i68 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



have any, and probably not one family in ten now has even 

 one single barrel on tap as a beverage ; yet in quantity and 

 variety the family fruit supply has wonderfully increased and 

 a daily supply of fresh home-grown fruit is the rule rather 

 than the exception in most farm homes, small fruits in va- 

 riety, apples, pears, peaches, plums (both European and Ja- 

 pan), cherries and quinces, in all the best standard varieties, 

 coming to their highest perfection in every section of the 

 state where rational methods of culture are followed. The 

 topography of the state is such, and soils are so varied with- 

 in short distances, that it is difficult to district the state, 

 except in the most general way. Aside from the alluvial, 

 most of the light, sandy and sandy loam lands are along 

 the river valleys and the sound shore; while in "the hill 

 towns" and along the ridges the soils are heavier, with more 

 or less mixtures of clay, and many of the hilltops are moist 

 and springy. Rocks are very abundant nearly all over the 

 state except in the valleys, while the natural timber and 

 semi-abandoned farm and pasture lands, growing up to 

 brush and timber, cover fully one-half the acreage of the 

 state. Acting at present as wind-breaks and climatic equa- 

 lizers, they will in the future furnish the "new lands" for 

 extensive horticultural enterprises. Lying midway between 

 New York and Boston, the greatest horticultural markets of 

 America, Connecticut is better situated than any other state 

 in the Union to realize quick cash returns from her horticul- 

 ture. Every farm is within driving distance of some one or 

 more of her own busy manufacturing towns and villages, 

 whose people are appreciative of choice fruits and are able 

 to pay for them. 



District No. i. — This comprises the Connecticut river 

 valley and adjacent hills, along the Northampton branch 

 and the main line of railroad from Hartford to New Haven, 

 and all of the shore towns. This district contains most 

 of the sandy plain lands of the state, and the loams and 

 clay most free from rocks and stones. On the hills back 

 from the river, on the ridges either side of the railroads, 

 and a few miles back from the sound shore, there are many 

 places where soil and topographical conditions are much 

 the same as in districts Nos. 2 and 3, but having much 



