THE CANADIAN HORTICtTLTURlST. 



163 



trast with other varieties. Grafted upon 

 the limbs of large trees, the third season 

 after grafting, it comes freely into bear- 

 ing. I have placed scions of this 

 variety upon crab stocks of one season's 

 growth, and the third season from graf- 

 ting, the trees have made quite a show 

 of fruit. In localities where the Red 

 Astrachan proves tender, the Yellow 

 Transparent will fill the gap. The Te- 

 tofsky, though hardy, has as we all know, 

 the bad fault of prematurely dropping 

 its fruit. The fruit of the Yellow 

 Transparent has a grip upon the tree 

 that only loosens by ripeness. To the 

 cold north this will prove a valuable 

 addition to our rather limited list of 

 hardy varieties — N. D. Smith, in Home 

 Farm. 



THE LARCH. 



According to Michie, one of the latest 

 writers on the subject, the White Larch 

 {Larix Uurojjcea) was probably intro- 

 duced into Great Britain about 150 

 years ago. The oldest known Larches 

 in the United Kingdom are two fine 

 trees called "The Mothers," which were 

 planted near the west end of the cathe- 

 dral of Dunkeld in 1736 or 1738 by 

 the then Duke of Atholl. The larger 

 of these trees has to-day a girth of 

 twenty-two and a half feet at one foot 

 from the ground, is a hundred feet 

 high, and is estimated to contain 480 

 feet of measurable timber. When first 

 brought to Dunkeld, the young Larches, 

 five in number, were in flower-pots, 

 and were carefully kept in a green- 

 house as rare and tender plants. 



Of these five " Mother " plants two 

 only are now standing, although three 

 of them grew to be large, handsome 

 trees. The fate of the third is thus des- 

 cribed by Mr. Michie : Mr. McCrosty, 

 gardener and forester to the Duke of 

 Atholl, was a man of sterling character 

 and ability, and to the end of his life a 



much-esteemed and favored servant. 

 Everybody, however, had to give way 

 to him, for the redoubtable McCrosty 

 had an unusually hasty and fiery tem- 

 per. On one occasion McCrosty men- 

 tioned to his Grace that the saw mill 

 at Inver, Little Dunkeld, required a 

 new axle. The Duke, having at the 

 time some friends with him, requested 

 McCi'osty, probably as a joke or to 

 show him ofi*, to cut one of the 

 " Mothers." This so enraged the vete- 

 ran forester that he made a desperate 

 effort to strike the Duke, being only 

 restrained by the noblemen present and 

 the opportune shutting of the door. 

 Baffled in his efforts to strike, he took 

 off" and flung his shoe at his Grace, and 

 left his mark on the intervening panel 

 of the door. The tree, however, wan 

 cut down, but, adds Mr. Michie, it 

 could hardly be said " whether the^ 

 Duke or the forester in calm moments 

 regretted the frolicsome and impulsive 

 act the more, for his Grace could never 

 afterward speak of the transaction with- 

 out unmistakable signs of regret, while 

 over it the forester is said to have shed 

 many tears. And, after all, the tiee 

 was never converted into the axle for 

 which it was cut down, but filled a 

 higher and nobler destiny in making 

 articles of furniture." — Floral World. 



GARDEN VIOLETS. 



Tlie Violet is a blossom for all the 

 year round, and there is not a month 

 when one need be without fresh blooms 

 of it from cold-frame, garden, or win- 

 dow-boxes. Planted in a shady corner 

 of the garden, where yet they have an 

 airy, well-drained nook, Violets will 

 take care of themselves, with the kind- 

 ness of a covering of dead leaves in 

 fall. But they last so long and give 

 such richness that the borders are worth 

 preparing well. What the garden 

 Violet dislikes most of all is standing 



