95 



APPLE TREES. 



J. K. E., Fairfield County, South Carolina. Also, I want what information you 

 can give me about apple trees for this climate. I am told that the Northern-grown 

 trees, or trees from Northern nurseries, are not desirable, as the fruit will not keep 

 for any length of time during the winter, or after it is taken from the tree. I am 

 comparatively a new-comer here, but would like to set out some apple as well as 

 other fruit trees, and would act advisedly in the matter. 



Answer. So far as it concerns the trees, provided they have been well grown, 

 healthy, and wood properly matured, it probably makes but little difference whether 

 they are from Northern or from Southern nurseries : but when it comes to the selec- 

 tion of varieties, especially winter-keeping kinds, it is essential to recognize that 

 most of the Northern winter varieties become summer and fall ripening kinds when 

 grown in South Carolina. 



It therefore becomes n'ecessary to procure the best kinds from Southern nurseries, 

 where attention has been given to the propagation of fruit specially adapted to their 

 sections, of which there are numerous varieties which for size, beauty, and quality 

 are equal to any produced in more northern regions. 



COFFEE. 



W. W., Erie County, New York. I am desirous of gaining information in regard 

 to the cultivation and raising of coffee. 



I should like to get cuttings or slips of the coffee tree for grafting purposes. I have 

 a ranch in California upon which there is wild coffee growing which produces a berry 

 similar to Mocha, only smaller. If I could get cuttings or buds to graft I should like 

 to make an effort to see what could be done in the matter. 



Answer. The so-called wild coffee of California is the seed of a plant belonging to 

 the buckthorn family, called Ehamnus calif ornicus, and has no more relation to Arabian 

 coffee than it hai to a hazel bush or a maple tree. 



Of course it would be wholly impracticable to graft or bud the coffee into a Rha- 

 mus and expect the scion to grow. 



The coffee plant, so far as experiments have been noted, has not been a success in 

 California. 



The tropical summer period is too short and the winter temperature too low over 

 by far the greater portion of the State. The coffee plant suffers or is checked in 

 growth when its surrounding temperature is so low as 40 F. 



LOTUS PLANT. 



H. S., New York City. Can I get from you a description and sketch of the lotus 

 plant of Egypt ? 



Answer. The Egyptian lotus is given by some authorities as being the fruit of a 

 water plant, Nymphcealotus. The fruit of Nelumbium speciosum, also a water plant, is 

 also known as lotus. 



The fruit of Zizyphus lotus, a prickly branching tree allied to the jujube tree, is 

 supposed to be the true lotus of the Lotophagi. This fruit is described as small fari- 

 naceous berries, of a yellow color and delicious taste. This farinaceous substance, 

 when dried, is pounded into a kind of flour, which, being formed into cakes with 

 water and dried in the sun, makes a kind of sweetish bread. 



LE CONTE PEAR. 



B. B., Lake County, Florida. I have about a dozen Le Conte pear trees which have 

 made fine growth, and are bushy trees some 12 to 15 feet in height, but they do not 

 bear any fruit. For several years past a fe\v sickly looking flowers would appear, 

 but no fruit. 



