PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 237 



bow tenacious both tree ar.d fruit arc of life; for tbe foliage on 

 this tree is now as full and verdant as it was in August, notwith- 

 standing we have had several very heav}' frosts, in short, that our 

 vegetation is totally destroye d. The foliage of our dahlias has 

 been witliered, black and dead for some two weeks. 



"The trees were imported from Prussia by myself fifteen years 

 ago; they- have borne ever since. No guming or black wart 

 troubles them. The bark on the trees is as smooth as the fruit. 

 Some of the specimens are dried on the tree almost to perfection. 

 The fruit ripens about the 1st of September." 



This tree is easier propagated than the plum, on account of its 



hardiness. And the small quantity of sugar required to preserve 



it, makes it a valual)le family fruit. The tree is propagated from 



the seed, or sprouts, as they will not bear the knife. If grr.ffced 



on the plum stalk, the tree sheds it foilage early in August, and 



its fruit does not ripen. 



Adjourned. 



Odoher 23, 186G. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair ; John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



DucHESSE d'Angouleme Pears. 



Mr. J. C. Parsons, Vineland, New Jersey, exhibited a pear of 

 this variety weighing 23| ounces. It was grown upon a dwarf 

 tree which had l^een planted out two years, and was two years old 

 when planted. 



Its cultivation lias been only that given to potatoes among which 

 it grew. Quite a number of pears grew upon the same ground 

 that weighed sixteen to eighteen ounces. 



Apples — The Old Question Eevived — Apples Half Saveet 

 AND Half Sour. 



Mr. John G. Bergen revived the oft exploded notion that apples 

 can be grown at the will of the cultivatar, so as to be partly sour 

 and partly sweet. Such had been lately exhibited to him by Mr. 

 Kimball, of Brooklyn, which he said grew upon a tree in Coimec- 

 ticut, and that the origin of the sort was the uniting of two buds, 

 one sour and the other sweet, which beino; inserted in a stock orew 

 into a tree which produced these hybrid apples. 



Mr. R. J. Dodge contended that such an origin was an utter 

 impossibility; that such dissecting of buds would destroy the life* 



