42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



never pay to devote the land on Connecticut River to the 

 raising of apples. Where land is worth three or four hun- 

 dred dollars an acre, you cannot well afford to set out apple- 

 trees. On poor land, you might find it profitable to raise 

 apples, even if you could get only twelve cents a bushel. 



The apple-trees which grow with us are the Baldwin, 

 Greening, Roxbury Russet, Nonsuch, Gravenstein, and Por- 

 ter. I have never seen any other variety that was sure to 

 produce a good, handsome, and well-ripened crop. The 

 Nonsuch, if it can be ripened, is one of the best fruits in the 

 fall. I do not know any apple that will bring so good a price 

 in the market as the Gravenstein, but I question whether it 

 can be grown well on our land. Perhaps the Northern Spy 

 can be grown in Connecticut ; I do not believe it can be 

 grown well and thoroughly in Massachusetts. I do not believe 

 that the Newtown Pippin, which is a very nice apple, and 

 a successful one in some sections, can be grown here, and 

 there are some varieties which do well in New York that are 

 not adapted to Massachusetts. Therefore, if I had poor land, 

 light soil, or side-hill that I could not cultivate, I should plant 

 apple-trees. 



Mr. W. C. Strong of Brighton. I was very much inter- 

 ested in the suggestion of the essayist in regard to the quality 

 of fruit. I believe it has a bearing upon the discussion just 

 at this point. I think we are not by any means careful 

 enough as to quality, and I think this will apply even to the 

 apple. My impression is that Mr. Ware makes the culture 

 of the apple profitable even now, and if he does, it is simply 

 because he has a good quality of fruit. We have made it a 

 rule for a long time to pick off half the crop of pears, but we 

 go beyond that now. We say, " Pick off more than half," 

 and when word is brought back that they have picked off 

 more than half, we say, "Pick off all there are, and what is 

 left will be sufficient." We do not thin our fruit nearly 

 enough. 



Now, in regard to the apple, I know that it will not pay 

 to go round and pick off the common fruit, so that we may 

 have a moderate crop, and so that we may have a crop every 

 year. That will not pay. Can we devise any other method 

 by which we can reduce the enormous crop, or equalize it, 



