46 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



in fruitage, have never failed to yield full crops. 

 At this writing the earlier varieties bare of leaves, 

 but gorgeous in their wealth of fruit — crimson and 

 gold — are as attractive as the most brilliant trees 

 grown for the beauty of their autumn foliage. I 

 do not especially love this fruit myself, but I 

 do enjoy the gusto with which my little ones visit 

 this department of the orchard months after apples 

 can no longer be found, and even after chipmonks 

 have gathered the last stray nut. 



[It is a good idea to try to improve the native 

 persimmon. It is likely the original Japan persim- 

 mon was no better than our own, while the supe- 

 rior hardiness of the American would give it great 

 advantage over its Asiatic ally. Those sent by 

 Mr. Hillenmeyer exhibited a wide range of varia- 

 tion.— Ed. G. M.] 



[February, 

 Vines very vigor- 



FRUIT NOTES FOR 1882. 

 BV B. 15. GOOD, MANCHESTER, YORK COUNTY, PA. 



Keiffers Hybrid. — Fruited here for the last three 

 years, and a more worthless pear I never tasted. I 

 could never yet ripen one fit to eat. For pickling 

 they answer admirably. 



Brighton Grape. — This grape has done perfectly 

 well here thus far, ripens early and keeps a long 

 time on the vine, and the fruit is simply delicious. 

 The bunches should be thinned out to about one. 

 half, as it is hable to overbear. 



Lady Washington. — This superb grape fruited 

 here for several years, and to my taste is perfection. 

 The vine is a strong, vigorous grower, and seems to 

 be perfectly hardy. Bunches very large, and when 

 ripened in paper bags, the berries are nearly trans- 

 parent. If this grape holds out on further trial as 

 it did so far, it will be one of the most valuable 

 grapes we have. 



Prentiss. — Fruited here for the first time the past 

 season ; a vigorous grower and healthy. Bunches 

 of medium size, very compact. Not of best quality 

 in my estimation, although it may prove a valuable 

 market grape. 



yefferson.—Y^ot fully tested, but the vine is a 

 strong grower and perfectly hardy. Fruit of first 

 quality. 



Moore's Early. — This grape has disappointed 

 my expectations. Bunch small ; many bunches 

 will set only a few berries, and the fox odor is 

 much more prominent than in the Concord or 

 Worden's. This latter is a much better grape in 

 every particular, though about a week later. 



Black Eagle. — For an amateur grape I have 

 great faith in this one. 



Duchess. — Not fruited here, 

 ous, healthy and hardy. 



Pocklington. — A strong, rampant grower, wood 

 and leaf of Concord type. 



.« ■ »- 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Bau Seeds.— It is an old story that a bad work- 

 man is the first to quarrel with his tools. If a tree 

 does not grow or a seed come up, it is not uncom- 

 mon to remember that the tree had poor roots, and 

 to feel sure that the seedsman must have given 

 roasted or old seeds. Mr. Thomas Christy, in a 

 recent work on the Cinchona, thus gives his ex- 

 perience with difterent gardeners on the same lot 

 of Cinchona seeds. He says : 



"There is much more intelligence required in 

 the germination of seed than many people attach 

 to it. P or instance, I took some Cinchona out of 

 a packet that had arrived and handed it to three 

 men. One lot of seed came up as thick as possible to 

 be, hardly a seed failing to germinate. The second 

 man's pan had a fair sprinkling of young plants, 

 but the third man's pan had no signs of any Cin- 

 chona plants in it at all. All three men were pro- 

 fessional gardeners, and nothing was said to them 

 about the experiment ; each did his best." 



Phylloxera in France. — Reports as to 

 whether the French are finding any positive relief 

 from the phylloxera are contradictory. The fol- 

 lowing extract from a French report partly ex- 

 plains the contradiction: 



" In the department of Herault, which produces 

 between a fifth and a sixth of the entire French 

 vintage, thanks to the energetic efforts of its vine- 

 growers, who have had recourse to American 

 vines for the purpose of replacing the vines which 

 have died from the effect of this insect scourge, 

 this department is fast recovering from its first 

 scare, and is rapidly regaining its old position and 

 former confidence. In the Charentes, the great 

 cognac producing districts of France, unhappily, 

 the same is not the case. There the proprietors 

 appear to have resigned themselves to what they 

 have come to regard as inevitable, and cereals are 

 fast taking the place of the vine. On inquiring the 

 reason for this we were informed that of the two 

 most generally accepted remedies for the destruc- 

 tion of the phylloxera, one, that of the employment 

 of insecticides, such as sulphur of carbon and 

 sulpho-carbonate of potassium, has been found too 

 costly ; while, owing to the rocky nature of the 

 soil and the small surface of earth, the land is 

 said, on the other hand, not to be suitable for the 

 planting of American vines." 



Tex.\n Prosperity. — The wonderful growth of 

 some Western towns may be fairly rivalled by 

 others in Texas. In 1873, the writer visited Deni- 

 son, which was then limited to about a score of 



