i& MR. stone's address. 



would have left their farms barren of trees. But worthier sen- 

 timents are now prevailing. The agricultural community are 

 becoming more conscious of the duty they owe to posterity to 

 leave the world better than they found it, and acting upon this 

 principle they erect the worthiest monument to the memory of 

 their ancestors, and evince a commendable regard for those 

 who will one day succeed them. 



Formerly, much of the fruit cultivated, was of an inferior 

 quality. But orchardists have discovered that the best kinds 

 caii be produced without enhancing the cost, while the demand 

 and price in the market are greatly increased. Essex County 

 now produces as fine apples, pears, quinces, plums, &c., as can 

 be found in the Commonwealth, and the contributions to the 

 annual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 in Boston, by gentlemen resident in Salem, Beverly, and the 

 adjoining towns, are highly creditable to their pomological taste 

 and skill. Much praise is due to the Essex County Natural 

 History Society, for the service it is rendering to the Fruit in- 

 terest, by the weekly exhibitions gratuitously opened to the 

 public from Spring to Autumn. The annual exhibition, just 

 closed, has not been surpassed, in the quality of its fruit, by 

 any show I have elsewhere witnessed.* 



For common cultivation, the apple is doubtless the most lu- 

 crative, and therefore deserves the first place in a farmer's esti- 

 mation. Beside the increasing domestic consumption, foreign 

 markets are constantly opening, promising a sure demand for 

 the surplus that the most favorable seasons bestow. In the 

 year ending 30th .Tune, 1844, apples to the value of f 51,4G5, 

 were exported from this country. Winter fruit will always sell 

 at fair prices. A farmer, with a thrifty orchard of Baldwins, 

 Roxbury Russets, Rhode Island Greenings, and other choice 

 varieties, will derive more income from its cultivation than 

 he can from the same amount of labor employed in any other 

 way. The " Black Pear of Worcester," and the "Iron" or 



*The late Robert Manning, Esq., of Salem, " the great Pomologist of America," gath- 

 ered into his own collection nearly 2000 varieties of fruit. From that collection 240 varie- 

 ties of the pear were presented at the recent annual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society. 



