32 FIRST FRUITS OF THE LAND. 



largest fruits, proven at all the World's fairs in this coun- 

 try, since at Philadelphia in 1876. Yet larger were the 

 first fruits in the fifties and sixties. A letter from Mr. 

 John Barnard, published in the Oregonian, a few days 

 since, will give some idea of the size of the Gloria Mundi 

 apple, which in those days was not uncommonly 24 to 36 

 ounces in weight. Other apples were accordingly large. 

 I quote : 



In 1856, fifty years ago, there was an apple grown in Benton County, 

 Oregon, purchased by my brother, A. D. Barnard, of Corvallis. He 

 paid $5 for that apple, and had a tin box made for it, and sent to me 

 in Boston by express, the charge being about $3. The variety was 

 ''Gloria Mundi," nearly six inches in diameter, weight 42 ounces. 

 The apple was weighed by Dr. J. R. Card well, the dentist, then vis- 

 iting at Corvallis, who remembers the apple and price paid for it. 

 The next October, 1857, I came to Oregon, went to Corvallis and paid 

 $8 a bushel for Oregon red apples and sold them at $1 a dozen. 



JOHN L. BARNARD. 



To make record of a perhaps original horticultural 

 trick, and the possibilities of the Pound pear, I vouch for 

 the following story, which I know to be true. It was how 

 Mr. J. W. Walling beat the world's record possibly for all 

 time, in the growth of the Pound pear. 



As is evidpnt, Mr. Walling was somewhat original and 

 withal a practical fruit-grower. He in-arched into one 

 body two of our native thorns (Crattegus brevispino) of 

 thrifty growth, planted in a black, loamy soil near a flowing 

 spring. On the top, thus growing in-arched into one body, 

 he grafted the Pound pear. When this tree came into bear- 

 ing, of good size and vigorous growth, he removed all the 

 young pears but two of the largest and most promising. 

 These he suspended in sacks to support an unusual weight. 

 In the dry season of the late summer and fall, a large tub 

 with spigot filled with water to supply just the right mois- 

 ture, was placed over the roots. The result of this pro- 

 ceeding was two enormously large pears, one weighing 



