156 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



believe a great gain in time will be made in such service, and 

 perhaps then New York may be made ours. 



The section of country traversed by the so-called "Air 

 Line Division" of the New Haven road, is now, and for 

 some time to come, likely to be the greatest producing sec- 

 tion of the peach district in Connecticut, and on this line a 

 special peach train was put on to take care of the peach ship- 

 ments. 



As peach growers, one of the obstacles in the way of 

 getting needed facilities, or rather prompt handling of our 

 fruit, has been the small volume of business offered from any 

 one locality — the necessity of gathering from various points 

 to a central point, the various lots of fruit, to make up a 

 train load or make connection for a fast freight. 



The first fruit that produced a volume too large for the 

 local markets to use was the strawberry, which at time of 

 greatest yield was very low in price, and there seemed to be 

 no market within reach that could receive to g-ood advantage 

 the surplus fruit. The buying public certainly ought not to 

 have any complaint to make regarding high cost of straw- 

 berries last season. As to peaches, we believe that Connecti- 

 cut growers have reason to feel a good degree of pride in 

 the crop of fruit shipped from their orchards the past season. 

 Except one or two short spells of wet weather the orchard 

 conditions were such that the fruit could be gathered and de- 

 livered in the New England markets in excellent condition 

 without the use of ice. 



The crop report return estimates made would not indi- 

 cate a large crop of apples in Connecticut, certainly not 

 enough to supply abundantly our own markets, yet so far 

 there seems to have been a fully supply at reasonable prices, 

 if not from our own orchards, then from some outside the 

 state. 



These crop reports or estimates your committee realize 

 to be of value should be fairly reliable and this depends large- 

 ly on the good judgment and carefulness of those who offer 

 the estimates of their own and others orchard vields. 



