U. S. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 431 



seen more healthy and vigorous plants of these fruits. While it is not the 

 purpose of the management to grow berries except as a means of furnish- 

 ing steady employment to the farm hands, there is a good profit in their 

 culture. A cannery has been built on the farm, and when there was little 

 profit in shipping the fresh fruit to market, which is principally Kansas 

 City, Mo., and Memphis. Tenn., it was canned at home and sent to market 

 as occasion required. The Hopkins has here proved the best of the black 

 raspberries, as it is not only very early but exceedingly productive. Among 

 blackberries the Snyder, Taylor, and Ancient Briton have given better 

 returns at Olden than all others. 



A few acres are set to pears, and although the trees are young and con- 

 sequently small and the blight had made inroads, there was a fair crop. 

 Bartlett had paid the best. 



There are now about 500 acres set to apples, and the trees being only 

 from one to six years old, the crop was light, but many of them were loaded 

 with large and handsome fruit. Ben Davis is the favorite market variety, 

 but Jonathan and Minkler are also highly prized. 



The <5hief crop at Olden this year consisted of peaches. At the time of 

 my visit (August 14) about 25,000 bushels had. been gathered, and there 

 were about 25,000 bushels yet on the trees. There were nearly 400 acres 

 in bearing. It has rarely been my privilege to see specimens so large and 

 handsome or to taste any so richly flavored as those produced here. 

 The whole crop averaged remarkably high in all these characteristics. 

 There were scarcely any culls or second-grade fruit, owing partly to a 

 thorough thinning when the fruit was about half grown. The quality was 

 also improved by this method. The price obtained was 50 cents per bushel 

 for everything sound and over 1^ inches in diameter, delivered in half- 

 bushel picking-baskets at the packing shed. This practically included the 

 entire crop, for only a few chance seedlings and windfalls were excluded. 

 These and any that were too soft to be shipped were saved by the cannery, 

 which stands within a few rods of the packing house and near the rail- 

 way station on the farm. The seeds of such were also saved and the 

 parings fed to hogs, so that really nothing was lost. Enough picking- 

 baskets were on hand to allow packing to be done directly from them 

 without delay or rehandling. The very early varieties, such as Amsden 

 and Alexander, had been planted in a small way only, and that by mistake, 

 and were not gathered, as they were considered too poor either to send 

 to market or to can. 



The St. John was the first to go to market, and Mountain Rose soon 

 followed. Family Favorite was one of the next to ripen, and gave most 

 satisfactory returns. The Mrs. Brett and Susquehanna were handsome 

 and of good quality, but were scant producers and not considered worthy 

 except for amateur cultivation. Elberta was in full bearing during my 

 visit, and in every respect stood about best. It is rather above medium in 

 size, oval in shape, of a rich lemon-yellow, with enough blush to make it 

 showy, and is of most excellent flavor. It bears well and ships well. Alto- 

 gether, no peach before the public has more good points and scarcely any 

 other is so thoroughly reliable in almost every way. 



Another of the very profitable varieties is Gold Dust, a yellow cling of 

 medium size, round and regular in shape, and very firm in flesh. The 

 color is very attractive, being dark yellow with a very red cheek. It bears 

 heavily and carries to market with very little damage. Coming as it does 

 before the main peach crop is gathered, it is about the first yellow cling of 



