80 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



all at once they went all to pieces. I wouldn't try to grow 

 cantaloupes without spraying, and I w^ouldn't stop trying to 

 grow them simply because I had not succeeded so far. 



Question. What about the possibility of growing dwarf 

 pears? Some people favor the dwarf pear tree for commer- 

 cial purposes. 



Mr. Hale. I know some of the varieties have succeeded 

 well as dwarfs. I had an orchard of four acres at one time, 

 and did fairly well ; but I was in love with peaches, and did 

 better with peaches. I think I would rather have the stand- 

 ard trees. I think I would prune them and keep the tree 

 down very low. I would thin it out, so as to broaden it out. 



Question. What strawberry would you recommend for 

 midsummer ? 



Mr. Hale. Stevens's latest, Haverland and Mead-Mid- 

 season, or a half dozen other good ones. The Mead, which 

 was rather a shy bearer the first few years, is beginning to 

 be a heavy bearer. Then Glen Mary, Lady Garrison, Sample, 

 Abington and Ryckman. 



Question. How often would you spray the cucumber or 

 melon plant ? 



Mr. Hale. Spray first as soon as they get leaves on and 

 begin to run ; then as often as you get time, — every week 

 or so. 



Question. What varieties of Japanese plums do you 

 recommend ? 



]Mr. Hale. The Red June, which is hardy ; the Abun- 

 dance, which is the sweetest ; the Bm'bank, which is good 

 to keep, and a tremendous bearer ; if allowed to overbear, 

 is very poor, and is of high quality if thinned out ; the Sat- 

 suma for canning puts everything else in the shade. Speak- 

 ing of fruits for local markets, we have found that the Sat- 

 suma plum, — it is a dirt}^ reddish-brown chocolate color on 

 the outside, very unattractive looking ; cut it open, and it is 

 red as a beet ; its appearance is such that people don't w^ant 

 to buy it, — but, harking back fifteen or twenty years, we 

 sold it for $1 per half-bushel basket ; and the ladies who 

 bought it liked it, and told their friends, and the circle kept 

 widening; and we put the price up to $1.25, and the circle 



