Feb. 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



2S 



Grime's Golden Apple. 



The great sensation in the apple liuc at present, is "Grime's Golden." Our attention 

 was first called to this apple a year or more ago, by S. B. Marshall, of Cleveland, Ohio. — 

 But until within a few weeks 

 past was it, that we had an op- 

 portunity of seeing and tast- 

 ing the fruit, for which our 

 acknnwlejreinents are due to 

 Dr. Z. Hiilliiigsworth, of San- 

 dusky, Lre Co., and to Mr. 

 Johnson Meek, of Vir.cennes, 

 of the same county. On our 

 return home from the meet i,i.' 

 of the Illinois HorticulUir; 

 Society, in December, we 

 found liberal donations of the 

 fruit from both of these gen- 

 tlemen. And, after having 

 seen and tasted, we are free 

 to confess our happy disap- 

 p o i n t m e n t in " Gkime's 



Golden " — 1 hat to mucli in commendation of its many excellent qualities can scarcely be 

 said— an opinion that has the UP.qualified endorsement of good jud.ies who have seen and 

 tasted with us. It is a matter of surprise that a tree and fruit combining so man}' desirable 

 qualities in Iowa, should liave attained so little notoriety ere this. The accompanying 

 illustrations are copied from a specimen received from Mr. Meek, and represent the apple 

 truthfully. Mr. Meek informs us that he planted ten three-j'ear old trees of " Grime's 

 Golden " in 1849 and 1850, that they came into bearing early — that 'they stood the hard 

 winters of 1856 and '57 so 

 well, that the following sea- 

 son he planted forty-four more 

 trees in place of others killed 

 out — that all the trees have 

 borne good crops annually, 

 and that the fifty-four are 

 still standing, vigorous and 

 fruitful as ever. So hardy is 

 the tree that we think Grime's 

 Golden worthy a trial in Min- 

 nesota. 



Dr. Warden, in his Ameri- 

 can Pomolorjy, (and by the waj' 

 a most valuable work) de- 

 scribes this as follows : 



Tree vip;orous, healthy, spread- 

 ing, productive ; bears early ; 

 shoots stout, dark; foliage 

 abuudaiit, itark green. Fruit, 

 full jnediurn, cylindrical, reg- 

 ular; surface yellow, vein rus- 

 seted, dots numerous, minute. — 

 Basin abrupt, folded; eye large, elcsed. Cavity 

 wide, regular, green; .stem long, curved. Core 

 small, pyriform, closed, meeting'tne eye ; seeds 

 numerous, plump brown; tlesU yellow, lirm, 

 breaking, very line grained,. iuicy": flavor sub- 

 acid, aromatic, spicy, rieli, relreslung; quality 

 vf^-y best. Us<j desert, too t/ood for aught else. — 

 Season — January to March. 



We have on file for March number a val- 

 uable and interesting communication on 

 " Grime's Golden," from R. P. Hanan, Suray, 

 Clark county. Mo. ; and also another from 

 the pen of Dr. HoUingsworth, upon the same 

 subject, detailing an experience of several 

 years with both tree and fruit. 



^-•-•^ 



New Peach. — A new seedling peach is 

 announced christened tlie " Laurenel " in 

 Monroe, Ohio. It is .said to be about the 

 size of Hale's Early, a week or more earlier 

 in ripening, much finer flavor, does not rot 

 on the tree, &c. 



For the Weetem Pomologist. 

 The Cherry— Its Propagation— Mahaleb vs. 

 Morello. 



Much as the members of the Iowa State 

 Horticultural Society may justly claim to 

 have accomplished at our late meeting, (and 

 certainly it was a great success) much more 

 still remains to be said, and vastly more to 

 be done, before we shall have reached the 

 goal of our high callii^g. I know well that 

 our work requires time, patience and perse- 

 verance; but can we not facilitate? Can 

 we not do more in a given time, that is 

 annually, for the impartation of pomological 

 science than we have done in the past ? — 

 Owing to the multiplicity of .subjects which 

 necessitrily press themselves upon us for 

 discussion at these meetings, I am strongly 



inclined to the opinion that we should occu- 

 py more time than heretofore; that we 

 should take four or five da3's in.stead of three. 

 At our last assemblage, some prominent 

 subjects in which all are deeply interested, 

 were scarcely mentioned, and others not even 

 alluded to. But in a three day's session we 

 could hardly have done more than we did. 



In regard, for instance, to the cherry, a 

 favorite fruit with almost everybody, I 

 believe, we simply passed a resolution 

 recormuending the Early Richmond for gen- 

 eral culture, and had a little talk about the 

 best kind of stocks for this variety only. — 

 This is a matter of some importance, and 

 ought to be settled. The opinion of the 

 State Society ought to be known, and defi- 

 nietly determined, before we plant too largely 

 of this and other kinds, if there are any others 

 which will do to recommend. I know there 

 are strenuous advocates for the Morello 

 stock. Some would use no other. The 

 choice lies between this and the Mahaleb. 

 The Mazzard Seedlings are generally rejected 

 because many of them are too tender, even 

 for collar grafting, and therefore unsafe. — 

 The Mahaleb is perfect, when budded, or 

 grafted near the ground, so far as hardiness 

 and healthfulness is concerned. It will not 

 be denied that the graft or bud will grow as 

 well on the Mahaleb as on the Morello. The 

 dispute is only in regard to fruiting. The 

 prejudice against dwarfing cannot be inter- 

 posed between these two stocks, as they both 

 have a tendency to dwarf. The stronger and 

 more vigorous growth may, I think, be 

 claimed in favor of the Mahaleb. But I will 

 admit that in this respect they are equal. — 

 Then the philosophical conclusion is, (the ob- 

 ject of all dwarfing being to obtain early fruit- 

 fulness) that no preference can be claimed 

 for either for early fruiting. But it is main- 

 tained by .some, that for peculiar reasons, 

 never yet given, the Early May or Richmond 

 cherry, on Morello stock, will bear earlier, 

 and continue to jjroduce a larger crop of fruit, 

 than on the Mahaleb. ,So far as my experi- 

 ence goes, this does not hold good. 



My attention has been directed particu- 

 larly to the subject for some time, on account 

 of an article 1 saw a few years ago, I think in 

 the Homestead, in which the writer, a resi- 

 dent of Jasper county, asserted in substance, 

 that the Earl)' May or Richmond cherry was 

 valueless when worked on the Mahaleb, b)' 

 reason of its not fruiting on that stock. — 

 Knowing that a portion of the trees I had 

 sold were thus worked, I felt quite mortified, 

 and commenced at once to investigate the 

 subject and find out if 1 had, unintentionally, 

 been imposing upon my neighbors and 

 friends by selling them worthless trees. — 

 During the next cherry season, which soon 

 occurred, I found a dozen or so of genuine 

 specimens in difl'erent gardens about Knox- 

 ville, all of which had as large a crop as any 

 trees of their age and size in the neighbor- 

 hood. They were then two years trans- 

 planted, and four years old from the bud. — 

 Since that period, I think five years ago, 

 they have not failed to bear as heavy a croi) 

 as anj' trees I know of, and I should be glad, 

 at the proper season, to show them to a com- 

 mittee of any Horticultural Society, so that 

 for healthfulness and productiveness, they 

 may be compared with any trees of their age 

 in the State Jambs Mathews. 



KnoxviUe, Iowa. 



