1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



239 



When freshly sliced fruit is sulphured for a 

 shdit time, the gas ;KMii'tratos only "skin-deeii": 

 and when tile fruit is afterward dried, whetlier 

 in the sun or dryer, most of the uns eseapes and 

 few pei-sons would note the dillereine in taste 

 produced thereby. Insects, iie\ ertluless, are to 

 a very material extt'ut deterred from touching 

 such fruit. 



Hut when ihc latter is dried and then tho- 

 roughly sulphured, as is tooeouiniouly done, the 

 ell'ect is much more serious. The jftus then pene- 

 trates the entire spousfy mass, bleaching it, so 

 that carele.ssly dried frnit,toodark to be market- 

 able, can thus be made to appear more or less 

 inviting to the eye. Not, however, to the 

 nostrils or to the taste, for with the color, the 

 flavor has also suffered eorresponrtingly; and 

 upon opening a package of such fruit, instead 

 of the natural aroma, there appears the flavor 

 familiar to those who visit a chemical laboratory 

 or acid maiuifaetory. 



The consumer then has reason to object to dry- 

 sulphured fruit on two counts, either of which 

 is sufficient to condemn the practice. One is 

 that dirty, ill-prepared or damaged fruit may 

 thus be imposed upon him for good quality; the 

 other, that the natural flavor of the fruit is 

 either seriously impaired or sometimes complete- 

 ly destroyed, and its acidity greatly increased. 



There is another and very serious count in the 

 indictment, namely, that such fruit is unhealthy 

 becjiuse containing an antiseptic that impedes 

 digestion, and while the fruit is relatively fresh, 

 causes headaches Just as will sulphured wine. 

 After some time, the "sulphurous" acid origin- 

 ally introduced becomes converted into 

 "sulphuric" acid, a condiment that few will 

 desire to consume in their daily food. The 

 sulphuric acid contained in the unsulphured 

 fruit is present in the form of "neutral salts" 

 such as occur in the ash of all vegetable products; 

 while that which is added in sulphuring e.vists 

 in the form of free acid. 



In Apricots the increase of sulphuric acid was 

 to the extent of about twice and a half the 

 amount originally present, although these were 

 reported to have been sulphured only before 

 (more probably during) drying. Their lack of 

 natural flavor and pungent acid taste at once 

 revealed the effects of sulphuring. 



In Prunes which had been sulphured after 

 drying, the effect was much more striking. 

 Here the increase was to over six times the 

 natural contents. The total amount added by 

 sulphuring amounted to nearly a third of one 

 per cent , and the tree sulphuric acid in the 

 dried fruit amounts to 32 per cent., which is 

 about 35 grains of commercial oil of vitriol per 

 poimd. 



In addition to rendering the fruit unpalatably 

 acid, it had been rendered obnoxious both to the 

 digestive organs and to the teeth. No one could 

 habitually consume such fruit without feeling 

 the effects of such an amount of mineral acid, 

 introduced into his food purely for the gratiQca- 

 tion of the eye with an unnatural tint. 



But so long as the public, and its agents, the 

 dealers, continue willing to pay from 30 to .50 per 

 cent, more for the whitened sepulchres, offered 

 them in the shape of sulphured fruit than for 

 that which retains, with its natural tint of dried 

 fruit, and with it the marks of careful or cai-c- 

 less treatment, so long will the producer con- 

 tinue to supply the demand for the doctored 

 article; unless, indeed, the law should entervene, 

 as has been done in most European countries. 

 There the sale of sulphured fruit is simply for- 

 bidden as injurious to public health, and as 

 coming under suspicion of having been doctored 

 up from an inferior article with fraudulent 

 intent. 



I think the time has come to make a step for- 

 ward and try U) put upon the market a flrst-class 

 article of "unsulphered dried fruit," with the 

 express statement and claim that it is un- 

 sulphured and retains the natural sweetness and 

 flav(jrof California fruit, instead of being re- 

 duced to a common level with the worst products 

 of any other country. For it is certain that the 

 whitish-green dried Apples and Pears now sold 

 at high prices in our grocery stores might just 

 at well have been grown anywhere from Norway 

 to the Mediterranean, for aught they teach of 

 the quality of our fruits. 



The following suggestions are offered to those 

 who are willing to practice sulphuring to a 

 moderate degree only, and with some regard to 

 the conservation of the fruits' palatableness: 



Large quantities of sulphur introduced at 

 once into the drier or sulphuring-box will t«nd 



to cause a deposit of sulphur, in subst4incc, on 

 the outside of the fruit, adding its flavor to that 

 of the acid, which alone is useful. The less 

 sulphur is put in at oue time, an<i the more air 

 adniittcil, the less there will be of the visible 

 fumes that carry the sulphur up into the fruit. 

 It is best to let the sulphur catch fire all over 

 licl'ore putting it into the box at all. 



Let whatever sulphuring you must do, be done 

 before drying, as in that case not only will the 

 drying process itself drive off a great deal of the 

 superfluous acid and prevent it from penetrating 

 the whole, but the flavor of the interior will 

 penetrate outward and measurably do away 

 with the laboratory odor that will otherwise 

 pervade the fruit package. 



A very sightly and appetizing cinnamon- 

 brown tint for sliced Apples and Peal's maybe 

 secured by dipping for a few minutes, the 

 freshly made slices, contained in a properly 

 shaped basket (of galvanized wire if desired), 

 into a solution of salt contjiining not less than 

 two ounces in five gallons of water. This pre- 

 vents any spotting where the fruit has been 

 touched. Instead of the salt, a similar solution 

 of the bissulphites of soda or lime may be used, 

 which effect a slight external bleaching without 

 injury to the flavor of the fruit. 



Last, but not least, let us try to gradually 

 educate the public taste up to the point of pre- 

 ferring in this matter the substance to the 

 shadow, and accepting healthy, brown, high- 

 flavored dried fruit to. the sickly-tinted, chemi- 

 cal-tainted product of the sulphur box. 



Grapes as Affected by Climate 

 and Situation. 



[Paper by Geo. W. Cambcll, the introducer of the 

 Delaware Grape, before the Nurserymen's Associ- 

 tinn.\ 



The widely differing opinions upon the 

 cliaracter and value of our most popular 

 Grapes seem at first sight unaccountable. 1 

 have in mind the conticting reports which I 

 have .seen upon the southern seedlings of the 

 Riparia class— mostly from the Taylor and 

 Klvira— which was introduced from Mis- 

 souri with high commendation. Also upon 

 the so-called hybrid varieties of Messrs. 

 Rogers, Ricketts, Moore, etc. I may also in- 

 clude special varieties of more recent date; 

 notably Niagara, Empire State, and Pock- 

 lington; as well as Brighton, Eaton, Wood- 

 rufl: Red, to say nothing of many more of 

 less prominence. 



Within my own experience, all the Riparia 

 seedlings, such as Elvira, Missouri Riesling, 

 (Jrein's Golden, and several others known by 

 numbers, with Faith Amber and Noah, have 

 failed, in my locality, to meet expectations. 

 While their habits of growth, health, hardines 

 and productiveness are generally good, they are 

 not acceptable for general use. But because this 

 is my experience the same varieties may, in their 

 native home, imder the more genial influences 

 of a southern sun, be all that their introducers 

 claimed, and valuable acquisitions to their list of 

 native Grapes. 



The various reports which we have of the 

 Pocklington, Empire State and Niagara indicate 

 to me simply this -that in some places and under 

 favorable circumstances they are successfully 

 grown and valuable— while in others, to which 

 they are not adapted, or from some unfortunate 

 surroundings, they are not. During the past 

 season, in my reading of one day, I saw reports 

 upon the Pocklington from two different sources 

 —one praising it as a Grape of remarkable ex- 

 cellence, the other finding it so poor that he 

 wanted to prosecute the nurseryman who sold 

 it to him for a fraud. 



Nearly as diverse have been the reports upon 

 the Empire State. In some places it has appa- 

 rently sustained the high character claimed by 

 its mtroducers. in others it is reported to have 

 failed both in the health and hardiness of the 

 vine and in the quality of its fruit. In my 

 locality the Empire State has t)een healthy in 

 foliage, vigorous in growth, and— excepting in 

 the past season, when it failed to ripen perfectly 

 —the finest in quality and flavor ot any white 

 Grape I grow. In this instance the vines were 

 l)robably allowed to overbear, and a cool, rainy 

 autumn prevented their maturity. 



The Niagara has sustained itself fairly well- 

 though it will not endure our severe winters 

 without protection. It is not as early as was 



represented— unless it is gathered long before it 

 is ripe and while it is l.)oth immature and foxy— 

 but if left ujK>n the vine until well ripciuMl, it is 

 a really good Grape, retaining but little of the 

 fo.xy taste or (Mlor. My experience with the 

 Niagara indicates that in localities to which it is 

 adapted it will prove a valuable and profitable 

 variety. The same remarks will apply to the 

 Woodruff lied, except that the latter has proven 

 so far as tested, healthy in fruit and foliage, and 

 entirely hardy in our severest winters. I still 

 regard the Woodruff' as probably the most 

 promising red Grape for general planting yet 

 introduced. 



Ot Mr. Rogers' many varieties, I will mention 

 but one as bearing upon the points I wish to 

 illustrate. His Number One, or Goethe was in- 

 troduced as a light or amber-colored Grape ; and 

 in Massachusetts, I presume, it rarely attains a 

 deeper color. At Delaware, where I have grown 

 it for more than .10 years, it sometimes obtains 

 a light red or pink shade; but was always flavor- 

 less and insipid, with the exception of a single 

 instance, when the autumn was unusually warm, 

 and the ripening season prolonged until about 

 the middle of October. It than attained a color 

 as dark as the Delaware and a high flavor and 

 good quality hitherto unknown, thus showing 

 that farther south, where the skies are brighter 

 and the seasons longer, it might be a valuable 

 Grape. This, 1 believe, is just what many of our 

 southern growers find it; and the Elvira, with 

 its kindred varieties and seedlings, are no doubt 

 equally improved under the same favorable con- 

 ditions. 



i'l'ti he ennchided.) 



Notes of a Kecent Visit to Mexico. 



/Extract of imiier read by C. T. Druery, Ks<j., nt the 

 monthly meeting of the Horticultural Cliib.Knatand. ) 



Leaving England early in .January, and 

 arriving in New York only about a week 

 later I was struck at once by an aUsolute 

 absence of all greenness in the woods which 

 here and there fringe the Hudson river. 

 Here in Great Britain, even in the depth of 

 winter, the Hollies, Ivies and other ever- 

 green growths contribute a certain amount 

 of verdure to the landscape. In the Ameri- 

 can woods, however, on my line ot route, 

 this feature was entirely absent, and the 

 winter landscape is one of apparent death, 

 the gaunt bare trunks and branches being 

 absolutely unrelieved by any signs of life. 



On the fourth day after leaving Kansas City 

 the green prairies began to be transformed into 

 sandy desert plains dotted with Yuccas of sun- 

 dry species, with here and there a solitary small 

 Cactus, indicating a decided approach to the 

 south, though icicles were hanging in profusion 

 round the watertanks at every depot, and snow 

 was lying in many places. Arrived at Nogales, 

 a small town on the frontier of Arizona, Mexico, 

 where I had to stay some days. I devoted my 

 spare time to exploring the country around in 

 search of Ferns, but at first sight despaired in 

 ti)lo of seeing any of the family in so apparently 

 arid and scorched a country. The landscape 

 consists of a constant succession of low rolling 

 hills exactlj' resembling heaps ot reddish road 

 metal, dotted here and there monotonously with 

 Yuccas and Agaves sticking up like huge sphe- 

 rical bunches of radiating baycnets; beyond 

 these hills were visible ranges of mountains 

 some 4000 to COOO feet high, equally bare and un- 

 promising. On my first walk, however, I was 

 agreeably undeceived, for the first canon or 

 valley I turned into between two of the small 

 hills yielded several very beautiful species of 

 Ferns, among them some Cheilanthes and silvery 

 NothochlR'nas, which I found growing freely in 

 the crevices of the rocks, and, though small, 

 evidently quite at home. 



One of the most striking things to me was the 

 fact that I found associated here, and thriving 

 in each other's society, Ferns and Cacti, the re- 

 presentatives of inhabitants of at once the most 

 humid and shady and the most arid and sunny 

 habitats, and what was equally strange to me 

 was that while all the species would bo relegated 

 here to a warm greenhouse and carefully pro- 

 tected from a single trace of frost, not only was 

 snow lying in the chinks of the rock, but icicles 

 five feet long were depending from the tank in 

 the depot, and I was credibly informed, and 

 could from my own-sensations easily believe it, 

 that 30° of frost had been registered there this 

 last winter. 



