176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



notwithstanding the unfavorable condition of the market. He 

 said he would agree to give the Doctor $2.50 for his apples 

 without seeing them. Now, that showed what reputation is 

 worth. The next summc^r the Doctor invited a committee 

 up to his place to see his vineyard, and as we were going up 

 I said, "Doctor, you remember that little talk about selling 

 apples last winter? I w^ould like to ask you — and I don't 

 ask out of curiosity, but for a more definite purpose — what 

 you got for your apples last year?" " Well," said he, "I 

 grow, as 3^ou know, but three kinds of winter apples, Hub- 

 bardstons, Baldwins and Greenings, and," he said, "I sent 

 my Greenings to New York and got $3.25 a barrel, and my 

 Hubbardstons and Baldwins to Boston, and got $3." That 

 illustrates better than all the talk I can give you the matter 

 of growing and marketing apples intelligently. 



Question. Does the Doctor practice spraying his trees 

 as well as thinning the fruit ? 



Mr. Wood. I think he does now. 



Mr. George Cruicksiiaxks (of Fitchburg). Allusion 

 has been made to Dr. Fisher. Being a neighbor of his, I 

 avail myself of his knowledge. He is very willing to give 

 an opinion. He loves to have any one go to him and ask 

 him any question regarding his methods of fruit growing, 

 as my friend, Mr. Wood, can well testify. He sprays and 

 thins his fruit every year. He does not use his force pumps. 

 He takes a common syringe. He exhibited that, the Board 

 will remember, in Boston. 



Secretary Sessions. Two years ago. Any one who 

 chooses to look at the report will find the discussion of the 

 syringe he used and the manufacturer's name. 



Mr. Cruickshanks. It cost $5. It holds a pint of water, 

 and he can throw it twenty feet. We recently went over 

 his pear orchard together. His pears are largely Bartletts, 

 and there happened to be a few trees outside of the regular 

 orchard lines, and for some reason they were overlooked. 

 When his man was picking the fruit he noticed that the pears 

 were not so good on these few trees. They were not so fair ; 

 they w^ere not so large ; they were inferior to the rest of the 

 orchard. It did not occur to the man at the time, but when 

 they came to look it up they found they were not sprayed. 



