TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 235 



arnved at such size that they are bearing quite freely. I think, with an 

 exception or two, they have proved to be most admirable growers and are 

 very much superior to our Morellos, and generally they are very late; and 

 notwithstanding that, so far as I have observed, they are not much sub- 

 ject to the attack of worms, and consequently promise to be of consider- 

 able value. They are quite acid, to be sure, but good for canning. It 

 strikes me, from the experience we have had so far, that several may be 

 quite desirable in place of some that have been very popular. 



Quite a large number of varieties of sweet cherry are also on trial there 

 and perhaps 1 might as well say, as some of you know, I have a great pref- 

 er(!nce for what we may call low-branching of trees, and more especially 

 so at the lake shore, where we have very high winds, and everything, 

 whether cherries, apples, pears, plums, or peaches, are branched quite 

 low compared with the general practice of the country. 



The collection of cherries embraces quite a number of the Dukes 

 as well as the Morellos, and nearly all the varieties planted, with the 

 exception of a few are now bearing more or less, and it would perhaps 

 be premature for me to say which are better and which poorer, but 

 they will be classified in the report, when it shall come out, in such a 

 manner that every one can form some estimate, from the results given 

 there, as to which are likely to be most productive, and also something 

 of their character. 



In the case of peaches, they were the first fruit taken off this year, 

 with the idea of making a description of each variety. The first item 

 of description has generally been their season of ripening; the next, their 

 weight; then a description of the form, of the color, and of the quality, 

 expressing the quality and also the weight in figures, the weight being in 

 ounces, the quality on a scale of one to ten, one being the highest, ten the 

 lowest. That is adopted because that is the common scale, generally 

 used in cases where a scale is deemed desirable. In the case of descrip- 

 tions transferred from the books, a scale of one to five is almost a neces- 

 sity, for the reason that it translates the original mode of expression so 

 much better. In the case of peaches, as I said, there must be about 200 

 varieties on the place, and perhaps 150 have borne this year, enough so 

 that we have had descriptions of them. 



In plums, there are some dozen or fifteen varieties of the Oriental or 

 Japanese plum, and perhaps fifteen or twenty varieties of the Americana 

 (that is, our wild western plum) that have been picked up for use in the 

 region west of the Mississippi and also in Wisconsin, where our domestic 

 varieties are not successful. The Oriental varieties, nearly all of them, 

 have borne this year, all except one or two, and they have proven them- 

 selves to be, so far, enormous bearers, so much so that it has been neces- 

 sary to thin them severely, and even after that, to relieve them to pre- 

 vent their being broken down. This is not true of every variety. One, 

 the Yosebe, was ripe this year on the 13th of July, fully ripe, and they 

 drop about as soon as they are ripe. But this is a comparatively thin 

 bearer; is of tolerable but not of the highest quality, but so early that it 

 may be desirable where people want something out of season. But with 

 the exception of that and perhaps one other, all of the Japanese varieties 

 have been exceedingly productive. It is claimed, and I think it is true, 

 that their tendency to bloom very early may make them a little more 

 uncertain in our climate, but that is not so much an objection near the 



