206 



•THh. GAKDENKK'S MONTHLY 



VJ"b', 



Terry, of Iowa, that it is very far from bein^ a 

 humbu<z. I have liiis Sjiriiif^ set out several 

 Inimlred nmre phints to ^row for (he fruit. 

 Although there is no doubt of this being an 

 Amehmchier, I cannot find any species in the 

 books that uxactly coincides with this one. The 

 stock from which my plants came was brou^^ht 

 to Kansas from Illinois about ten years auo, and 

 so far as I am able to ascertain, the plants there 

 were grown from seeds obtained in Pennsyl- 

 vania. The old-fasliioned tree Service Berry, or 

 June Berry, nearly every one knows, as it grows 

 all over the Eastern and Middle States, and most 

 of the Western States, too. If this dwarf species 

 grows wild in Pennsylvania or Viru;inia, I hope 

 some of our friends there will tell us. I have 

 two sub-species growing on my place. The one 

 mentioned grows about three feet high here, but 

 in Illinois it grew to six feet. The other kind is 

 like the lirst, except that it grows only half as 

 high. Both kinds bear prodigiously. The flavor 

 is mild, rich, sub-acid, and is very good eaten 

 raw or in any way that Raspberries may be used. 

 In size almost as large as the Houghton Goose- 

 berry. Mixed with the Gooseberry, a very nice 

 sauce is made without the use of sugar. The 

 nurserymen here are just waking up to the 

 importance of disseminating the plants. Many 

 of them do not know there is such a thing. By 

 experiment, I have found that it will grow 

 budded or grafted in the apple, and no doubt it 

 will grow in other stocks of the Roseasca? family. 

 I do not know that this would be any benefit, 

 as it progagates easily and does well on its own 

 roots. I have heard rather indirectly that the 

 smaller variety that I have was found in one of the 

 extreme southern counties of this State, and that 

 it grows abundantly there along the blufls. Cul- 

 ture greatly improves this fruit, and I hope that 

 it maybe more generally grown. It certainly is 

 here a great acquisition to the small fruits. 



the Quince ; indeed, it is rather chusscd as Pyrus 

 (ban Cydonia. It is a more hardy variety than 

 (lie (Quince, being never injured in root or 

 branch by the winter. It is vigorous and adapts 

 itself to a great variety of soil, and is in this re- 

 spect quite in contrast with the Quince stocks 

 Lastly, it will be likely to dwarf the Pear, and 

 induce fruitfulness (juite as much as does the 

 (^)uince. Reasoning thus, I made trial upon a 

 few stocks during the last summer, which were 

 planted with no reference to this purpose. The 

 result was that the buds "took" with great read- 

 iness, and we now have young pears with luxu- 

 riant growth upon this stock. My partner and I 

 are so well pleased with the appearance and 

 promise of this stock that we have planted out 

 our whole crop of last year's seedlings, about 

 15,000, for the purpose of budding, this August. 

 We find the habit of growth of the seedlings to 

 be clean and upright, quite the contrast with the 

 plants usually propagated by root cuttings. The 

 average height of the plants in the seed bed the 

 first season was a foot and a half, although many 

 attained to a height of nearly three feet, and 

 would have taken a bud, the first year, from 

 seed. Possibly this particular variety and its 

 descendents may be more vigorous than the 

 common type. However this may be, it is clear 

 that such seedlings will "work" well. To my 

 mind the prospect is decidedly' encouraging that 

 a new and valuable stock for dwarfing the Pear 

 is here promised. But I am fully aware that the 

 experiment is not yet tested to a conclusion. 

 Yet it can be but a question of a comparatively 

 short time befoi-e definite results will be ob- 

 tained. 



A NEW STOCK FOR THE PEAR. 



BY W. C. STRONG, BRIGHTON, MASS. 



Having a group of Pyrus japonica seedlings 

 which I noticed to be unusually fruitful, some 

 five or six years ago, I have kept the stock 

 since that time, for the purpose of raising seed- 

 lings for hedge plants. The habit and vigor of 

 growth of these plants suggested the idea of 

 using them a.s stocks for budding with the Pear. 

 I reasoned as follows : — This P. japonica is 

 quite as nearly allied to the common Pear as is 



HYBRID STRAWBERRIES. 



BY T. B. MINER, LINDEN, N. J. 



Have we any hybrid strawberries ? Several 

 propagators of new varieties of this fruit say 

 "yes," and claim to have produced them. Now^ 

 let us look a little into this subject. When we 

 plant different varieties near each other, we find 

 that there is no mixing in the fruit in the least 

 degree, even if a hundred kinds were growing on 

 a bed ten feet square. Suppose, then, that the 

 seeds of the fruit grow on such a bed he • 

 sows, what will the plants be produced from this 

 bed? Horticulturists would call them either 

 "chance seedlings," or "chance hybrids,'''' while 

 in fact they are only chance crosses, the term 

 "hybrid" beiagin such a case entirely improper. 

 This cross is effected by insects carrying the 



