Notes and Gleanings. 183 



We copy from the Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 a portion of the excellent Report of the Committee on Fruits for the year 1867, 

 by W. C. Strong, chairman : — 



It is a rare occurrence that a season may be called perfect for the develop- 

 ment of all the various kinds of fruit. So many conditions are required, cover- 

 ing the cold of winter, the heat and moisture of summer, the early and late frosts, 

 the growth of previous years, so multiplied, various, and disconnected are the 

 elements, that we are accustomed to expect unequal results. It is a reason for 

 thankfulness that we have such a variety in fruits, so distinct and independent, 

 that the abundance of one crop may be a supply for the want of another. With 

 us, a total failure is even more rare than perfect success. If we examine the 

 record of fruits exhibited before this society for nearly twoscore years, we shall 

 find, that, while the items vary, the tables are almost uniformly filled. It is with 

 the greatest surprise that we note the conclusions of an eminent cultivator, "af- 

 ter two years of travelling all over the Christian world, . . . that America is the 

 worst fruit-growing country in the world, except the north of Europe." It is 

 indeed true, that in this transition period of exhaustion of our virgin soil, and 

 aridity of climate consequent upon the wholesale destruction of our forests, 

 together with a natural increase of injurious insects, certain crops are not as 

 spontaneous as in former years. The peach will be recalled as a marked illus- 

 iration of this fact. Yet, if we look on the encouraging side, we shall find that 

 every season of the year is abundantly supplied with fruits of the highest known 

 excellence ; so that we are rather inclined to say that exactly the reverse of Mr. 

 Sargent's proposition is true. Take the crops in their order. For forced fruits, 

 our clear, bright sun more than counterbalances the extreme cold of winter. 

 With ease almost amounting to certainty, we can produce the best of forced 

 fruits for the spring months. Promptly in June comes the inestimable straw- 

 berry, nowhere surpassed, and never before equalled, in quantity. The small fruits 

 which follow, — the raspberry, the currant, blackberry, and native gooseberry, — 

 all yield almost certain returns for judicious culture. The pear was never more 

 abundant, or more easy of management. The successful example of several 

 apple-orchardists demonstrates that this standard fruit can be grown with entire 

 success, even in the most infected districts. And for the life-invigorating grape, 

 with all the drawbacks of rot and mildew and early frosts, — what can we say for 

 the grape .'' This we will say, that in this unprecedented year of rain, with com- 

 plete failure in some localities, and with some varieties, yet a considerable, and, 

 under the circumstances, a most encouraging crop was gathered even in New 

 England ; a single exceptional Isabella vine yielding over a thousand pounds 

 under the very shadow of the White Mountains. Enterprising cultivators in 

 New England were never more hopeful for the grape than now. If we go back 

 from the Atlantic coast, where the season has been, in marked contrast, exces- 

 .sively dry, we shall find the grape-crop has fully equalled that of the most famous 

 wine-growing districts in the world, with the possible exception of our own Pa- 

 cific coast. An eminent and reliable writer who has had the best facilities for 

 procuring statistics has yet so greatly exceeded previous estimates, that we must 

 doubt the accuracy of his data. He gives the number of acres of grapes in bear- 

 ing, east of the Rocky-Mountain range, in 1867, as 1,500,000. The yield is over 



