RURAL LIFE IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY 



1855-6. Within the past ten years I have planted jRve 

 hundred trees, most of which are in tolerably thrifty 

 condition and some are beginning to bear." 



The most extensive bearing orchards in the county 

 to-day are found on the Gold Farm on Cream Hill in 

 Cornwall, and In the towns of Morris, Litchfield, Salis- 

 bury and Bridgewater. The fact has been well estab- 

 lished that the higher hilltops of Connecticut, with their 

 heavy loam and clay-loam soils, produce apples of un- 

 surpassed flavor and keeping qualities. The higher 

 elevations give less trouble from fruit diseases than the 

 valleys, while the good air drainage draws the cold air 

 down the hill slopes so that less injury results from late 

 spring frosts. The air of the hills, being cooler than 

 that of the valleys, causes the fruit to mature more 

 slowly, and this gives a firmness and crispness that add 

 greatly to the flavor and keeping qualities. There Is no 

 comparison in flavor between the fruit of our Connecti- 

 cut hills and that of even the famous fruit region of 

 Oregon. For several years T. S. Gold of Cornwall sent 

 his apples to London, with a market more exacting than 

 that of most cities In this country. To-day the fruit 

 from this farm finds a ready sale In a select trade, 

 mostly In New Haven and Bridgeport. 



Even the sons of sunny Italy, whose love of fruits 

 runs back through many generations, have recently 

 migrated to our western Connecticut hillsides, where 



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