MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOQICAL SOCIETY. 27 



bnt few of the apples of New England flourisli in New Jersey 

 or Pennsylvania; while it is also certain that there are species 

 in Western New York, under the lee of the lakes, which suc- 

 ceed well in Western Michigan under the protective influences 

 of our inland seas. 



TOO MANY VARIETIES. 



So that it is true, as I have said, that the misfortune with 

 which we are most afflicted is the misfortune of too many 

 kinds. We are smothered, overburdened, crushed, with apples, 

 such as they are! Practical men need to go to pruning with 

 the axe. Let the amateur have all he wants, but let the pom- 

 ologists, who have homes, schools, and churches to provide 

 for, get down to business ! With peaches we are doing better, 

 — we have a repertoire, a system, and a nomenclature. 



There are three kinds of peaches — the Early Hale and the 

 two Orawfords — that are bound to add thousands of dollars 

 to the productive wealth of the fruit belt. What if, ten or 

 fifteen years ago, our peach orchards could have been planted 

 with those kinds ? Men who are toiling could now have lived 

 at their ease with their Crawfords. " Yes," say this and that 

 neighbor, "it would have been dollars in our pockets, and 

 wealth to these counties and towns." But six hundred different 

 kinds of peaches are recommended, and we have only three 

 leading varieties, — not over six at most, — and are doing well. 

 Let the amateur have his six hundred kinds, and we will stick 

 to the three kinds, and have orchards. We cannot all be 

 amateurs. Here is the lesson the peach teaches the apple. 

 We want this system introduced into our apple-culture, — we 

 want our six kinds of best market varieties. 



DECLINE OF ORCHARD CROPS IN OHIO. 



In Ohio they are talking about the decline of orchard crops. 

 The apple crops in Ohio and the adjoining States have very 

 materially declined, in quantity and quality, for some years 

 past, especially where the orchards are in considerable age, 



