, and on it young apple orchards are very fruitful and healthy. We 

 produce some magnificent fruit, not to be excelled anywhere in the 

 country, either in color, size, or flavor. The Ben Davis or New York 

 Pippin thrives here, and is of much better quality than is customary with 

 that apple. The Yellow BcUflower, although I observe you have 

 dropped it from the list of reliable apples, does handsomely here with us, 

 and young trees bear heavy crops of splendid specimens. The Rome 

 Beauty also is superior. 



LIVINGSTON COUNTY. 



BY L. BANCROFT. 



The oldest orchards in this county that I know, are two of seedling 

 apples, planted in the year 1832 by Uriah Blue and Garret Blue. 



Uriah Blue planted thirty trees in the town of Owego, in timber 

 land, protected by timber on the south and sotithwest. In 1S33 this 

 orchard passed into the possession of David Rockwood. 



In 1835 ^^- ^' pliii^ted fifty trees of grafted fruit of several varieties. 

 Among them were Domine, Greening, and Ram bo. The ground was 

 well cultivated ; they came into bearing quite young, and most of them 

 pro\ed to be annual bearers of good fruit. In 1854 he gathered fifteen 

 bushels of large, fine fruit from each of his Greening trees. In the terribly 

 cold winter of 1855-56 nearly all of his grafted trees split from the 

 ground to the limbs, leaving a few trees of the Domine and Rambo, 

 which still remain standing, and produce moderate crops of apples. 



Of the fifty planted by Mr. Blue, forty remain, and produce good 

 crops every second year of rather an inferior quality. He continued to 

 plant, and fill vacancies with seedlings, thinking it of no use to plant 

 grafts. He thinks that protection on the south and southwest is neces- 

 sary. 



In 1834 Garret Blue planted 200 seedling apple trees, in the town of 

 Pontiac, on timber land, surrounded on all sides by belts of timber. 

 Nearly all of the trees lived and grew well, and came into bearing in 

 eight or nine years. 



The ground was planted to corn annually, until the trees came into 

 bearing, when it was seeded to grass and pastured. In 1850 it passed 

 into the possession of Pliram Young. Mr. Y. says the orchard has 

 borne regularly, and that the most of the fruit is as good as grafted fruit, 



