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FIRS T FR L ITS. 



The Cranberry Crop. — The cranberry bogs in Mid- 

 dleborough and Lakeville will perhaps yield three quar- 

 ters of the usual crop. In Carver, Wareham and on the 

 cape the crop is about as usual. At East Head, just 

 over the line in Carver, at Ellis Foundry, there are some 

 four hundred acres of bog that will yield 15,000 barrels. 

 The berries are fair size but not large. Middleborough 

 and Lakeville will produce several thousand barrels. 

 The Makepeace bogs in Plymouth and Barnstable coun- 

 ties will this year yield upward of 30,000 barrels, and it 

 will be several weeks before the work of gathering them 

 is completed. — Boston Transcript, Sept. 24. 



B. S. Williams Memorial Fund. — A committee of 

 prominent horticulturists, in England, is soliciting funds 

 to be employed in creating prizes for orphans of gar- 

 deners, and which shall constitute a memorial of the 

 eminent services of the late B. S. Williams, " This 

 committee desires to raise a fund to perpetuate the 

 memory of the late Mr. B. S. Williams, and by invest- 

 ing a sufficient amount be enabled to place a certain 

 number of orphans of gardeners on the gardeners' or- 

 phan fund as 'Williams memorial orphans,' and also to 

 give prizes in money with ' Williams memorial certifi- 

 cates ' for excellence in the cultivation of plants." Con- 

 tributions are solicited from anyone in any country who 

 desires to perpetuate the memory of a worthy man in 

 a noble cause. Already considerable money has been 

 raised. Shirley Hibberd, Kew and H. J. Veitch, A. 

 Outram and John A. Laing constitute the committee. 



Horticulture at the Ohio State Fair. — Notwith- 

 standing the fact that this year has been an unfavorable 

 one in Ohio for fruits, there was an excellent exhibit at 

 the state fair this year. There were nearly a thousand 

 plates of apples, over four hundred plates of grapes, a 

 hundred and thirty-seven plates of pears, and several 

 plates of quinces, peaches and plums. 



Although the display of apples was very large, the 

 quality was far inferior to that usually shown in Ohio. 

 There were some specimen plates, however, that were 

 very fine. They were not, as a rule, highly colored, and 

 many were wormy or knotty. The method of exhibit- 

 ing was in plates of five specimens each, which were ar- 

 ranged on tables about three feet high, the shelves on 

 these tables a foot wide and each succeeding shelf three 

 inches higher than the one next in front of it, until the 

 middle of the table was reached. By this arrangement 

 the six rows of apples could be seen from one side. 

 There were 300 entries of single plates, and in some 

 varieties there were a dozen competitors. 



The pears were shown by four exhibitors, but most 

 of the plates were from two exhibitors. W. W. Farns- 

 worth, Waterville, O., had 13 entries, took six first 

 premiums on single plates of varieties and four seconds 

 on the same ; and on six varieties for summer and fall 

 he got first, and second on 12 varieties. C. W. Coun-' 



ter, Toledo, O.. made 17 entries, was awarded nine first 

 and two second premiums on single plates, and first on 

 twenty varieties, first on twelve varieties and second on 

 six varieties. E. H. Cushman, Euclid, O., was awarded 

 first on a new seedling pear. It is an unnamed seedling 

 which has be.en in bearing for many years. It is about 

 the size of the Seckel, but shorter, and more abrupt at 

 the stem end, usually with a slight cavity about the 

 stem. Season, at its home, is about October first. Qual- 

 ity nearly as good as the Seckel. When ripe it has a 

 rich golden russet skin, with a bright red cheek when 

 exposed to the sun. 



There was no competition in peaches, and Mr. Coun- 

 ter received all the awards. 



The display of grapes was never equalled in Ohio, 

 either in size and appearance or in quality of grapes 

 shown. They were shown on plates of four bunches 

 each, arranged on tables in the same manner as the ap- 

 ples. E. W. Woodward, Kirtland, O., made the finest 

 display, showing eighty plates and a total of thirty vari- 

 eties. He was awarded first premiums on collections 

 of 24 varieties, 12 varieties, 6 varieties, 3 varieties early 

 table, 3 varieties late, and second on 3 varieties for 

 white wine. He had twenty-five single plates entered 

 and received 15 first premiums, and 6 second premiums 

 on them. E. H. Cushman, Euclid, showed a fine lot of 

 grapes in varieties, and was awarded 12 first and 4 sec- 

 ond premiums on single plates. J. S. Snyder, Lancas- 

 ter, O., Isaac Fruman, Rex, O., and Mr. Linxweiler 

 Dayton, O., each showed a number of varieties. Isaac 

 Staples, Dayton, O. , was awarded first premium for new 

 seedling, which is unnamed. Geo. W. Campbell, Del- 

 aware, O., showed five new seedlings, only part of which 

 are named. The Moyer and Moore's Diamond were 

 shown for the first time this year. The former is more 

 loose on the stem than Catawba, which it resembles 

 somewhat in appearance, but is redder. The largest 

 clusters shown were of Excelsior, exhibited by Mr. 

 Linxweiler. 



There were four counties that made exhibits of one 

 hundred or more plates of fruit The first premium 

 was awarded to Lucas county, the second to Warren and 

 the third to Delaware. At a meeting of the State Hor- 

 ticultural Society it was resolved to recommend to the 

 Board that the premium money be paid according to the 

 merit of the exhibit, that all worthy exhibits may re- 

 ceive a portion of the award. 



In the professional list of plants there were about 

 1,600 pots, but they contained very few good specimen 

 plants. The display was placed in Farm Product Hall, 

 which is not a suitable place for flowers. Nor is 

 Woman's Building, where the amateur list of plants was 

 shown, any more suitable. There should be a building 

 especially for plants and cut flowers. 



At the meeting of the State Horticultural Society, 

 the project of making out fruit lists for different sections 

 of the state was discussed, and referred to the annual 

 meeting, which will be held at Zanesville in December. 



W. S. Devol. 



