1883.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



241 



We have never seen this grape growing, and 

 hence do not know whether the failure to perfect 

 seed is owing to a deficiency of pollen or an im- 

 perfect pistil. 



Hardy Raspberries. — Every once in a while 

 some variety is introduced, with the caution not to 

 get that other variety over the way if you want 

 something that isentirely hardy. The Turner was at 

 one time the only genuine hardy kind, the Brandy- 

 wine was the only true hardy, and if the Thwack 

 was anything at all, it was the genuine hardy, if 

 anything was. 



Now we have another "only" hardy one. "The 

 Turner close by were nearly all killed to the 

 ground, and but very few show any foliage a foot 

 above the ground, and cannot bear a crop of fruit. 

 The Brandywine, close by their side, is in very 

 nearly the same condition and cannot bear a crop. 

 Thwack, adjoining them, are no better, and will 

 not produce any fruit this season." 



We have no doubt of the correctness of this 

 statement. The gentleman who gives it is well 

 known for careful statements. But what we wish 

 to ask is, what constitutes a hardy raspberry ? 



Preserving AND Drying Fruits. — Mr. Charles 

 Joly, of Paris, is doing inestimable service to the 

 French people, by keeping them informed of what 

 the rest of the world is doing, and by which they 

 may profit. An address of his on the subject cited, 

 before the Societe Nationale et Central d Horticul- 

 tu7-e de la France, has just been issued in pamph- 

 let form, which shows that while the business in 

 Paris, Nantes and Bordeau.x at one time almost 

 controlled the world, these cities now have power- 

 ful rivals in the United States, Australia and Bra- 

 zil. Steam has revolutionized the fruit trade, and 

 Mr. Joly says that pineapples from Florida are 

 sold in the streets of London at the same price that 

 first-class apples bring. New Orleans comes in for 

 a good share of favorable notice — " New Orleans, 

 where its numerouslanguages, as well as its products, 

 furnish the best living example of what happened 

 at the destruction of the Tower of Babel." The 

 address is filled with statistics of the American fruit 

 trade, given in detail, and is profusely illustrated 

 by representations of American fruit peelers and 

 the various first-class appliances by which Ameri- 

 cans dry and prepare fruits. 



Cr.\cking of Pears. — How little is really known 

 in Europe of the diseases of fruits is evidenced by 

 the statement of opinion in a leading English hor- 

 ticultural magazine that cracking in the pear is 

 from "a want of heat," and it recommends that the 



pears liable to crack should have the warmest as- 

 pects. It does not seem to be known in England 

 that pears crack in the United States, where surely 

 there is heat enough for any pear. 



To Make Liquid Manure. — Mr. J. B. Moore's 

 method is to get a large tub and place two strips of 

 board across it, and on these to put a flour barrel 

 filled with manure, and having holes bored in it. 

 W^atcr is then poured into the barrel and leaches 

 through into the tub. It must be diluted for use. 



The Date in California.— The date palm in 

 California has produced fruit in several instances. 

 It takes from 15 to 25 years for the trees to become 

 old enough to bear. The male and female flowers 

 are borne on separate plants. The ancients knew 

 that it was necessary for the flowers to be artifici- 

 ally fertilized and practised it on the Date, though 

 it does not appear that they knew anything of the 

 sexes of flowers as understood in these modern 

 times. 



Fig Culture in California.— At a recent 

 meeting of the California Horticultural Society Mr. 

 Rixford remarked that the Smyrna, he had heard, 

 produces more than one crop, but it is only one 

 crop (the second) which is used for drying. In 

 regard to the caprification process, it is considered 

 in Asia Minor essential, and unless it is practiced 

 the crop fails. As you know, the blossoms of the 

 fig are inside of the fig, and the claim is that an 

 insect crawls into the fig, and moving about carries 

 the pollen from the anthers to the stigmas. The 

 importance of fig culture on this coast can hardly 

 be over-estimated. There is no reason why Cali- 

 fornia should not produce all the figs which we 

 need on this coast. 



Cucumbers in the Old World.— We, in 

 America, where vegetables of so many kinds can 

 be had from nature for little more than the ask- 

 ing, can have no idea how much labor and skill 

 has to be exercised before much can be had in any 

 part of the old world. Cucumbers, for instance, 

 have to be raised in wooden frames, or hot-bed 

 sash, and the heat furnished by stable manure, the 

 whole carefully tended day by day, and more 

 added around the outside, as the temperature de- 

 chnes. Under these circumstances every slight 

 advantage in a variety is noticed, so as to get the 

 greatest number and size of products under the few- 

 square feet of glass. A new cucumber, " Kcenigs- 

 doerffer's Indefatigable," comes highly recom- 

 mended from a German source. 



Clapp's Favorite Pear.— This variety is in 



