236 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



lake shore, where we are located, for the reason that everything is kept 

 doimant there a little later. We are perhaps a full week later with the 

 same varieties and under the same general circumstances, than would be 

 the case ten to twenty miles away from the lake. But I think it may 

 safely be stated that, with that exception (the danger of early blooming) 

 these are very promising market varieties. I can not feel safe in saying 

 that I think they are superior to some of our best domestic varieties, or 

 that they are even equal to them; but they are very pleasant in flavor, 

 generally; and more than that, their color and general appearance, and 

 their apparent ability to withstand rot, is quite in their favor as market 

 varieties, and it is my opinion that several, among which I might name 

 Burbank, Mara Chiros, Mono, Red Nagate, and Satsuma, are quite sure 

 to be abundantly productive, and their appearance is such as to render 

 them popular. There is just this difficulty in excess of the same difficulty 

 with others, and that is that just as soon as they are fully ripe they leave 

 the stem upon the branch and drop. They must be picked rather 

 unripe or else picked from the ground. They keep very much better, 

 apparently, than the average domestic varieties, after they are ripe. 



In addition to these, there are quite a large number, not only of the 

 well known varieties but also comparatively new ones, that have borne 

 the past year, and a few that have not vet borne. 



There are a few varieties thnt perhaps I might name, that have come 

 to be quite superior as market varieties, and I will mention one received 

 from western New York as the Kingston, which is a very large plum, 

 somewhat like the Yellow Egg plum, which we all know so well, and of 

 somewhat that form, but of a very dark purple or black. Another com* 

 paratively new variety, a little later than that, is Grand Duke, which has 

 borne a heavy crop for a young tree. Jt has the same general form, but 

 is a little later in season than Kingston, and I apprehend, if they con- 

 tinue as they have begun, that they must prove desirable as market 

 varieties, from their large size, fair quality, and attractive color, besides 

 which they come late in the season, and that in itself will render them 

 very desirable in the market. 



We have from sixty to eighty varieties of pear on the premises, on 

 trial. A few only, perhaps twenty or twenty-five, have borne yet. I 

 find an extreme difficulty with them, in getting them properly pruned. 

 It is impossible for me to do all the pruning myself, with the other things 

 I have to do, and unless I can direct almost every case of cutting I can 

 hardly get them pruned as they should be. Their tendency is to run up 

 very tall, although I aim to branch them close to the ground. Despite 

 this, they run up so high that in that windy climate it is becoming neces- 

 sary to head them back severely. 



There are among them a half dozen or more varieties of the same batch 

 of importations from Europe of which I have already spoken, the Russian 

 varieties. ISIot one of them so far seems to be worth keeping, in com- 

 parison with what we have. They are indifferent in quality, though 

 claimed to be hardy. They are good bearers, but not attractive in 

 appearance, as a rule, and very inferior in quality. One variety, as an 

 illustration of the difficulty we have in making sure of varieties, I 

 received with the name of a common market pear of ours, and it proved 

 to be one of the older European varieties. 



