62 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



CHAPTERS FROM MY CORRESPONDENCE. 



Dr. E. S. Cooper, of Knox county, 111., an orchardist of 

 large experience, writes : 



"Apples fit to eat after April first are 'rare birds' in 

 Illinois, so far as I have seen. The Jansel or Jeniten is 

 the very best at that season. The Tewksbury Blush is a 

 hardy, healthy tree, but mine, some forty or fifty in num- 

 ber and four inches in diameter, have not yet borne. 

 Hawley is hardy but very unproductive. Bourassa hardy ; 

 fruit resembling Pomme Grise. Chandler and Dutch Mi- 

 gnonne hardy but poor fruit; also Beauty of Kent, Alex- 

 ander and Surprise. 



Almost any tender sort, as Sweet Bough, Roxbury Rus- 

 set, Jersey Sweet, become permanently useful trees by 

 working them on the Yellow Bellflower, or any other 

 hardy, free-grower, ten or twelve inches above the main 

 forks. I have many trees so worked, perfectly hardy and 

 productive, and I am satisfied that I could not have got 

 them worth anything in any other way." 



James Smith, a well known nurseryman of Des Moines, 

 Iowa, some 150 miles west of the Mississippi river and 

 about the latitude of the south end of Lake Michigan, 

 writes : 



" I design planting the Concord extensively— say fifty 

 acres for wine making, though it is said it will only make 

 a cordial ; but I have no fears as to the sale or healthful- 

 ness of the article, and anticipate its 'cordial' reception 

 by our American population. A certain wine grower of 

 Missouri says it makes a first-rate wine that does not in- 

 toxicate—a part of which I put down to 'Buncombe.' 

 But at any rate, wine is to supercede 'sod corn,,' and the 

 sooner it is demonstrated the better for humanity. I am 

 for trying all the grapes that promise well for this climate, 

 and will extend the cultivation of the best, be that what 

 it may. I this year fruited the Delaware— fine of course, 

 but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that a 

 Concord vine of the same age and care would have pro- 

 duced one hundred fold more in weight, and, to the taste 

 of most persons, about equal in flavor. 



Yesterday I took a basket of apples— among them the 

 'Lady Apple,' so highly prized in New York city— to the 

 Supreme Court room. Its excellence there could not be 

 discovered, and the verdict was that apples of equal 

 flavor could be found in any well cultivated seedling 

 orchard. So much for fancy ! 



The Hartford Prolific I consider a valuable grape, 

 though it has not proved perfectly hardy as the Concord 

 has with me— although on moist river bottoms here the 

 Concord kills down. But the Hartford Prolific is nearly 

 as hardy, quite prolific, very good, and at least ten days 

 earlier than the Concord. In quality it is at least equal, 

 and the early family and market grape for me. 



Northern Muscadine is pleasant, but has been greatly 

 overrated in size and productiveness. 



Diana is really fine, but the vine tender and mildews- 

 fruit ripens up well here. 



Garrigues I think not equal to Isabella; tender, and a 

 more rampant grower. 



Last fall, a gentleman visiting here brought samples of 

 the North America and Franklin. The former is fine, but 

 small in bunch and berry, and leaves a slightly unpleasant 



sensation on the palate, which would cause most pe: 

 to place it with the 'good' only. 



The Franklin is like the Clinton— sour. 



To-day, Dec. 16th, I have Concord grapes on my t 

 They keep well, but shrivel. They were left out to t 

 pretty good freeze, which 'flattened' the taste, an 

 keeping they appear to have lost still more of their e 

 arating qualities. So I have come to the conclusion 

 we must select a grape with a little acid for winter 

 Will you keep an eye to this last point ? I have r 

 new sorts under cultivation, and hope to find somet 

 worthy. 



Of new apples, the Jefferson County, of New 1 



promises well. The tree is hardy and bears young." 



Eloomington, III. f. K. PHCEN 



PRUNING THE PEACH. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: I think the plan of pru 

 the peach, adopted by the leading fruit-growers of s 

 Illinois, would be interesting and instructive to youn 

 ers. It is as follows : 



"When the the tree is transplanted at one year fron 

 bud, cut it back to a mere stump about ten inches I 

 without any branches whatever. After the young si 

 have commenced growing finely, rub all off but f 

 which should be left on opposite sides, and all at 

 same height as nearly as possible. This will give a 

 distaff form. The after pruning consists in keepinj 

 shoots and branches in the center of the top cut 

 thereby exposing the fruit more fully to the sun's i 

 giving a higher color and flavor. Once a year, du 

 mild weather in winter, or early in spring, all the loi 

 branches are cut back from one-third to one-half of 

 last year's growth. 



This is called here " the French system of pruning 

 peach," and is considered by our best pomologists 

 best plan extant. We have some orchards here nam 

 ing from four thousand to six thousand trees prunec 

 this manner, none of them being more than five or 

 years old. The branches of many of them can be pres 

 down upon the ground without breaking. 



Union Co, Illinois. EGTPTIA1 



"King op the Pumpkins."— In the Genesee Farmer 

 last month we stated that at the last annual ceremony 

 promenading the " King of the Pumpkins" through 

 streets of Paris, decorated with flags, etc., the pump 

 selected for the honor measured 10 ft., 4 in. in circum: 

 euce, and weighed 242£ lbs. C. H. Chase, of Elkh 

 county, Ind., writes us that he saw, a few days sinc< 

 pumpkin raised by a gentlemen of that county wh 

 weighed 195 lbs. It was a tolerably, good-sized one, 1 

 not equal to one he saw six years ago, in Winona, M 

 nesota, which weighed 221 j lbs. The French pumpkin 

 yet carries off the palm. Can't it be beaten? 



Rome Beauty Apple. — This a favorite apple at t 



west. It is somewhat deficient in flavor, but is very f: 



and handsome. It is said to have commanded $5.50 p 



barrel in New Orleans, while Roxbury Russets broug 



_ only $3. A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer states th 



I its fault, if it has one, is its " constant overbearing." 



