38 



THE CANADIAN H0RTICDXTURI8T. 



THE YELLOW TRANSPARENT APPLE. 



The tree is a free and symmetrical 

 grower, upriglit when young, but 

 spreading as it becomes older under the 

 loads of fruit. TJie bark is of a light 

 cinnamon color, almost yellow on the 

 young wood, and the leaves are light 

 green, being slightly pubescent, and 

 whiti.sh beneath. It is a healthy tree, 

 and like most of the Russians, ' iron- 

 clad " against cold, enduring 40 deg. 

 below zero without injuiy. It is a hea^y 

 bearer annual. y in rich gardens, but 

 biennially on poorer soils, or in sod. 

 The fruit, faii-ly grown, is medium in 

 size, though specimens that would rank 

 as large may often be found on young 

 trees in good soil. But the tendency to 

 overbear is likely to make the fruit 

 small when not thinned, especially on 

 poor soil. The tree is of dwarf growth, 

 and, when branched low, nearly all the 

 fruit may be gathered by hand, even 

 from an old tree. My oldest trees ( 1 5 

 years old) have little fruit out of reach. 



In delicate, waxen beauty, Lhe Yellow 

 Transparent, especially when allowed 

 to mature upon the tree, is unequalled 

 among American apples. It is soft- 

 fle.shed, and of a mild, delicate, but not 

 very high flavor —not equal to the Early 

 Harvest. But the fruit is always fair, 

 and its attractive appearance, joined 

 with its very good quality, makes it 

 extremely saleable. As an early mai'ket 

 apple, it has great merits. If gathered 

 just as the seeds begin to color, it bears 

 transportation well, and will keep two 

 weeks or more, before showing any signs 

 of deterioration. How fai- south it will 

 succeed, I cannot say ; but have no 

 doubt that in the mountains it may be 

 successfully grown nearly down to the 

 latitude of New York city. 



There are at least two other Russian 

 apples which are nearly, if not quite, 

 identical with the Yellow Transparent. 

 I have them growinsf and bearing in the 



same orchard, and cannot distinguish 

 any positive difference in tree or fruit. 

 These are the Grand Sultan and the 

 Charlottenthaler. The Grand Sultan 

 does not appear to be quite as hardy a 

 tree as the other two, or perhaps I should 

 say not quite so healthy, being subject 

 to bark-blight upon the trunk; by which 

 the young trees are destroyed, I have 

 in one place two parallel rows of Yellow 

 Transparent and Grand Sultan, set nine 

 years ago. The first are all perfect, but 

 of the latter two-thirds have died from 

 bark-bHght. The remaining trees of 

 Grand Sultan, however, cannot be dis- 

 tinguished in any way from their 

 neighbors. The Charlottenthaler was 

 at first thought to bear larger fruit than 

 the Yellow Transparent ; but my ex- 

 perience with the trees as they get older 

 does not sustain this belief. The young 

 trees of all three often bear very large 

 apples, but as they get older they all 

 come to about the same size. — J. H. 

 HosKiNS, M. D., in Rural New Yorker. 



FAMEUSE SUCRE. 

 This " Sugared Fameuse '" is an apple 

 in which I have been very much inter- 

 ested since I first saw it, some six or 

 seven years ago. In quality for dessert 

 I consider it the best apple I ever met 

 with, decidely superior to Primate, 

 Garden Royal, Early Harvest, Early 

 Joe, or any of the highly and justly 

 admired American dessert Apples. In 

 size it is about with the Fameuse, but 

 more flattened. In color it is a dark 

 rosewood red, with a thick, firm skin. 

 It is in eating all through October. 

 The flesh is white, tinged with red or 

 pink, in quality soft, perfumed, and of 

 an indescribable luscious flavor, more 

 like some imaginary tropical fruit than 

 an apple. It is not sweet, having a de- 

 cided but delicate acid, yet shot through 

 with a fine, sugary sweetness and spici- 

 ness that must be tasted to be imder- 

 stood, but is something like sti-awberr}- 



