STATE HORTICULTDRAL SOCIETY. 325 



wrote : " There were some trees in the villas near the city which 

 yielded more profit than a small farm " Thus, in those ancient times 

 the introducers of a new apple were esteemed honorable among their 

 fellows, and their names will go down to remote posterity as bene- 

 factors of their race. 



AMERICAN" APPLES. 



The introduction of the apple into our country dates back to 1629, 

 when seeds brought from England were first planted. On April 3, 

 1632, Governor's island, in Boston harbor, was granted to Gov. Win- 

 throp, on condition that he should plant thereon a vineyard or orch- 

 ard. Many of the first trees grown from seeds in Massachusetts lived 

 to be more than two hundred years old. From this date we find that 

 an effort to raise apples was made by nearly all the pioneers of our 

 country, and their efforts were nearly always crowned with success. 



The oldest orchard iu the West of which I have any knowledge is 

 at St. Joseph, Mich., just across the lake from Chicago. They con- 

 sist of less than a dozen trees on the banks of the St. Joe river. The 

 seeds from which these trees grew were planted by an Indian trader 

 named Burnett, in 1776. The best of these trees, which are now a 

 hundred and nine years old, stand less than two hundred feet from 

 the river, and not more than four feet above its level. They are still 

 productive. 



In Wisconsin apple seeds were among the first things planted. In 

 1839 G. De Neven planted apple seeds near Fond du Lac. They soon 

 came into bearing, survived the severe winters of 1842 and 1856-57, 

 and were bearing large crops when I last saw them, in 1869. 



The success of these seedlings encouraged all to plant apple trees, 

 and that county became famous for its large crops of fine apples. I 

 paid a visit to that locality last fall. Bat very few of the trees set 

 from twenty-five to thirty-five years are left, and they are Duchess, 

 Talman Sweet and Seeknofurther. The best old trees are now on 

 moist land. The Duchess is alive everywhere. 



In stating what our expectations of the future of apple growing in 

 this State are, and what they are based upon, I will say that we 

 must be careful that we interpret correctly the lessons of the past- 

 experience in the history of apple growing in our country and especi- 

 ally of the last 35 years. The lamp of experience is a safe guide if 

 made to reflect the united wisdom of millions of people through hun- 

 dreds of years. 



