148 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May, 



judge, this apple has some very good qualities, 

 which seem to make it worthy of attention. — 

 Ed. G. M.] 



Calloway Cling Peach. — Mr. T. V. Munson, 

 Denison, Texas, writes: "On page 83, March 

 number Gardener's Monthly, you insert my 

 letter of November 10th under 'A Fine Peach ' 

 I should have written farther facts, obtained 

 since, in regard to the variety. After careful 

 inquiry, by letter and otherwise, I have been 

 enabled to trace its first introduction several 

 j'^ears ago by G. W. Stoner, of Shrevesport, La., 

 but its origin was not known to him. It is 

 known as Calloway Cling, and possibly some of 

 your readers in the regions where the variety is 

 best known can give its origin. It is remarkable 

 for its lateness, size and quality." 



Si'LPHUR FOR Currant Worms. — "W.," Chris- 

 tiana, Pa., writes: ''An old gardener informed 

 me, a few days since, that flower of sulphur sprin- 

 kled on the currant leaves when they were 

 damp would kill the currant worm. Is this cor- 

 rect? Will it answer as well as hellebore? Thee 

 can answer through G. M." 



[We should incline to the belief that one 

 might roll a caterpillar in sulphur to its positive 

 comfort rather than injury ; but there can be no 

 objection to any one's trying it on one.-Ed. G. M.] 



Fruits and Trees in Kansas. — " J. B.," Sa- 

 lina, Kansas, says : " I have a cottonwood growth 

 at my place two years old, of sixteen inches in 

 circumference and over twenty-two feet high. 

 In 1880. I sent a sunflower stalk to the national 

 fair at Bismarck, that grew alongside of some 

 road, twenty-two and one-half feet long, six 

 inches in circumference, and Avas enough for 

 one man to carry. Time of growing, little over 

 three inonths. My neighbor has a German 

 prune tree, very young yet, that had over five 

 hundred prunes on. Last season peaches sold 

 from $1 to $3 a bushel, and this all in a droughty 

 year." 



[This is wonderfully good, especially for a 

 place so far towards the desert as Salina. — 

 Ed. G. M.] 



Success with Dwarf Apples. — A New Bruns- 

 wick, N. J. correspondent says: "I have also 

 succeeded in growing dwarf apples — for three 

 years now — upon a stock not subject to the 

 borer and from which I expect very good per- 

 manent results. We consider it scarcely worth 

 while to try to grow apples on this dry red shale 

 formation on their own roots ; for here, more 



fatally than on any other soil, for some reason, 

 the worms, in four or five years ruin all." 



Peach Culture. — " M. S ," Bryn Mawr, Pa., 

 writes : '' In my little garden I have about a 

 couple dozen of peach trees, and should like to 

 have them succeed to perfection. I would like 

 them to be model trees, free from all diseases 

 and insect troubles, and bear certainly and pro- 

 fusely. Trees, in fact, which the owner of so 

 small an orchard may be proud to show to his 

 admiring friends. Now, what book shall I buy?" 



[If you would be perfect in peach culture 

 wash the stems, before the leaves push, with 

 common lime-wash, as far up as you can reach, 

 without covering the last season's twigs. If the 

 white is disagreeable, put in coal dust, yellow 

 clay, or anything to shade it you prefer. A little 

 sulphur does no harm to the wash. Now for the 

 root culture — let the laundry folks, at every 

 wash-day, pour the boiling hot soapsuds about 

 the roots. This will destroy the insidious little 

 fungus which produces the '' yellows" and otfeer 

 diseases, and finish the larvje of insects which 

 are very injurious to the roots of the trees. Do 

 this and you will not need any books to teach 

 you how to grow a few dozen trees to the great- 

 est perfection. 



If, however, you should be tempted from your 

 few dozen to become a market man on an ex- 

 tensive scale, there are many other things to be 

 considered. Then it is wise to read the expe- 

 riences of those who have been on the road 

 before you. Such works as '' Eutter on Peach 

 Culture" you will have to read, and you will de- 

 rive much profit therefrom. — Ed. G. M.] 



Hybridizing Grapes. — "M. S. W.," Fonthill, 

 Ont., says : " We are anxious to know the art of 

 hybridizing grapes. Our Mr. Stone, of Koches- 

 ter, advised writing to you to see if there was 

 not some publication on that subject. If not, 

 we suggest an article at length in the Garden- 

 er's Monthly, which would be very interesting 

 and useful to many readers.'' 



[The process is easy by art, though it is not 

 easy when left to nature. The corolla of the 

 grape is united over the stigma, and generally 

 does not fall off" till it has received its own pol- 

 len ; but with good eyes, or good glasses to aid 

 the eyes, the corolla is opened with a fine scis- 

 sors, and the pollen applied from the male parent 

 to the stigma before it has had a chance to use 

 its own. If this is carefully done, crossing is 

 almost sure to be effectual — Ed. G. M.l 



