The Canadian Horticulturist. 85 



The American Agriculturist says of this apple : 



The York Imperial is an apple which came into favor recently by reason 

 of the demand for it in the English markets, where it sells at a price close to 

 that realized for the Newtown and Albemarle Pippins. The apple is believed to 

 have had its origin in York County, Pa., from which locality it takes its name. 

 Downing describes the apple as being a " sub-acid " — as a matter of fact, how- 

 ever, it is practically devoid of acid and would pass for a sweet at any time. 

 The specimen from which the accompanying photographic picture was made 

 came from the New York Experiment Station at Geneva, and is doubtless 

 genuine. 



We describe the apple as follows : Fruit medium, oblate oblique, yellowish, a 

 light crimson over a good part of the apple, which is splashed with crimson of a 

 deeper shade. Stalk very short, inserted in a narrow deep cavity covered with a 

 greenish russet. CaljTc closed, in a deep, narrow and irregular basin. Flesh 

 yellowish, fine grained, firm, pleasant, sweet, or nearly so, and very good. The 

 obliqueness of this apple is its most marked characteristic. In almost every 

 specimen, a perpendicular line from the calyx would fall far outside the stem. 

 It is an exquisitely beautiful fruit, and even if of poor quality, would find a 

 ready sale. It is a good keeper, rivalling any of the long-keeping sorts. We 

 should think it a good variety to plant for market purposes. 



PICKING AND RIPENING PEARS. 



|T is the opinion of most nurserymen that pears should be picked 

 while green and ripened indoors. The sunny side of the tree 

 should be picked first and the rest later on. The greener the 

 pear the higher the temperature should be to ripen it. The 

 atmosphere should be moist to keep the pears from shriveling. 

 The tasteless pear is the result of too early picking, and should have received 

 more sun and less artificial heat. Such a pear is flavorless, and unfit to eat. 



As pears absorb odors readily, much care should be taken that the boxes 

 and papers in which they are packed are kept fresh and clean. Pears not being 

 so elastic as apples, require straw, paper or some such material to keep them 

 from being injured by the sides of the box or barrel. Early pears and those 

 nearly ripe should be packed in shallow, well-ventilated boxes. French garden- 

 ers generally pack this fruit in layers with the spaces filled up with powered 

 charcoal. The largest and greenest fruit is in the bottom, and all so snugly 

 packed that no movement is possible, and that one pear does not press against 

 another. 



Tiverton, Ont. A. H. Cameron. 



