THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURIST. 



213 



hardly a yil-ant will head up. Of course, 

 this remedy is expensive, prol)a1)ly cost- 

 ing in guano and labour .$"J0 to $2^) for 

 ^very acre of 1(>,000 plants. — Peter 

 Henderson, iu Rural Aew- Yorker. 



THE GRAPES OF CENTRAL ASIA. 



PK'OF. J. L. BUDD. 



When at the great commercial fair 

 at Nishny Novgorod, on the upper 

 Volga, in the Fall of 1882, we saw 

 many tons of raisins and dried grapes 

 of quality equal to the best grown and 

 ])ut up in 8outhei"n France or Spain. 

 These were ])ut up and grown in Persia 

 and North Bokhara, and we were told 

 by the intelligent Persian Consul that 

 varieties of equal excellence were grown 

 in Turkestan, Afghanistan, North Bok- 

 liai-a, and on the foothills of the North 

 Himalayas. The leaves of these or- 

 iental varieties are thick and firm, like 

 those of the Eastern apples, pears, 

 cherries and plums. Hence we liave 

 the best reasons for believing they would 

 prove moi-e valuable for crossing with 

 our native species than the varieties of 

 Vinifera we have tried from the soft, 

 hmnid climates of Southwest Europe. 



In the Southern States some of these 

 thick leaved varieties may prove desir- 

 able without modification by seedling- 

 production or crossing ; while at the 

 North, crosses on our hardy native 

 forms may give us the perfect leaf and 

 the relatively perfect fruit we have 

 been seeking for the Upper Mississippi 

 Valley. As the belief is general that 

 the raisin, and the best dessert grapes 

 of the Old World are all of the Vini- 

 fera family, it may be urged that the 

 phylloxei-a will head off the culture of 

 these thicker-leaved varieties of the 

 East. On this point we cannot be 

 certain ; but it is proper to say that Dr. 

 Karl Koch and Dr. E. Kegel have 

 raised the question of the separate and 

 distinct origin of the grapes of West 

 Asia, The foliage of all of them comes 



nearer to that of the primitive forms 

 known as Vitis Amurensis, and Vitis 

 Davidii, than to any primitive or cul- 

 tivated forms of the West. 



Again, it may be urged that some of 

 the Turkish and Indian gi'apes have 

 been tried iu West Europe, and with 

 us, and found wanting. On this point 

 it should be remembered that we have 

 imported, so far, from the coast climates, 

 while the pi-esent thought is to in- 

 troduce the varieties of the arid in- 

 terior. With his well known love for, 

 and sympathy with the " art which does 

 mend Nature," we can hoj)e and trust 

 that Col. Colman, our new Commiss- 

 ioner of Agriculture, will aid in intro- 

 ducing, not only the grapes,but the fruits 

 generally, and the cereals, grasses, and 

 shrubs of the little known region of 

 Western Asia. With needed instruc- 

 tions, our Consul at St. Petersburg can 

 aid in securing the products of Bokhara, 

 while the Persian Consul, if encouraged 

 to do so, can secure many valuable 

 products from Persia, Turkistan, and 

 even Afghanistan. — Ihiral jVew-Yorker. 



TWO FINE NEW ROSES. 



A Philadelphia firm invested $1,000 

 in the stock of a single rose from an Eng- 

 lish fiorist two years ago, but finding 

 this winter that there were still some 

 plants of it held by its originator, pur 

 chased them at an expense of .$2,000 

 more. Not a single plant has yet been 

 sold of this stock, for which $0,000 was 

 paid. It will be put wpon the market 

 in March. It is antici{)ated that it will 

 create a sensation in cut flowers next 

 fall, in winter giving us for the first 

 time a rose equal to the General Jac- 

 queminot in every res|>ect, with even a 

 richer fi-agi-ance. Its great value with 

 the commercial florist lies in its being a 

 continuous bloomer, giving buds as free- 

 ly as any of the monthly varieties. A 

 rival appears, however, now that the 



