302 IVotcs mid Gleanings. 



wrong, contentions of horticultural writers, and the pertinacity of their ipse 

 dixits. 



Having gained a little experience of my own, v/ith some smattering of " book- 

 larning " in tlie fruit line, I am beginning in a small way to test the question 

 whether open garden grape and pear culture will succeed in this far northern 

 clime to advantage. The results may give some lessons for others. 



In strawberry culture I think we can equal any Atlantic state. The fruit 

 grows wild here much better and larger than in Massachusetts, though it may 

 not follow that it will be the same in artificial culture. Is it a rule that all kinds 

 of plants and fruit will grow better in their native clime than elsewhere ? 



Waterville, Maine. Kennebec. 



We have known of great differences in the quahty of the same variety of fruit 

 from two trees or vines in neighboring gardens, or even in the same garden, but 

 so great a difference as " Kennebec" describes in the fruit of the two Israella 

 vines is very unusual. It is well known that the fruit grown in a very rich loam, 

 especially if moist and cold and manured with animal manures, is not as high 

 flavored as that produced on a light soil fertilized with mineral manures ; but 

 why this should be so is one of the most obscure points in horticulture, though 

 we do not despair that it may some day be explained. 



As a general rule, it is true that all plants flourish better in their native clime 

 than elsewhere. The strawberry is essentially a plant of a cool climate, which 

 accounts for the superiority of the wild strawberries of Maine to those of more 

 southern regions, and the excellence of the cultivated varieties. In such climates 

 the plants are not subject to the burning by the sun which injures varieties of 

 English origin in the Northern States and almost all kinds in the South. 



The Ben Davis Apple. — Dr. WiHiam Howsley gives in the St. Louis 

 Journal of Agriculture a history of the origin and synonymes of this apple, 

 which, for commercial orchards, now stands at the head of the list for profit, 

 and is more generally sought after and planted than any other single variety in 

 the West and North West. The synonymes given are Virginia Pippin, New 

 York Pippin, Kentucky Red Streak, Carolina Red, Funkerhouser, Hutchinson 

 Pippin, Baltimore Red, and Joe Allen. Besides these Mr. Downing gives as 

 synonymes Victoria Pippin, Victoria Red, Red Pippin, Kentucky Pippin, and 

 Baltimore Pippin. 



Forest Planting. — As the production of trees and plants is, so far, the 

 only means known by which man can to any appreciable degree influence the 

 meteorology of a country in his favor, the question of timber production rises to 

 the proportion of one of the grandest of our industries. Western Farmer. 



Reclaiming Marsh Lands. — The salt marsh lands of New Jersey com- 

 prise two hundred ninety-five thousand four hundred and seventy-six acres. Of 

 this twenty thousand acres have been reclaimed, at an average cost of about 

 tv/elve dollars per acre, and are now the most productive in the state. 



