11860.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



177 



•perime.ntsin this line should be continued and 

 •encouraged. 



r rent ins.— Oricr'm J, W. Prentiss, Pultney, 

 Steuben Co., N. Y. ; is a seedling of Isabella. 

 Bunch medium, compact; berry medium, yel- 

 lowish green ; skin thick •, flesh pulpy, but quite 

 dissolving, juicy, sweet, with some flavor. Qual- 

 ity good to very good. Belongs to the Labrusca 

 type. Ripens with Concord and keeps well. 

 Tine is very hardy and very prolific. A prom- 

 ising white grape. 



Numerous other specimens of new varieties of 

 grapes were examined, but being either inferior 

 "in quality or in an unsound condition they are 

 not mentioned in this report. 



LEMON. 



Olivia. — From George 'C. Swan, San Diego, 

 ■California. Specimens very large and of fine 

 -appearance, and said to contain 65° of citric 

 •acid. The Committee not having any means to 

 'test these fruits, can only commend the sender 

 for his interest manifested in the progress of 

 ihorticultural products. 



P. J. Berckmans, 1 

 Samuel Hate, [ 



Sylvester Johnson, )■ Committee. 

 Robert Burnet, | 

 M. B. Bateham, J 



Waterloo Peach. — Ellwanger & Barry's 

 'Cataloixue contains a beautiful colored plate of 

 this variety. 



Raffia Fibre. — ^^It is not clear what plant 

 this fying material, recently noticed in our col- 

 'urans, is obtained from. In a recent number of 

 the American Agriculturist, Prof. Geo. Thurber 

 offers the following opinion : 



"We take this to be derived from the stem of 

 a species of Cyperus closely related to the Papy- 

 rus plant, and the same material as that from 

 which the much esteemed India mats are made. 

 'The Raffia splits iinto the smallest fibres ; it 

 unites great strength with a silky softness and 

 pliability, and for budding seems to be a most 

 iperfect tying material." 



June Budding Fruit Trees. — At a recent 

 meeting of the Texas <Pomological Society, Mr. 

 Nimon read a very instructive paper upon the 

 subject of peach-budding, giving the results of 

 ■an experience of fifteen years. Mr. Nimon's 

 report is decidedly in favor of June l)ndding and 

 upon stocks of the present year's growth. He 

 reported having budded last season fourteen 

 ihundred stocks in June, with little if any loss 



and twenty-five hundred stocks in August with 

 a loss of about 80 per cent. 



The Electric Light.— The English papers 

 are. filled with accounts of the growth of plants 

 by the electric light. Much difficulty has been 

 found in forcing flowers and fruits in that coun- 

 try from the long, dark winter days. By the 

 electric light much of this difficulty may be 

 overcome. In some cases, the flowers of the 

 common Calla have been grown double the size 

 when under the influence of the electric light. 

 Under our bright winter skies we have not the 

 same use for the electric light. 



SCRAPS AND QUERfES 



Aphis on Strawberry Roots. — D. H. 

 Cyuthiana, Ky., reports that a large aphis at 

 the roots of strawberry plants is very destruc- 

 tive. He seeks a remedy. So far as we know, 

 it is not troublesome in these parts, and there- 

 fore no exprience has been had with remedies. 

 But where a few plants are worth preserving, it 

 might be worth while to try Paris green or Lon- 

 don purple, as these seem to be destructive to 

 all insect life, and do not injure vegetation. 



ScHUjviAKER Peach.— J. W. B., Fresno, Cal., 

 asks: "What is the Schumaker Peach?" but 

 we can tell nothing more of it than has been al- 

 ready noted in our magazine. 



Hybridizing Strawberries. — J. G. B.. 

 Princeton, 111., writes : " I am trying in a small 

 way to hybridize strawberries, raspberries and 

 blackberries, and of course there are difficulties 

 to the uninitiated, and it occurred to me that 

 you being high in authority in such matters, 

 would therefore be a proper person to apply to 

 for information. If any information in book 

 form is accessible to the public on hybridizing 

 will you please inform me if you know of any?" 



[There is no work that we know of, — and in- 

 deed hybridizing is such a simple afiair, when 

 understood, that it is hardly worth while to 

 write a work about. Those who know anything 

 of the structure of a flower know that the 

 organs in the centre are the pistils, and that the 

 powder capped organs around them are the 

 stamens. In hybridization, this powdery sub- 

 stance, — the pollen as it is called, — must be 

 taken from the flower of one variety and placed 

 on the pistil of another, — and before it has re- 

 ceived pollen from its own stamens. To insure 



