60 STATE POMOLOGICAL SUCIETY, 



soil, has proved valuable, or ever will. Yet I know of hundreds of 

 acres of nurser}' stock standing to-day in Maine on just that kind of 

 soil. If you want a healthy stock, grow a healthy tree on ^oiir 

 high, rocky, natural soil. 1 was glad to hear in the paper bj- Mr. 

 Bennoch a recommendation to farmers to grow their own trees. I 

 will not dwell upon that point, but you can see the advantage of 

 growing them upon soil where you can produce a tree which will be 

 healthy after it is grown. You may take such stock as that, take 

 the Ben Davis ; take your Haas ; take many others of those varieties 

 which people have had forced upon them at fancy prices, and graft 

 them with what you want. Now what do you want? I don't know 

 of how many of the celebrated orchardists of this State I have asked 

 this question : " What are your most profitable varieties of apples?" 

 and have almost invariably received this "old fogy" answer: "Bald- 

 win R. I. Greening, Bellflower" — and there they stop. If that is the 

 sum of the wisdom of the best orchardists of Maine, that the}' oI)tain 

 the best results from an orchard of Baldwins, Bellflowers, and R. I. 

 Greenings, why in the name of Heaven are we chasing after russets, 

 crab apples, and the Lord knows what? Is it business-like? Is it 

 sensible? We want to apply our good common sense to this ques- 

 tion as we do to other matters where our business is successful, and 

 not be in trouble all the time about new things. 



Question. Would you not add Northern Spv and Roxbury 

 Russet? 



Gilbert. I was talking with a gentleman who has been a suc- 

 cessful farmer in every sense of the word, in the southeiTi part of 

 Penobscot count}-, and he said the most profitable enterprise he ever 

 engaged in was raising Baldwin apples. This winter it was m}' 

 privilege to see a very creditable exhibition of fruit. I met a man 

 well versed in fruit-growing, and asked him what were the most 

 profitable varieties for commercial purposes? And the answer was, 

 " Baldwins, R. I. Greenings, Bellflowers." I went into the southern 

 part of Franklin county and talked with successful orchardists there. 

 I raised the question, "What is the most profitable single variety of 

 fruit for commercial purposes in Franklin county?" They said " the 

 Baldwin." I asked what would ^'ou add ? Ansiver. " R. I. Green- 

 ings and Bellflowers, and the Roxbury Russet in localities where 

 the soil is adapted to it." That to a young American, or to a man 

 starting out for the first time in fruit growing, would sound old 

 fog3'ish ; but within the last fift}' or seventy-five years we have been 



