OTHER PAPERS. 



HOETICULTURAL OUTLOOK. 



BY G. F. ESPENLAUB, 



Had I attempted to describe in this paper the fruit prospect 

 about the first of May, I could have drawn a much brighter pic- 

 ture for the horticulturist than I can now. 



Apple, cherry and plum trees had bloomed so full that it caused 

 one to speculate how and where everything could be worked off and 

 and disposed of to the best advantage. 



It didn't worry any one much where to market his peaches, or 

 where we should get boxes to market them in. Jack Frost's icy 

 fingers did all that for us last winter when he had nothing else to do. 



But notwithstanding the thermometer fell to from twenty-four 

 to twenty- eight degrees below zero, the cherry trees, sweet and sour, 

 also all the plums, tender as well as hardy kinds, came out- in one 

 solid mass of bloom, and although they got caught in a severe snow 

 storm, while in bloom, they seemed to come out uninjured. But 

 sometime, about the second week in May, a storm (probably an 

 electric) swept over the country and blighted the hopes of the fruit 

 grower, the foliage crimped up as if it was struck by a severe mil- 

 dew. The apples are more or less covered with this mildewy 

 appearance, which retards their growth so that good and smooth 

 apples are going to be scarce, and the cider maker will be kept 

 busier than the shipper. There are neighborhoods where apples 

 are a good crop and of good quality and the trees look healthy, 

 while sometimes not a half a mile distant trees look like they could 

 hardly live through the summer, showing that this storm, like most 

 storms, 'Went in streaks or waves. The varieties most affected are 

 McAfee, Lanover, Red June, Cooper's Early White, Missouri 

 Pippin and Wine Sap. The same storm destroyed the greater part 

 of the cherry crop in some localities, while in others it was unusu- 

 ally large. 



The strawberries and raspberries had a splendid season to 

 ripen their crops, as the season was all that could be desired. 



