go 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[March, 



the apple ? I do not know where to obtain the de- 

 sired information from books and must ask of those 

 who have made fruit a study. Who originated the 

 Hewes' Virginia crab apple, and would it prove 

 perfectly hardy here ? Is there any other culti- 

 vated apple of native American origin or with part 

 native crab parentage in cultivation ? If so, should 

 be glad to know the address of those who have 

 them." 



[Pyrus coronaria, the native American crab 

 apple, differs from Pyrus malus, the cultivated 

 species in many botanical characters, among which 

 arc that the leaves are often slightly lobed, as in 

 some hawthorns, the veins are straight and the 

 petioles very slender. The old world species never 

 has any tendency to be lobed, has the leaves thick, 

 the petiole stout and the veins incurved. In the 

 American the petals are long clawed, and they are 

 short clawed in the European. There are other 

 minor differences recognized by botanists. It can 

 be popularly distinguished by the delicious odor 

 of the fruit, which has obtained for the species the 

 common name of "sweet scented crab." 



So far as we know it has never been improved, 

 though it well deserves a trial in that line. Hewes' 

 Virginia Crab, is but a small variety of the old 

 world species, at least this is our belief without 

 .any specimen before us. If it be of the American 

 species the fact would most probably have sug- 

 gested itself to the writer in former examinations. 

 By the way, who was Hewes ? Where did he find 

 this crab? Such a magnificent cider apple de- 

 serves a niche in special history. — Ed. G. M.] 



Various Inquiries. — " Chautauqua," Proctor, 

 N. Y., says : " Is the grapevine cleistogamous : 

 /. e., is the stigma fertilized by its own pollen be- 

 fore the cap falls off ? 



Volume 23, page 308, Berckman's grape ; does it 



ripen in July and is it anywhere for sale ? I am 

 unable to find it in a catalogue. 



Volume 23, page 205, cheap boiler, water backs. 

 No hardware store in Buffalo knows what it is. 

 Do you know where and who manufactures it ? 



Volume 24, page 178, Strong's method of graft- 

 ing. What is it? 



I will look under the 7tom de plume " Chautau- 

 qua" in Gardeners' Monthly for an answer." 



[Cleistogamous, as generally understood by 

 those who use the term, would hardly be applied 

 to the grape vine. The violet has two distinct 

 kinds of flowers, one as we generally know them, 

 with colored petals, the other without petals, and 

 which in fact never open their buds at all, but 

 mature seed without opening. These are properly 

 cleistogamous flowers in the purely botanical sense. 

 In the grape vine the corolla remains over the pis- 

 til in such a manner as to favor the reception of its 

 own pollen. It is not adapted to cross-fertilization, 

 unless the operator removes the corolla and ap- 

 phes the pollen before its own has had a chance 

 to reach the stigma. It might be called a self-fer- 

 tilizer and not cleistogamous, though the results 

 are much the same. t 



The Berckmans could probably be had of those 

 who secured Dr. Wylie's hybrids. Probably Mr. 

 Berckmans could tell. 



" Water backs " is a common term in this part of 

 the world in connection with ordinary kitchen 

 ranges or stoves. It is a small boiler at the back 

 of the range which furnishes warm water for 

 kitchen or household uses. What do they call 

 them in Buffalo ? 



Mr. Woodbridge Strong's method of grafting is 

 simply to cut or chop a gash in the side of the 

 branch, cut the scion wedge-fashion, and stick it in. 

 It is among the most valuable facts ever given the 

 readers of the Gardeners' Monthly.— Ed. G. M.] 



Literature, Travels and Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



LETTER FROM ITALY. 



BY S. M.; BELLAGIO, LAKE OF COMO, ITALY. 



Being here in Italy for the last five months, I 

 reproach myself for not offering, as far as my abil- 

 ities go, a few remarks of interest to your readers 



concerning this country, in return for the many 

 hours of instruction and interest which I have re- 

 ceived from the Gardeners' Monthly for the last 

 twenty years. I shall begin with a comparison of 

 our country with Italy, and will state at once that 

 the main point of similarity is the warm summer, 

 and the main point of dissimilarity is the winter, 



