STATE POMOLOQICAL SOCIETY. 45 



ORCHARDING IN FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

 By S. R. Lkt.and, of Farmington. 



That the influence of the Maine State Pomological Society- is giv- 

 ing a great impetus to fruit raising in all parts of our State, there 

 are abundant indications. In travelling over Franklin county I see 

 unmistakable signs of a very marked improvement in fruitgrowing in 

 the last ten years, not onl^- in the extra care bestowed on old orchards 

 but also in the large area being planted to young trees. This is 

 in part attributable to the enlai'ged markets, and in part to the 

 influence of the Pomological Society. Although there are but few 

 members of the Society in this count}', its transactions are read l)y 

 the firesides of most of the orchardists, and its wise suggestions and 

 recommendations are silently working a might\' influence for good. 



There is no mistake but that there is a great improvement being 

 made in the profits of apple raising in this county. One important 

 step in the right direction is the planting of more native or Maine 

 grown trees and less of the New York and Connecticut stock. The 

 early orchardists in this vicinit}- most unfortunatel}- grafted much 

 too largely of earl}- varieties for which there is no market. And 

 another important step in tiie I'ight direction is the re-grafting of 

 trees bearing early fruit to such varieties of late-keeping apples as 

 have an established market notoriety. 



At no time in the history of orcharding in this county has there 

 been so many and such flattering inducements to increased eflbrt in 

 the production of good varieties of apples as now, both b\- bestow- 

 ing better care on our trees and increasing their numbers. Tiie 

 pioneer orchardists of this county had comparatively no market for 

 their fruit. A few barrels of eating and cooking apples could be 

 sold in the villages, and the wives, sons and daughters dried a few, 

 but the larger part were made into cider or led to stock at a very 

 small profit. But now. how changed ! It is safe to i)redict that in 

 the future there will be an unsatiable market for all the good a[)ples 

 that can be produced. 



The shipment of Maine apjiles to foreign countries is a business 

 evidently in its infancy, and that the foreign demand (or shipping 

 varieties of Maine apples will increase there is no doni)t. The diy- 

 ing of ajiples by the steam eva[)orating process is a new induslrv 

 and a growing one, and one that will call for thousands of bushels 

 of second quality api)les annually in this county, and it is a busi- 



