65 



sects. It will often be necessary, also, to thin the fruit, in 

 order to keep it np to the proper size. The tree is consider- 

 ably subject to canker where that disease is prevalent, and the 

 fruit to the railroad worm. The fruit is of excellent quality, 

 being firm, fine-grained and rich, and when well grown it is 

 finely colored, with handsome appearance and attractive tex- 

 ture, which make it sell well. As a cooking apple it does 

 not rank so high, and ought to be used fairly early, as after 

 it has become more mild it is not nearly as good for this pur- 

 pose as when it has more acidity. The fruit is uniform and 

 of fair to good size, except when it overbears. Its commer- 

 cial limit in ordinary storage w^ould be December, and, as 

 with many other varieties, the large-sized, poorly colored 

 specimens do not keep as well as smaller, firmer and better- 

 colored ones. When this variety is well grown it has proved 

 a profitable market sort, standing at present close behind the 

 Greening; and I should have no hesitation in setting it as a 

 market variety, particularly on light soil, where it does espe- 

 cially well. 



Htibbardston. 

 Good points : — 



1. Quality excellent. 



2. Early bearer. 



3. Handsome -when well grown. 



4. Good bearer. 



Bad points : — • 



1. Overbears and runs small. 



2. Raih'oad worm. 



3. Loses quality as cooker. 



(6) Williams Early. — This is another of our Massachu- 

 setts apples, and, like a great many things which Massachu- 

 setts has done, this is a good job. It originated in Roxbury, 

 Mass., more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and in my 

 opinion is one of the best and most profitable of the early 

 varieties. The tree is rather a poor grower and is therefore 

 often best top-worked on some better growing variety, as 

 Pewaukee or Spy. It is a fairly good cropper, and has a 

 decided tendency to be an annual bearer when it receives the 

 right treatment. The fruit is only medium in size, but a 

 beautiful bright red, with a very fine though mild flavor. Its 

 strong point is for dessert, but, contrary to the opinion of 

 some others, I consider it a very fine cooking apple. The 



