728 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Mr, Pringle—I speak from a consumer’s sta¬ 
tion, and desire earnestly that the men who 
grow onr fruits shall look more to quality. If I 
get hold of a barrel of apples that are excellent, 
I inquire what they are, and who grows them. 
I am not alone in this habit. The people who 
are the largest purchasers will readily second 
any movement toward a better quality of mar¬ 
ket fruit. To be sure, we like fine form and 
color for a dessert fruit, bnt in getting these we 
do not want to sacrifice quality. 
within the limits of our Society to suggest 
methods by which the market shall demand a 
good quality of fruit as well as handscme speci¬ 
mens. 
M. B. Williams, Sangatuck—I must oonfess 
that, in my opinion, we can, as growers, do lit¬ 
tle beyond what the mass of consumers demand. 
We are growing fruit to ship, and from it we get 
an income to support ourselves and families. 
We cannot afford to sacrifice thiB income or any 
part of it for the sake of eduoat'ug the con¬ 
sumer to a higher or more delicate taste. We 
are bound, as commercial growers, to furnish the 
fruit that wilt bring the highest price in the 
market, and if the consumer is willing to pay a 
larger price for a big red apple of poor quality 
than for a modest-»p pearing fruit of first qual¬ 
ity, we shall certainly grow the former to meet 
his money half way. We may theorize about 
elevating the taste of the people all we choose ; 
yet this will be the action of the successful com- 
meiciai grower every time. This Society com- 
bintt anuttur and professional 
men; if the former can do this 
educating, the latter will find no 
k adequate excuse for not follow- 
ing the course thev have made 
easy and profitable, but the 
market growers will not and 
cannot afford to take the initia¬ 
tive in this matter. 
mMj C. N. Merriman—I wish to en¬ 
ter my solemn protest agaiust 
{*} the doctrine of my brother fmit- 
grower. I believe it is in the 
power of the commercial grower 
more than of any other man to 
lead public opinion in this ruat- 
ter, and he can, by planting jn- 
diciously, raise as fine-appearing 
apples of first quality as he can 
of second or third quality, and in 
the end this policy will certainly bring him a 
larger return. The grower, to be rucoessful, 
must produce such fruit as to bring buy¬ 
ers to him, and he must bring every thing 
to bear to induce this state of things. Qual¬ 
ity must certainly take a prominent place in 
his decision upon what to plant. I can name a 
half dozen apples tuat appear but rarely in our 
markets, that are as good in quality as the very 
best, and notwithstanding their excellence in 
this point, nothing is lost in the ability of the 
trees to bear abundantly or in the appearance of 
the fruit. I tell you, Mr. President, we ought 
to go on record as a Society in favor of bring 
ing to the front fruits valuable for their supe¬ 
rior quality, and make that a market point. 
Mr. Smith, Parma—I am working for d. liars, 
and I am not willing to take the whole crowd of 
consumers upon my Bhoulders and “boost” 
them into a higher position as regards taste, 
with the poor prospect of pay for it that is prom¬ 
ised. We are not far enough along to regard 
quality much yet. Perhaps in planting an 
orchard for our children to reap money out of, 
looking fruit. I would recommend that wo aim 
to combine good-looking fruit with good-keeping 
qualities and good-eating qualities—such an 
apple is the Northern Spy. 
J. D. Baldwin, Ann Arbor—It is a pretty 
expensive business to educate rapidly, and, 
although I am in favor of taking ground look¬ 
ing toward an improved taste, still, as commer¬ 
cial growers, we must not lose sight of the 
margin that supports onr families. Ii has been 
a favorite opinion of miue that people able to 
purchase, will seek good quality and will be 
willing to pay for it, but I oonfess this season I 
my faith in this direction has been 
somewhat shaken. We have at Ann 
Arbor a considerable population 
whose money comes in the form of 
good salaries. I have often watched 
these men as they selected from the ny/f 
fruit-stands, aud I have fouud they / . ^ 
will pass the beautiful, meiting Sen- / 
eoa Chief Straw berries for an inferior, J 
perhaps nameless, sort, for the sake I 
of the two or three cents per quart I 
to be saved. Now, I do not wish to h. 
be put on record as opposed to such wA 
economy, but in maiktiiug fruit, we IMS, 
must consider the disposition of the 
people who are to buy, 
Mi. Holloway—I have one further 
remark to make : Michigan as a fruit n^| 
State is in its infancy, aud its future > 
success in that line, will, as sore as 
you live, depend upon the quality of 
its fruit. If we are to look out for 
money, we must look beyond this > ear, or this 
decade. We have the location and circumstan¬ 
ces that will give us a prominence throughout | 
the world for the production of apples, and we 
cannot successfully do otherwise than make this 
reputation as perfect as possible. We can raise 
The Apple illustrated iu this issue over the 
above name, is one of the varieties the cions of 
which were imported by the national Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture in 1869-70. It is the varie¬ 
ty numbered 372 in the official list, the Russian 
name of which is given as “ Petrowskoe.” The 
fruit from which our illustration is taken, was 
grown in the orchard of Dr. Hoskins, on the 
banks of lake Memphremagog, near to the Can¬ 
ada line—one of the severest districts for testing 
the hardiness of fruit trees in the country. Dr. 
H. furnishes us with the following description 
of the tree and fruit: 
BONNE DU PUITS ANSAULT PEAR. 
Foil an engraving of this delicious pear, read¬ 
's may refer to the Bubal of Nov. 10—1877. A 
Nobtbfield Beauty—(B ee p. 727 ) 
small box of them was sent to this rffice by 
Ellwanger «5c Barry of Rochester, N Y., sev¬ 
eral weeks ago. They were quite green aud 
hard when first received, but ripened beautifully 
in a few days. All who ate them said—“ It is 
the best pear I ever ate”—or. “It is as good a 
pear as I ever ateand the latter was our own 
report. If the generality of people were asked, 
“ How would you improve the Seckel ? " the an¬ 
swer would be, “ Make it a little more aprightly," 
or ‘ 1 not quite so Bweet.” You have it in the An- 
sault Pear—and a little more. If we were asked— 
“How would you improve the Ansault/’we should 
say, “ Make it a Bhade sweeter.” Now they may 
be had ripe at the same time, so that if perfec¬ 
tion in pears is wanted—eat them together! 
In the Rubal of Nov. 10. Mr. Charles Down¬ 
ing te'ls us that “the tree is moderately vigo¬ 
rous and very productive and a first-class Pear 
for the amateur, but rather too small of its 
season, September, to meet the wants of the 
geutral markt t-rnen; fruit scarcely of medium 
size; skin, light yellow, nearly covered with 
thin, light-russet; flesh, fine, juicy, melting 
with a sweet, rich, slightly vinous flavor.” 
While eating some of the pears above referred 
to, the flavor seemed to ns more than “ Blightly 
vinous" and so w T e wrote to Mr. Downing. To 
this he replies: “If you leave out the word 
slightly in my description of last year it will be 
right—so I find it in my corrected notes of last 
year, and so it is in my appendix of 1872.” 
lars : Size medium or rather small; roundish 
oblate, sometimes approaching conical; smooth 
and regular ; color, with numerous short, 
broken red stripes on a yellow ground, a nearly 
uniform bright red in the sun, (lotted with fine 
white specks; stem from an inch to an inch and 
a half long, rather Biim ; cavity shallow, acute ; 
basin small and regularly corrugated or plaited ; 
calyx closed; fleBh white, fine grained, very 
tender, slightly crisp, juicy, sub-acid, spicy; 
quality very good. Ripens (in northern Ver¬ 
mont) during the last two weeks in August. 
Tree, when young, an upright, slim, free grower; 
shoots reddiBh-brown, with a few inconspiouous 
white dots ; leaves of medium size (small for a 
Russian) waved, finely crenate. 
“ Though the fruit is so much like Early Joe, 
the tree is very distinct. As to the quality of 
the fruit, while I cannot rank it with the Early 
Joe, as ‘best,’ it fully deserves to be called 
* very good,’ and decidedly * best’ for a R'jsriau 
no apple of that class within my knowledge 
being entitled to rank with the * best’ of Ameri- / 
can dessert apples. But when we consider that/,; 
the St. Peter is entirely hardy, or ‘Ironclad, J. 
in the coldest section of New Eugland, when |{j 
Early Joe is grown only with difficulty iu favorbu | 
localities, aud not by any means in perfection, ^ 
we may consider the St. Peter as quite an acqui¬ 
sition to our list of nice, early dessert fruit. 
Meadkk’s Winter —(See p. 130 ) 
firm apples of good color; why not produce those 
of excellent quality as long as it is not more 
expensive I tell you, gentlemen, unless we 
look carefully to quality, we are living beneath 
our possibilities, and ought to be censured 
for it. 
H. 8. Rogers, Yolinia—We can scarcely do bet¬ 
ter than supply the demand. If we consumed 
here in Michigan all the fruit we raised, it 
would be well for us to educate people’s taste, 
but, inasmuch as only a small proportion of the 
fruit grown here is consumed within our bor¬ 
ders, wt are assuming a good deal of a task iu 
undertaking to educate the ta*te of the world. 
Mr. Harrison—I have shipped a good many 
( apples, aud there are some things that should 
come into this discussion as matters of no in¬ 
considerable import, that have not been touched 
upon. The consumer demands a good-looking 
apple as well as a good-tasting apple when it 
reaches its destination. This involves the fact 
that a good-shipping apple muBt have a tough 
skin. The apples with a tough peel rarely rank as 
number one in quality, so that often, to get an 
apple that will be in good shape when at its 
destination, we muBt sacrifice something of 
quality. The Pennock apple we rank sh one of 
our poorest Berts, because its quality is below 
medium, still I have never ship- 
ped a variety to New Orleans y<?Z^> 
that would sell as well, because 
it opens there better than any I 
know. Yon may say it is popular ' 
there because the consumers do 
not know what a good apple is— {$%/''■ 
which iB true—and all because we 
cannot get the good apples there v 
in shape to eat. 
Secretary Garfield — Jnst one • -jl 
point I wish to make, and that is, Yp|-|. 
that different localities require ... 
different kinds of fruit, because 
of locality and not because of 
any prejudice or education in 
taste. A malarial district will 1 yri 
not consume sweet apples, and 
PEAR CULTURE IN NEBRASKA 
BY EX GOV. B. w. FUBNA8, 
As a rule, among Nebraska fruit culturists, 
Peai culture is not considered a bucccsb. This 
seemingly prevalent idea, however, is attribu¬ 
table more to want of attention, treatment and 
proper selection of varieties than to soil, cli¬ 
mate or any other of the natural surroundings. 
I am confirmed in this opinion by the fact that 
where lovers of pears have observed the essen¬ 
tials named, most gratifying success haB follow¬ 
ed. Better accommodation for penetration of 
the soil is required by pear roots than for most 
other fruits. This I consider one of the indis¬ 
pensable requisites to successful pear growing 
here, as well as elsewhere. The pear is one of 
my favorite fruits, and my efforts to cultivate it 
THE FANNY APPLE, 
Downing says of it, that it is a very handsome 
and valuablo apple either for market or family 
use, ripening a week or two later than Red As 
tr&chan, and of better quality, aud that it is not 
as well known as it should be, although it is 
thirty or forty years since it was first introduced. 
Its origin is somewhat uncertain, but it is sup¬ 
posed to have originated near Strasburgh, Lan¬ 
caster Oo., Pa., on the property formerly owned 
by Jacob Beam, and not far from where the cele¬ 
brated Belmont, or Gate Apple, was first found. 
The tree is a vigorous grower, spreading, aud an 
abundant bearer on alternate years. 
Fameuse Sucre 
it would be well to look toward a little advance¬ 
ment in this direction, bnt not a great deal. It 
is too slow a process to be counted of much im¬ 
portance when we are figuring for dollars. 
Mr. Holloway—It is demanded that this soci¬ 
ety should take firm and high ground in favor 
of a good quality of fruit. It is not the mere 
question of dollars and cents. There is some¬ 
thing higher than mere profit. Different soils 
produce different qualities of fruit of the same 
variety. In my location the Baldwin is hardly 
worth eating, but I can produce the Yellow Bell¬ 
flower in perfection. We must study the habits 
of Apples and then wo shall get quality. We 
muBt laarn the requirements of fruits. This 
Society cannot stop on the question of dollars 
and cents. This Society should be a leader in 
favor of quality. We must educate the tastes 
of the people, and third-rate Apples must be 
Bhoved out. Apples of first quality go to Eu¬ 
rope, and for this and other reasons we should 
maintain quality. 
S. 0. Kuapp, Jackson—It was a hobby of 
mine to elevate the tastes of people in relation 
to fruits. But I found it a hard task. I grafted 
largely of the Benoni, a variety of excellent 
quality, and now I have a good call for it. It ia 
HOW FAR SHALL WE GO IN THE AT 
TEMPT TO CrtEATE A DEMAND FOR 
FRUIT OF THE BEST QUALITY 1, 
The following short discussion is furnished us 
from the minutes of a recent meeting of the 
Michigan State Pomoiogical Sooiety, by Secre¬ 
tary Gabfield. 
Mr. Stearns, of Kalamazoo—While wo have a 
due regard for the present wants of our market, 
I am satisfied we shall make some progress in 
educating people to ask for fruit of good qual¬ 
ity. It will not do to make an innovation of 
this character so suddenly as to sacrifice the 
best interests of commercial growers, but the 
fact stares us in the face that the apples which 
bring the moat money are not necessarily fruit 
pf excellent quality, and it appropriately comes 
Decauik of Canada —(See p. 727.) 
have proved as successful as with anything else. 
Those of my neighbors aud acquaintances who 
have given care aud attention, have met with 
like BUC 06 BB. 
At our late State Fair, an extraordinary pear 
exhibit was made from orchards in thiB, Nemaha 
