THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 3 



weather for picking and handling just at the height of the 

 season, thousands of baskets of what would have been good 

 fruit were lost, causing a corresponding loss in the profits 

 of the season's work. 



Losses from lack of cutlivation, fertilizing, spraying and 

 general care can be guarded against ; losses from dry weather 

 can be largely overcome by constant shallow cultivation, 

 making a dust mulch ; but wet weather in the height of the 

 picking season is beyond our control. It seemed at early 

 blossoming time that there would be a full crop of apples, 

 but. owing to several days of wet weather, the work of insect 

 pests and fungus diseases, the final outcome of good fruit was 

 much under an average crop. The price of good to fancy 

 apples in our markets at the present time shows that care 

 and skill in growing, storing and marketing apples, will be 

 liberally rewarded. There are great opportunities for fruit 

 growing in this state, if managed in the right way ; opportu- 

 nities for disappointment are also plentiful. The large grow- 

 ers like Mr. Hale, with orchards in Glastonbury and Seymour, 

 and the host of large growers in Wallingford, JMiddlefield, 

 Southington and other places, are showing what can be done 

 on a large scale in peach-growing, but the number of small 

 orchards is very much less than they were a few years ago. 



There is an opportunity in many towns to grow peaches 

 to supply the home trade that is now supplied from the city 

 dealers, or from large orchards at a distance. 



To make a success of this, high and well-drained ground 

 must be selected, and the same grade of care given that our 

 best large growers give ; then, if the fruit is first-class, profit- 

 able prices will be received. 



It is surprising to find the number of baskets of peaches 

 that can be sold right at home in some of the towns outside 

 of the large peach districts. 



In riding through the country we often see from fifty to 

 five hundred good thrifty looking young peach trees on a good 

 rich piece of comparatively low ground, perhaps near the 

 homestead, where the owner expects to go out in a few years 

 and pick luscious peaches, but anyone of experience can tell 

 him he is destined to disappointment ; for if there is any one 



