THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTDRIST. 



197 



over with wood aslies, leached or iin- 

 leached, if the latter, more was required. 

 This made a healthy, not excessive 

 growth, and increased both the quality 

 and quantity of the fruit. It makes a 

 sounder and better keeping fruit. 



A NEW RASPBERRY. 



We received on the 14th day of 

 July last, by mail, a small box contain- 

 ing a sample of a new seedling Raspberry 

 which was sent us by Mr. C. H. Biggar. 

 The fruit was badly damaged, so very 

 much bruised that the juice was running 

 out of the box. There was sufficient 

 form remaining to some of the berries 

 to enable us to see that they were of 

 large size, much larger than the Brandy- 

 wine, which this seedling evidently 

 rivals in earliness. It is not possible to 

 form an o}nnion of the flavor of the 

 fruit when it is in such a condition. 

 Its large .size and eai'ly ripening are im- 

 portant considerations in its favor. 



THE CRAB APPLE AS A STOCK. 



Last spring one of our Ontario 

 nurseries had an application for some 

 of the hardier varieties of apple trees 

 for planting in the cold north, provided 

 they were grafted on the crab apple 

 stock. Tiie gentleman stated in his let- 

 tar that Mr. C. Gibb of Abbotsford, Que. 

 had assured him that even the Russian 

 varieties would be worthless at the 

 north unless they were grafted on the 

 erab apple stock. Many years ago your 

 Editor made a number of experiments 

 in working several varieties of apples 

 on erab stocks, but the result was not 

 at all satisfactory. \Ye now lay before 

 our readers an article on this subject 

 from the pen of Prof J. L. Budd of 

 the Iowa Agricultural College which 

 we find in the Prairie Farmer. It will 

 be remembered that Prof. Budd has 

 made this matter of fruit trees for the 

 cold north a special study for many 



years, and that he went, in' company 

 with Mr. Chas. Gil)b, to Russia for the 

 very purpose of studying the fruit trees 

 of that country. 



It will be seen that the view enter- 

 tained by Mr. Gibb as to the supposed 

 advantage to be secured by working on 

 the Siberian crab is not sustained by 

 experiment. 



The following is Prof. Budd's 

 article : — 



Mr. T. Boos of Marion Co., 111., says he 

 has one thousand or more Siberian crabs, 

 and wishes to know if it will pay to plant 

 them in an orchard with view of top-work- 

 ing with desii-able varieties of the apple. 

 In Minnesota and North Iowa the crab 

 has been used quite extensively for a 

 stock for the Wealthy, Fameuse, Willow, 

 and a number of the Russian apples. I 

 do not know of a single instance where 

 the experiment has proved satisfactory. 

 The union is rarely perfect and the varie- 

 ties that make a fairly perfect union pro- 

 duce dwarfed fruit with a more or less 

 marked trace of the crab flavour. Last 

 year I tasted specimens of the Anis apple 

 grown on crab stocks which were decidedly 

 bitter, while Anis grown on Duchess stocks 

 were larger, fairer and as perfect in flavour 

 as well grown Winesap. Dr. Hoskins 

 gives a very similar report in regard to 

 the quite extensive use of crab stocks in 

 Vermont State. 



In practice the wild crab has proven a 

 better stock. In Dupage Co. , 111. , many 

 crab thickets were top-worked a few years 

 ago with the Bethlehemite. The union 

 seHmed good and they bore good crops of 

 good fruit for a number of years, but at 

 this time the trees left produce nice spec- 

 imens of Bethlehemite in shape and color, 

 but they have too much of the wild crab 

 astringency for dessert use. Whitney's 

 No. 20 works well, however, on the wild 

 crab, and does fairly well on the Siberian. 

 H. W. Lathrop, of Iowa City, la. , markets 

 many bushels every year of this apple 

 grown on wild crab stocks. All things 

 considered, the Duchess of Oldenburg has 

 proved the best stock tried in Central and 

 Northern Iowa for varieties not quite iron- 

 clad Avhen imgrafted. 



The wild crab referred to by Prof. 



