200 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



finding that a home market is better; so that the rural districts are 

 now being supplied with this fruit which was not long ago deemed 

 of too great value for home consumption. 



Of the other small fruits the currant is grown in such small quan- 

 tities that it plays an insignificant part in the markets of the state 

 and we look to New York, Ohio, and other western states for our 

 largest supply, so it seems as if there were an opportunity for an 

 increased production of this fruit in this state. 



Gooseberries, too, are but little grown and our people do not seem 

 to be alive to the possibilities of this fruit; there is hardly a com- 

 mercial plantation worthy of the name in the state, and the few 

 native gooseberries that reach the market are generally the surplus 

 from the home garden. We import most of this fruit from Nova 

 Scotia where it is considered one of the most remunerative crops 

 grown. 



Owing to the very dry weather the raspberry and blackberry 

 crop was almost a total failure, and it was a great disappointment 

 to see bushes that promised an excellent crop deprived of the 

 necessary moisture conditions and so fail to mature their fruit. 



Grapes, although not a commercial crop in Massachusetts, are 

 still grown by the amateur and private gardener, and under these 

 favorable conditions of care and attention did not suffer as much as 

 other fruits from the dry season, but on the contrary were ripened 

 to perfection by the hot weather, and many varieties like Diana, 

 Catawba, and Isabella which do not ordinarily mature in this climate 

 were known to ripen perfectly. 



The peach, plum, and cherry crop was light, but the quality was 

 excellent. There seems to be a great tendency in these fruits to 

 overbear, when they bear at all, with the result that either the trees 

 are killed outright or else they do not bear again for a few years. 



The apple crop was a very light one this year and on the whole 

 sold well considering its poor quality. Pears were abundant and 

 as a rule small so that this had a tendency to make them cheaper 

 than last year. All the late fruit was more or less affected by the 

 very hot dry weather in October when we had real summer condi- 

 tions, with the thermometer at 75° in the day and 60° at night; 

 this had a tendency to ripen fruit too fast and consequently the 

 winter supply will be smaller. 



