1404 



POMOLOGY 



POMOLOGY 



of native species. In the first group are included the 

 prevailing types of apples, pears, quinces, cherries, do- 

 mestica plums, olives, cui-rants, some of the gooseber- 

 ries. In the second group are citrous fruits, peaches, 

 apricots, Japanese plums, kaki, and others, many of 

 them having come to us by 

 way of Europe. In the third 

 class — the Russian fruits- 

 are types of orchard fruits 

 of such recent introduction 

 amongst us that we have 

 not yet ceased disputing 

 about their merits and de- 

 merits ; therefore a special 

 review of the subject is 

 made below. The fourth 

 class— tlie native fruits — in- 

 cludes the grapes of the east- 

 ern states, blackberries, 



raspberries, many gooseberries, strawberries (of Chilean 

 origin), many plums, cranberries, and a few apples. 

 Histories of these fruits may be found in the writer's 

 "Sketch of the Evolution of our Native Fruits." 



L. H. B. 



Russian Fruits. — The Russian apples and their close 

 relatives, the Siberian crabs and their hybrids, consti- 

 tute the hardiest types of pomaceous fruits in cultiva- 

 tion. It was the demand for hardy varieties for the 

 northwestern states and Canada that led to their whole- 

 sale introduction into this country. 



uted throughout Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It 

 would appear that during the last half century — which 

 practically covers the pomological history of the West— 

 tlie periodicity of "hard ' or "test" winters has been 

 more or less regular. When the normal or "mild" 



1900. The pyriform shape, typical of the fruits of Pyrus 

 communis. 



Historical. — There are four varieties of Russian ap- 

 ples that may be looked on as American pioneers; these 

 are Alexander, Tetofsky, Duchess (Borovitsky) and 

 Red Astrachan. Tiiese varieties were imported by the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society from the London 

 (England) Horticultural Society about IS.'i.T. They 

 were brought to England from Russia in the early part 

 of the last century by the executive of 

 tlie latter society. Dr. Hogg is author- 

 ity for the statement that Alexander 

 was cultivated for 50 years in England 

 prior to 1808. Robert Manning, super- 

 intendent of the test garden of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 at Salem, described these varieties 

 from home-grown American specimens / 

 in 1839. Their productiveness and the 

 handsome appearance of the fruit at- 

 tracted attention. Through the efforts 

 of Dr. Warder and other western po- 

 mologists they were rapidly distrib- 



1899. The forms of fruits. 

 Showing, respectively, spherical, conical, ovate, olilong and oblate forms. 



winter obtains, the apples of the New England states or 

 their descendants do not, as a rule, suffer injury except 

 in the colder parts of Minnesota. These mild winters 

 have followed each other with delusive regularity for 

 periods of ten, fifteen or eighteen years. Under these 

 conditions fruit-growers have been prone to efface from 

 their memories the effects of the last "test winter " and 

 have planted freely of the American type. With this 

 type have been usually mingled Alexander, Oldenburg 

 and Red Astrachan. It has be^n invariably noted that 

 after the visitation of an exceptionally cold winter 

 varieties of the Oldenburg or Alexander types were 

 usually unharmed, while Greening, Janet, and Baldwin 

 were killed. "Test winters"— the name has more or 

 less local adaptation in the West— visited the north- 

 western states in 1855-G, 1872-3, 1885-6, and lastly in 

 1898-9. Thus it is that Oldenburg (Duchess) has be- 

 come a standard of hardiness among apples in the 

 colder parts of the United States and Canada. Impor- 

 tations of cions were made by nurserymen and fruit- 

 growers between 1867 and 1875, but the main introduc- 

 tion was made by the V. S. Department of Agriculture 

 in 1870 at the urgent request of the State Agricultural 

 Society of Jlinnesota, which began the agitation as 

 early as 1867. This importation consisted of young 

 trees secured through the cooperation of Dr. Edward 

 Regel, director of the Imperial Botanic Gardens at St. 

 Petersburg. The trees were planted on the grounds 

 of the Agricultural Department at Washington. The 

 collection consisted of about 300 varieties. They were 

 taken charge of by the late William Saunders, superin- 

 tendent of gardens and grounds. All available cions 

 were cut and distributed annually for five years. They 

 attracted considerable attention in the colder apple- 

 growing regions. Subsequent importations of cions 

 and trees were made by the Iowa Agricultural College 

 between 1875 and 1880. In 1882 Charles Gibb, of Ab- 

 botsford, Canada, accompanied by Prof. J. L. Budd, of 

 the Iowa Agricultural College, went to Russia and spent 

 the summer in investigating these fruits. Large impor- 

 tations of apples, plums, pears and cherries followed. 

 In these later importations the east-European fruits 

 were collected without discrimination, and in most in- 

 stances have been erroneously regarded in this country 

 as authentic Russians. ^ 



Apples: Characteristics and Nomenclat%ire. — \t is 

 now very difficult to say which are Russian apples and 

 which German, Polish or Swedish. If we were to select 

 the Astrachan v.-n-icty as a type of the Russian ajiple, 

 which in all pr()lial)iiity would be a correct basis, only 



1901. Ulustratine special terms used in describing fruits. 

 Showing, respectively, liasin, <-;ivity, suture, (■(ivriigiitinu. 



