1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



273 



lead of Crawford's Early has made itself indispens- 

 able to the peach grower. This, like that, is a good 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



f/w 



w 





sohd heavy peach of rather better quality as re- 

 gards flavor and juiciness than that popular 

 variety. The exact value will of course have to 

 be decided by an actual test with that kin(5. As 

 we however believe it will 

 be a variety of permanent 

 merit, we give a drawing 

 and description: Form, 

 oblong oval ; length, 3 inch- 

 es ; lateral circumference, 

 Si^ inches; weight, 634^ oz.; 

 form of suture, oblique; 

 skin, golden yellow, deep 

 red in the sun ; flesh, yel- 

 low, solid ; juicy ; deep red 

 round the stone ; stone, lan- 

 ceolate, very sharp pointed. 



The Jewell Strawberry. — Many so-called 

 " new " fruits come to-day and are gone to-mor- 

 row, that it seldom seems worth while to encumber 

 our pages, which we hope will be of permanent 

 value, with large illustrations. We make an ex- 

 ception in this case because it appears to be a 

 variety of substantial character, having received a 

 silver medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society at its June meeting, on its great merits as 

 a new seedling. Its parent was either Jersey 

 Queen or Prince of berries. It is a pistillate, 

 ripening in mid-season, of large size, bright red, 

 and very productive. Raised by P. M. Angur & 

 Sons, of Middlefield, Conn. (See cut ne.xt page.) 



■^■^^'i 



Black Knot. — " Reine Claude," Frankford, 

 Phila., writes : " It seems to me that the black 

 knot on plum and cherry has taken a renewed 

 lease of life this year. Some ten years ago I 

 had it very bad in my garden, and I thought I 

 had destroyed it by cutting out the worst parts 

 and burning. I had no knots in my garden. 

 Where does it come from and what is the 

 remedy ? It seems to me it must be more than 

 usually prevalent this year, judging by the gar- 

 dens of my neighbors." 



The plum knot is the work of a fungus known 

 I-. sphaeria morbosa. The spores are doubtless 

 ever present, and cutting out and burning the 

 knots in the hope of stamping out the trouble, 

 would be of no more use than burning a dozen 

 cubic feet of air in order to destroy the germs 

 of yellow fever infesting a whole neighborhood. 

 Germs of these troubles are doubtless ever 

 present in myriads, and grow only when the 

 season or the subject is favorable to their de- 

 velopment. When a plum or cherry tree is badly 

 infested with knot, it may as well be cut down, 

 thrown away, and a new one planted in its place. 

 The only remedy is in preventing the spores 

 from germinating even though conditions be 

 favorable. Sulphur is inimical to the the great part 

 of these minute organisms. It is tolerably clear 

 that they germinate from the outside, and if some 

 wash in which sulphur forms a part, be applied 

 yearly to a cherry or plum tree, we have an idea 

 that the black knot would seldom be troublesome. 

 In old well-cared-for, Dutch gardens in Pennsyl- 

 vania, where the trees are annually cleaned with 

 simple lime wash, black knot is almost unknown. 



Quicksilver for the Phylloxera. — A corre- 

 spondent believes that a httle quicksilver mixed 

 with dirt or sand, is used successfully against the 

 Phylloxera in France. Does any one know of 

 the exact proportions or manner of use ? 



To Keep Zinc Labels from Wearing.— Mr. 

 E. S. Carman says : " Referring to what " F. W." 

 says (page 164 Gardeners' Monthly), let me 

 say : Use copper wire, and pass it through the 

 hole twice or thrice, instead of once, forming a 

 ! loop ; draw it as tight as can be, and the label 

 will never move upon the wire afterwards." 



I Forcing Strawberries. — Mr. M. J. Nagel. 

 Jefferson City, Mo., writes : " I see the question in 

 June number of the Gardeners' Monthly has 



: not been answered, in regard to forcing straw- 



