1 86 



The Ca7iadian Horticulturist. 



THE LARUE OR BAXTER APPLE. 



r~^ IR : — I do not know whether Mr. 

 vj Nichol or your printer has made a 

 mistake — probably the latter, as a ii may 

 easily be mistaken for an n when writ- 

 ten, but a mistake has been made in 

 the June Horticulturist in the name 

 of the apple Mr. Nichol writes about. 

 It should not be Larne, but Larue. It 

 may interest your readers to know that 

 Billa Larue, from whom it took its 

 name, received a grant of a number of 

 lots of land in the township of Escott as 

 early as 1802, and planted not only ap- 

 ple, but walnut and chestnut trees. 

 Some of the apple trees planted by him 

 yet remain on the property, now in the 

 hands of a family named Snell, also 

 descended from the first settlers. 

 Larue's apples became famous all 

 through this part of the country. Last 

 year I was spending my holidays in that 

 neighborhood, and became interested in 

 some rifle pits and other relics of the 

 early wars on the Larue property. Some 

 time afterwards I happened to speak 

 of the matter to my father, now over 

 eighty, when he immediately asked me 

 about the apple trees, as he remember- 

 ed hearing of and eating Larue's apples 

 when a boy. I could relate some of 

 the legends respecting Larue and his 

 alleged wealth, and of the appearance 

 of his ghost, or those of his numerous 

 w'ives, who lie buried beside him under 

 the shadow of some of the old apple 

 trees on the old farm ; but as yours is a 

 horticultural rather than an historical 

 journal, I will forbear. But let the cor- 

 rect name be applied to the apple, so 

 that the memory of its introducer may 

 be properly handed down. — J. J. Bell, 

 Brockville, June, i88g. 



Words from the Cold Nopth. 



Sir : — Is there not some mistake in 

 that valuable paper of Mr. Nichol's as 

 printed in the June Horticulturist 

 on the " Baxter " apple ? 



I notice he calls it the " Larne." I 

 am inclined to think the mistake is in 

 the reading of the manuscript, and it is 

 one that could be very easily made. I 

 have known the apple for several years 

 under the name of " Larue or Bax- 

 ter," but never knew it to be called 

 Larne before. Kindly see letter in 

 Horticulturist for March, 1884, 

 page 59. 



This apple was first brought to my 

 notice on the tables of one of the ag- 

 ricultural exhibitions in Kings. It is 

 very large, attractive in appearance, 

 keeps till February, and is fair in qual- 

 ity — as Mr. Nichol says, preferable n 

 this respect to either Alexander or Ben 

 Davis. But in our section it must rank 

 along the " almost hardy enough " 

 varieties. As yet I have not suc- 

 ceeded in growing it successfully, 

 neither do I know of any one growing 

 it in this section. Our 



fruit prospects 

 this year are very poor for everything 

 but small fruits. Plums, apples, and 

 even crabs are a complete failure. 

 Small fruits will be in abundance. 



Can any of your readers give me any 

 information re the 



crimson pippin apple. 

 I have two trees that are very promis- 

 ing. I have had them now for four 

 years, and as yet they have withstood 

 our cold winters remarkably well. They 

 were given me by one of my horticultu- 



