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The study of Pomology is not strictly vvdthin the range of natural science, 

 and yet in a county so celebrated as is Herefordshire for its apples, and the wine 

 made from them, it is a study of paramount importance. The members of the 

 Woolhope Club have often considered this subject, and in consequence of a con- 

 versation held at the Fungus Foray of 1873, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley sent down 

 grafts of the most esteemed varieties of apples from the gardens of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society of London. These sorts, 95 in number, were distributed 

 among the members of the Club and to the leading nurserymen in the county. In 

 1876 an exhibition of apples was held under the auspices of the Club, and this was 

 repeated very successfully last year. The value and quantity of apples grown in 

 Herefordshire, and of the cider made from them, is but very insufficiently appre- 

 ciated. From official returns condensed in the " Farmer's almanack " of 1877, by 

 Mr. Webb, of Tunstall, it appears that about 4 per cent, of the total acreage of 

 Herefordshire is laid down in orcharding. The total area of the county is 532,898 

 acres, and therefore 21,500 acres is the extent of orcharding. With this basis 

 for calculation it seems possible to arrive at a rough estimate of the value of the 

 apple crop. In these days of cheap and rapid transit, all apples of size and colour 

 meet with a ready sale for edible or culinary purposes. At least one-quarter of 

 the fruit grown is now sold in this way, and called pot fruit : the remaining three- 

 fourths is made into cider. To consider first the cider fruit, at the very low aver- 

 age of 60 bushels of fruit, or three hogsheads to an acre, it will produce 48,375 

 hogsheads, worth, at £2 a hogshead, £96,750. The pot fruit at 60 bushels to the 

 acre, and 3s. a bushel— a very low price — wiU be worth £48,375. It must also be 

 remembered that pot fruit is grown in almost every garden, and this, if estimated 

 at the same value and quantity as that grown in orchards, \vill yield £48,375, and 

 thus we arrive at the large sum of £193,500 — the total value of the apples grown 

 in the county. If then these calculations are correct, the 21,500 acres of orchard- 

 ing in Herefordshire should return, taking one year vidth another, with ordinary 

 care, more than £6 an acre, without reckoning the value of the underneath crop ; 

 we know that it is not uncommon for orchards to return £10 per acre. 



To this day cider is generally made, as it was centuries ago, by the labourers 

 on the farm, with a minimum of care, labour, and superintendence. Most of the 

 details, such as the selection, growth, preparation, and crushing of the fruit seem, 

 in a theoretical view, to be each of them capable of improvement. Almost the 

 first consideration in the culture of the apple is the selection of sorts to the pur- 

 pose for which they are required, whether it be the mill, the kitchen, or dessert. 

 With the view of aiding the grower in making a selection, the Woolhope Club have 

 decided on publishing a Pomona, in which every apple and pear worthy of cultiva- 

 tion for acknowledged good qualities — such as productiveness, hardiness, flavour, 

 sweetness, &c. — will be described, and its outline or coloured representation given. 

 Dr. Hogg, the well-known Pomologist, has kindly offered to edit the work for 

 our Club, and thus the accuracy and care with which it will be produced are 

 amply guaranteed. 



It only remains for me now, gentlemen, in order to carry out literally the 

 8th rule of our Club, to give a brief general summary of the field meetings of the 



