HAMPDEN SOCIETY. 223 



railways afford, nearly all our fruits can be carried to distant 

 cities, at a very small charge, thus putting it within the power 

 of every farmer in the Commonwealth to compete with the 

 culturist within their immediate vicinity, in the supply of this 

 article. 



It has long been a matter of surprise with the committee, 

 that the members of this society have not earlier turned their 

 attention to the cultivation of cranberries. The soil best fitted 

 for their culture, is in a measure worthless for other crops. 

 Little labor is required in its preparation, and when the plants 

 are once set they will soon keep down weeds, grass and other 

 obstructions to their growth. With a little care in pruning 

 and thinning out afterwards, the only additional labor will be 

 the gathering of the fruit. Great quantities of this fruit are 

 now annually shipped to England and other countries, at prices 

 ranging from ten to twenty dollars per barrel, and the demand 

 is constantly increasing. 



American apples are said to command a higher price in the 

 markets of London and other foreign cities, than those from 

 any other quarter of the world, on account of their superior 

 flavor. Large quantities are shipped from Boston and New 

 York, to foreign markets. We have yet much to learn relative 

 to the best varieties, the planting and the culture of fruit trees, 

 the natural stocks seldom producing a desirable variety. The 

 tree is often crammed into the smallest possible space, giving a 

 precarious life and fruit of little value ; and if well planted and 

 left without further care, coming far short of its capabilities for 

 rewarding the culturist. We cannot stop to give specific direc- 

 tions on these several branches, but recommend the enquirer to 

 the perusal of Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, 

 Coles' American Fruit Book, and other valuable treatises on 

 fruit culture, in which a young man will find all the instruc- 

 tions necessary to make him theoretically and practically a good 

 fruit culturist. 



What a change would be wrought in our unsightly apple or- 

 chards, with the trees covered with moss, craggy and canker- 

 ous, if the owners would scrape and clear them of their myriad 



