1882. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



337 



raised by Mr. Thompson, of New Brunswick. 

 The bunches are about eight inches long, well 

 shouldered, rather loose, berries about the size 

 of Croton, and " not hard to take." It is com- 

 pared favorably in flavor with the Lady Wash- 

 ington. 



Dandelions. — These have been so much im- 

 proved in France, that their culture, as a salad 

 herb, ranks with lettuce or endive. 



Tomato Catsup.— There is a wonderful difTer- 

 ence among the various articles called Tomato 

 Catsup, from the rich sauce, so thick it will 

 hardly pour, to the thin, watery stuff that would 

 not keep but for the vinegar and salt it contains. 

 Every family should make its own, not only as 

 a matter of econonij', but of safety. If one 

 must buy, avoid the bright red, attractive look- 

 ing compounds, as they are artificially colored. 

 The cheap stuff sold to restaurants is made from 

 the peelings and other refuse of the canning 

 factories. Good catsup can only be made when 

 the fruit is in perfection ; towards the end of the 

 season, when the nights get cool, and growth is 

 slow, the fruit is watery and will not yield the 

 rich pulp of the best fruit. Select ripe tomatoes, 

 cutting away any green portions, cut in pieces, 

 stew until thoroughly done, and rub through a 

 sieve fine enough to retain the seeds. Evaporate 

 what passes the sieve to the desired thickness ; 

 for this, no rules by quantity can be given, as a 

 bushel of some tomatoes will yield twice as 

 much pulp as others. The evaporation should 

 go on over a slow fire, being careful not to scorch 

 it. When thick enough to pour from a cruet, 

 without inconvenience, add salt and spices. 

 Here the recipes give the greatest possible va- 

 riety. Be sure and use salt enough ; a chopped 

 onion or clove of garlic, tied ii cloth and cooked 

 in the pulp, to give just a suspicion of the flavor, 

 is liked by many ; allspice, black pepper, cay- 

 enne and mustard are the principal spices, and 

 are used according to the taste of the consu- 

 mers. One recipe directs for a half bjushel of 

 tomatoes; cloves, two teaspoon fuls ; cinnamon, 

 allspice and black pepper, two tablespoonfuls 

 each ; these are not to be ground, but bruised, 

 placed in a little bag and boiled in the pulp 

 while it is being evaporated ; when the pulp is 

 thick enough, remove the bag and add mustard, 

 ground, two tablespoonfuls; cayenne pepper, 

 two teaspoon fuls; good vinegar, two quarts, and 

 salt to the taste. Another recipe uses all ground 

 spices, viz. : For the pulp from ^ bushel of fruit : 



allspice and cloves, | oz. each ; mustard, IJ oz. ; 

 black pepper, 3'oz ; mace, J oz. ; cayenne, i oz. ; 

 salt, 6 oz. or sufficient, and vinegar, 2 qts. Add 

 the spices, boil a minute or two, cool and bottle. 

 — Amer. Agriculturist. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Apples from Mecklenburg County, N. C. — 

 "M. W. C." writes: "You will please find a 

 small box of apples by express, prepaid. Not 

 that these are better or finer than any other 

 apple in these days, but that they are very old, 

 of many years standing, without a name. As far 

 as my knowledge extends, I think they were 

 some of the first apples introduced in this neigh- 

 borhood. I have seen them at several old home- 

 steads where the buildings were all gone, but the 

 old apple trees were still bearing tolerable fruit. 

 Not grafted; fruit trees commence to bear young. 

 Now what I claim for this apple is that it is 

 long-lived. There are trees on our place that 

 have been planted sixty years, and to my cer- 

 tain knowledge have not been cultivated for 

 forty-five years, yet are still in a state of tolerable 

 preservation, bearing a good crop of medium- 

 sized apples every alternate year. The tree is 

 not of a very nice growth, rather open, very 

 tough and strong. I never saw a branch break, 

 but will bend to the ground without breaking. 

 A good apple to bake, does not need much 

 sugar. Fine ciJer apple, good keeper, ripens 

 with the horse apple, and keeps much longer. 

 I think it would make a good fall apple in the 

 North. If you have the same apple with you I 

 would like to have the name, and you can test 

 the apples and let me have your opinion." 



[These were certainly very fine apples. They 

 were, however, so very much like Sweet Bough 

 that it was difficult to find any difference, except 

 that one might say they were very fine speci- 

 mens if they had been given to us as really that 

 variety. They are in season in North Carolina 

 in September.— Ed. G. M.] 



Pear from Wisconsin —" C. P.," Beaver Dam, 

 writes: "As we have been much interested in 

 the notices of new fruits in Gardener s Monthly, 

 we send you specimens of a seedling ' Pear ;' 

 tree, upright, strong grower, and apparently as 

 hardy as any of our iron-clad apple trees, and for 

 the past twenty years has been the least subject 

 to the blight of any pear we aave grown, ten 

 other sorts bearing, all of which are more or less 



