296 JVotcs and Gleanings. 



of native grapes to the producer was ten dollars per hundred pounds in Septem- 

 ber last. Day by day dealers were supplied at this rate, they not disguising, but 

 rather advertising, with large placards in their windows, the same fruit at twenty 

 cents per pound. Thus they received, with scarcely any shrinkage, and for the 

 mere trouble of weighing, exactly as much as the cultivator does for his months 

 of toil. Could we sell grapes by the ton, ten dollars per hundred pounds would 

 be regarded as a sufficiently rewarding price to the cultivator. And if, instead 

 of the extortionate advance of a hundred per cent., they were retailed at a moder- 

 ate profit, does any one doubt that the quantity required for consumption would 

 increase to a point fully equal to our capacity to supply .f" It is the pernicious 

 influence of our Boston market, extending to all our adjoining large towns, which 

 checks enterprise and prevents a large expansion in fruit culture. The grape is 

 instanced as possibly a strong case, and yet it indicates the fact that a much 

 larger commission is paid to produce dealers in Boston than is the case in New 

 York, Philadelphia, and other large cities. This fact operates in two ways. It 

 makes the cost of living in Boston comparatively high, and thus injures the 

 interests of the city. It also limits the demand and circumscribes the profits of 

 the producer, and thus discourages enterprise. Plainly we need more open 

 markets, and more direct methods for the delivery of our fruits. But our space 

 is too limited for the discussion of this subject. In noting the objects of inter- 

 est on exhibition during the season we have again to pass the fruits in course. 



Strawberries. 



Jenny Lind took the lead as the best early kind, seeming to be about a week 

 earlier than Hovey, or Triomphe. On this account it is valuable, and it is cer- 

 tainly deserving the attention of amateurs. For winter forcing, Triomphe de 

 Gand has given the best results, superior specimens of which were exhibited by 

 James Comley, March 20, and subsequently. Davis & Bates exhibited, June 

 16, a plant of Jucunda, pot culture, showing a remarkable abundance of fruit, 

 indicating that this variety may force well. Mr. E. P. Wheeler, of New York, 

 presented two seedlings, through Mr. B. K. Bliss, on the i6th of June, one of 

 which resembled the Hovey, but was darker in color. It was of good size and 

 flavor. Its value depends upon its characteristics in the bed. The other was 

 light-colored, resembling the French, was soft, and lacked character. W. J. Un- 

 derwood again presented his seedling strawberry, which sustained its reputation 

 of last season, and in quality it may be marked among the " best." A dark, 

 obovate strawberry, of large size, full of juice, and of good quality, exhibited by 

 J. B. Moore, was not recognized by your committee. Possibly it may be the 

 Golden Seeded ; it deserves attention. The President Wilder appeared to as 

 great advantage as in previous years, and we can but hope will prove as superior 

 in other grounds as it has with Mr. Wilder. The Lady of the Lake strawberry was 

 not on exhibition, yet it came under the notice of some of your committee upon 

 the land of Mr. Scott, its originator. It is a very productive variety, exceeding 

 the Wilson in the number and uniformity of berries, light in color, deeply indented, 

 with long neck, and of fair quality. Mr. Scott, who raises largely for the market, 

 thinks it is altogether the most profitable kind he has. Seth Boyden's Seedling 



