150 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



oughlj the first season and got two years' vigorous growth, and the next 

 year a good crop of berries. Then I rented my place for a year and a half, 

 and when I came back this spring I found this patch largely grown up to 

 sprouts and the canes weakened. They had not made the growth 1 

 expected with the care I had spent on them previously. I inferred the 

 sprouts had sapped the roots and that they needed enriching and culti- 

 vating thoroughly. We took out the extra growth of canes and gave 

 them away, hundreds of them. We cultivated every week, both ways; 

 cut the canes down to four or five in a hill and kept the growth closely 

 in the hill. The cultivating lightens up and aerates the soil and keeps 

 down other growth. I only had one third of a crop, compared to last 

 year's yield. This year I gathered about 300 quarts of fine fruit, sold 

 more than half, getting not less than ten cents per quart; and after the 

 first higher-priced quarts were sold people came right to me for their 

 fruit, and I had hard work to save what I needed foi my own use. With 

 proper care in pruning and cultivating, I feel sure of good crops in the 

 future of this delicious, wholesome fruit, for canning and other use; and 

 for its easy culture and handling I heartily recommend it to my sister- 

 growers who are seeking, like myself, health, strength and pleasure in 

 garden work. 



PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF FRUITGROWING. 



BY MR. S. D. WILLARD OF GENEVA, N. Y. 



In the early settlement of the country which constitutes our homes, 

 wheat-growing was the principal industry. Wheat, wool, and clover 

 were the products that enabled our forefathers to pay for many homes; 

 but those keen, descerning descendants of the New Englanders were not 

 slow to discover that the fertile lands, unsurpassed for the purpose then 

 used, also possessed capabilities for growing such fruits as were required 

 to meet their growing wants. Perhaps the old Indian orchards, of which 

 there were more or less in western New York, may have given an inspira- 

 tion to the work. Hence, we find at an early day fruitgrowing received 

 the impetus that quickly made it a leading feature in farming, while con- 

 tributing in an essential degree to the comfort and health of the pioneers 

 of those early days. They were not slow to perceive that the soil, so finely 

 fitted for agriculture in its broadest sense, also was peculiarly adapted to 

 producing in the greatest perfection all of the then known fruits grown 

 in the remote regions of Europe. Seeds, scions, and plants began to be 

 imported, and plantings began with reference to production for commer- 

 cial purposes. 



On the banks of one of the little lakes of western New York is yet 

 standing the remains of one of those early orchards, the stock of which 

 was brought into this country about 1812 by a Frenchman, composed of 

 varieties of the most improved character then known. True, it was 

 limited in size, covering only three or four acres, but of great value as an 

 object lesson. It was the admiration of all, and well known for many 

 miles in every direction. It was a source of great happiness to the 



