306 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[October y 



have n si<j:ht to hohokl. I don't know how many 

 bushels ho wouUl ijct ; but I think I nuLjht state 

 within bounds, ."iOO bushels. I hope these may 

 reach you in good conditioji, so you can Judge for 

 yourself. 



THE SMALL FRUITS. 



nV T. G., HAMILTON. ILLINOIS. 



Here in the Xorthwest, the yield of small 

 fruits ha.s been enormous — especially of Rasp- 

 berries and IJlacklxM Ties ; so much so, that the 

 bottom has fallen out of the market in most 

 localities. A late frost did some injury to them 

 in certain sections, and hailstones cut them off" 

 in small areas ; but take the country as a whole, 

 and the like has seldom been known before. 

 Nothing — even of the most tende^" sorts — was 

 killed by the past mild Winter. Of Blackberries, 

 Lawton, Kittatinny, and others usually tender, 

 coming out about as heavily laden as the Snyder, 

 or the wild plants of the woods and fields. Last 

 year my Lawtons, Kittatiniiies and Missouri 

 Mammoths, were killed back three-fourths of 

 their length, yielding only a few berries near 

 the ground. The Snyder went through un- 

 scathed. 



In this region Avhere hardiness is a desidera- 

 tum, the Snyder is to be commended ; yet South 

 ^vhere Kittatinny and Lawton will stand the 

 AVinter, I should give them a decided preference. 

 Not quite so prolilic, perhaps, they will average 

 one-half larger in size, and are equal if not 

 superior in quality. Here, we can count on a 

 crop of Snj^ders annually— of Kittatinnies twice 

 in tlu-ee years — of Lawtons and Missouri Mam- 

 moths, about every alternate year. 



A word as to the Crystal White and Hoosac 

 Thornless. What they may do elsewhere I say 

 not ; but here they are worthless. The former 

 is execrably bitter— a good substitute for quinine 

 in taste— and neither crystal nor white. The lat- 

 ter is small, and though less bitter than the other, 

 is of poor quality, and not worth the handlino-. 



this vicinity, who know the (lualities of a good 

 ' Strawberry. The plant is immense ; foliagft 

 very dark green and at present writing (July 

 I 15th), shows no sign of sunburning ; so common 

 I in most varieties. It is very productive. Tlie. 

 I fruit stems are large and stout, and generally 

 have on fifteen to eighteen berries. The benien 

 are very large ; tar surpassing the Great Ameri- 

 can, when grown side by side. A fruit stem 

 I with five ripe berries, one measuring twelve and 

 a fourth inches in circumference, and weighing 

 ; two and a half ounces ; and the other four from 

 the size of a hickory luit to that of a walnut were 

 placed in alcohol and sent from Berwick in this 

 : count}', to the Paris Exhiliition. Berries six in- 

 ches in circumference, and weighing one ouncb 

 I have been very common. They are very large 

 I to the last. My last picking, four quarts, con- 

 j tained three one ounce berries. The color ia 

 j bright cherry red, smooth and waxy, resembling 

 I the Jucunda. Flesh solid, firm, sweet and de- 

 licious. The berries, or young plants, are in- 

 clined to be irregular, and it is the only objec- 

 tion we could find to the Sharpless ; but even 

 this is hardly noticed the second year, when the 

 plant is loaded with fruit. 



THE SHARPLESS SEEDLING. 



J. L. DILLON, BLOOMSKUKG, PA. 



A description for your columns of this valua- 

 ble new fruit the Sharpless Seedling Strawberry, 

 may not be amiss. 



This berry was raised from mixed seed of the 



.Jucunda, Charles Downing, Wilson and Colonel 



Cheeny, by Mr. J. K. Sharpless. From the first 



fruiting, it has attracted the attention of all in 



THE DWARF JU^JE BERRY. 



BY B. J. SMITH, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



If this hasty note is of any use, it is at your 

 service : • 



Saturday last, July 13th and 20th — the writer 

 exhibited at weekly exhibitions of Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society, fruit of Amelanchier 

 Canedensis, oblongillorum, (Torrey & Gray), 

 June Berry. I obtained the plants some 

 six or seven years ago in Davenport, Iowa, sinco 

 which time have grown them in my garden. 

 July 20th, Massachusetts HortiL-ultural Society, 

 awarded me their Silver Medal for the introduc- 

 tion of this fruit into Massachusetts. The fruit 

 was tested by a large number of ladies and gen- 

 tlemen and pronounced excellent qualilty. In 

 our garden it succeeds admirably, bears pro- 

 fusely; very attractive in blossom, foliage and 

 fruit; flavor mild; rich sub-acid; ver}' good 

 eaten raw or cooked, and certainly promises 

 well to be an acquisition to our collection of 

 small fruits ; it must be perfectly ripe to be 

 appreciated. It is more attractive to birds than 

 any of the small fruits ; hence the importance 

 of guarding it from their ravages; this I have 

 done by the use of a coui)le of rather formidable 

 scare-crows and by changing their positions two 



