GENERAL^DISCUSSION'ON THE BEST NEW ENGLAND 

 " FRUITS. 



OPENED BY E. W. WOOD, WEST NEWTON, MASS. 



Saturday, January 27, 1906. 



A discussion on the subject of the best varieties of fruit adapted 

 for general cultivation in New England was held at Horticultural 

 Hall today. James H. Bowditch of the Committee on Lectures 

 presided and introduced as the first speaker E. W. Wood of West 

 Newton. 



Mr. Wood said that the subject today, that of the best varieties 

 of fruits for cultivation in New England, was an important one, 

 especially for those intending to begin fruit growing in this section 

 of the country. It is essential to know what varieties do well here 

 and are the most profitable to grow, for it costs no more to grow 

 good fruits than those of an inferior quality. 



Years ago this market was flooded with innumerable varieties 

 of pears, especially, of French and German origin, and as the pear 

 is a long-lived tree, many of the products of these old trees are 

 even at this day brought in for identification and are scarcely known. 



The apple is our most important production in the fruit line, 

 and of the thousands of varieties in existence the following list can 

 be recommended : Astrachan, Williams, Gravenstein, Hubbardston, 

 Mcintosh, Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, and Roxbury Russet. 

 A small selection from the great number in general cultivation but 

 all of them will be found valuable. 



The pear is undoubtedly the next important fruit in New Eng- 

 land and can be grown more successfully and of better quality 

 in the immediate vicinity of Boston than in any other part of the 

 country, and we are not ashamed to compare ours with those of 

 other localities. 



In years past at the exhibitions of this Society Marshall P. 



