& 



THE 



^aqadiaq 4^^^i'tiealtiirist 



Vol. XII. 



MAY, 1889. 



No. 5, 



THE DUCHESS OF OLDENBURG. 



apolof^y is needed 

 for calling the es- 

 pecial attention of 

 all readers of this 

 journal to this 

 peerless Summer 

 apple, which is a 

 favorite in the cold 

 north on account of 

 its extreme hardiness, and in the 

 southern parts of Ontario on account 

 of its beauty. 



The Duchess of Oldenburg is of 

 undoubted Russian origin and of all 

 the importations from that country 

 up to the present it is perhaps the 

 best. The first mention of the apple 

 is found in the records of the Royal 

 Horticultural Societ}' of England, in 

 the year 1824, under the name of Boro- 

 Yitsk3',a modification of Borovinca,the 

 generic name of the family, with the 

 statement that it was sent to the 

 society from the Taurida gardens, 

 near St. Petersburg, in that year. In 

 the year i82(S an illustration of the 

 fruit appeared in " Lindley's Britisli 

 Fruits," highly commending it as a 

 Summer apple, togetiier with another 

 Russian apple, the Sugar Loaf Pip- 

 pin. Now it is widely distributed, 

 and everywhere valued. 



The tree is a vigorous grower, 

 forming a well-shaped head that re- 



quires very little pruning, and is an 

 earl}' and abundant bearer. 



The fruit is described by Downing: 

 " Medium size, regularly formed, 

 roundish oblate. Skin smooth, fine- 

 ly washed and streaked on a yellow 

 or golden ground. Calyx prett\ large 

 and nearl}' closed, set in a wide even 

 hollow. It has a faint blue bloom. 

 The flesh is juicy, slightly sub-acid." 



With respect to the hardiness of 

 this apple the evidence is constantly 

 accumulating, until it has become a 

 habit to say " as hardy as the 

 Duchess." In the thirteenth annual 

 report of the Montreal Horticultural 

 Societ}', the Duchess receives very 

 high commendation in this respect. 

 Mr. R. \V. Shepherd, a prominent 

 member, says that it was the only 

 variety in his orchard which has es- 

 caped the splitting and dyiaig of the 

 bark upon the trunk. He places it 

 first in his list of apples for profit in 

 that province, and in reply to Mr. 

 Fisk, who ranked it second to the 

 well known Fameuse for market, he 

 said that it brings him a higher price 

 per barrel than the Fameuse, and 

 though the yield is less, it brings 

 him fewer seconds, indeed scarcely 

 any. It also begins to bear much 

 earlier, often the second year after 

 planting, while the Fameuse yields 



