142 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[Mat, 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Peach Growing. — The Ohio peach growers 

 have a bad time with their peach orchards. In 

 1869 and 1874 tliey were ruined by abundance. 

 In 70, 73, and 75 they were ruined by scarcity. 

 So far as abundance is concerned, it ought to be 

 an easy matter to regulate it. Mr. Batehani 

 says full crops exhaust the tree. Why not thin 

 out the fruit? Peach growers generally co-oper- 

 ate in various things. As soon as it is known 

 that a large crop is set, why cannot co-operation 

 reduce the crop to mature by one-half? The 

 trees will be benefited, the fruit will be increased 

 in size and flavor, the prices for fine fruit will be 

 double that of poor fruit, and, better than all, the 

 ruinous abundance would be prevented. 



Mexican Ever-bearing Strawberry. — A cor- 

 respondent says: "You seem to have a suspi- 

 cion of the merits of our seedling fruit, and yet 

 you spoke well of the Mexican ever-bearing 

 strawberry, though it did no good on our 

 grounds." We never saw the strawberry on our 

 correspondent's grounds. We saw it on the 

 grounds of Mr. J. B. Whiting, some miles from 

 Detroit, and everything we said of it was strictly 

 true in every particular. So full was the field of 

 fruit, that the field had a red tint for a long dis- 

 tance away, and we saiv a large milk pan filled 

 with fruit by the picker from a space so far as 

 he could reach out around him, without moving 

 his feet away. The strawberry was an Alpine, 

 and failed in other places simply because it was 

 planted where nobody would plant an Alpine 

 that knew what he was doing. It is the same 

 class of people that foiled with the Mexican 

 ever-bearipg strawberry who are making planta- 

 tions of Eucalyptus globulus in Maine. 



Peach Raising in Mississippi.— Col. W. B. 

 Hillyard has the following account of Gov. 

 Brown's grounds in a recent number of the 

 Indiana Farmer : 



"Some of the land on Gov. Brown's farm 

 brought over a bale and a half of cotton to the 

 acre, and it had only been ' cow-penned ' several 

 years ago. This land is called the 'peach land' 

 of Western Mississippi, as it enjoyed for several 

 years a monopoly in growing that fruit — people 

 supposing that there was some mysterious virtue 

 in the soil, and paying enormous prices com- 

 paratively, for it. Here peach growing had, so 

 to speak (its origin as a business on this line of 



railroad, and here are the pioneers who, some 

 years ago, derided as visionaries by their neigh- 

 bors, lived to get incredible prices for their fruit; 

 to have given the impetus to what is going to be 

 one of the most profitable and beneficent indus- 

 tries in the south ; and to turn the laugh on their 

 scoffers. Here there are twice as many peach 

 trees planted in bearing as there ai'e on the 

 whole line of railroad, besides, perhaps. It is, 

 in fine, the peach station, and no one need take 

 any risks in buying, for peach raising, or, indeed, 

 any fruit and vegetable adapted to the climate. 

 In this vicinity there is plenty of cane, and cat- 

 tle will keep beef-fat all winter through, without 

 any other food whatever. The Governor told me 

 that his cane would keep fifty head of cattle fat all 

 winter. He has on his farm over 1,300 acres of 

 land, with miles of fence, a large gin-house, a 

 large number of dwellings, many out-buildings, 

 a magnificent grove of natural growth in the 

 rear of his house, Avith a considerable growth of 

 the same in the front. Besides, his Avife, Mrs. 

 Brown, has a superb collection of flowers, and 

 gardens arranged with all the fondness and care 

 of a most cultivated taste. I judge the buildings 

 could not be put there under ten thousand dol- 

 lars, and what think you he asks for the planta- 

 tion? Well, $12.50 per acre would buy the 

 place, which is about giving une the superb land. 

 The houses could be so divided as to make resi- 

 dences for five or six families, with out-houses, 

 enough left for kitchens, &c. 



" I had like to have forgotten to say that there 

 was a peach orchard on the farm in very fine 

 condition once, which might be considerably re- 

 suscitated. Opening for a colony. Why would 

 it not be a good plan for some one to undertake 

 to organize a colony there?" 



New Apples. — As a general rule, we favor 

 no new addition to the two thousand list of 

 apples, unless they are in some respects superior 

 to old ones. But Mr. Chas. Downing, in a recent 

 report to the Fruit Grower's Society of Western 

 New York, speaks so very favorably of some new 

 ones, that we rather reluctantly make a place 

 for an account of sonae of the best of them in our 

 columns: 



Reeds' Golden Pippin — received from Thomas 

 J. Pullen, of Hightstown, N. J., who states that it 

 is of unknown origin, is not surpassed in flavor 

 by the Newtown Pippin, and is a late keeper. 

 The tree is vigorous, making a large round head, 

 bearing annually, and setting its fruit evenly 



