i68 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



beautiful showy apple, the Lawver, or Delaware Red 

 Winter. The Geneton and Winesap are also profit- 

 able and of good quality. To describe the merits of 

 the varieties 1 shall recommend will take too long, 

 so I shall give a brief list of such as have proven 

 themselves most profitable in my experience, naming 

 in order of merit : 



" Summer apples Early Strawberry, Chenango, 

 Carolina Red June, Sops of Wine. 



" Autumn apples Jonathan, Oldenburg, Fall Wine- 

 sap, Rambo, Wealthy. 



" Winter apples Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Law- 

 ver, Geneton, Winesap, Grimes Golden, Minkler, 

 Willow Twig. 



" Pears, summer Bartlett, Clapp's Favorite, Con- 

 gress. 



"Autumn Keiffer, Anjou, Angouleme, Flemish 

 Beauty, Sheldon. 



" Winter Lawrence, Winter Nellis. 



" Peaches, early Arkansas Traveler, Alexander. 



" Medium early Hale's early, Mountain Rose, 

 Foster. 



" Medium O. M. Free, Yellow St. John, Hill's Chili, 

 Wager, Wheatland. 



" Medium late Elberta, Globe, Stump the World, 

 O. M. Cling. 



" Late Wonderful, Lemon Cling, Smock Free, Sus- 

 quehanna. 



" European grapes Black Hamburg, Tokay, Blue 

 Malvoise, Cornichan. 



" Raspberries Cuthbert, Gregg. 



" Currants Cherry, White Grape, Red Dutch. 



" Gooseberries Houghton, Industry. 



" Strawberries Sharpless, Jucunda, Capt. Jack, 

 Wilson. 



" The planter may experiment at will, for were my 

 orchard confined to varieties herein named, it would 

 be more profitable than it is. My experience is in 

 fruit growing in sandy loam, too low for sweet cherries 

 to be profitably grown and too warm for blackberries 

 to withstand the winter's sun. The California varie- 

 ties of grapes require protection in winter, my ground 

 being too flat and wet to check growth in time for 

 wood to mature. If you have Grand valley land, 

 plant trees, all you can care for." 



AN IMPORTANT CROP. 



Cranberry culture is attracting considerable atten- 

 tion in Oregon and Washington. Several hundred 

 barrels of excellent fruit have been produced the 

 past season, and the industry is being extended. It 

 is alleged by those competent to judge that the Paci- 

 fic coast cranberry is in every way equal to its con- 

 gener of Cape Cod. 



The marshes in the latter region, which annually 

 yield about 150,000 barrels of berries, are regarded 



worth $500 to $1,000 per acre now, while a few years 

 since they were looked upon as nearly worthless. 

 The amount of available cranberry marsh in the two 

 States of the Pacific northwest is, no doubt, many 

 times that already under cultivation in the Massa- 

 chusetts region, and its product will soon attract 

 attention. Recent investigations of the cranberry 

 market in great Britain are said to justify the hope of 

 selling a very large quantity of the fruit to the 

 English people. Should this extended market be 

 realized, the culture of cranberries in some sections 

 of the arid belt may be undertaken with success. 

 One of the principal drawbacks to the industry in 

 other places is the expense of appliances for flooding 

 at proper times, which could be readily overcome in 

 the irrigated regions. 



ADVANTAGES OF MIXED ORCHARDS. 



Investigations and experiments have led to a better 

 knowledge of conditions governing the production of 

 certain varieties of fruit which formerly were little 

 understood. For example, it is known that certain 

 varieties of fruit trees bear self-fertilizing blossoms, 

 while others do not. Among pears we find that the 

 Doyenne, Le Conte, Kieffer, Buffum, Flemish Beauty, 

 Seckel and Tyson are self-fertilizing and may be 

 safely planted in masses comprising but a single 

 variety. But the Bartlett, Anfou, Clapp's Favorite, 

 Clairgeau, Sheldon, Mt. Vernon, Lawrence, Howell, 

 Louise Bonnede, Jersey, Souvenir du Congres, Win- 

 ter Nelis, Rose, Easter Beurre and Superfine are not 

 self-fertilizing and should be planted near other 

 fructifying varieties. A very safe rule in planting a 

 pear orchard, for example, would be to plant alter- 

 nate rows of different varieties, this giving the 

 advantage of the near proximity of trees capable of 

 fertilizing the blossoms of other varieties not so well 

 endowed by nature. While the wind is a potent 

 factor in the distribution of the pollen of many kinds 

 of fruit trees and plants, the pollen of the pear tree is 

 not thus conveyed. This tree must rely upon the 

 visits of insects to scatter its pollen and fertilize the 

 blossoms. The honey-bee is here, as elsewhere, the 

 most useful and efficient instrument for transmission 

 of pollen from the blossoms of the pear. In this con- 

 nection it may be mentioned that unfruitful pear 

 orchards have sometimes been rejuvenated and 

 placed on the list of profitable orchards by merely 

 bringing a few hives of bees within easy reach. It 

 may be said, however, that it sometives happens that 

 cold, rainy or windy weather during this critical 

 period keeps the bees indoors and prevents the fertil- 

 ization of the blossoms, thus entailing the loss of a 

 crop. 



As a general proposition the honey-bee may be re- 

 garded as the fruit grower's friend, though some are 

 disposed to charge her with puncturing certain 

 varieties of fruit and sucking the juices therefrom. 

 Apiarists of high repute deny the possibility of this 

 and doggedly allege that the bee takes only that 

 which has been prepared for it by wasps or other 

 insects. 



