t885- 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



367 



For the.mere kitchen purposes, that with a some- 

 what pungent taste is more desirable. It enters 

 better into combinations, especially for some 

 soups. But for table mildness is essential, and 

 the character which the epicure knows as a nutty 

 flavor is a first essential. 



Strawberry Crowing in England.— Straw- 

 berry growing by the hundred acres was surely 

 an American invention, but our English cousins 

 are fast following in our wake. Gardening Illus- 

 trated says that H. E. Vinson & Co., of Swanley 

 in Kent, have 500 acres, which yielded about 

 1,000 tons last year. They employ about 1,000 

 hands in the marketing season, 300 being pickers. 

 These live in tents, scattered over the fruit farm. 

 The worst fruit is not sent to market, but is made 

 into jam on the spot. 



Disease of the Peach in New Zealand. — A 

 serious trouble has become prevalent among 

 peach trees in New Zealand. It is akin to our 

 •' curl." The leaves fall soon after flowering, and 

 minute orange blotches appear on the twigs. 

 Usually the branches die ; but sometimes a second 

 growth appears in the summer. But the weakened 

 trees usually die wholly the next year. 



Cherries under Glass. — Notwithstanding the 

 English climate is peculiarly a cherry one, and 

 " cherry-ripe," in season, one of the most familiar 

 of London cries, the wealthy classes with whom 

 excellence is more of a consideration than the 

 mere price per lb., grow them in glass-houses, and 

 get fruit of near double the size, and of greatly 

 increased beauty and flavor. Lately attempts to 

 grow them in pots and tubs under glass, instead of 

 in the open ground under glass, have been so 

 successful that it is believed the pot plan will be- 

 come general. 



Gladney Apple.— We do not need large apples 

 for the dessert table. Small ones are far prefer- 

 able. The Lady apple is popular chiefly because 

 it is small and pretty. It is not remarkable for 

 superior flavor. We have often wondered why 

 Gladney was not taken up for this purpose. 

 About the same size, just as pretty, keeps well 

 through the winter ; and yet far more sprightly 

 and agreeable to most tastes. 



American Grape Vines in France.— As evi- 

 dence of the interest taken in this plant, it may be 

 noted that there is a monthly magazine there, 

 bearing the title of "Vigne Americaine." 



The American roots are grafted in immense 

 quantities, to which our apple-root grafting is 



scarcely a comparison. Whole families are em- 

 ployed in this lucrative work. It is given out by 

 contract to household families, who do the work 

 very cheaply. A woman, besides looking after 

 her children and household affairs, will graft 300 

 plants a day. 



American Grape Culture. — There is some- 

 thing phenomenal in the improvement of the 

 American wild grapes. Possibly nothing like it 

 has occurred in the history of fruit culture any- 

 where. In 1858 Mr. P. Barry said at the January 

 meeting of the Western New York fruit growers' 

 Association : " Although there are now many varie- 

 ties claiming attention, and have so far promised 

 to become valuable acquisitions, yet the Isabella 

 is the only one of established reputation which I 

 would be willing to plant extensively in Western 

 New York." 



To-day we have scores adapted to that location, 

 and as for Isabella, it would not be easy to bud 

 plants, except as curiosities, anywhere. 



Is THE Fire Blight an Enemy or Friend of 

 the Pear Grower. — Mr. Hovey makes a good 

 point in the Rural New Yorker, that when people 

 talk of abandoning pear culture on account of the 

 fire blight, we have only to look at the abundance 

 of fruit everywhere, and the low figures they 

 often bring. 



Potatoes are just as cheap and as abundant as 

 ever they were before rot attacked them, or the 

 beetle ate them up. As Mr. Hovey's paper sug- 

 gests, these troubles seem to be sent in order to 

 frighten the faint-hearted out of the field so that 

 the more persevering shall have a greater re- 

 ward. 



Improved Saur Kraut To many there can 



be nothing possible that could improve a dish of 

 saur kraut ; but an exchange asserts it is possible, 

 and declares that it may be in this way : 



" Six pounds of saur kraut, boiled till tender in 

 water, with a half pound of butter (an earthenware 

 or a porcelain lined pot, closely covered, is the 

 best for this purpose). When it has boiled quite 

 tender, the kraut should be put in a sieve or 

 strainer to thoroughly drain. Meanwhile put into 

 a saucepan a quarter of a pound of butter, a table- 

 spoonful of flour, and a pint of sour cream. When 

 this boils, it is to be poured over the kraut and 

 well shaken together. The oysters are to be 

 ' stewed slowly, with only the addition of a little 

 pepper, in their own juice. About twenty-five 

 oysters should be allowed to each pound of kraut. 

 It is then to be arranged in the dish, a layer of 

 saur kraut and a layer of oysters, alternately, and 

 their juice poured over all, and served very hot." 



