NORTHERN SPY AGAIN. 213 



some of those grafts, if I can get them." I have spread round 

 too many of them, I am afraid. Some of my neighbors got a 

 tree or two, and they would almost guard them at night, they 

 were so choice. The tree grows thriftily, evenly, makes a pretty 

 head, grows very thick and bushy. I got a few of the grafts. 

 I had a tree that had never developed its fruit, and I thought if 

 I could get some of these grafts to put into it, I should get some 

 fruit. I did so, and at the proper time after grafting, I got the 

 fruit, and it was excellent fruit, splendid fruit ; but it had that 

 defect which the gentleman tells us it has — the apples would 

 rot on the tree. I had apples of that kind which grew until 

 they measured, I think, from ten to twelve inches, and then 

 prematurely ripened on the tree and fell off. But I would give 

 them to my neighbors to taste of, and they would all say, 

 " That is a splendid apple." The tree that I took these grafts 

 from had been standing twelve or fifteen years, and my neighbor 

 who owned it had got vexed with it, and wanted to cut it down. 

 " No," I said, " bear with it," and he did. He has raised some 

 of the fruit, but there is the same difficulty about it. I have 

 given away a good many grafts of the kind, but I think the tree 

 is an unsafe one to raise, though there is no better apple grown, 

 if you can get it ; but there is the difficulty. It has a tender 

 skin, will rot on the tree, and is not what we want. The New 

 York Northern Spy is a different apple. It seems to be born in 

 a different climate, and keeps better. One of my neighbors 

 tasted of it, and gave it great praise. He brought the seeds 

 home, and said, " Be very careful of them ; I want to raise 

 some of the same kind." He knows about as much in regard 

 to raising fruit as a great many other people. I speak of it to 

 caution people against experimenting with this tree. 



Henry K. Oliver, of Salem. Mr. Clement has spoken of 

 the difficulty of cultivating pear trees. I have had but little 

 experience, but the little I have had has not been attended with 

 much difficulty. I moved to Lawrence from Salem in 1849, 

 when the town was rather in the rough. After building a 

 house, my great desire was to make the most of what little 

 garden there was. There was something like five thousand feet 

 of exceedingly sandy land. The soil was so sandy, that it was 

 necessary to cart off a considerable portion, and I carted off, I 

 should think, six or eight inches of the depth of the whole five 



