FRUITS. 3S 



FRUITS. 



The Committee on Fruits would respectfullj Report, — 



That considering the extreme heat of the past summer, with the 

 drought of August, causing so many trees to shed their fruit pre- 

 maturely, your Committee were apprehensive that the Show would 

 come short of previous exhibitions of this Society. They were, 

 however, agreeably disappointed in finding the quantity and quality 

 of the fruit on the whole, superior to any previous year, there being 

 upon the tables 1038 dishes and baskets, from 130 contributors. 

 The Apples were particularly fine and less wormy than in former 

 warm and 7no{st seasons, which give rise to myriads of those minute 

 foes, from the caterpillar to the almost invisible fly of every genus. 

 We were pleased with the number of dishes of Grapes shown, and 

 trust that we may yet succeed in producing a hardy variety, 

 answering the conditions required in the offer for a seedling grape, 

 as we have already done in the plum, which ti^ok the first premium 

 in a neighboring state. 



The variation in size and appearance of the same varieties of 

 apples and pears from different localities in the county, demon- 

 strates the necessity of ascertaining the conditions of our several 

 soils. The Williams' Favorite and the Pickman Apples cannot be 

 well grown, but upon a strong retentive soil, as also the Lewis 

 and Wilkinson Pears. 



In regard to fruit for market culture, we would suggest the 

 importance of raising winter varieties in preference to fall and sum- 

 mer fruits ; fall apples ripening at the time of our best pears and 

 peaches must necessarily have a limited sale. This is well shown in 

 the Gravenstein, which is one of our best apples ; but ripening as it 

 does at the time of the Bartlett and other fine pears, as well as the 

 Crawford Peaches, the demand for it is small. As to the best 

 winter apples for Essex county culture, it may be considered as we 

 think, a fixed fact with but two or three exceptions, that by far the 

 greatest number of fine winter apples which are considered the best 

 for our culture, are those which have originated on the soil of New 

 England — the Nonesuch from Hubbardston ; the Mother from 

 Bolton ; Baldwin, Roxbury .Russet, Rhode Island Greening, Dan- 

 vers' Winter Sweet, Haskell's fine Sweet, Minister, and the Murphy. 



These arc all such as we would commend for general culture. Of 

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