DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1851. 



NO. 3. 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, 

 Praprietors. 



OFFICE, UUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



S. W. COLE, Editot 



TESTING FRUITS. 



Testing fruits I'airly and thomaghly is a bi'.si- 

 uess of great importauco lo the community, and it 

 requires nice and varied experiments, with the ad- 

 vantages of long experience and extensive observa- 

 tion. For a person to judge truly of the value of a 

 fruit, he must be well acquainted with all other 

 kinds cultivated in that region, or particularly with 

 those of the same season. 



Besides the quality and general appearam^eof the 

 fruit, it Is necessary to know its growth, bearing, 

 and various other habits. Some varieties may be 

 good growers and good bearers, and yet only a small 

 part of the fruit may be fiir and lit for the market. 

 Some fruits are very tender and yre liable to decay j 

 even from slight bruising, or they Ijecome discol-j 

 orcd from bruising and will not sell well in the 

 market. 



Some persons seem to lliiuk that one well ac- 

 quaintad with fruits can judgj lirom testing a sin- 

 gle specimen, whether it is a valuable kind. In 

 some cases a single apple has been hji'ids-d to i:s, 

 which may have been carried in the i-ookct a day 

 or two, and perhaps kept ia a warm room one or 

 two v/ecks, without any information as to the hab- 

 its of the tree, and our opinion is want;\! as to its 

 being worthy of extensive cultivation. 



We often have inquiries whether the Northern 

 Spy, Ladies, Sweeting, and other new' and prom- 

 ising varieties of apples, have borne in tliis region, 

 evidently with a viewof forming an opinion of their 

 wortli, from the productions of a few sjjecimens 

 when the tree first begins to bear. 



Now we will show our views of the subject, that 

 it may be seen how widely we differ from those who 

 would come to hasty conclusions from partial exam- 

 inations. When we get specimens of a new fruit 

 that promises to be highly valuable as a leading va- 

 riety, we collect all the information we can as to 

 -its history, and its habits; and if we can, wo pro- 

 cure a barrel of the fruit, in order to try it during 

 its season, and compare it v.'ith other .standard kinds. 



We also procure scions, and try them in the nin- 

 sery, and on stand.ard frees. And if we can, we 

 visit the orchards where the variety is cultivated. 

 After all these advantages of judging of a fruit, we 

 find it neces.sary to procure a barrel of fruit year 

 after 3'ear, and distribute specimens among good 

 judges, and learn their opinions. 



Sometimes we have seen a tree producing fair 

 fruit of excellent quality, but we could Icam no- 

 thing of it, excepting from the original tree. In 

 such cases we have obtained scions for trial on old 

 trees, and for their growth in the nursery, and we 

 have also sent them to our friends in different sec- 

 tion.s of the countTy, tlial they might be tested in 

 various local ions and climates, 



Witsn we arc asked whether the Northern Spy, 

 and other new fruits, have been tested in NewEng- 

 hmd, we sometimes reply that they have not, nor 

 will they be tor ten years. When a new fruit b;>- 

 gins to bear on very thrifty branches, and espe- 

 cially on young trees, it is often small and knurly, 

 even though it b'^ a goiid variety under favora- 

 ble circumstances. 



Some fifteen year* ago, the Minister apple was 

 introduce<i, and the greatest pomologist pronounced 

 it the finest of American opplcs. Several other able 

 v/riters on fruit liave recommended it veryhigiily; 

 yet the North Am'^rican Pomological Convention 

 pronoimccd it second rate, and some cultivators say 

 it is not worth cultivating. Most persons in speak- 

 ing of this fru it have run into extremes. The ain- 

 ateur wlio has taken excellent care of his fruit, so 

 that it has grown large and has not ripened till late 

 in M inter, or early in spring, when it loses its 

 acidity, and acquires :i high aromatic flavor, has a 

 high opinion of th(- Minister apple; while the cul- 

 tivator, who thought hf' should lose by thinning his 

 truit, and allowed the tree to beartoo much, so thai 

 it is small and inferior, and then by rough handling, 

 and exposure to air and sun, the fruit soon decays, 

 or grows ripe and becomes dry, while yet too acid, 

 nnd inferior even for cooking, pronounces it unprof- 



