WINTER MEETING. 303 



Last year, much to the amusement of the head of-the-house, I in- 

 "vested in a half-dozen of what was called the golden sweet gooseberry, 

 l^ot infrequently I was treated to the remark : " Nobody but a goose 

 would expect to find a sweet gooseberry." But I am pleased to report 

 that I gathered a box of large, finely-flavored citron-yellow, sweet ber- 

 ries, from thrifty young bushes that promise me a good yield for next 

 year. 



Of currants the Cherry and Dutch are my favorite. I have tried 



Fay's Prolific, but with poor success. All, however, were this summer 



^consigned to the flames, as the best known remedy for San Jose scale, 



which Prof. Stedman and Mr. Sinnock discovered on my currants this 



spring. 



A strawberry bed is the hardest of all to decide on. There are 

 so many varieties, and good ones too, that it is difficult to decide on a 

 few for a small bed. Bat fifty each of Orescent, Haverland, Lovett, 

 Timbrell and Gandy, will supply you berries in abundance for four 

 weeks — which will bring you right into raspberry season. 



Of the blackcaps, Gregg and Doolittle are perfectly satisfactory 

 to me, while Cuthbert and Marlboro are my especial favorites, and this 

 year I planted a few Golden Queens by way of variety. 



Of blackberries. Brie and Taylor are both good berries, but the 

 Taylor is the largest and best flavored berry with us. 



We have had poor success with the Wineberry and Loganberry, 

 and were not enough impressed with their merits to care to spend 

 time and dimes on them again. 



Two Early Kichmond and half dozen common dark cherries have 

 furnished us an abundance of fruit for our own use, for several years, 

 besides adding quite a little sum to the family purse. 



After the cherry comes the purple plum — Abundance — of which 

 we have three trees. 



This is the prime favorite from the head-of-the-house to the wee tots. 

 So we take especial pains to secure their luscious fruit. And we find 

 that spraying with Bordeaux mixture aids very materially in keeping 

 the fruit on the tree. 



Of peaches we have one, Amsden's June, which ripens in July and 

 is of rather uncertain quality, but is a peach nevertheless ; one Cham- 

 pion, one Crosby, one Crawford's late, and another late, an October 

 seedling of excellent quality, but, unfortunately, of which I know no 

 name. Our decided preference is for Champion, which I consider the 

 best all-around peach that has ever come under ray observation. Of 

 large, uniform size and shape, delicious flavor and exquisite color, it 

 is certainly an ideal fruit for family use. 



