H THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



More fruit-trees, it is also said, are raised in Monroe county, New York, than in all the 

 United States besides, and these find a market in every district from Maine to the interior 

 of California. Indeed, throughout the whole of Western New York, fruit is rapidly becoming 

 one of the staple productions. Both climate and soil have proved highly favorable to its 

 cultivation. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, quinces, and all the smaller fruits are produced 

 in the highest perfection, and, if we except peaches, which of late have been somewhat un- 

 certain, the crops very seldom fail. Besides, there exists the most ample facilities for mar- 

 keting that could possibly be desired. One reason which has greatly contributed to extend 

 the cultivation of fruit in Western New York is, that the wheat crop the great staple of this 

 region is annually diminishing in value on account of the extensive ravages of the weevil. 

 Hundreds of acres, which have formerly been devoted to wheat-culture, have, during the past 

 season, in the Genesee Valley, been planted with rye. In addition, the rivalry and greater 

 productiveness of the Western States, brought into close proximity by the increased facilities 

 for intercommunication, have rendered the wheat crop of Western New York less profitable 

 than in former years. On all these accounts, therefore, many of the New York agriculturists 

 have latterly given their attention, with great profit and success, to fruit-growing ; and in this 

 respect the " Genesee country" has become already famous. For the purpose of extending 

 knowledge and promoting the production of fruit, a society has been recently organized, 

 under the title of "The Fruit-Growers' Society of Western New York," which announces its 

 object to be "the advancement of the science of pomology and the art of fruit-culture." It 

 embraces the twenty-three western counties of the State of New York, and in each county 

 there is appointed a committee of three persons, selected from among the most intelligent, 

 experienced, and zealous cultivators of fruit. These twenty-three county committees unitedly 

 form one general committee, which has a chairman, who will receive all their reports and 

 prepare them for publication at the end of the year. By way of suggesting a course of in- 

 quiry to the local committees, and also for the purpose of facilitating the work of making up 

 reports, the chairman of the general committee has issued a circular in which the more im- 

 portant subjects for inquiry are brought forward in the form of questions, thus: 



1. About how much land, in your county, is there occupied with fruit-trees ? 2. About 

 how many fruit-trees are there under cultivation in your county, exclusive of nurseries ? and 

 how many of these are apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, &c. ? 3. What would you estimate 

 the annual produce of fruit to be in your county, in bushels or other given quantities ? and 

 how does the culture of fruits compare with ordinary field crops, as to profit? 4. What 

 quantity of fruits are sold annually from your county, and their value per bushel, barrel, 

 &c. ? 5. How many nurseries of fruit-trees are there in your county ? how many acres of 

 land do they occupy ? and about how many trees of the different fruits have they under 

 cultivation ? 



It is also required, or recommended in the Society's by-laws, that each county committee 

 shall report, as often as once a month, such information as may have been collected during 

 that period. These monthly reports have been recommended on the ground that when the 

 preparation of a report is postponed to the end of the year, it is either done hurriedly and 

 loosely, or it is not done at all ; whereas a few notes during a month can be written out in a 

 few minutes, and, being fresh in the memory, will be much more likely to be correct. This 

 plan strikes us favorably, and is at least worthy a trial. One thing it will do for those 

 who put it in practice, and that is, it will give them, what is of great value, a habit of ob- 

 serving matters of interest closely, and of putting on record useful and interesting facts con- 

 cerning their daily affairs. How negligent the mass of mankind are in this respect ! 



In addition to the minute practical investigations of this general committee, the Society 

 intends to hold annual or semi-annual meetings, for the exhibition, examination, and com- 

 parison of fruits ; to hear reports, and discuss such matters as may at the time be deemed 

 of most importance. These meetings are to be held alternately in all the large towns, lying 

 at accessible points, within the twenty-three counties. 



At a recent meeting of this Society, M. P. Barry, chairman of the fruit committees in the 

 several counties, stated it as his opinion, derived from the returns made him, that there are 

 four thousand acres of nursery embraced within the twenty-three counties covered by the 



