[1880, 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



275 



or forty miles from here, they have not made 

 their appearance yet. 



For three or four years back we had the 

 bark louse, that threatened destruction to our 

 fine orchards, of which Oregon was so justly 

 proud; but they have mostly left. Washing the 

 trunks and limbs as far as possible with lime and 

 salt was found to be a good remedy. And now 

 comes the Aphis. Will our orchards have the 

 common fate of those of the older States ? Is 

 the glorj^ of them departed? Is our pride in, 

 and the admiration of strangers of our large 

 and beautiful red apples gone from us? It 

 almost looks so. We have plenty of virgin soil 

 for new orchards, and yet we have not the apples 

 of former years. Nurserymen, too, complain 

 that the trees in the nursery will not make the 

 growth of three or four feet the first year, as of 

 old. Fresh imported stock and scions have done 

 some better. It would almost seem soil and 

 climate had been exhausted by the enormous 

 crops of our young orchards. 



Now, we would propound the following ques- 

 tions : 



1. What produces the Aphis ? 



2. What remedy can be applied to a large 

 orchard of say fifty acres? Strong tobacco juice 

 has been tried ; it kills, but the fly comes again 

 in a few days. The eggs don't seem to be afiected 

 by the application. 



3. How long will this pest probably last? Will 

 they run out with this year's over-population ? 



4. When is the best time to apply a cure 

 against them? 



Mr. Editor, can you answer these questions? 

 Can )'ou throw any light to us, and probably to 

 others, on this very important subject? Orchard- 

 ing is with many here in Oregon their sole occu- 

 pation, and a break in this is a serious matter 

 with them, hence the solicitation. 



Henry Miller." 



Portland, Oregon, June, 1880. 



The Parnell Peach. — J. H. P., West Point, 

 Ga., writes : " I send you to-day a present of one 

 small crate of a new variety of peach, originated 

 by me here, and called the Parnell last Saturday 

 by the Atlanta, Ga., Pomological Society at their 

 last meeting. They pronounced it by vote a 

 valuable acquisition. It oomes in at the same 

 time or earlier than Hale's Early ; it is a freestone 

 peach, of fine color, and does not rot. I would 

 be much obliged if you would give it an editorial 

 in your August number. The box is marked 

 prepaid, so please send the account to me if 



there are any charges on it, as I lost a very 

 valua'ole specimen last year when you refused to 

 take the box of peaches, and they were paid be- 

 fore they left here." 



[These peaches weighed two ounces, were of a 

 dark rose color, very juicy, excellent flavor, and 

 with a very small, quite free stone, and were ex- 

 amined July 7th. It seems to us to be a very 

 promising early variety, so far as one may judge 

 from fruit alone. 



It may be proper here to I'epeat what we have 

 so often said, that any one sending packages to 

 the editor should address them "Thomas Meehan, 

 Germantown, Phila.. Pa. Paid through." We 

 have scarcely had a case where the box was not 

 marked " paid through" that the Adams' Express 

 Company has not insisted that the package was 

 wholly unpaid, or only in part paid. On the 

 particular parcel referred to by J. H, P., $1.60 

 was demanded. No doubt our correspondents 

 would be all willing to pay all over again if we 

 would receive the parcels and " send them the 

 accounts;" but the trouble and seeming "small- 

 ness" of writing to say that "you owe me a 

 quarter," and so on. is too much for our time and 

 self-respect, especially when all this may be 

 avoided by writing on the box " paid to destina- 

 tion," when pre-paying it. We must adhere to 

 our rule to refuse all packages on which pay- 

 ment is demanded. — Ed. G. M.] 



Fruit Culture in Alabama. — A correspondent 

 from Mobile says: "I do not see why some of 

 the people of Philadelphia do not settle on some 

 of our railroad lands. We have a healthy climate, 

 remarkably favorable natural advantages for fruit 

 growing, and land as cheap and good as can be 

 obtained anywhere in the Union." 



Bowers' Early Peach. — M. & M., Frederick, 

 Maryland, July 12th, write : " We send you this 

 morning a small box of Bowers' early peaches 

 for inspection ; could have sent you some a week 

 ago, but not perfect specimens. They are from 

 three to five days ahead of Alexander and Ams- 

 den, growing alongside of them, and nearly as 

 much ahead of Wilder ; the only one of Mr. 

 Engle's peaches that fruited for us this season. 

 In size they are larger than Amsden and Wilder, 

 and about the same as Alexander, which they 

 resemble very much in appearance. In quality 

 we leave you to judge of their respective merits." 



[Like most of this class these were sub-clings, 

 weight 3 ounces, circumference 7 inches, juicy 

 and excellent. — Ed. G. M.] 



