56 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April, 



Selections. 



FRUIT CULTURE— FAVORITE VARIE- 

 TIES IN BERKS. 



"What six varieties of apples, four of pears, 

 four of peaches, three of cherries and three 

 of grapes, and what varieties of small fruits, 

 should be recommended for general planting 

 in Berks county?" This subject was dis- 

 cussed at the monthly meeting of the Berks 

 County Agricultural Society, held in the 

 Court House last Saturday afternoon, and 

 elicited some interesting information. The 

 Secretary called attention to some fine varie- 

 ties of apples on exhiljitiou on his table, which 

 had been brought to the meeting by the Presi- 

 dent, James McGowan, Esq., of Robeson 

 township, and suggested that each person 

 present write the names of his favorite varie- 

 ties of fruit upon a slip of paper, naming the 

 number of kinds called for by the resolution. 



Dr. Aaron Smith hoped that every member 

 present would give his own experience for the 

 benefit of his fellow-members and the com- 

 munity in general. 



John L. Rigbtmyer said that of the numer- 

 ous varieties of apples it was important to 

 know which would succeed best in this .section 

 of the State. 



S. J. Hill, of Ruscombmanor township, said 

 that he intended to plant trees this spring 

 and hence is interested in the discussion. He 

 suggested that the subject of apples be first 

 disposed of. He found that the Baldwin suc- 

 ceeded best in bis township, and believed in 

 the advice given by an eld gentleman, that 

 if lie had 100 apple trees to plant, 1)9 of them 

 should be Baldwin. "And pray, what sliould 

 the one hundredth VSi" was asked; "And 

 that should be a Baldwin, too," was the 

 answer. The speaker said that in selecting 

 six varieties of apples he would divide them 

 into the three classes of summer, autumn and 

 winter fruit— two trees of each kind — as fol- 

 lows : Tetofsky and Early Harvest for sum- 

 mer bearing; Smoke House and Fall Pippin 

 for autumn, and Baldwin and Keim for win- 

 ter. This selection would keep him in apples 

 from the middle oi July to nearly the same 

 time next year. The trees with careful 

 training can be made to bear every year, 

 especially the Smoke House, Baldwin and 



Keim. 



President McGowan asked if 100 apjile 

 trees were to be planted, liow many varieties 

 would it be desirable to plant. George F. 

 Winter, of Beading, said six, and Reuben W. 

 Scherer, of Oley, said that four kinds would 

 be suHicient. 



Ur. T. S. Gerhart, of Robeson, said that he 

 had the Baldwin, and that it did well with 

 him. In some soils the fruit decays badly. 

 He bad been informed that it succeeds best in 

 heavy soil. He recommended the following 

 four varieties : York Imperial, Ben Davis, 

 Wagener and Smith'.s Cider. To these, he 

 said, could be added the Krauser and Falla- 

 water. 



President McGowan inquired as to what 

 apple should be recommended as the most 

 profitable early variety. R. AV. Scherer, men- 

 tioned the "Red Astrachan," and 'Squire 

 Stubblebine named the "Codling." 



Ezra High, of Cumru, said that if he was 



to plant one hundred trees, seventy-five of 

 them should be Baldwins. The remainder 

 he would make up with the following : York 

 Imperial, Rhode Island Greening, Northern 

 Spy, and a few other kinds for the sake of 

 variety. He did not like the Red Astrachan, 

 on account of its being too tart for his taste, 

 but preferred either the Gravenstein or 

 Maiden's Bkish for summer use. 



Reuben W. Sclierer, of Oley, said that in 

 planting an orchard he would select the fol- 

 lowing : Red Astraclian, Maiden's Blush, 

 Keim, Krauser and Fallawater. In an or- 

 chard of 100 trees, he would plant at least 

 50 Fallawaters, as this variety does best in 

 the heavy limestone soil of Oley township. 

 The Northern Spy will not succeed at all. 

 He has healthy trees just in their prime, 

 which never bear ; nor can he raise Baldwins, 

 yet Daniel Kaufman, residing near Friedens- 

 burg, several miles from his farm, in the same 

 township, raises Baldwin apples to his entire 

 satisfaction. 



Dr. Smith inquired as to the correct name 

 of the apple which Mr. Scherer termed Falla- 

 water. He understood that it is a native of 

 Berks county, and that it bears the name of 

 Fornwalder, after the man upon whose prem- 

 ises it originated. 



E. H. Smeltzer, of Bethel, for many years 

 a dealer in nursery stock, said that Downing 

 described it as the Fallawater, and says that 

 it is identical with the Pound and Tulpe- 

 hocken. He continued by saying that as to 

 varieties you caimot find half a dozen men m 

 the same locality who will agree. Here is the 

 Baldwin, for instance, some per.sons would 

 not take it as a gift, as in their estimation it 

 is no keeper and unprofitable. Others speak 

 well of the Smith's Cider, and this variety is 

 very popular in the lower end of Berks and 

 through Montgomery county. The Pennsyl- 

 vania Red Streak, Ben Davis and York Impe- 

 rial are highly thought of, while the Early 

 Harvest and Red Astrachan are the leading 

 summer apples. The Maiden's Blush, Sum- 

 mer Rambo and Smoke House are also favor- 

 ite late summer varieties. An alternate 

 bearer, be said, is the best. If j'ou have 

 trees which are supposed to bear every year 

 you frequently have no fruit. He recently 

 had a talk with Levi S. Reist, a prominent 

 fruit grower of Lancaster county, whose four 

 leading apples are the Ben Davis, York Impe- 

 rial, Smith's Cider and Pennsylvania Red 

 Streak. 



John C. Hepler, of this city, said that if he 

 wanted to plant one hundred trees lie would 

 take ten kinds, so as to have somewhat of an 

 assortment, as some varieties will not bear so 

 well ill certain seasons as in others. With 

 that number you are more likely to have a 

 continuation of fruit, from early in the season 

 until late in the following spring. For sum- 

 mer, the "Early Harvest" is his favorite. 

 The Porter is good, but only bears every 

 other year. Of the Maiden's J51ush he would 

 plant ten out of a hundred trees. Of the 

 Northern Spy two or three trees are suHiciei^. 

 This variety in perfection is the apple par 

 excellence, but it is often affected by rot, or 

 with cracking open at the stem. He would 

 also i)laut Baldwins, PirtJins, Krausers and a 

 few Rambos. These varieties succeed well 

 on bis fruit farm in the Sixth Ward, this city, 



where the soil is a heavy clay, with a lime- 

 stone bottom. 



The subject of apples was then dropped and 

 that of pears taken up. Mr. Hepler said that 

 except in a few favored localities pear culture 

 has proven unprofitable. About, the time the 

 trees should be in their most prolific condi- 

 tion, they drop off. Out of 200 trees planted, 

 he lost two-thirds. 



Dr. Gerhart asked Mr. Hepler in regard to 

 the Keitter pear, and the latter said that the 

 variety has not been thoroughly tested in this 

 locality, although Edwin Satterthwaite, an 

 extensive pear grower of Jenkintown, Mont- 

 gomery county, thinks it is the pear of the 

 future, and has some iJOO or 600 trees of this 

 variety. He praises it highly. Mr. Hepler 

 then repeated some of Mr. Satterthwaite's 

 remarks in reference to the Keifl'er pear, at 

 the recent annual meeting of the StateHorti- 

 cnltural Association, formerly known as the 

 Pennsylvania Fruit Growers' Society, which 

 have already been published in these columns. 



Levi H. Liess said that the Reading Win- 

 ter is an excellent pear, and in his opinion 

 one of the best. 



John C. Hepler said that the pear succeeds 

 well ill Reading, where there is a sandy sub- 

 soil, but in heavy clay loam and limestone 

 subsoil is not worth two cents. 



Dr. T. S. Gerhart, of Robeson, then took 

 up the question of peaches. He said that 

 there are four varieties which he prefers, viz : 

 Late Crawford, Mountain Rose, Smock Free, 

 and Large Early York. The Mountain Rose 

 is a big bearer, while the large Early York 

 clings a little, but still is very salable. In 

 planting an orchard he would select a southern 

 exposure, although trees often do well on a 

 northern hill-side, but the bloon\ is sometimes 

 caught by frost. The sap does not rise as 

 early in such trees, but the blossoms are fre- 

 quently aftected by high, cold winds. His 

 neighbor, Moses Eschelman, has an orchard 

 of 1,4-00 trees, with northern exposure, which 

 last year produced peaches as large as a fist, 

 which commanded $2 per basket. 



Moses Eschelman, of Robe.son, having been 

 called for said that the four kinds that he 

 liked b;St are the early and late Crawlord, 

 Old Mixon and Stump of the World. The 

 frosts last spring thinned out the blos.soms on 

 his trees, and what was believed at first to 

 have been misfortune proved a blessing in dis- 

 guise, as the thinning out whicli his trees 

 received, caused the blossoms which were left 

 to produce fruit of superiot quality — 74 or 75 

 peaches filling a basket. He got as liigh a 

 price for a half peck of his peaches, as others 

 got for an entire basket. Peaches that came 

 before the Early Crawford, he said, are clings. 

 The Old Mixon, Stump of the World and Late 

 Craiwford get large, when the trees are not too 

 full. The Smock does not do well, while the 

 Early York is of no account on his premises. 



Dr. Gerhart said in regard to the Early 

 Crawford : He thought that it got the yellows 

 quicker almost than any other variety. The 

 Richmond he regarded as a desirable substi- 

 tute. The Foster is a big peach, a seedling of 

 the Early Crawford, but it is also soon affected 

 with they ellows. As to Stump of the World, 

 the principal objection is that the peaches 

 drop early. The Old Mixon is a splendid 



