



IJi^^n 



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DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, MAY 24, 1851 



NO. 11 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, 

 Proprietors. 



OFFICE, aumCY HALL, BOSTON. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



NORTHERN SPY APPLE. 



This beautiful and excellent fruit is in our mar- 

 ket this spring, in moderate quantities, selling at 

 high prices. It is fresh and juicy, and is in use in 

 a good time, as it becomes ripe about the time the 

 Baldwin is failing. The Spy apple is in use in 

 spring and early summer. It is large, generally 

 fair, and of the best quality. We have had this 

 fruit every year for six or seven years, and have 

 examined the subject well, comparing it with va- 

 rious other apples. 



A few years ago, we found a stray barrel of the 

 Spy in the market, without name, and we bought 

 it at the usual price of apples. From exposure, 

 these ripened up in winter when the Baldwin was 

 in its prime, and we found the Spy finer in texture 

 and much superior in quality to the Baldwin as a 

 table fruit. As a winter apple, the Baldwin stands 

 unrivalled for its great growth and production, and 

 it is a popular apple in the market; but in the 

 spring, it grows mealy at the core, and loses its 

 quality, though still preserving a fair exterior. 

 When one side of the Spy is decayed, the other 

 side is fresh and jnicy, so that in attempting to ke»;p 

 tliem long, they are not lost, before exhibiting in- 

 dications of decline. 



In favorable locations, in western New York, and 

 with good culture, the Spy produces large crops of; 

 fine fruit, and as our climate is similar, we hopetlial 

 it will succeed well here. Whether it will ripen 

 up well much farther north, remains to be tested. 

 One thing is certain, that it is very hardy against 

 cold, more so than the Baldwin. 



From the facts we already have on this subject, 

 we believe that we must have a good strong soil, 

 and high culture, for the Spy apjjle, and as the 

 shoots run up very thick, they will doubtless need 

 thinning to let in the sun. We have observed that 

 those specimens of this fruit that lack color, are 

 wanting in quality also, showing that expo«':rp to 

 sun and air are requisite to bring them to i>erfec- 

 ion. 



As a limestone soil is said to be best for the Spy 

 apple, we advise those who cultivate it where there 

 is probably a deficiency of lime, to put a little old 

 lime around their trees. Ashes, and a small quan- 

 tity of bone manure and salt, are also very good for 

 all kinds of fruit trees on old lands. 



Some nurserymen who have not kept pace with 

 the improvement of the times, have discouraged 

 the cultivation of the Spy apple. We wish that 

 such persons would compare it with the best fruits 

 in the market, and then judge whether it is not 

 better to cultivate some late fruits for spring and 

 early summer, than for all to cultivate one kind ex- 

 tensively, which fails in the spring. 



GRAY DOYENNE PEAR. 



A subscriber remarks that in the list of good 

 pears approved by the Fruit Grower's Convention is 

 the Gray Doyenne, with qualifications, "in cer- 

 tain situations;" and he inquires whether reference 

 is made to soil or exposure, or both. In reply we 

 would state that reference is made to soil, location, 

 climate, or any other circumstance that may affect 

 the fruit unfavorably. 



The St. Michael pear generally fails, by blast- 

 ing and cracking, in New England, near the sea; 

 but it flourishes in the interior of this section of the 

 country, and in the middle and western States, it 

 is one of the best, richest and most profitable pears, 

 being hardy both in tree and fruit. 



The Gray Doyenne rcseml)les the St. Michael 

 (White Doyenne), and generally fails where that 

 fails. It is more round than the St. Michael, has 

 much cinnamon russet, and is a little later, and 

 ratlier better. The Gray Doyenne blasts in the: 

 northern part of Ohio. 



Lauge Oxen. — Mr. Increa.se Robinson, of East 

 Weymouth, brought a pair of fat oxen to this mar- 

 ket, last week, wliicli weighed 4200 pounds. II3 

 sold them to Potter & Leland. 



