H9 



REPORT ON NEW VARIETIES OF WINTER 

 APPLES. 



Last year there were two varieties of new winter apples 

 that originated ont of the county, entered for premium at 

 the fair at Newburyport, one by C. M. Kent of Newbury 

 the other by Joseph Horton of Ipswich. The apples 

 appeared well, and they were requested to present a sam 

 pie of them to the trustees at their meeting in June. Mi- 

 Kent appeared with specimens of his apples that were 

 fresh and good. Mr. Horton was not present, hut ap* 

 peared at the fair in Peabody with good specimens of his 

 fruit. It takes considerable time to fully test the com- 

 parative value of different varieties of fruit, as there are 

 so many qualities to be considered. 



The flavor of the apples, their size, their bearing qual- 

 ity, their keeping quality, their color, which has much to 

 do in the sale of the apples, all of which should be con- 

 sidered. 



Several years ago the Northern Spy, then a new variety, 

 was highly recommended as a late keeping winter apple, 

 that would keep longer than the Baldwin and of sup- 

 erior quality. 



Being in Boston market one summer day I noticed a 

 dish of beautiful apples said to be the Northern Spy, a 

 variety I had been long looking for. Price 6 cents each. 

 I took one, put it in my pocket and carried it home that 

 others might partake of the luxury. In the spring I pro. 

 cured scions. 



I gave them a fair trial. I grafted a thrifty Baldwin 

 stock that stood in a patch of raspberry bushes, the ground 

 being manured and cultivated. The scions grew vigor* 

 ously and soon produced fruit large and fair. When time 

 to gather winter apples many of them were specked with 

 rot and unfit for winter use, which has been characteris- 

 tic of them since, when the tree would bear several 

 bushels in a year. I also grafted two or three Runnels 



