286 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Dec. 



Van Zandt's Superb Peach. 



( Waxen Rare Ripe, of some catalogues. ) ! 



This Peach originateti in the village of Flush- 1 

 ing, Long Island, in the garden of Mr. \'ax 

 Zandt. It is one of the most beautiful peaches 

 known, and of good quality. The nurserymen 

 of Flushing, Mr. Prince and others, have prop- 

 agated it for a long time, and disseminated it 

 widely ; hence we have been much surprized at 

 the statement made by Mr. W, R. Piunce in 

 Hovey's Magazine for November, that "there 

 does not, perhaps, exist, at present, a single tree 

 of the true variety except in our specimen or- 

 chard and nursery grounds." Me further states 

 that Mr. Downing has described a spurious va- 

 riety in his work, totally different from the gen- 

 uine." Below we subjoin the descriptions of 

 both : 



" The form inclines to oval ; the flesh melting, juicy, and 

 of tine flavor ; but the greatest peculiarity is tlie color of the 

 skin, which is considerably mottled, .indof a beautiful wax- 

 en appearance.'' — Prince. 



"Leaves with globose glands. Fruit of medium size, 

 roundish, the sature slight, but one-half the fruit larger than 

 tlie other. Skin white, with a beautifully t^prinkled red 

 cheek, on a yellowish wliite ground, the union of the two 

 softened by delicate dotiing of bright carmine red. Flesh 

 whitish, but tinted with red at the stone, melting, juicy, 

 sweet, and of good flavor. Stone deeply furrowed. First 

 of September. Flowers small.'' — Downing. 



Mr. Prince's description is meagre, and dif- 

 fers only in one point from Downing's, that is, 

 form. We are inclined to believe that both de- 

 scribe the same Peach, after all. We would be 

 sorry to have to believe that the Flushing nur- 

 serymen have been selling a spurious article un- 

 der tliis name so long, with the original tree be- 

 fore their eyes. 



Duration of Varieties of Fruit. 

 Mr. Editor : — The following extract was ta- 

 ken from the fragment of a leaf of an Sid Alma- 

 nac, published as early as the year '34 or '35. — 

 I do not know who was the author of it. The 

 Almanac was, I believe, one of the earliest 

 " Agricultural Almanacs" published in this State. 

 I would consider it a great favor, if you or any 

 of your readers, or correspondents, would furnish 

 the' whole article, or inform me wliere it can 

 be found. If not, will not some one furnish an- 

 other article on the same subject, for the " Farm- 

 er,"' either in confirmation, or refutation, of the 

 doctrine therein advanced ? 



" No kiii<l of apple, now cultivated, appears to have ex- 

 isted more than two hundred years ; and this term does not 

 at all exceed the duration of a healthy tree, or of an orchard 

 when grafted on crab-stocks, and planted in a strong tena- 

 cious soil. From the description which Parkinson, who 

 wrote in IC,-2'.K has given of the apples cultivated in his time, 

 it is evident tliat those now known by the same names are 

 different, and prol)ably new varieties ; and thougli ninny 

 of those mentioned by Fvelyn, who wrote between tliirty 

 and forty years later, still remain, they appear no longer to 

 deserve the attention of the planter. The ' IMoU,' and its 

 successful rival, the ' Rcdstrcak,' with the 'Musts' and 

 ' Golden Pipin,' are in the last sUige of decay, and the 

 ' Slire' and ' Foxwhel])' are hastening rapidly after tliem. 



" All ciTorts which have hitherto been made to propagate 

 healthy trees of those varieties which have been long in 



cultivation, liave, I believe, been entirely unsuccessful. — 

 The grafts grow well for two or three years, after which 

 they become cankered and mosey, and appear what I con- 

 sider them really to be, parts of the bearing branches of old 

 diseased trees.'' 



The first article in the last number of the 

 " Farmer," touches on the same subject, but I 

 would like to see it more expanded, and the doc- 

 trine more fully carried out. It is to me a sub- 

 ject of much interest, as affording matter for 

 profitable reflection, as well as for practical ap- 

 plication. H. 



Fairport, Nov. 11, 1846. 



NoTF. — This subject has been, of late years, pretty thor- 

 oughly investigated by the most disiinguished Horticultural 

 writers, both of Europe and America. 



The late Thos. Axdre\\ Knight, of London, one of the 

 most eminent Horticulturists of his day, was, we believe, 

 the first who attempted to establish the theory that a varie- 

 ty tcitl not exist in a liealthy state longer than the ■parnit tree 

 from irhich it was propagated. He supported his theory by 

 showing that certain varieties, tliat had once flourished in 

 certain localities, had become " subject to the debilities and 

 diseases of old age." 



Mr. Wm. Ke.nrick, of Boston, author of the " Americari 

 Orchardist," adopted Mr. Knight's views of the subject, 

 and endeavored to sustain them by showing that many of 

 the old fruits, such as the Doyenne (V'irgalieu, ) Brown 

 Beurre, and other Pears, had ceased to flourish in this coun- 

 try, owing to these " debilities and diseases of old age." 



In refutation of this tlieory it has been shown that many 

 of the oldest varieties of which we have any record are, at 

 this day, producing as perfect and as fine fruit, both in fclu- 

 rope and on this continent, as they have ever done at any 

 former period. The AVhite Doyenne, or Virgalieu, it is well 

 known, is as vigorous and as healthy, and produces as large 

 crops and as fine fruit, iiotc, in Western IS'evv York, as it 

 has ever done any where, at any period within the memory 

 of "the oldest inhabitant ;" and it was the most prominent 

 subject cited by Mr. Kknrick to sustain his " decay" theo- 

 ry. The "English Golden Pippin"' apple, cited by BIr. 

 K.viGHT, as illustrating his views, is said by English pom- 

 ologists of the present day, to be as vigorous and productive, 

 in many parts of England, as it ever was. 



The apparent decay of varieties, we think, has been clear- 

 ly demonstrated to be owing to the peculiar circumstances 

 connected with their cultivation. The healthy, productive 

 character of many fruits, in the interior of our country, that 

 do not succeed at all on tiie sea board, is an apt illustration 

 of this. Careful or uncareful culture, too, has a groat deal 

 to do with the duration of varieties. But, aside from the 

 facts of the case, we think that the theory of " limited du- 

 ration" is quite incompatible with the principles of vegeta- 

 ble reproduction. We can see no reason why a healthy 

 scion, taken from an apple or a pear tree 200 years old, and 

 inserted on a young seedling stock, should survive on/i/ as 

 long as its 200 year old parent. We refer our correspond- 

 ent, " H.," and others who may wish to investigate this 

 subject, to the elaborate and satisfactory article in the "Ap- 

 pendix'' to Dowings's " Fruit and Fruit Trees." — Ed. 



" Swan's Orangk'' or "Onondaga Seedling" Pear. — 

 We are mucii obliged to E. W. Leavenworth, Esq., of 

 Syrauuse, for the following item of information respecting 

 this fine Pear. It shows how little reliance should be 

 placed on the reports of the multitude of seedling or new 

 fruits which we licar of around tlie country. Mr. Leave.n- 

 woRTH says-. "I have traced all the 'Onondaga Seed- 

 lings' about here to the original tree of Henrv Case, Esq., 

 of Liverpool, and by a letter jtist received from that gentle- 

 man I learn that h'^ got his tree from a graft cut by him in 

 lo06, in Farmington, Ct., from a tree standin? on tiie prem- 

 ises of the late Fisher Curtis, of tiiis town." 



It appears from this that the Odondaga is anold fruit, but 

 it is a first rate one, and under any name worth}- of exten- 

 sive culture. We shall yet most likely identify it. • 



There is nothing which gives to beauty a greater finish 

 than the look of intelligence, which makes the eye appear 

 as the index of the soul. 



