NOTES ON SOME DESIRABLE 



FRUITS. 



[Published in the Country Gentleman.'] 



An Invaluable Apple for the Table. 



Considering the large number of apples known to cultivators, it is sur- 

 prising how few answer the requirements of a perfect table fruit. In 

 choosing apples for eating, it is customary to make flavor a primary consid- 

 eration. This I think is an error, for some of the highest flavored apples 

 have such hard solid flesh that they burden the stomach, and are difficult to 

 digest. In my opinion the most important qualification of a good eating 

 apple is a tender, delicate, melting flesh, which dissolves quickly and digests 

 easily. Flavor is the next consideration. 



Apples abounding in acidity are liable to derange the stomach, and a 

 mild sub-acid flavor is undoubtedly the pleasantest as well as the one best 

 calculated to promote digestion. I am reminded of this fact by the hand- 

 some and excellent Fanieuse or Snow apples which we are enjoying, and 

 which I am glad to say are tolerably abundant in the market. This 

 variety, more than any other that I know, possesses qualities which com- 

 mend it, not only to all w|po enjoy fine fruit, but more especially to persons 

 who suffer from indigestion. It is a beautiful fruit, of medium size ; the 

 skin is of a purplish crimson color, its flesh is white as snow, tender and 

 delicate, and the flavor very pleasant, with just enough acidity to render it 

 exceedingly refreshing. Now that fruit has come to be regarded so val- 

 uable an adjunct to other food, and so conducive to health, there are many 

 no doubt searching after the choicest kinds, and I recommend this as one 

 of the finest fruits of its season. 



Criticism of the Above. 



The Fameuse Apple. In your number for Dec 2d, W. C. Barry's article 

 upon " an invaluable apple for the table," selects the Fameuse as the one variety most 

 nearly combining all the qualities of a dessert apple. He is certainly quite right as to 

 its quality when it is grown perfectly, and free from black spots or cracking ; but unless 

 he succeeds much better than myself and many others, he will have to grow at least 

 five apples to get one fair specimen. For this reason, perhaps, his article may mislead 

 many irt selecting this variety for setting, unless he can give a remedy for this defect 

 in the fruit, and loss in growing for market. I would suggest the Gravenstein as an 

 apple equally as good in quality, growing more uniformly fair, and much more profitable. 



South Byron, jV. Y. C. E. 0. 



RESPONSE. 



The Fameuse Apple. 



EDS. COUNTRY GENTLEMAN On page 822 of your paper, C. E. C. crit- 

 icises my article on the Fameuse apple. In reply, I would say that the 

 object of my remarks was to draw attention to the valuable qualities of the 



