28 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



a check upon the perfecting of the fruit, 

 and a large portion of the buds did not ex- 

 pand well. The crop is said to be between 

 two and three weeks later than usual, and 

 with the thermotneter at 47}4 degrees Fah- 

 renheit,— being so cold as to render a Are 

 necessary for comfort — they are not likely to 

 catch up soon. 



At the time this article was written, it was 

 conjectured the crop would require favor- 

 ble weather for the remainder of the sea- 

 son to perfect even a medium crop in New- 

 Jersey. But such would be no disadvan- 

 tage to the growers, as a light or medium 

 crop is much more remunerative than a 

 very large one. A frost in May injured a 

 number of bogs in the vicinity of New 

 Egypt and Corkstowu. The vine worm has 

 been very destructive the past season, in 

 fact quite as bad as it was a year ago. 



The Kelsey Plum. By its Introducer 

 In the East. 



p. J. BERCKMANS, PEESIDENT AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY. 



Early last spring, I spent several months 

 in Florida, and had an opportunity of no- 

 ticing the behavior of the Kelsey and other 

 Japan Plum trees. The result of my ob- 

 servations were that the Kelsey found its 

 most suitable section in the northern and 

 western sections of Florida, and in the 

 southern and middle sections of Georgia, 

 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. 



On April 1st, last, Kelsey Plum trees 

 were still dormant at Tarpon Springs, on 

 the west coast of Florida, but retained the 

 leaves of the previous year's growth. On 

 the 2d of April, at Orlando, the trees were 

 just bursting into bloom; on the 6th, in 

 Baker Co., I found the trees laden with fruit 

 varying from one half to an inch in diam- 

 eter. On March 24th, last, our trees near Au- 

 gusta, Ga., had set a full crop of fruit,w-hich 

 was then from one quarter to a half inch 

 in diameter, but three successive frosts de- 

 stroyed the crop. From this it will be ob- 

 served that in Southern Florida, the period 

 of active vegetation extending late into 

 winter causes the Kelsey to remain dormant 

 for fully four weeks later than here, (400 

 miles further North,) where active vegeta- 

 tion ceases at a normal period. 



In September, 1887, I carried some fine 

 specimens to Boston; they were then ma- 

 tured after having been culled from the trees 

 a week previously. This year our earliest 

 specimens ripened by the middle of July. 



While the tree of the Kelsey is hardy in 

 the latitude of New York, 1 believe that the 

 fruit will seldom be perfected there; I would 

 advise that it be planted only as far North 

 as Middle Georgia or South Carolina, its 

 success being doubtful in higher latitudes. 



We And the Peach stock the most desira- 

 ble to work the Kelsey upon, although those 

 upon Plum (Mirobolan) are vigorous. The 

 fiuit sets mostly near the body of the tree, 

 and this I consider a desirable feature with 

 so large a fruit. I look upon the Kelsey as 

 the coming fall fruit for our section. The 

 illustration opposite, of a perfect fruit, cross 

 section and a pit of .same, shows well the 

 characteristics of this Plum. 



Bradstreet's Report on the Evap- 

 orated Fruit Industry of Western 



New York. 

 No finer fruit is produced on this conti- 

 nent than is grown in the territory em- 

 braced under the name of western New 

 York. The orchards of the farming com- 

 munity are the chief sources of their wealth, 

 and the industry is prosecuted with vigor. 

 Whether due to the favorable climate and 

 soil, or the superior or skillful cultivation 

 of the orchardists, one thing is certain, that 

 the Apples of western New York are sought 

 with avidity, and bring relatively higher 



prices than those grown in any other portion 

 of the country. 



The success and magnitude of the evapor- 

 ation industry is due largely to the fine 

 quality of the fruit, easily and cheaply pro- 

 curable in abundant quantities, and also to 

 the enterprise of the producers in adopting 

 new and improved evaporators and ma- 

 chinery, in place of the crude processes in 

 vogue years ago, producing thereby a qual- 

 ity of fruit quite as good and palatable to 

 the sight and taste as though it were in the 

 fresh and uninjured state. Thousands of 

 tons of Apples are produced every season, 

 from a quality of fruit heretofore wasted 

 and allowed to rot on the ground, and which 

 now forms a nice income to the grower. 



It is in the utilization of these waste pro- 

 ducts that the desiccation of fruit becomes 

 a valuable and indispensible adjunct to 

 every fruit-grower, and the business may 

 be considered as yet in its infancy. Within 

 a radius of 40 miles of Rochester there are 

 more than 1,.500 evaporators, from the small 

 farm house dryer of a capacity of 2.5 bushels 

 per day to the large steam evaporators, dry- 

 ing 800 to 1,000 bushels of Apples each 24 

 hours. These evaporators give employ- 

 ment during the autumn and early winter 

 months to at least 30,000 hands, who average 

 from $.5 to $12 a week, according to exper- 

 ience and usefulness. 



Constant care and scrupulous cleanliness 

 are the first elements of success in evapora- 

 ting good fruit. The production during the 

 season of 1887, may be well considered the 

 largest since the inception of the business 

 some 15 years ago. A careful estimate 

 places the total quantity at about 30,000,000 

 pounds, worth at first cost some ^2,000,000. 

 To produce this quantity of Apples is re- 

 quired 5,000,000 bushels of Apples, 15,000 

 tons of anthracite coal, and the constant at- 

 tendance, night and day, of an army of men, 

 women, and children, numbering 25,000 to 

 30,000. The water eliminated in the process 

 of evaporation amounted to 225,000 tons, 

 reducing the bulk of the green fruit to 

 about one eighth of its original weight, 

 each 100 pounds yielding, when properly 

 evaporated, 12 pounds on an average. 



The fruit is usually packed in cases of two 

 cubic feet measurement, holding .50 pounds 

 net, the product of say SH bushels of green 

 Apples, and in this concentrated compressed 

 form is shipped all over the world. The 

 advantages in freight alone will be apparent 

 from the following comparison, showing 

 the cost of shippiug one case to Liverpool, 

 Eng., which at existing freight rates will 

 cost a little less than 30 cents, while in the 

 green or fresh state in barrels the same 

 quantity would cost 12.25, and in the canned 

 state, almost $2.10, without considering the 

 deterioration of the green fruit, and the 

 dangers of fermentation to the canned 

 article, the Apple in the evaporated state 

 being transported without deterioration. 



The refuse of the Apples, such as the par- 

 ings and cores, are dried and form the base 

 of aU the cheap jellies manufactured at 

 present. The quantity thus produced last 

 season will aggregate some 12,000,000 

 pounds,thus no particle of the fruit is wasted. 



The principal consuming countries 

 abroad are Germany, England, Belguim, 

 Holland, and France, in which the new pro- 

 duct has displaced the old fashioned sun- 

 dried fruit. There were shipped alone to 

 France diu-ing 1887. some 18,000 barrels of a 

 quality known as chopped or sliced Apples, 

 which is dried without either being pared 

 or cored, and is used chiefly for the produc- 

 tion of cider, cheap wines and distillation 

 when the vineyards of France suffer from 

 the phyloxera. Some 4,000,000 pounds were 

 exported during the season, of which more 

 than one half were shipped from the region 

 of western New York. 



New York State evaporated fruits have 

 secured a very favorable reputation and 

 strong foothold abroad, and can be had in 

 almost any town or city of importance on 

 the European continent. The goods are also 

 taken in considerable and increasing quan- 

 tities by the West African and Australasian 

 trade every season, and with the popularity 

 and growing demand at home, the success of 

 the business is more than assured. 



Tobacco as an Open Air Insecticide. 



O. A. SCHMITT, NORFOLK CO., MASS. 



Asparagus Beetle.— Last year I had very 

 great numbers of them on my field. Being 

 frightened by their numbers seen as late 

 as October, this spring I opened furrows 

 on each side of the rows, and placed a little 

 more than half a ton of tobacco stems in 

 those rows, closing them again with a plow. 

 The two acres and one third were disposed 

 in foiu- beds, with a road 10 feet wide be- 

 tween every two beds. There was no 

 tobacco placed in the roads. This spring I 

 planted a row of Asparagus in each road; 

 there was also an Asparagus seed bed from 

 which I planted another 3}{ acres with As- 

 paragus this spring. No tobacco was 

 placed on the seed bed. The place where 

 the seed bed had been is now a part of the 

 new Asparagus plantation. The only places 

 attacked by beetles this summer are those 

 four roads, the place where the seed bed has 

 been, and the plants heeled in. Had I used 

 tobacco on the seed bed I think my planta- 

 tion would have been entirely free from the 

 beetle. 



Cut Worms. — I have used tobacco in for- 

 mer years against the cut worms which ate 

 off the young shoots of my Grape vines, by 

 surrounding each plant with stems, dug in, 

 with entire success.— October 1888, Bulletin 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Selling- Fruit by Auction. 



During the past season, the attention of 

 fruit growers has been attracted to the auc- 

 tion sales of Calitornia fruit, especially at 

 Chicago. As in this country this plan is 

 comparatively new, we give an idea of it as 

 employed in London for twenty-five years, 

 or more, as outlined by a correspondent of 

 the Pacific Rural Press, and gained by in- 

 terviewing several firms who claim that the 

 result both to grower and commission man 

 are far better than under the old system, 

 while the public is better served and at no 

 higher price. This is because, as one London 

 dealer said, they have so few cases to report 

 of rotting on their hands; within half an hour 

 of its delivery it is sold. Another item to be 

 taken into consideration is that by private 

 sales there used to be many claims on 

 account of short weight, inferior quality or 

 damaged condition, and if from important 

 customers they could not be disregarded; 

 hence the commission men were at the 

 mercy, to some extent, of the buyers. 



Then again, an auction sale is a public 

 affair; the grower may, if he chooses, have 

 his sales reported by other men, and re- 

 ports of underprice by the seller would soon 

 ruin the reputation of the concern. As for 

 " knocking down " choice lots at low prices 

 to special friends, this can not be done at 

 auction, for choice lots are well known, and 

 bring all they are worth. 



As for this system in America, foreigners 

 predict that there will be many obstacles to 

 be overcome, for it involves a radical change 

 of methods. Those, for instance, who 

 handled the fruit on commission to advan- 

 tage to themselves, and who might be 

 thrown out of business, are likely to intimi- 

 date and prejudice the grower against the 

 plan before it has had a fair chance. Then 

 again, the growers, unless united, will con- 

 sign part of their crop elsewhere, when it 

 may be used to counteract the plan. The 



