STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 127 



^ere spread upon ample tables in tlie grove, and we were in- 

 Tited to partake of an elegant horticultural dinner. It was one 

 of tlie best meetings of the kind we ever attended and we are 

 pleased to add that this society promises to accomj)lish a good 

 work in that locality. 



Our next visit was made at Excelsior August 7th, a place that 

 has gained considerable notoriety for the large quantity of very 

 superior small fruits and grapes grown there, and for being the 

 place where the State Experimental Fruit Farm is located. "We 

 went through several vineyards and found the grape crop a large 

 one and the fruit very fine, the Delaware and Concord taking 

 the lead in the varieties under cultivation. 



THE STATE FRUIT FARM. 



On r obj ecti ve point was the State Experimental Fruit Farm . We 

 found Mr. P. M. Gideon, the superintendent, at home and ready 

 to conduct us through the orchards and nurseries and to explain 

 everything for us. He has so often explained his method of 

 conducting experiments that it is needless for us to repeat it. 

 We found in the orchard, which apparently has been set six or 

 seven years, and from that time down to the present season, :i 

 considerable variety of apples of his own origination, intermin- 

 gled with dead and dying varieties that had been set forjthe pur- 

 pose of fertilizing and crossing the fruit for said purposes. The 

 living trees are evidently crosses between Duchess, Wealthy 

 and varieties of the Siberian species. Many of the trees were 

 bending down under the weight of fruit; some of the fruit was of 

 fair size and very beautiful to look at. The season was hardly 

 enough advanced to judge of the quality of several of the varie- 

 ties. Taking the Duchess of Oldenburg as a standard for hard- 

 iness, many of the trees are exceedingly hardy, and some five or 

 six of them may occupy an important place in our lists of varie- 

 ties for trying situations. Varieties named August and Septem- 

 ber are profuse bearers, of a good, medium-size fruit, of excellent 

 quality for cooking and drying. The Gideon is an apple of good ' 

 appearance and one of the latest keepers; tree productive and 

 apparently hardy, but in this locality subject to blight. Some 

 seedling trees, fruiting for the first time, look very promising 

 and may prove longer keepers. It may be well to add here that 

 the first fruiting of a seedling is not always a safe criterion of its 

 ^worth; fruit frequently improves in flavor, size and keeping 



