VOL. XLVI. NO. 1968. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 15, 1887. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS, 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year, 1887, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
pomoLoi}icul. 
THE LORD SUFFIELD APPLE. 
I send herewith by express samples of the 
Lord Suflleld apple, a variety that appears to 
possess qualities that will give it some staud- 
iug as a market and family fruit. I have 
fruited it during the past two years. The 
tree was top-grafted on a youug Baldwin 
stock in the spring of 1883. The eions which 
were sent to tho station by Messrs. Eilwanger 
& Barry, made a vigorous growth aud bore 
about three peeks of fruit during the summer 
of 1880, a season wheu apples were almost a 
total failure in this section. The present sea- 
sou the tree bore heavily, the fruit averag¬ 
ing nearly or quite the size of the smaller 
specimens scut. The fruit is in eating condi¬ 
tion from tho middle of August to about the 
middle of September. When fully ripe, it 
assumes a beautiful golden yellow. I have 
found the quality excellent for cooking, but 
it is too firm and coarse to become popular 
for dessert use. If the tree should prove 
as reliable for bearing as the past two seasons 
would indicate, aud the size of the fruit holds 
out as the tree attains age, the variety will 
prove a profitable one for market, as the 
beauty of the fruit will make it readily 
salable. k s. uokf, 
Geneva, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—The apples were received Septem¬ 
ber 10. Flesh white, quite tender, juicy and of 
about the same degree of acidity as the Alex¬ 
ander of earlier maturity. Skin a rich straw 
color. Figs. 523 aud 524 show the apple and 
a cross-section. 
WHAT FRUITS SELL BEST. 
I recently overheard a discussion between 
a fruit grower aud a commission merchant as 
to the merit of some specimens of apples aud 
peal’s. The first claimed that, large and cor¬ 
rect form with proper markiugs determined 
tho excellence of a fruit; the hitter said he did 
uot know or care anything about, form or 
markings, but that apples and pears to bring 
good prices must be uniform in size, with a 
smooth skin. He added that he had noticed 
that professional fruit growers usually did 
more growling than nuy other class of patrons, 
because they thought that their fruit ought to 
bring a fancy price because it was true to 
unme, while buyers, as a rule, know nothing 
and care nothing for such things. J. H. G. 
Societies. 
THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCI¬ 
ETY AT BOSTON 
(rural special shorthand report.) 
Work of the fruit committee ; the colora¬ 
tion of fruits; cash premiums; identifi¬ 
cation of varieties ; relation of forest de¬ 
struction to fruit deterioration; other 
evil effects of forest destruction ; the apple 
scab ; remedies therefor. 
The first evening session of the society be¬ 
gan with the reading of tho General Fruit 
Committee’s report, by William C. Barry, the 
chairman. Tho report was brief. Eighteen 
States and Territories had been heard from, 
he said, and it was hoped others would bo re¬ 
ceived in time for tho published Report, It 
was important that each member of the sev¬ 
eral Stato Committees should advise the chair¬ 
man whether he would serve aud atteud to 
the business or not. Neither the Standing 
Committee on Foreign Fruit, nor that upon 
Syuouyms had any report to muke. 
A paper by Byron D. Halstead on “ Climate 
as Affecting the Exterior and Interior Col¬ 
oring of Fruits” was then read. The essayist 
is the Botanist of the Iowa Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. His paper was largely botanical aud 
technical, and somewhat lengthy. He said 
the color of our wild fruits had advanced in 
much the same manner as in the case of our 
wild flowers. Climate had very much to do 
in this matter of color. Northern apples are 
more highly colored thau those grown in the 
South. Fruit grown iu the sun is more bright¬ 
ly colored thau that maturing iu the shade. 
He alluded to “leaf spotting,” which he said 
was “ sun priuting.” letters, or any other 
forms, could be outlined upon any specimen 
of fruit by covering either the ground-work 
or the letters themselves. Color is ouly skin 
deep. The chemist says all fruit colors may 
be reduced to four pigments. Experiments 
with flowers show that they will color even iu 
the dark, if the plaut is healthy aud the foli¬ 
age is all right. So with grapes in bags. But 
as a general rule, the more any fruit is ex¬ 
posed to the sunlight., the more and deeper 
will be its color. Difference in soil also affects 
the color; and yet it must not be understood 
that a few cart-loads of Florida soil dumped 
on the banks of the Hudson will produce cit¬ 
rus fruits. But Westeru fruits are brighter- 
colored than those growa on the Atlantic 
coast. How much of this is due to soil and 
how much to climate remains to be decided. 
At the close of this paper President Berck- 
maus said that the President of the Massachu¬ 
setts Hort. Society had offered £500 for pre¬ 
miums to the American Pom. Society exhib¬ 
its. Dr. Hexatuer, Dr. Hape aud C. L. 
VVatrous were designated as the committee to 
make those awards. 
H. E. Van Deman, the Government Pornol- 
ogist, thou read a paper ou the “identification 
of varieties of hardy orchard fruits.” 
Another paper upon nearly the same sub¬ 
ject, by Dr. W. J. Beal, was then read by the 
Secretary. It, however, related more espec¬ 
ially to identification by flowers or fruit blos¬ 
soms, Dr. Beal thinks that no fruit can be 
thoroughly described without making use of 
the description of the blossom. His paper 
was pleasing in its brevity though practical 
and valuable iu its application of botanical 
science to the subject of fruit identification. 
[His papers always have that rare merit. 
—Eds.] 
The second morning session began with the 
reading of various committee reports. Mr. 
Lyon, of the Committee on Nominations, re¬ 
ported that Vice-President Barry declined 
further official connection with the society on 
account of his feeble health. Complimentary 
resolutions in recognition of his past services 
were then adopted. President Berckmans 
urged that the Committee on Foreign Fruits 
be increased to 12 members. The by-laws 
were subsequently changed in this respect, 
fixing the number at 11. The President also 
suggested a new st nding committee, to be 
known as that upon “Sub-tropical Fruits.” 
This also was adopted by the society at a 
later stage of this session. Section 9 was 
thus added to the by-laws, the committee to 
have 11 members. 
A paper by George W. Campbell, on the 
“ Relation of Forest Destruction to Fruit 
Deterioration" was then read by the author. 
He said, in part, the destruction of our forests 
occasions serious alarm. Our winters are 
made colder, our summers hotter, and the sea¬ 
sons more variable. We have extreme and 
sudden changes in temperature, together with 
damaging droughts and floods. The peach, 
plum, aud the finer cherries are becoming 
very uureliable. Even apples are now uncer¬ 
tain, aud peaches most so of all our fruits. 
They are scarcely planted at all auv more in 
his section. The increase of fungous diseases 
and of the ravages of insects he thinks is 
largely due to forest destruction. The insects 
have been driven from the forest where they 
fed upon the wild fruits. The curculio now 
marks the peach, cherry, nectarine, apricot, 
pear and apple. The birds also have changed 
their habits aud are now serious invaders iu 
many places. Our water supply is becoming 
dried up or diminished. Hence it is that now 
in the West they are planting forest trees, 
and so the treeless plains may in time become 
a thing of the past. 
Mr. Green said; “Scientific men differ on 
this subject. Some claim there is no such 
effect. How can the matter be determined 
accurately?” Mr. Fuller replied: “Sometimes 
scientific men make their observations in the 
laboratory and not in the open field. Now, 
taking some of our Western dry States, Kan¬ 
sas, for instance, l thmk the rains are just as 
copious there as ever. The trouble is the 
winds absorb the moisture much faster by 
reason of the decreasing forests. Scientists 
say our annual rain-fall is as large as ever.” 
Mr. Lyon thought that iu Michican the forest 
destruction by fire was the greatest trouble. 
Mr, Cay wood said: “Probably there is not a 
person in the room who having lived as long 
in the East as I have, has not observed the 
gradual decrease of the water iu our streams. 
That decrease has followed iu proportion as 
the land has been cleared up." Members 
were reminded that the aunual rain fall in 
the L uited States was equal to that of Eng¬ 
land, and yet the moisture there is far in ex¬ 
cess of ours. 
The next paper was concerning the “apple 
scab.” A. L. Hatch, of Wisconsin, was the 
author and reader. He said the “scab” is 
caused by a parasitic fungus belonging to the 
Feiouosporeie which also causes oue form of 
grape-rot. It cannot be prevented by external 
applications. Out of his 200 bushels of Fam- 
euse iu 1882 hardly a bushel was free from 
scab. Thousands of uursery trees, three and 
four years old, lost their leaves aud were left 
LORD SUFFIELD APPLE. From Nature. Fig. 423. 
