f ©pef? Letters, f 



Grapes for England. 



Sir,— By to-day's mail I send you a ripe 

 bunch of the Mills grape grown in my garden 

 at Lindsay and gathered on the 21st of Sep- 

 tember for exhibition purposes. All my late 

 kinds also ripened their fruit this season, 

 namely, Jefferson, Agawam, Vergennes and 

 others, showing the possibility of gratifying 

 the most fastidious taste as to color, flavor 

 and size by a range from Moore's Early, Jef- 

 ferson, Lady Washington, Mills, even in this 

 latitude, whenever we are fortunate enough 

 to have a favorable season. 



May I make a few suggestions regarding 

 the Mills grape and other hybrids. The Mills 

 was produced by a cross 1 etween the Euro- 

 pean species Vinifera and our standard Am- 

 erican varieties, resulting in the production 

 of a grape that has the essential characteris- 

 tics for export. In the hands of a skilled hy- 

 bridist there might be produced from it a pro- 

 geny earlier in ripening which might meet 

 the requirements of the middle, mechanical 

 and laboring classes of England. The vine is 

 healthy, hardy and productive ; the fruit is 

 attractive, of fair size both in berry and 

 bunch, and in flavor it is of near approach to 

 the European varieties ; the flesh is firm, 

 meaty and adheres well to the cluster. It is 

 a good shipper and a good keeper, an excel- 

 lent combination, and if to this could only be 

 added the property of early ripening, we 

 might reasonably expect to find a demand for 

 it at popular prices in the old country. 



This last summer I had the pleasure of 

 spending about six weeks in England during 

 July and August, and, being interested in 

 fruit, particularly grapes, I noticed the dif- 

 ference in quality, color and size, as account- 

 ed for by the district in which the fruit was 

 grown. England receives large importations 

 in season from Spain, Portugal, France, and 

 the Channel Islands, the prices varying ac- 

 cording to the size and quality from 12c. to 

 60c. per lb. I have a strong impression that 

 a consignment of a few tons of such showy 

 grapes as Niagara, Agawam, Vergennes and 

 other good keepers could be profitably dis- 

 posed of in the latter part of September in 

 some of the large manufacturing towns in the 

 north of England, as, for instance, Leeds, 

 Stockton, Middleboro. Newcastle, Sunder- 

 land, each with an average population of 

 about 100,000. In the hands of a person 

 with some knowledge of fruit and an ac- 

 quaintance with a few leading wholesale fruit 

 men, I believe our grapes could be success- 

 fully introduced in this way I would have 

 no fear of making a success of such an enter- 

 prise if the grapes were in good condition. 

 W. M, ROBSON. 



Lindsay, Ont, 



and in the heart of the Hudson river fruit re- 

 gion, and was fruited in a large plantation for 

 the first time last season. I gave it a visit and 

 I grew very enthusiastic over it. If you did 

 not see our paper containing an account of it, 

 with a cut, write me and I will send it to you. 

 It will be on the market next spring— pei haps 

 it is now. I have a short row in my home gar- 

 den which the originator's representative gave 

 me, but I am in honor bound not to give or 

 sell any plants until after he has disseminated 

 it, which I believe will be in the coming 

 spring. 



I think it would please you if you could see 

 it, and I hope you buy a few plants ; two or 

 three dozen next spring and try it. I can say 

 this for it in its home -.—Superb foliage, rank 

 grower, perfect flower, berry large and round, 

 regular in shape, very solid, crimson in color, 

 and solid enough for a fiist-class shipper. 



As an indication of its vigor, let me say, 

 that last summer I set out a row of Wm. Belt 

 in my garden, grown there, and they made a 

 better than average growth. Two weeks later 

 I set out the Gibson and they soon passed the 

 Wm. Belt, larger plants, more runners and an 

 altogether ruggeder plant. Of course, I have 

 no interest in it ; but I thought you might 

 like to try it. The propagator's address is 

 Marlboro', N. Y., C H. Baildon, and he is a 

 very honorable man. 



E. G. Fowler, Port Jercii, N. Y. 



A New Strawberry. 



Sir,— Anew strawberry, a chance seedling, 

 was found in Ulster Co., just north of Orange, 



A Sham Pear. 



Sir,— I am taking the liberty of sending 

 you a little piece of news that I think might 

 have escaped you while in the city on Tues- 

 day. 



There is a gentleman here, who grows some 

 very fine pears that have long been noted 

 prize winners at the country fairs. This gen- 

 tleman very kindly sent a few specimens to 

 the Horticultural exhibit ; these were seen 

 and admired by quite a number of people ; 

 one of the admirers is a gentleman who has a 

 hobby for mock-orange gourds ; he at once 

 declared he could beat the pears all hollow. 



The joker hustled home and picked the 

 largest and best specimen of gourd he could 

 find, rubbed a little vinegar on the side and 

 brought out a beautiful color ; he then packed 

 it very carefully in a neat little box of cotton 

 batten, so as to give the impretsion that it 

 was a dead ripe pear (in reality to hide the 

 bottom of the gourd, which is very unlike a 

 pear). 



The " pear " was then brought to the show, 

 where there was much discussion as to its 

 variety and mode of culture. The prize win- 

 ner declared that it was wax, another that it 

 was wood and tinted. But the owner would 

 not allow his precious (pear) to be taken from 

 the box, and so the joke went on, until some 

 one that knew, ' let the cat out of the bag.' 

 And now the horticulturists are wondering 

 who it was that did not know a gourd from a 

 pear. R. B, C, Hamilton. 



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