216 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



WHAT VARIETIES OF FRUIT TO RAISE. 



Any person about to plant an orchard will do well before 

 doing so to answer the following questions : What trees will 

 flourish best in this latitude, and on the peculiar soil of my 

 farm ? What varieties of apples will suit best the tastes of my 

 family for home consumption ? What kinds of apples will find 

 the most ready sale in market ? What varieties are the best 

 bearers ? Supposing you wish to set out an orchard of one 

 hundred trees. Seventy-five of these at least, should be calcu- 

 lated to produce market fruit. The remaining twenty-five may 

 consist of selected varieties of summer, fall, and winter fruit, 

 adapted to the tastes and predilections of the family. Those 

 designed for market should not reach over four varieties, and 

 those all winter fruit. If I were to name the kinds, all things 

 considered, as being most economical and desirable, they should 

 be the following : Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Russet, 

 Baldwin, and the Newtown Pippin. These varieties are ex- 

 cellent bearers, and the fruit always meets with a ready sale. 



HINTS ABOUT GATHERING AND STORING WINTER FRUIT. 



Apples should never be shaken ofT from the trees. They will 

 become bruised, and decay much the sooner. They ought to 

 be carefully plucked off with the hand, one by one, and placed 

 in a basket. From the basket they should be transferred to a 

 shallow box, not over ten inches deep, in the same careful man- 

 ner. Now let them stand in an outhouse or open shed until 

 very late in the autumn. So long as they will not freeze keep 

 them in this condition. Then in time remove the boxes, after 

 taking out all decayed and decaying fruit, into a dry, cool cellar. 

 Elevate the boxes on pieces of timber, a little way from the 

 cellar bottom. Apples after being gathered should be stirred as 

 little as possible. They never should be poured into a box or 

 barrel, for this will bruise them. A shallow box is preferable 

 to a barrel, as there is less pressure from above downward. 

 And besides, the apples will keep cooler, and the decayed and 

 decaying ones can be more easily removed. 



THE APPLE AS AN ARTICLE OF FOOD, IN ITS RAW AND COOKED STATE. 



Apples, eaten in their natural condition, are a palatable and 

 healthful article of diet. They contain no inconsiderable 



