l.HT'.).! 



A XD IIOR TICUL T Ult fS T. 



239 



kinds of which are fond oftliem. Nurserymen and 

 Uorists are often troubled witli them about their 

 rose plants, carnations, etc. ; and they generally 

 employ boys to stir the earth carefully and pick 

 them out. — Ed. G. M.] 



Sexes OF Asparagus. — It is now many years 

 ago since we made the readers of the Garden- 

 er's Monthly acquainted with the fact that 

 the sexes of asparagus were on separate plants ; 

 that is to say that it was diwcious, and therefore 

 it was impossible that any supposed variety 

 could be reproduced from seed. The discover}^ 

 has now been made in England, and the Garden- 

 er\s Magazine has engravings of the separate male 

 and female plants. The editor has an excellent 

 article on varieties, deduced from this fact, and 

 shows what we have often done, that all the 

 money spent on " new" and "improved" varie- 

 ties of asparagus is money wasted. Seeds from 

 a well gro\rn asparagus bed will probably give 

 better plants than seed from mere wildings; and 

 this is all the "improvement" we can get from 

 asparagus, unless some one sliould start the plan 

 of dividing the roots of some unusually good 

 plant. 



Utah Seedling Apples.— It shows that a 

 country is getting settled when it is old enough 

 to boast of seedling apples. Iliggin's Red and 

 Orton's White are favorably spoken of as Utah 

 Winter apples. 



Fox's California Seedling Pears. — These 

 pears, favorably noticed some 3'ears ago in our 

 magazine, are stated by the Pacific Rural Press 

 to have had nothing in their market last Winter 

 to compare with the variety known as 13. S. Fox 

 in size, flavor or abundant juice. 



Preserving Grapes till April. — The Pa- 

 cific Rural Press says : Grapes in April were 

 on exhibition at the store of Strong & William- 

 son, on Clay Street. The fruit has been pre- 

 served in the powdered bark of the sugar pine, 

 and is, in taste and appearance, almost as fresh 

 as the day it was taken from the vine. They 

 were received from George Geissendefer, of 

 Placerville. The fact that grapes can be pre- 

 served in this way may be suggestive to some of 

 our vine growers. Certainly there could be money 

 made by supplying the trade with fresh grapes 

 at this time of the year. 



JucuNDA Straavberries. — Yery good fresh 

 fruit of these were in the Cleveland market at 

 retail at five cents per quart, and magnificent 

 fellows in little quart baskets at twelve cents 



that would have made the heart of the late J. 

 Knox rejoice. 



Pears. FOR the English Market.— Eng- 

 land is famous for its hothouse fruit, but does 

 little in the out-door ailiclc. The Garden says that 

 a great proportion of the best dessert pears seen in 

 the English markets are imported from France 

 and the Channel Islands. Indeed, Califdrnia 

 and many parts of Eastern America are likely 

 to play an important part as regards furni.'<hing 

 pears to the English markets ; but the distance 

 and length of time that elapses from the period 

 when the fruit is packed, till it is unpacked in 

 England sometimes tells badly in regard to 

 pears, a circumstance favorable to English grow- 

 ers. 



Japan Persimmon in England. — This has 

 been fruited in England and found delicious ; 

 but it was grown in a house. It is thought per- 

 haps they may succeed with it thereout of doors 

 trained to walls as apricots and jx-achcs are. 



NEW OR RARE ERIUTS. 



A New Raspberry.— J. C. C, Burlington,. 

 N. J., writes that he has a new raspberry, a. 

 seedling which he has tested four or five years, 

 and which he is now satisfied is worthy of being 

 better known. • 



The Garden Strawberry.— Specimens of 

 this sent us by Mr. Foster prove it to be a very 

 good berry and to have a good habit of growth. 

 A great number have been sent out at- high 

 prices and high recommendations no better than 

 this. In these fruits, however, it is hard to form 

 a correct estimate of character, as this depends, 

 so much on contingencies. 



Beckert's Prolific Strawiserrv.- J. B., 

 Allegheny, Pa., writes: "We express ynu this 

 morning a basket of our seedling strawberries, 

 ' Beckert's Prolific,' a cross between AVilson's 

 Albany and Jucunda. We claim for it size 

 same as Jucunda, with a better color and 

 half better bearer, also being about ten days 

 later. The samples we sent were taken from a 

 rather thickly planted patch, and are not as. 

 large as we have had them. Our principal 

 claim for them, however, is their bearing quality,, 

 which is not exceeded by any variety we 

 know of." 



[These strawberries have very much the look 

 of fine Jucundas, but with the color and tartness 

 of Albany Seedling.— Ed. G. M.] 



