312 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ing to the firmness o£ the skin, the texture of the flesh, 

 and the natural activity of the juices. Thus some varieties 

 of the pear will ripen at a low temperature and in a com- 

 paratively dry atmosphere, while others are improved by a 

 warm and humid air. Some varieties of the pear ripening 

 with difficulty, and formerly esteemed only second-rate, are 

 now pronounced of excellent quality, because the art of 

 maturing them is better understood. Great improvement 

 has taken place in the handling, packing, and preservation of 

 fruits ; so that tliey are delivered in perfect condition from 

 disi ant places, every class of fruit having its suitable style of 

 package. This remark also applies to the packing of trees 

 for foreign countries ; so that trees shipped by Ellwanger & 

 Barry, Rochester, N.Y., to Australia, after one hundred and 

 fifty-three days, arrived in good condition. So well is the art 

 of keeping grapes now understood, that we have the Concord 

 from Fitchburg and other towns in that vicinity, and from 

 New Hampshire, in such fine order as to command twent}^- 

 five cents per pound in December and January. 



The pear-tree blight has been more prevalent in several 

 localities around Boston, for the last two years, than ever 

 before, and we are as much in the dark as to the cause and 

 remedy as are others ; but we trust, that, like former visita- 

 tions of this malady, it will prove only temporary. In some 

 instances the apple has been affected in the same manner. 



In closing this Report I beg to state that the importance 

 of the fruit-crop of Massachusetts has not been fully appreci- 

 ated. Of the apple alone the returns of 1874 gave us 3,252,- 

 057 bushels, valued at $1,450,252 ; Worcester County having 

 produced in the same year 933,013 bushels, valued at $380,- 

 000. Similar results have been realized in other sections of 

 the State, not only with the apple, but with other fruits. 



When we reflect on what Massachusetts has done for the 

 cause of American pomology in the last half-century, I think 

 we should feel well satisfied. We would not claim for her any 

 undue share of merit ; but if the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society had done nothing more than to introduce and dis- 

 seminate the Bartlett pear (although of foreign origin), if 

 she had done no more than to produce from her rocky soil 

 the Baldwin, Roxbury Russet, Williams, and Hubbardston 

 Nonesuch apples, the Concord grape, and last, not least, the 



