THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



93 



comment upon an interesting test of this fruit : "Upon one 

 point in horticulture there would seem to be no room for a 

 diversity of opinion : The great superiority of Western Pacific 

 slope cherries over those grown in -the East, in shipping and 

 keeping qualities. About September 20, for the purpose of 

 trying an experiment, Dr. Lewis, in charge of the Oregon fruit 

 exhibit, gave me a plate of cherries of two varieties, the Bing 

 or Bying, and the Napoleon Bigarreau. They had been received 

 that day, and were in perfect condition, after a ride of 2,600 

 miles. I put them in a small box, with cotton wadding, and 

 sent them to my home in Southern New York, about 900 miles 

 from Chicago. A few days later I heard from them, and they 

 were still perfectly sound and edible. It is safe to say 

 that they had been at least eight days from the trees when 

 eaten. There is a solidity and meatiness about these Pacific 

 slope cherries that we of the East can not hope to rival. They 

 are marvels in that direction, and though they are hardly as 

 fine as our Eastern cherries in flavor, they are very good indeed." 



The largest apple w T as claimed by various States and socie- 

 ties. The following extracts record some of the largest 



"By all odds, the largest and handsomest Porter apples I 

 have ever seen, were sent to the New York exhibit by Mr. Bow- 

 land Robinson of Sodus, Wayne county, New York. The 

 largest one of two plates measured 12^ by 22 J- inches, and the 

 others were but little smaller. A plate of Eall Pippins con- 

 tained one which measured 12^ inches in circumference. The 

 Porters were not only very large, but perfect in form, and free 

 from all disfiguring marks, showing no traces of worms or 

 scab. Another large apple was an Alexander from New York 

 State Experiment Station, which measured 13 inches in 

 circumference." 



'Arkansas claims the largest apple, a Clapp's Mammoth, 

 measuring 27 inches around and weighing 14 ounces, being the 

 largest yet shown." 



" British Columbia shows the biggest apple in the Exposi- 

 tion. It measures 15^- inches in circumferance, and is fair and 

 clean. It came labeled Twenty Ounce or Cabashea, but I 

 doubt the accuracy of the name. One is never sure, however, 

 in naming fruit that is fanned by breezes from the Pacific. 

 Either the soil, or the climate, or the combination of both, work 

 marvelous changes, and old friends come to us so metamor- 

 phosed that we do not recognize them. This apple has 

 the peculiar red color of the Beitigheimer — a color I have 

 never observed in any other variety. It is not flattened enough 

 to be of Beitigheimer shape, but it is a notable fact that all 

 apples from the East, when grown on the Pacific coast, become 



