8o 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



and her Oranges and other fruits. One can 

 ride there for eighteen miles through nearly 

 a continuous line of Orange groves, the 

 finest for their age, perhaps, in the world. 

 This land that went begging for a purchaser 

 but a few years ago at 3.5 cents an acre, now 



FRUIT OF THE JAPAN QUINCE. 



occasionally changes hands at from $600 to 

 $2,.500 an acre. The sales taken from the 

 books of the fruit growers show that these 

 lands are a good investment. 



Fruit of the Japan Quince. Does it 

 Possess any Value? 



With the interest that is taken by horti- 

 culturists of the present day, in Plums, 

 Pears, Persimmons, etc., from Japan, not 

 to say from other foreign lands, the question 

 naturally arises whether the fruit of that 

 long-since introduced shrub, the Japan 

 Quince, possesses any value, save for the 

 seeds for propagation. In the Buffalo parks 

 where many of these shrubs are growing, as 

 well as in private gardens, we see them 

 fruiting year after year but have never seen 

 the product put to any use. 



This fruit which is well represented in 

 our engraving, but somewhat reduced in 

 size, is of a dull green color, and presents a 

 waxy appearance. It is quite hard and so 

 acrid that it would appear to have no value 

 tor culinary purposes. Still we have seen it 

 stated that a handsome .jelly and not unpala- 

 table to any but a " sweet tooth " has been 

 made from it. Has any reader had experi- 

 ence in its use for the table ? If so, we 

 would be glad to have them report with a 

 view to publishing the information. 



Notes on some of the Newer Grapes. 



E. S. GOFF, ONTARIO CO., N. Y. 



Among the very promising varieties soon 

 to l)e introduced to the public is the Green 

 Mountain, a very early greenish white Grape 

 first brought to notice by Mr. Jas. M. Paul, 

 of North Adams, Mass., who found it grow- 

 ing wild in the mountains whose name it 

 bears. I have fruited this Grape for the 

 past two seasons; it ripens about with Cham- 

 pion, whUe its quality ranks among the 

 best. The vine is vigorous and quite pro- 

 ductive, bearing medium sized, not very 

 compact bunches, of which the berries are 

 a little larger than those of the Delaware. 

 The flesh is quite free from hard pulp, and 

 entirely without harshuess or foxiness, and 

 its flavor is very sweet, with a slight in- 

 clination toward the vinous. I must pro- 

 nounce it the only Grape thus far tested 

 that ranks first both in earliness and quality. 



The Rochester deserves to be better known 

 than it is. While not equal to the above 

 in quality it is nearly as early, and greatly 

 surpasses it in the very large size and sur- 

 passing beauty of its bunch. Indeed, in the 

 latter respects, the Rochester is not excelled 



by any native Grape with which I am ac- 

 quainted. Unfortunately the berries are 

 somewhat liable to the brown rot which 

 sometimes disfigures the otherwise perfect 

 bunches. The vine is hardy and very pro- 

 ductive, and the foliage appears perfectly 

 healthy. I am told that this Grape is quite 

 difficult to propagate, which may account 

 for its limited dissemination. 



Marvin's Centennial I shall have to give 

 up as a failure. It mildews so badly that the 

 vine cannot grow and the fruit cannot ripen. 

 It blossoms most freely, and sets a bounti- 

 ful crop, but the canes do not grow to the 

 top of the trellis, and the bunches remain 

 green until frost, hav- 

 ing insufficient foli- 

 age to develop them. 

 The fruit however is 

 of excellent quality 

 when it does mature. 

 Among the finest Grapes for 

 quality, I must place the Jeffer- 

 son. Its firm, almost crisp, meaty 

 flesh is deliciously sweet and 

 rich, and though lacking the 

 marked vinous flavor of the lona 

 and Catawba, it is difficult to sur- 

 pass. Unfortimately this Grape 

 is a little too late for the latitude of this 

 county. I have it growing upon the 

 south side of a brick wall, and in this fav- 

 ored place, it scarcely ripens before frost. 

 The vine appears healthy and hardy, and is 

 quite productive. 



Values in Pomace. How to secure 

 them. 



Mr. T. S. Russell, a correspondent of the 

 Rural New Yorker, recently commented 

 upon the waste that usually goes on 

 through loss of seeds and otherwise in fruit 

 pomace, in a very intelligent manner, having 

 accompanied his remarks with drawings of 

 cleaning apparatuses which we have had re- 

 engraved from that journal. 



This vsTiter says in substance that it is 

 not generally known that there is as good 

 a market for Apple seed as there is for 

 Clover seed, and the prices for each are 

 similar, ranging from $4 to *8 per 

 bushel, in any quantity. He has 

 received frequent orders, ranging 

 as high as .500 bushels, from one 

 firm. If all cider mills would 

 save seed there would be an over- 

 supply, but this will not be done; 

 so if anybody wants to enter the 

 market, and he has good water 

 privileges, here is one way to save 

 Apple seed. 



A stream o£ water is essential. 

 Construct a V-shaped hopper, as 

 shown in Figs 1-2, varying the 

 length according to the amount 

 of pomace you desire to handle 

 and your water supply, etc. Make 

 the water-tight hopper of wood 

 or galvanized iron say four feet 

 square at the top and six inches 

 by four feet at the bottom, and 

 four feet deep. Make one side of 

 the hopper double, and allow it 

 to extend above at least six inches, 

 space between the double walls 

 one inch. Let this double wall ex- 

 tend half way across the bottom, 

 and leave a one-inch opening in the inside 

 bottom in the middle. 



Now make a sieve of copper wire-cloth 

 one-twelfth of an inch mesh, that will fit 

 snugly two inches above the bottom of the 

 hopper. Fasten it down on cleats with a 

 button so that it can be removed easily. 

 Now cause a stream of water to pass down 

 the double wall of the hopper and through 

 the bottom through the sieve. When it 

 begins to overflow have your pomace 

 loosened up and throw in a few scoopfuls; 



stir it a little. The seed will all settle to 

 the bottom and the pomace will float off 

 with the overflow. 



After operating this way for a short time, 

 turn off the supply of water, and by means 

 of a two-inch plug in the bottom of the 

 hopper drain it dry and lift out the sieve of 

 seed and proceed again as before. This 

 small device will clean from three to five 

 bushels per day. Now spread the seed in 

 the shade to dry, and if it is not entirely clean 

 it can be run through a fanning-mill and 

 cleaned ready for market. Drying quickly 

 in the sun or otherwise wUl discolor the 

 seeds and frequently crack them. Letting 

 the pomace lie in large piles to heat will 

 spoil the seed; if the grater is very fine, it 

 cuts and spoils them. Seedling Apples fur- 

 nish the most and best seeds. 



The seeds can be sold to any of our large 

 seedsmen or direct to the nurserymen. A 

 device similar to the one described, was 

 claimed to be patented some years ago, but 

 Mr. Russell thinks the claim is doubtful. 



Another more simple plan is after the 

 plan of gold washing, as shown by Fig. 3. 

 Make a trough 18 inches wide and six inches 

 deep; place partitions across the bottom, 

 about every 1.5 inches. They should be three 

 inches high, and the length of trough— 16 

 feet. Now, place the trough so that a stream 

 of water will flow rapidly through or over 

 it; throw the pomace in at the highest point, 

 and as the water washes through it, the 

 seeds will lodge behind the cross-partitions, 

 from which they can be removed by stop- 

 ping the flow of water and turning the 

 trough over on the platform or floor. 



Either of these devices will allow the 

 operator to further save the pomace by 

 causing it to drop from the seed-washer on 

 a wooden screen , thus permitting the water 

 to escape. The pomace should now be carted 

 to a suitable place where it may be piled in 

 heaps and mixed with an equal bulk of 

 stable manure, leaf mould, ashes, decayed 

 vegetation, lime, anything and everything 

 that will rot. Have this heap of refuse 

 forked over half a dozen times from fall to 

 spring, and apply it to gram crops or fruit 



Fie.B 



DEVICES FOR SEPARATING SEEDS FROM POMACE. 



trees, on gravel or sandy land, and if the 

 result will be as good as it has been with 

 me, the pomace will never again be con- 

 sidered a nuisance. 



Then here is another plan to get cash out 

 of the pomace. Prepare a piece of good, 

 rich, loose soil that is free from stones or 

 roots. Plow and pulverize it to a depth of 

 10 or 12 inches. Now make flat furrows 

 about two inches deep and six inches broad, 

 and three feet apart; take fresh pomace and 

 scatter it thickly in these farrows and cover 



