13 



crop, which was good, and, owing to the scarcity of peaches 

 in the market, brought good prices. 



On thin soils, the necessity of mulching, irrigation or heavy 

 manuring is made more evident this season as the only means 

 by which the blackberrj^ or raspberry crop can be made 

 certain. 



More good cherries were found in our markets the past 

 season than usual. This was probably owing to the dry weather 

 while the fruit was ripening, which was unfavorable for the 

 growth of the fungous diseases which cause the rotting of 

 the fruit and leaf blight, and the comparatively few plum 

 curculios. In some cases the freedom from the attack of the 

 plum curculio may be accounted for by the increased use of 

 Paris green upon our apple, pear, cherry and plum trees as 

 an insecticide. 



Early apples were abundant and those put upon the mar- 

 ket very early sold for fair prices, but as the bulk of the 

 crop came on, hardly enough was obtained to pay for barrels 

 or boxes, cost of picking and transportation, and unless 

 there is a shortage in other kinds of fruit the chances for 

 remunerative prices are very poor. 



Thej9e«c/i crop in all sections of the country is very light, 

 the government report giving the per cent as 22.3 as com- 

 pared with a full crop. The fruit buds were largely de- 

 stroyed before March 1, and then again after the warm 

 weather of March and April. In this State, only old trees 

 are showing any fruit at all, while the young trees generally 

 show none. 



The pear crop is much below the average, and, owing to 

 the abundance of apples and the small demand for anything 

 but the necessities of life, they are not selling for more than 

 the average prices. In some orchards the effect of the drouth 

 is such that the fruit is small and not of the best quality. 



Prospect. 



Gi-apes. 



In many sections of this State the grape crop was injured 



by late frosts and later by the rose bugs so that the local 



crop will be light. The country shows a crop of about 80 



per cent as compared with the full crop. 



