240 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[August, 



ries all over our countr j'. The practice has been 

 and still quite common to plant stone fruits with- 

 out grafting or budding. No wonder there is 

 such a difference," and goes on to saj^ : "Tlie 

 average size, one and a half to two inches in 

 diameter, round shape, very productive," (Src. I 

 beg leave to differ with the gentleman when he 

 says " they are as thick all over the country as 

 blackberries." On the contrary, there are but 

 few of them planted through the State. I mean 

 the genuine, for when reproduced from seed 

 there is no certainty of their being so. It is true, 

 we have got plums growing all over the country 

 like blackberries, and they can usually be bought 

 at fifty cents per bushel in their season, and 

 while they belong to the Chickasaw family, are 

 not by any means genuine wild goose plums. 

 In fact, I never heard any such claim made for 

 them. They are round (as the gentleman says) 

 and about one-half to two-thirds as large, while 

 the wild goose is large and oval, and can be 

 told by the leaf and wood as well as by the fruit. 

 The genuine wild goose can be procured at any 

 nursery in the State, most generally budded on 

 peach stock. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Roe's Seedling Gooseberry. — We have before 

 us some specimens of Mr. Roe's Seedling Goose- 

 berry, and a marked copy of circular stating 

 that it "is as large as the best English varieties, 

 and has never mildewed for fifteen years." Pro- 

 fessor Thurber's opinion of it is also quoted, but 

 we note that he simply says " it is much larger 

 than our native sorts," which is correct, for with 

 Professor Thurber's botanical knowledge he 

 could not call this a seedling of the native spe- 

 cies. Unfortunately, the fact that it has never 

 mildewed for fifteen years is no proof that it 

 never will. All experience has shown that the 

 foreign class of gooseberries are unreliable in 

 this respect. We hope it may never mildew. 

 Nothing would please us better than 'that Mr. 

 Roe had been fortunate to find just this mildew- 

 proof foreign kind. But our duty to our readers 

 will not allow us to hold out this hope. 



Linseed Oil for Pear Blight. — We have 

 noted the remarkably beneficial effect on pear 

 and apple trees by wa.shing with linseed oil, but 

 we find a i>lace for the following from the Rural 

 Home : 



"Two or three years ago, a paragraph went 



the rounds of the agricultural press to the effect 

 that Mayor Ludlow, of Norfolk, Virginia, had 

 treated the pear blight with remarkable success 

 by applying linseed oil to the diseased parts. It 

 was copied into the Rural Home, and read by 

 D. P. Westcott, of this city, among others. That 

 same season Mr. Westcott had a tree attacked 

 with blight, the bark of the trunk, below the 

 bj-anches, presenting that blackened, burnt ap- 

 pearance, so indicative of what is called ' fire 

 blight.' 



"By cutting through the bark Mr. W. discovered 

 that the inner bark and sapwood were black and 

 apparently dead. Remembering the oil prescrip- 

 tion, referred to above, he washed the diseased 

 parts thoroughly with raw linseed oil. This was 

 in the autumn. The next spring the tree leafed 

 out, and commenced growing, and upon cutting 

 into the diseased bark, he found that a new inner 

 bark had grown, and the tree is now alive and 

 flourishing. 



"Last summer his trees commenced blighting 

 again, some of them very badly, and he applied 

 the linseed oil again. The blight was arrested 

 and the trees have put forth their foliage in good 

 condition this spring, and the new bark under 

 the dead exterior, is alive and apparently healthy. 

 We have just called, at his request, to see the 

 trees, and find them as reported above. 



"Although Mr. Westcott lives in a densely set- 

 tled portion of the city — 39 Stone St., — he has a 

 liberal lot well stocked with ornamental trees of 

 the smaller kinds, shrubs, fruit trees, grapes, 

 raspberries, strawberries, and quite a variety of 

 garden vegetables, all so well cultivated and 

 pruned as to be really ornamental. His pears 

 are of a number of varieties, both dwarf and 

 standard, and both kinds have been attacked by 

 the blight. 



" Although Mr. Westcott does not claim to 

 have fully demonstrated the fact that linseed oil 

 is an infallible remedy for pear blight, he will be 

 very likely to try it again should his trees be 

 again attacked, and we would advise the readers 

 of the Rural Home to do the same, and see 

 what its effects may be in their cases." 



The Peach Bird. — We regret to state that 

 these birds have made their appearance in our 

 county. One of our fruit growers informs ua 

 that he first discovered them on his place last 

 Sabbath ; he described them as being larger than 

 our sparrow, yellow in appearance, and beautiful 

 singers. They do not confine themselves to 

 peaches, but are feeding upon pears, or any 



