162 



THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUKIST. 



Choice apples, peaches, pears, quinces ; 

 in fact, the best of all kinds of fruit 

 command the best prices and always 

 sell. Oft times the market becomes 

 glutted with poor fruits, and the prices 

 realized are really below what it costs 

 to produce them and sometimes they 

 cannot be sold at any price, while at 

 the same time the choicest and best are 

 selling at a profitable price. 



Too many fall into the error of think- 

 ing that by thinning they lessen the 

 quantity so much that they prefer to 

 let the fruit all remain. This is a mis- 

 take, as well as to think that by thin- 

 ning they lessen the profit on the fruit. 

 When a tree is heavily loaded, the fruit 

 must necessarily be small and this will 

 lessen the quantity ; then the fruit 

 being small will sell for a less price, 

 and really cost more to sell, and you 

 lose rather than make by not thinning. 

 Then in addition, when a tree or vine 

 is allowed to overload and mature the 

 fruit it is a strain upon the vitality of 

 the tree. Judiciously thinning fruit 

 always pays ; but it requires consider- 

 able courage when the trees are laden 

 with young fruit to go over and pull off 

 and throw away a considerable portion 

 of the fruit. To one who has never 

 tried it, at first it would seem like a 

 waste ; yet it has been tested sufficiently 

 to prove its value. 



The work of course should be done 

 early, as soon after the fruit has set as 

 possible. The longer the fruit grows 

 after setting, the more waste of vitality 

 of the tree, that should go to the ether 

 fruit that is left upon the tree to ma- 

 ture. It should be done as evenly as 

 possible all over the tree, thin so as to 

 give each specimen left as much room 

 as possible. Close crowding makes 

 ill-shaped fruit. If you have never been 

 in the habit of thinning try a few trees 

 first to see the effect, and in a majority 

 af cases you w^ll conclude that it is 



beneficial. — N. J. Shepherd, in Michi- 

 gan Horticulturist. 



THE SHIAWASSEE BEAUTY. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The other night at tea, as we were 

 all commenting on the delicious apple 

 sauce, Mrs. Cook remarked that every 

 family in the land ought to have one 

 Shiawassee Beauty apple-tree. The 

 sauce is of a beautiful pink color, and 

 has a peculiar and delicate flavor that 

 renders it a universal favorite. We are 

 often asked what is it that gives the 

 sauce the delicious flavor, and our reply 

 that it is Nature's own flavoring stored 

 up in the fruit, is often met with a very 

 incredulous look. 



This excellent apple is doubtless a 

 seedling from the Fameuse or Snow, 

 which it much resembles. The form 

 and color, both of skin and pulp, are 

 quite like the same in the Snow. It is 

 larger, however, than the Snow, and 

 keeps much longer. We have kept it 

 well into January — is much fairer, as 

 the tendency to scab and deformity, so 

 peculiar to the Snow, is entirely absent 

 in this. But the greatest difference is 

 in its spicy flavor. While the Snow is 

 pleasingly tart, it is remarkably taste- 

 less. The Shiawassee Beauty, on the 

 other hand, is one of the most marked 

 or radical in this respect and its flavor 

 is as delicious as peculiar. I have yet 

 to find the person who does not esteem 

 it highly. The tree is vigorous and 

 spreading. Of several trees set out in 

 my garden here in 1876, among which 

 is a Duchess of Oldenburg and a Red 

 Astrachan, none has made so large and 

 fine a growth as this. It is not only 

 vigorous, but it is very hardy. On my 

 farm in the Shiawassee County, Mich., 

 I have trees of this variety that have 

 remained vigorous and hearty all 

 through the several hard Winters of 

 the last 1 5 years. It is a very persis- 

 tent bearer, equal to the Duchess of 



