EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



35 



have flourished somewhere else, in an entirely different climate 

 than our own. Some people get enthusiastic about the west- 

 ern apples ; they have seen the monstrous size and fine color 

 of the fruit coming from there, and they see no reason why 

 they cannot do the same thing here. I think at the college 

 v<^e receive more inquiries about the question of varieties of 

 fruit, than on almost any other question, and probably 

 we are more often asked about the Delicious apple just now 

 than any other variety. Now, I don't know personally of any 

 bearing trees of that variety in the State. There may be some, 

 but probably there are not. And certainly it has not been 

 grown here sufficiently to warrant us in planting it except 

 here and there a tree to test it. Ben Davis is another time- 

 honored instance of where we have run away after some va- 

 riety which has been famous in some other section, but which 

 we can't grow worth a cent. I should like to go on record 

 as saying that we never ought to set out a tree of Ben Davis 

 in either Connecticut or Massachusetts. 



Professor Waugh and I are planting a good many more 

 varieties than I would advise most people to plant. I believe 

 there are more orchards made unprofitable by planting a large 

 number of varieties than in any other way. There is no 

 doubt in my mind but that the average man will do better to 

 plant an orchard of Baldwins and Rhode Island Greenings. 

 But what we are planning to do is to get a man to handle our 

 fruit in each of the larger towns, and we want co start in with 

 the earliest apple in the summer (the Yellow Transparent, or 

 some better variety) and then carry him along through the 

 entire season until it comes to the Baldwin or even later varie- 

 ties. The varieties we have are Yellow Transparent, Olden- 

 burg, Wealthy, Mcintosh Red, Gravenstein, Hubbardston, 

 Sutton Beauty, Palmer Greening, Rhode Island Greening, 

 Baldwin, etc. 



Next as to the matter of cultivation : 



I know there are orchards throughout the country in sod 

 which are successful, but I am sure it is usually a dangerous 

 proposition to seed an orchard down, especially if one has any 

 cows to eat hay. It removes the temptation if you don't have 



