34 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



cases or on different varieties — hence the difficulties surrounding the case. 

 No book I have ever read affords the required information or covers^the 

 ground that will enable the novice to go forward intelligently in the per- 

 formance of such work, hence the importance of a home experimental sta- 

 tion, where all such work can be done and the results observed. At the 

 age of fifteen years, following the outline of some reading on this subject, 

 some experimental work was done in this line which afforded lessons never 

 to be forgotten. They yet stand as monuments of the folly of the boy. It 

 was a grand object lesson for me, but came near bringing death to the 

 trees. The country is filled with unsightly objects that either have never 

 been pruned at all, or, if so, have been neglected until the cutting away of 

 large limbs here and there has left the tree only a fit subject for disease 

 and premature death. Nothing need be said further on the subject, save 

 the fact that different trees require different principles of pruning. To 

 illustrate, standard pears need none and should have none, save cutting out 

 interlocking limbs and suckers, while dwarf i^ears should have from one- 

 half to two thirds the annual growth of young wood removed, if satisfac- 

 tory results be attained; and so we might go through the whole list of 

 different sorts, to do which would fill a book; and we will simply add, all 

 trees and small fruits, to produce the best results, require annual attention 

 — the removal of unnecessary wood and cutting back the previous year's 

 growth, when required to give good fruit of the best quality. 



My attention was called a few weeks since to two orchards of apple, 

 planted some ten or twelve years ago on land of precisely the same quality 

 and divided only by a highway. One has produced three crops, one of 

 them being an average of two barrels to the tree. The other has never 

 yet made a single barrel of apples. The one has been under annual cul- 

 tivation, has been fed and pruned. The other has cared for itself, like 

 thousands through the country. 



We are living in a period of the nineteenth century when success demands 

 interest, thought, word, and deed. 'Life is too short and time too import- 

 ant a factor in the affairs of the world, to accept of anything short of 

 electric speed in the conduct of our business. Therefore, the importance 

 of making no mistake that shall involve delay and prevent our being among 

 those that get into the front ranks in this most honorable and elevating 

 of all professions. 



So much has been said or written on the very great importance attached 

 to this question of picking, handling, and packing, which so often settles 

 the question of selling at a profit or loss, that I am sure no reference needs 

 be made to this subject. 



A WOED ABOUT VARIETIES. 



As the question of varieties is a matter of so much importance, and I 

 have been especially asked to say something on this point, I will simply 

 refer to those fruits in which I am especially interested, leaving the ques- 

 tion of peaches to those who I assume ought to be far better posted than 

 I am. The varieties of pear grown for market purposes here has, during 

 the past twenty years, notwithstanding the large number of new sorts 

 introduced, been greatly reduced, so that to-day Bartlett, Clapp, Howell, 

 Angouleme, and Kieff'er compose probably three fourths of all pears grown 

 largely for market in western New York. As for cherries, we find Mont- 

 morenci, English Morello, Napoleon, and Windsor by far the most profit- 



