FRUIT-GROWING 



FUCHSIA 



1299 



the whole met with the approval of those interested in 

 Russian apples. 



Russian cherries. 



. These, next to the apples, constitute the most 

 clearly defined group of Russian fruits; yet many 

 cherries commonly called Russian are in reality Polish, 

 Silesian or German. The typical cherry of northern 

 Russia is represented by the Vladimir type (Fig. 1598). 

 This was first introduced into America as a distinct 

 variety. Later importations and experience demon- 

 strated that Vladimir was a type, not a variety. This 

 type appears to have been grown in Russia for centuries 

 from seeds and sprouts. In this way a special class has 

 been developed. The Vladimir type is characterized by 

 its dwarf stature 5 to 8 feet high its peculiarly 

 rounded and compact top, its dark red, meaty-fleshed 

 fruit. Koslov-morello is evidently a light-colored juicy 

 variety of Vladimir. The characteristics of the tree are 

 the same as Vladimir, although when grown from seed 

 in this country the seedlings exhibit considerable varia- 

 tion. The amarelles and weichsels of Germany have 

 been grown in Russia for centuries, generally from seed, 

 and have become specialized forms. Cherries of the 

 Vladimir and Koslov-morello types are the hardiest of 

 the cherries. The Vladimirs have not, as a rule, been 

 productive in this country. The fruit-buds appear to 

 be sensitive to cold and as easily injured as some of the 

 recognized tender types of cherries. Although the trees 

 are hardy, the introduction of this type has not extended 

 the area of commercial cherry-growing in this country 

 farther north than the regions already outlined by the 

 profitable cultivation of Early Richmond. 



Russian plums. 



The plums imported from Russia do not differ 

 materially from those of the domestica type in culti- 

 vation in this country. The trees are probably some- 

 what hardier than Lombard or Green Gage, but the 

 fruit-buds are subject to winter injury wherever Lom- 

 bard is uncertain. In the main they have been unpro- 

 ductive. Among the most widely tested varieties 

 are Early Red, Moldavka and Merunka, all of the 

 Lombard type. 



Russian pears. 



These are hardy handsome trees, but none bears fruit 

 of good quality. Where blight is prevalent they are 

 extremely susceptible. Among the hardiest of the class 

 are Bessimianka (meaning seedless, which is only partly 

 true), Gakpvsky and Tonko-vietka. These thrive wher- 

 ever the climate admits of the cultivation of the Olden- 

 burg apple. The fruit ripens in August, and rots at the 

 core if allowed to mature on the tree. 



Russian apricots. 



Apricots were brought to Nebraska and Kansas by 

 Russian Mennonites about twenty-five years ago. A 

 few of those named and distributed are likely to be 

 retained in the fruit lists of the West. 



Russian mulberries. 



Russian mulberries have been widely sold as fruit- 

 bearing plants by enterprising agents, but their use to 

 the fruit-grower should be restricted to hedging and 

 the formation of windbreaks. For these purposes they 

 are valuable in the colder and more rigorous regions. 



Russian peaches. 



So-called hardy Russian peaches are sold, but they 

 really belong to Bokara or Turkestan. The peaches of 

 the Baltic provinces do not differ essentially from the 

 ordinary Persian strain in form or hardiness. 



In general. 



The introduction of the Russian fruits has given us 

 hardy types from which to breed varieties for northern 



latitudes. In Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin this work 

 is under way. Seedlings and hybrids are appearing 

 each year, which may be considered valuable additions 

 to the fruit lists of these regions 



Literature. 



But two books appear to have been written on Rus- 

 sian pomology up to 1868, one by Nicolai Krasno 

 Glasov, 1848, the other by Regel, director of the 

 Imperial Botanic Gardens, St. Petersburg, in 1868. 

 The latter is called "Russkaya Pomologaya." It con- 

 tains a description of 225 varieties of apples, nearly 

 all of Russian origin. A wood-cut of each appears, in 

 addition to 144 colored plates. Gibb calls it "a grand, 

 good fundamental work." American literature on Rus- 

 sian fruits is mainly confined to three sources; the 

 reports of the Montreal Horticultural Society, publica- 

 tions of the Division of Pomology, Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, and Bulletins of the Horti- 

 cultural Department of the Iowa Agricultural College. 

 To Charles Gibb, Abbptsford, Canada (Quebec), we 

 are indebted for the faithful and accurate translation 

 of the names given in the collection imported by the 

 Department of Agriculture in 1870. This was adopted 

 by the American Pomological Society in 1885. 



JOHN CRAIG. 



FUCHSIA (Leonard Fuchs, 1501-1565, German 

 professor of medicine, and a botanical author). 

 Onagracese. Handsome and popular flowering plants 

 of greenhouses, conservatories, window-gardens and 

 open grounds, blooming most freely in spring and 

 summer. 



Shrubs and small trees, with opposite, alternate or 

 verticillate simple Ivs.: fls. mostly showy, axillary or 

 sometimes racemose and paniculate, usually pendu- 

 lous, in shades of red and purplish and with some of 

 the parts often white; tube prolonged beyond the ovary 

 and bell-shaped to tubular, with 4 spreading lobes; 

 petals 4, sometimes 5, or in some species wanting; 

 stamens usually 8, often exserted; 

 style long-exserted, the entire or 4- 

 lobed stigma prominent: fr. (seldom 

 seen under glass) a 4-loculed soft 

 berry. Seventy or eighty species, the 

 greater part in Trop. Amer., but 3 

 or 4 in New Zeal. They are very 

 variable in character. The common 

 fuchsias are known to us as small 

 herbs, but most of them are 

 shrubs in their native countries. 

 F. excorticata, of New Zeal., is a 

 tree 30-40 ft. high, whereas F. 

 procumbens, of the same coun- 

 try, is a weak, trailing plant. Of 

 the many species, less than half 

 a dozen have en- 

 tered largely into 

 garden forms. The 

 common garden 

 kinds have come 

 mostly from F. 

 magellanica. This 

 species was intro. 

 into Great Britain 

 from Chile in 1788, 

 or about that time. 

 It is variable in a 

 wild state as well 

 as in cult., and 

 plants subsequently 

 intro. from S. Amer. 

 were so distinct as 

 to be regarded for 

 a time as separate 



species. Even at the i 599 . Fuchsia mage ii an i ca van 



present day some of globosa. ( X H) 



