STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 99 



A CONTEIBUTION TO THE H18TORY OF ORCHARDING IN MaINE. 



By Alfred Smith. Monmouth. 



A large portion of the pioneer settlers in Kennebec county 

 were energetic, enterprising fiirmers, well skilled in agricul- 

 ture, and were from Middleborough, Bridgewater and other 

 towns in eastern and southern Massachusetts. They brought 

 with them apple seeds selected from the hardiest and best 

 fruit, and planted them in nurseries on moist, mellow shoal 

 soil, at the foot of hills, a situation in which all trees grow 

 with spreading roots, tap roots being unnecessary to draw a 

 supply of water. Thus they were easily removed with all 

 their long fibrous roots to higher land, suitable for orcharding. 



I have the history, from tradition, of a small nursery, planted 

 on a farm by the first settlers of Winthrop, nearly a century 

 ago. About twenty years after (80 years ago) my father, 

 Isaac Smith from Middleborough, Mass., bought the fai-m. 

 All the seedling trees of this nursery had been carefully 

 removed ten years before, a part of which had been planted 

 on an acre and a half of good orchard land, near the house 

 and barn, having an eastern cant. The balance of the trees 

 were sold to various parties in town and planted on the 

 beautiful hill-sides of Winthrop. The seed of those old 

 orchards was selected from the very best eating and cooking 

 apples, both sweet and sour or sub-acid — consequently the 

 fruit was all very choice. 



As like begets like, the orchards of Winthrop have origi- 

 nated and brought to the notice of the public, four as good, 

 hardy autumn seedlings as can be found in the State, viz. : 

 Winthrop Greening, Moses Wood, Smith's Favorite and 

 Fairbanks apple ; all of these should be more widely dissem- 

 inated, especially the latter, and are far superior to any of 

 the "Russian varieties grafted on crab stocks," which in my 

 opinion is another humbug being practiced on the farmers of 

 Maine. The Russian apples are handsome, which is their 

 only good quality. They are coarse, and are in eating only 

 about a week, save the Alexander, and are ripe at a time in 



