BERKSHIRE SOCIETY. 289 



Fruit. 



The committee report that their's was a plcasaiit service, thus 

 to look upon the treasures of Pomona, whicli she had dropped 

 ill such rich and beaiUifiil varieties, into the paths of tho.:e who 

 had labored to secure her smiles ; altliough the number of vari- 

 eties was not so great, nor the entries so many as we have 

 sometimes seen, yet there was enough to convince the most 

 Aiithless, that Berkshire hills and Berkshire vales are places, 

 over which the goddess of fine fruits would like to extend her 

 luxurious and health-giving favors. Indeed, we question 

 whether any locality can furnish better specimens of the Bald- 

 win, the Northern Spy, the Greening in its varieties, together 

 with other kinds of apples desirable for cultivation, than those 

 -which have graced this and other exhibitions in the county tiiis 

 season. It is an agreeable fact to communicate for the encourage- 

 ment of all who would plant a fruit tree, and gather its choice 

 products as the results of their own happy labor, that these 

 contributions have come in from almost every section of the 

 county. So then, we fairly infer what may be done among us 

 in the way of fruit-growing, if the people are only disposed to 

 do it ; yet we would by no means insinuate that orchards can 

 be planted and grown without toil and care. It is a wise arrange- 

 ment, that all that is valuable for us to attain, is the result of 

 both these, and the labor and care of successfully cultivating 

 a tree, is probably much less in proportion to the profit or the 

 comfort it will eventually give, than that bestowed upon a field 

 of corn or a flock of sheep. These last, to be sure., may yield 

 more speedy returns for the labor invested, yet who can suppose 

 that for a series of years they will give a tithe of the per cent- 

 age that a choice orchard will yield? So long as choice apples 

 and pears sustain their present prices, and there is no fear of 

 diminution, there is, we are certain, no business more profita- 

 ble than their cultivation. An orchard may be three or four, 

 five or six years in coming into bearing, from the time the 

 ti'ees are taken from the nursery, according to the care and labor 

 bestowed; but when its productiveness commences, back ex- 

 penses are soon paid, and all is profit beyond. 

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