REPORT OF THE APPLE AND PEAR CONFERENCE. 



27 



Next year I expect to get the outlay back, and look to the future 

 for profits. 



In exposed situations pyramid or bush trees are preferable 

 to standards, because the fruit is not so liable to be blown down, 

 and in large orchards, if the trees have stems 2^ to 3 ft. high, 

 sheep could run under them to feed, and thus help the returns. 



Plums.— The Early Prolific, Early Orleans, The Czar, 

 Belgian, Orleans, Diamond, Belle de Septembre, Pond's Seed- 

 ling, Prince Englebert, and the Victoria are good ones. Purple 

 and Pershore damsons also, of which the Farleigh is well to the 

 front, are usually a profitable crop. 



Pears w T ant a better climate and a w T armer, richer, and 

 deeper soil than apples, and are not usually so profitable a crop 

 as apples. They do well as a rule on a subsoil of chalk. Of 

 pears, Aston Town, Eyewood, Hessle, Williams' Bon Chretien, 

 Beurre de Capiaumont, Beurre d'Amanlis, Mons. le Cure, or Vicar 

 of Winkfield, Doyenne d'Ete, Madame Treyve, and Marie Louise 

 d'Uccle, are the most profitable sorts to grow in Hertfordshire ; 

 Louise Bonne of Jersey, where it will grow, and Marie Louise, 

 where it will bear freely, are also good varieties. 



Cherries like a lighter and deeper soil than apples. The 

 May Duke, Bigarreau, Napoleon, White Heart, Governor Wood, 

 Frogmore Early Bigarreau, and Kentish are good sorts. 



Strawberries. — Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, Sir J. 

 Paxton, Elton Pine, President, Sir Charles Napier, Oscar, 

 Premier, Dr. Hogg, James Veitch, Loxford Hall Seedling. 



Baspberries. — Carter's Prolific, Fastolf, Fillbasket, Red 

 Antwerp. 



Currants. — Black Naples, Red Dutch, White Dutch, Rabj 

 Castle, La Versaillaise, Cherry, Lee's Prolific Black. 



Gooseberries. — Whitesmith, Warrington, Companion, Lion's 

 Provider, Roaring Lion, Broomgirl, Dublin, Crown Bob, Lanca- 

 shire Lad. 



In selecting sorts of fruits it should not be lost sight of that 

 some sorts flower later than others, and the blossoms of some 

 sorts are more frost-proof than others, and thus the crop is often 

 saved by late -flowering or frost-resisting blossoms. If I were 

 about to plant fruit trees for profit, I should look closely to these 

 matters in the selection of sorts. I would also examine all the 

 fruit trees, and talk to all the practical gardeners in the neigh- 

 bourhood whom I could persuade to listen to me, to ascertain 

 which sorts produced the best and most certain crops in the 

 district. 



In conclusion, let me say that the grower's work is only partly 

 done when he gathers his crops. He has to sell them as a 



