142 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



orchard, if taken in hand soon enough, can be 

 profitably treated Snd cleaned of the parasites. 

 But delay is fatal, and careless neighbors aid in 

 spreading the pests. 



There never was a time when trained horticul- 

 turists were more needed than in California at 

 present. The Agricultural Department of the State 

 University needs more aid in its vigorous efforts, 

 and an entomological department, under the best 

 men to be found, should be endowed and liberally 

 supported. Matthew Cooke, chief horticultural offi. 

 cer, is a man of much capacity and energy. He 

 should find public sentiment in each county of the 

 State strongly in favor of " war to the death " 

 against the insect pests. It would honestly be bet- 

 ter to destroy every fruit tree in the State, and be- 

 gin over again, than to give up the best belt of fruit- 

 growing land on the continent. But this is not 

 necessary. All that is required is that the horti- 

 culturists there be animated with one spirit, and 

 work in harmony. 



RAMBLING NOTES OF FRUITS AND TREES. 

 BY ISAAC HICKS, WESTBURY, L. I. 



I find in turning over the leaves in memory's 

 pages there are a few things that may be worthy 

 of preservation ; for he that loves to ramble in 

 Flora's kingdom will find objects of interest and 

 admiration continually, and in the choice gifts of 

 fruit, flowers and trees find an ever-pleasing study. 

 How bright was the anticipation as the warm days 

 of early summer ripened up the first and most wel- 

 come fruit, the strawberry, that many of these 

 highly-praised new berries would be tested. We 

 had a fine feast it is true, but the clouds withheld 

 the blessed rain and our hopes were not fully real- 

 ized. Whil^ we must continue to try new kinds, 

 such is the impulse of all lovers and growers of 

 fruit to obtain something better than we now have, 

 I think those who have in bearing the Charles 

 Downing, Cumberland Triumph and Sharpless 

 may rest satisfied, and let others prove the new and 

 highly extolled varieties until they really discover 

 the best strawberry on earth which I think, when 

 found, few will believe in. Following the straw- 

 berries come the cherries. But the black knot 

 killed or severely injured most all the twenty or 

 more varieties we had a few years since, only the 

 Downer's late escaping. I find this variety for 

 us is worth much more than any other. It ripens 

 late and bears abundantly; is healthy and long 

 lived, a most excellent fruit for the table or for 

 canning, and not least, the birds having freely par- 



taken of earlier ripening kinds, kindly leave 

 Downer's late for us. It does not crack or rot on 

 the tree like many varieties. Raspberries, too, are 

 claiming much of the attention of fruit growers; 

 we find several new names as cpmpetitors for 

 the best, largest, most productive sort, and if im- 

 provement continues as it has done for the last ten 

 years, we will approach very near to perfection. 

 I have in cultivation the New Rochelle and 

 Caroline seedlings of S. Carpenter, of New Ro- 

 chelle. The former is a strong and rapid grower, 

 a very abundant bearer of large purple fruit of the 

 cap family. The flavor is equal if not better than 

 the Philadelphia. They are growing on a light, 

 sandy loam, and the two last summers were hurt 

 by the severe drouth. On heavy soil and near 

 where it originated on the farm of Wm. S. Carpen- 

 ter, they were marvels of productiveness. With 

 us they are far more profitable than the Philadel- 

 phia, Bristol or Brandywine. But after three or 

 four years trial we prefer the Caroline. It is a 

 beautiful yellow cap, in no wise resembling the 

 Brinckle's orange, so far hardy, continues a long 

 time in bearing, and while other varieties were 

 dried up by the dry weather it scarcely affected 

 the Caroline. It has a mild, pleasant, but not rich 

 flavor like the B. orange, and is the poorest variety 

 to can that we have tried. I do not wish to dis- 

 parage any of the new varieties before the public, 

 but for family use and near market would like 

 to see these two sorts more extensively tested. 

 Cuthbert growing in the same patch were not half 

 as productive, perhaps owing to allowing the suck- 

 ers to grow so as to have a stock of young plants. 

 In beauty, size and excellence of fruit it is good 

 enough, but we must recollect that some varieties 

 succeed admirably on clay soil, or when the rocks 

 are slowly disintegrating, furnishing new food for 

 the plants, as is the case in Westchester and 

 Orange Counties in the State of New York, or on 

 the rich prairies of Illinois ; and on our sandy soils 

 they are very inferior and the grower sadly disap- 

 pointed. 



I will say but little about blackberries. A few 

 years ago we destroyed a half acre of Lawton 

 because they were frequently winter killed, and 

 planted Kittatinnys. We missed it. Lawtons were 

 the best, Missouri mammoth was better, and now 

 we hope the Snyder and Taylor will be good and 

 hardy. 



My experience with grapes has been the great 

 liability from the ocean exposure to promote the 

 growth of fungus ; that Concord is the kind and 

 most to be depended upon. Vines of Martha, 



