STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 375 



State Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa; El wanger c^ Barry, Rochester, N. Y. 

 Also Mr. A. Webster, of South Northfield, Vt. and Dr. Hoskins of Newport, Vt., 

 brought to the Monti-eal Horticultural Society Exhibition, samples of their 

 Russian fruits, and gave me every opportunity of getting information from 

 them. Oliver Gibbs, Jr., of Lake City, Minn., also furnished me descriptions of 

 a few varieties found by him after my visit to that State. 



Also in notes and drawmgs from Mr. Wm. Saunders, of the Department of 

 Agriculture, but as the Washington climate is not the climate these fruits were 

 mtended for, I shall seldom quote from them. 



Dr. Kegel published his Ruskaya Pomologaya in 1868*, The trees received 

 from him by the Department, arrived, I believe, in the winter of 1870. At that 

 time Dr. Regel was making a vigorous effort to test, in the climate of St. Peters- 

 bui'g, all the varieties of fruit likely to prove hardy there. The fruits of the 

 Province of St. Petersburg are carefully described. He also collected samples 

 from Riga (from Messr.s Wagner, Evegginger and Detrich) Novgorod, Dorpat, 

 Pskov, Valaam, also from Tver, Moscow, Tchernigov, Tula, Veronesh, Penza, 

 Kazan, Astrachan and other places. These samples he describes, sometimes 

 noting local opinions as to their value, and sometimes merely noting the charac- 

 teristics of the fruit as examined by him 



This book is full of facts of interest to us. Dr. Regel assumes nothing. His 

 work is grand, good, foundational work; but it was not followed up as it should 

 have been, by a national convention of fruit growers, and by a national exhibi- 

 tion of fruits. The fickle climate of St. Petersburg, proving a severe test for 

 many of the varieties he had gathered for trial in his nurseries, he ceased to ex- 

 periment so largely; selected a smaller list of those best suited to the needs of 

 his own climate; and henceforth Dr. Regel gave but little thought to apples, 

 but devoted his vigorous energies to gathering from Central Asia those number- 

 less Botanic rarities which have rendered the Imperial Gardens of St. Peters- 

 burg of such interest to men of the North. 



1. Astrachaner Rother; — Red Astrachan; — If not Duchess, so like it as to be 

 hardly distinguishable from it; — Spaulding. 



60. Anasapfel Rother; — Red Duck; — Of the Yellow Transparent family. A 

 large, oblong, conic, greenish yellow apple much like Yellow Transparent, skin 

 rougher than Yellow Transparent and not as yellow, says Mr. Tuttle. Mr. 

 Webster finds it a little better in quality than Charlottenthaler, but smaller 

 in size and therefore not equal for market. At Mr. Underwood's it agreed 

 exactly with Mr. Tuttle's description. 



68. Champagner Fruher; — Early Ciiampagn3; — A small early conic apple, 

 colored like a Duchess; a sharp acid with slight flavor, f saw this both at Mr. 

 Tuttle's and Mr. Spaulding's, but am not sure if the same fruit or not. 



Mr. Sias says, this is the earliest apple we know, an early and abundant 

 bearer, rather tart, but an excellent pie apple. It is striped with red, beautiful 

 in shape, and very hardy; Mr. Sias has had it bear the same season he grafted 

 it on the Palmer Sweet Crab. It makes a good union on that stock. Mr- 

 Saunders speaks of it on the Department grounds as a promising early fruit, 

 small in size, but very pretty, and would make a fine cooking apple. Ripe 

 enough to test on 24th of June. 



♦Paragraphs in finer type are quotations from or the descriptions as given in Dr. Kegel's 

 book.— Secketaky. 



