146 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May, 



the Atlantic portion of tlie United States. We 

 fear, as we have often said, that its branching 

 habit will always be against its successful com- 

 petition with hemp. 



We tind the story is repeated in the Western 

 papers that a "Camden firm" offers eight dol- 

 lars a ton for it, and wants it badly. If so, and 

 there is any profit in it, the " Camden firm " can 

 find plenty of farms to rent near them whereon 

 they can raise it themselves. It is probably 

 some half a dozen years ago since we first saw 

 about the wants of this "Camden firm." They 

 must be starving by this time. 



Bottling Grapes. — Some late Grapes, Black 

 Alicante for instance, have the bunch so close to 

 the old wood that, no matter how closely the 

 young wood may be cut in, there is often not 

 enough wood to insert into the neck of the bot- 

 tle and allow of the bunch hanging clear. In 

 such cases the wood above the bunch may be in- 

 serted instead, and it will be found to answer 

 equally well, as we have proved. All fre h cuts 

 should be dressed with shellac. — Garden. 



Fruit Culture in England.— This is receiving 

 much more attention than it once did. The 

 Garden notes that at a recent exhibition over 

 200 plates of apples were presented, and it justly 

 remarks that at least as many premiums should 

 be offered for fruit as for potatoes. 



Deterioration of the Strawberry. — Many of 

 the Ohio fruit growers believe that the continual 

 -propagation from runners of any one variety, 

 will induce it to run out in time. We do believe 

 that when once a bed of strawberries has the 

 spotted leaf, or other disease, continual propaga- 

 tion from these will soon cause a variety to 

 dwindle away. No strawberry should be propa- 

 gated from plants which have spotted leaves. 



Storing Apples. — In England, apples are 

 stored on shelves in fruit rooms above ground. 

 The Garden says that experiments have been 

 made there with the American plan of keeping 

 them in barrels, and the American plan is found 

 to be the best. 



An ^■Esthete in Pear Flavor — One "Wilt- 

 shire Rector " complains in an English periodi- 

 cal that the Seckel Pear has a " vulgar sweet 

 taste." It is a pity there should be so many 

 vulgar people. 



Vital Power in Fruit Trees. — How much 

 vital power has to do with ability to resist un- 

 favorable circumstances is well shown by Mr- 



Barry in his presidential address to the Western 

 New York Horticultural Society. While younger 

 trees resisted the severe winter of 1880-81, whole 

 orchards of older trees were totally destroyed in 

 Western New York. 



Raby Castle Red Currant.— Have any of our 

 readers had the chance to judge of the real merits 

 of this variety ? 



Drying Apples Whole. — Recently we had a 

 note as regards the process by which apples were 

 dried whole in England. We have had in 

 response an answer to the inquiry, and believe it 

 is not generally known. We find the following 

 in regard to it in a recent issue of the London 

 Gardener's Chronicle, from a correspondent: 



"I noticed a question asked in your columns 

 a few weeks since which I have not seen 

 nnswered, in reference to drying the Norfolk 

 Beefins: Apples. In the first place I would 

 remark that patience is necessary to do them 

 well. Several sorts of apples will dry — the 

 Yorkshire Greening, London Pippin, Blenheim 

 Orange, &c. — but none so well as the Norfolk 

 Beefing. The apples should be large and firm. 

 In the first place they should be pricked well 

 over the skin with a large needle; then roasted 

 in an oven, not too hot, but just sufficiently to 

 cook them without bursting— a brick oven is 

 always best for doing them ; if nicely roasted the 

 skin will be bright and clear. Let the apples 

 get quite cold, and flatten them a little with the 

 finger and thumb; then return them to the oven, 

 taking care that it is not hot for a couple of hours. 

 Then repeat the flattening and drying as often as 

 is necessary — three or four times is generally 

 sufficient. They usually take three or four daj's 

 to dry, as they must be cold each time. The 

 great secret in doing them well is nicely roasting 

 the apples in the first place. In Lady Augusta 

 Millbank's lifetime, they were used here for the 

 dessert in large quantities, and much better done 

 than those that were bought in." 



Insect Laws. — They have insect laws in Cali- 

 fornia. Commissioners, three, are appointed, 

 who make the by-laws and enforce them. Here 

 is one by the Commissioners of Nevada Count}': 



" It shall be required of every fruit grower, 

 owner of an orchard or orchards, or lands con- 

 taining fruit trees, or persons in p ssession of 

 lands on which there are fruit trees, which are 

 infested with codling moth, larvae or pupae 

 (chrysalis), to destroy such codling moth, its 

 larvae or pupae, before the first day of March 

 each year, by scraping off" all rough bark on said 

 trees and cleaning all crevices in bark and 

 crotches. The scrapings must be gathered care- 

 fully and destroyed by burning or otherwise. 

 A spread made of old grain sacks or other 

 cloth material should be spread on the ground 

 around the body of the tree before scraping. 

 After s<"raping, the tree must be washed with an 



