THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



cious. Canada, New York, Colorado, and Nebraska, sent spec- 

 imens which were good eating, while some samples from Iowa 

 were bitter, differences for which it is difficult to account. 



The General Autumn Fruit Displays, — The pomological 

 exhibitions culminated in the closing days of the Exposition, 

 and gave final emphasis to the fact that America is preemi- 

 nently a land of fruits. As early as the latter part of Sep- 

 tember the autumn fruits of the Northern States were 

 shown in wild profusion. The rear wings of the Horticultural 

 Building had never before looked so well, and the uniform 

 excellence of the exhibits silenced criticism of the pomological 

 displays. Many of the Northern States were not represented; 

 the fault rarely lay with the fruit growers, but was rather due to 

 lack of funds, which, upon one excuse or another, had been 

 diverted from horticultural interests. Every foot of space in 

 the pomological section of the building was now filled with 

 exhibits. On Saturday, Sept. 9, California had a free distri- 

 bution of fruit in front of its State Building, giving away <- 

 about six carloads of grapes, plums, peaches, pears, and oranges, 

 and some twenty men were kept busy dealing it out to the 

 multitude. 



Second to the display of citrous fruits from California, the 

 Pacific Northwest arrested the attention of visitors. Idaho, 

 Oregon, and Washington held a prominent place from the 

 first, although Oregon exceeded the other two in the amount 

 of fresh fruit exhibited. The fruits of this entire region are 

 remarkable for their enormous size and high color, and par- 

 ticularly for the strange influence of climate which they show. 

 All apples which, in the East, tend to be oblong in shape, show 

 this tendency in a more pronounced degree here, and the apex 

 becomes conspicuously ribbed and the calyx is usually larger. 

 The varieties of apple which these States showed were familiar 

 in name to eastern pomologists, though they were strange in 

 appearance. 



The great interior region was admirably represented by 

 Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, and 

 Colorado. Apples predominated, although pears and grapes 

 were shown in variety. This great geographical region is the 

 area of the comparatively coarser-grained apples of the Ben 

 Davis, Janet, Borne Beauty, and Pippin class, although many 

 fruits of excellent quality are grown. The displays impressed 

 one with the great size of the specimens, and the prominence 

 of the green and yellow under-colors. While red was promi- 

 nent, it was of a coarser type than that seen in the apples of 

 the Northwest Mississippi valley, and, though deep, was rather 

 dull, and laid on in heavy splashes. The coloring usually 



