254 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\^August, 



of Diir earliest writers on Irnits, less ilmii one 

 hundred and fifty kinds were known to be under 

 cultivation. It is interestiui; to note that tlie 

 kinds that were popular in the beLriiniinr;; still 

 liold their own. Only a lew. like Pennock, 

 Hays, Xewtown Pippin, and Spit/-enhur<j; have 

 iziveu away somewhat before others. The most 

 ])opular fruits in the early part of the era were 

 Porter,Red Astrachan.Williams' Favorite, Fam- 

 tiise.Gravenstein, Baldwin, EelleHeur, Maiden's 

 IViush.. Jonathan, Lady, Rhode Island Greening, 

 swaar. Summer (Jueen. Roxbury Russet, Seek- 

 ii«i-Further,Gilly-llower, Lowell, and Tallman's 

 Sweet, and these are popuhxr to-day. In the 

 new varieties since raised we have gained over 

 rinse in special points, but it is doubtful whether 

 a better list, on the whole, for general culture 

 on this continent could be made up. The most 

 remarkable progress in the Apple class has been 

 in the improvement of Russian varieties, and the 

 SiberiaA Crabs. The last were only garden 

 ornaments a hundred years ago, and conlined to 

 two or three small-fruited forms. There are now 

 pi'obably a hundred varieties, some of them 

 as large as the old popular garden sorts, and in 

 some cases with a flavor little inferior to the 

 best of them. These improvements have been 

 made chiefly in Minnesota, and other of our 

 high Northern States, and in the Dominion of 

 Canada. The hardiness of the Siberian Crab 

 gave encouragement to the experimenters in 

 these severe winter climates ; but even with 

 these inducements the progress has been won- 

 derful. Some few specimens of the highly-per- 

 fumed American native Crab {Pyrus coronaria) 

 were exhibited, but there appeared to have been 

 no attempts made to improve it, either by 

 selected cultivated seedlings or by watching for 

 variations among wild plants. 



Vast progress has been made in Apple-culture 

 by the endeavors to correct the nomenclature. 

 ^ In so vast a number of varieties it was found 

 extremeh' difficult to establish any authoritative 

 guide. The formation of the American Pomo- 

 logical Society grew out of this want. In this 

 respect the Centennial Exhibition has shown 

 how well we were advancing in this department 

 by the collection of models in wax of leading 

 kinds made by Colonel G. B. Brackett for the 

 Iowa State Horticultural Society, so perfect 

 were these models as to be taken for the Apples 

 of the genuine varieties even by experts. 



Progress in Piear-culture has been much more 

 rapid than in the Apple. A large number that 



were grown at the Revolution are not known by 

 any one now, and the few that survive are mostly 

 supplanted by better kinds. The most popular 

 varieties then were Jargonelle, Windsor, Au- 

 tumn Bergamot, Rousselett, Crassanne, Brown 

 Beurre, St. Germain, Gansell's liergamot, 

 Green Chissell, Winter Nelis, White Doyenne^ 

 Catharine, and Easter Beurre. The Vicar 

 of Winklield was being introduced ; but the 

 Bartlett, Seckel, and Duchesse d'AnJouleme 

 had not been born. Now, on our tables we 

 had no less than three hundred varieties from 

 the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, besides 

 numerous collections from other growers — and 

 many scores of varieties exist superior in many 

 respects to the best of those named as being 

 popular in the days of the Revolution. Most of 

 the improvements have been made by the selec- 

 tion from accidental seedlings coming up natur- 

 ally from chance-sown seed ; but a few have set 

 to work to raise new kinds by artificial means. 

 One of these, Mr. J. Clapp, of Dorchester, 

 Massachusetts, exhibited a large number of de- 

 serving kinds. One of his seedlings, the Favor- 

 ite, has taken a front rank among the popular 

 varieties. Among the possibilities of further 

 improvement, must be mentioned the hybrid 

 Chinese Sand Pears of Mr. Peter KiefTer, of 

 Philadelphia. This kind has been valued solely 

 as an ornament on tasteful grounds, and sonie- 

 wliat for the pleasant perfume of t\w. fruit. Mr. 

 KiefTer's seedlings retain this delightful fragrance, 

 and have, besides, the beauty and delicious flavor 

 of a Bartlett or Flemish beauty — two of the 

 most popular varieties in American orchards. 



The Pear, like the Apple, has shown by the 

 Exhil)ition how wide is the extent of territorj'in 

 which it may be successfully cultivated. There 

 were numerous exhibitors from Canada, Maine, 

 New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Mary- 

 land, and Penns3'lvania ; the District of Co- 

 lumbia had one exhibitor in the person of Mr. 

 John Saul, and the State of New York was 

 represented by an admirable collection from 

 Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester. 

 Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin all had 

 excellent Pears from various exhibitors ; Oregon 

 had numerous varieties of superb fruit, superior 

 in color, size, and flavor ; and on the California 

 fruit tahle some large specimens were for sale. 

 The results of the Exhibition show that the 

 Pear may be grown successfully over most of 

 the United States. 



The number of excellent wild Grapes early 



