50 Notes and Gleanings. 



American Apples in England. — We find in the English "Journal of 

 Horticulture," a notice of an interesting collection of apples exhibited by Mr. 

 Rivers, before the Fruit Committee of the London Horticultural Society, on the 

 loth of February. Among them are some of our American varieties ; and, as 

 our readers may like to know how these kinds succeed in England, we extract 

 the descriptions : — 



Melon. — Fruit large, regular; eye small ; skin clear pale yellow, flushed and 

 streaked with scarlet, with a fine bloom, very beautiful ; flesh firm, tender, slight- 

 ly acid, and inclining to mealiness. Rather past its season. 



Fallawater. — Large, codlin-shaped ; skin clear yellow all over the fruit; 

 flesh firm, tender, with a little sweetish flavor, and somewhat mealy. Fruit in 

 fine condition. A good culinary variety. 



Yellow B^.lle-Fleiir. — Above the medium size, roundish, smooth, and regu- 

 lar, with a long slender stalk, slightly inserted ; skin clear yellow, with a very 

 slight tinge of crimson here and there ; flesh firm, yet soft, rather dry, and of 

 very insipid flavor. 



Ladies'' Sweet. — Large, regular ; skin pale yellow, slightly red on the ex- 

 posed side, with streaks of russet ; flesh whitish, firm, rather dry, sweet, but 

 not rich. 



Baldwin. — Medium sized, regular, pippin-shaped; skin pale straw, deep 

 red on the exposed side ; flesh sweet, soft, and dry. Past its season. 



Newtown Pippin. — Large, regular, pippin-shaped ; skin of a uniform green- 

 ish-yellow, with white speckles beneath, and a little russet near the stalk ; flesh 

 firm, yet tender, somewhat dry and mealy, sweet, but not rich. In fine con- 

 dition. 



Boston Russet. — Large, irregular in form ; skin rough, greenish, dull red on 

 the exposed side, with streaks of russet all over ; flesh firm, but dry, and flavor 

 passed. Fruit in fine condition. 



Belle de Jersey Pear. — Evidently this is the same fruit as the Belle An- 

 gevine, Duchesse de Berry, and Royal d'Angleterre of the French horticulturists, 

 and the Uvedale's St. Germain of the English gardens. It is said to have been 

 raised in England, and dedicated to Dr. Uvedale, who resided at Eltham in 

 1690. It has, therefore, no claim to novelty, although often produced as novel 

 by the itinerant Continental dealers in trees and plants, who occasionally visit 

 English towns for the purpose of turning John Bull to account. It is a fruit of 

 remarkable size, and can be made very beautiful in appearance by rubbing the 

 skin over with a sponge dipped in sweet oil during the period of the fruit's de- 

 velopment, and exposing the outer side to the sun, which imparts to it a pretty 

 rosy tint. By thinning the fruit, and only allowing those to remain on the trees 

 which are on strong spurs proceeding from the main branches, they frequently 

 grow to two pounds' and three pounds' weight each ; and one dozen of these 

 pears exhibited in Covent Garden during the autumn of 1867 weighed upwards 

 of fifty pounds. The flavor is not good, and can only be made acceptable to the 

 palate by stewing, and the addition of spice, sugar, and port wine. 



The remarkable prices some of these large specimen-fruits realize is, no 



