NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



95 



A new winter apple, called the " Wag- 

 ener Apple," has received a premium from 

 the society, and is recommended for culti- 

 vation, as a variety "remarkable for its 

 agreeable taste and flavor." It originated 

 near Penn Yan, Yates county, N. Y. 



From the discussions at the various meet- 

 ings of the society, we extract some iate- 

 resting remarks, which afford good evidence 

 of the adaptation of central and western 

 New-York iox jruit growings and the pro- 

 fits of this species of cultivation. 



" Mr. Pardee, from Wayne, gave lucid details 

 of the fruit trade in the county fro-n which he came. 

 Somethintr like 50,000 barrels of apples had been 

 shipped from Palmyra, and there was a large sec- 

 tion of the county which found its place of export 

 in other villages on the canal ; such as Newark, 

 Lyons, Clyde. The average net profit on the cul- 

 tivation of fruit he estimated at from $100 to $150 

 per acre. 



In addition to the trade in green fruit, over 

 10,000 barrels of dried apples had been purchased 

 by the dealers in Palmyra during the winter. The 

 fruit in many varieties was much larger and finer 

 than those in the vicinity of the North River. 



The growing of peaches and plums was also a 

 large item. At the same time that the dried apples 

 had been an article of purchase, nearly 1000 bush- 

 els of dried peaches had been bought. He had in 

 his own experience noticed that the overloaded tree 

 was always the bearer of but indifferent fruit. — 

 The influence of the winds on Lake Ontario soft- 

 ened the climate and kept oft' the frost, and he could 

 not but characterise Wayne County as one of the 

 first for fruit in the State. The Virgalieu [Doy- 

 enne] pear attains to great richness, and a size 

 much larger than any he had seen in the markets of 

 New- York. It grows well, and the yield is abun- 

 dant. The Catawba and Isabella grape are very 

 superior." 



"Mr. Johnson said from a statement received 

 from Oneida County, he had learned several inte 

 resting statistics of the trade in apples. A part of 

 four towns only, out of many in that county, had 

 shipped the present season 18,000 barrels, at a price 

 varying from 62^ cts. to $!. In one orchard, 

 planted with cultivated fruits, of about six acres, 

 there had been sent in 1845, 1000 barrels to market, 

 for which had been realized $1000 ; in 1846 ihe re- 

 turns were not so large, but in 1847, the crop was 

 again large, about 1000 barrels, which gave from 

 six acr' s about $1000, a larger income than could 

 be realized from any grain crop. Another gentle- 

 man had one Virgalieu pear tree from which he 

 sold fruit in 1847, to the amount of $50. In Or- 

 leans county he had been told that the fruit trade 

 had become one of the most profitable sources of 

 revenue to the farmers ; they shipped their fruit, 

 and it became an object there, as it should be 

 everywhere, to select fruit of that character which 



should command the highest price in market. They 

 begin to understand that it costs less to raise good 

 fruit than bad. One dollar a barrel [in the interior 

 of the State] in the field, for the home market, is 

 a good evidence of its value. When he was abroad, 

 in London, he had seen apples in Covent Garden 

 Market, very handsomely arranged under a glass 

 case, and labelled " American Newtown Pippins." 

 and when he desired to taste them, he found that the 

 price of each was 6d. stg ! It is not alone with flour 

 and beef and pork that we supply England, but 

 there is not in all England such apples as ours. 

 American apples are set before their friends on all 

 occasions, by distinguished families on all great 

 occasions. A market is also opening to us in the 

 West Indies, which will require large supplies. 

 The New-England States must look to us in a 

 measure, for their supply of fruit. The Southern 

 and Western. States buy largely ; there markets are 

 open to our farmers, and the growth of fruit, of 

 good fruit, deserves their best attention. The 

 Western States are competing with us fearfully for 

 the grain market, and it needs but our attention to 

 have the flag of the Empire State waive triumphant- 

 ly over the fruit culture. New- York, is probably, as 

 a whole, the best fruit growing region in the world. 

 It is all important for those who send their ap- 

 ples to market to have them properly packed. 

 The apples from the Pelham farm sell for $6 a bar- 

 rel in New-York, while Western fruit of equally 

 good flavor, of the same varieties, frequently does 

 not command over $2 ; this arises from the charac- 

 ter M'hich has been given to apples packed by Mr. 

 Pell. Purchasers know what they buy, and if our 

 cultivators of choice apples would take the same 

 care, and have their barrels branded with their 

 name, they would receive a like return, on the char- 

 acter of their brand being established." 



It would be easy to occupy many pages 

 of this journal with valuable extracts from 

 this volume of Transactions. But such of 

 our readers as are most interested in the 

 subjects embraced within its scope, will 

 doubtless find access to the work itself. 



After bestowing most cheerfully this well- 

 earned praise upon the printed " Transac- 

 tions" of the state society, we can scarcely 

 leave the subject without saying a few 

 words about one of its most important 

 transactions which is annually acted, not 

 printed — we mean the great fairs or exhi- 

 bitions held, for some years past, in Sep- 

 tember. 



The great agricultural wealth and re- 

 sources of the "Empire State," as New- 

 York is often termed, brings to these an- 

 nual fairs great numbers of persons from 



