234 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



is manifested iu the subject. If tliese localities were properly 

 designated, and then devoted to apple culture, Pennsylvania would, 

 in the course of a few years, become a large shipper of apples, in- 

 stead of consuming the crop at home, as well as thousands of barrels 

 from New York, Ohio, Michigan and other states. 



While in the aggregate there was a falling off of several million 

 bushels in the yield of apples in this State last year, there were 

 some sections where the crop was uncommonly large. This state- 

 ment is true in regard to a number of counties, and jet it was not 

 unusual to find a well-bearing orchard in a district iu which other 

 orchards bore poorly. This was due probably to a difference in time 

 of blossoming, and to protection from frost in the blooming period, 

 owing to different exposure. In visits which we paid to a number 

 of counties, orchards were seen so heavily ladened Avitli fruit that 

 the trees were breaking down. Photographs were taken of some of 

 the fullest trees. One orchard of ten acres in the Shamokin Valley, 

 in the southern portion of Northumberland county, having 400 

 trees in i)rime bearing condition, averaged fifteen bushels to the 

 tree. An orchard on the line of Berks and Lancaster counties 

 yielded nearly 10,000 bushels, and the owner has at this time over 

 6,000 bushels in storage which he is selling in the markets of the 

 city of Eeading at an average of |1.20 per bushel. In this orchard 

 much attention is paid to fertilization, and there is a good crop 

 every year. 



PEARS. 



The pear crop was an abundant one in most sections of the State. 

 The fruit was choice and of excellent flavor. The liartlett, which 

 is undoubtedly the most popular variety in the entire list, and cer- 

 tainly one of the very best for the table, yielded largely. Unfor- 

 tunately, it is an early fall pear and cannot be kept any length of 

 time. Such winter varieties as the Duchess, Kieft'er and Vicar, 

 while large and showy, are not equal to either the Bartlett or Seckel 

 in point of flavor. The Kieffer, of more recent introduction than 

 any of those mentioned, is grown in Pennsylvania to a greater ex- 

 tent than any other pear. This is because of its wonderful produc- 

 tiveness, and its high color around the holiday season, when the 

 fruit has been fully ripened. It is also a variety that is almost 

 storm-proof, the fruit sticking to the branches no matter how much 

 the limbs may be swayed by the wind. It is, however, one of the 

 least desirable of all for eating, being of poor flavor and rough 

 quality; but for cooking and canning purposes it is one of the 

 very best. In the latter respect it has well been termed "the ideal 

 family pear." 



