March 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



37 



In view of tlic season, small fruits were 

 not as thoroughly discussed as at some 

 former meetings. Dt'laware and Concord 

 stand at the head of the list. Others were 

 urged for trial. The President remarked 

 that all his grapes mildewed except the Del- 

 aware, but he was not going to dig them up. 

 Mr. Tuttle has always raised the Lsahella till 

 this year. No mildew on the Delaware. — 

 Thinks some of the Rogers will take the 

 place of the Concord. Hartford Prolific 

 ripened but Iowa did not. Mr. Laurence 

 thought the Rogers No. 15 was as valuable as 

 the Concord, and praised many of the 

 others. 



Strawberries were divided into market 

 and Aimily. For market — the Wilson and 

 Green Prolific. For family — Agriculturist, 

 Russell's, and Burr's New Pine. 



The Green Prolific had some very high 

 encomiums. Mr. Greeuman remarking tliat 

 he could get as much fruit from one rod of 

 them as fifteen rods of the French. 



Currants had been badly blighted, and it 

 was thought best to let the list pass without 

 debate. 



The Doolittle Raspberry was retained first 

 on the list for market. Miami as market and 

 family. Also Philadelphia and Purple 

 Cane. Davidson's Thornless for trial. — 

 Messrs. Stickney and Hoile each 'spoke in 

 high praise of the Ancient Britton Black~ 

 berry. In quality of fruit and hardiness. — 

 This, with the Clark and Wilson were 

 placed on the list for trial. 



Thus I have endeavored to sketch as 

 briefly as possible the results arrived at and 

 the conclusions drawn from the experience 

 of the year's lessons. That the meeting was 

 a success, only expresses in a mild manner 

 the enthusiasm exhibited by those present. 

 There were many valuable papers read, viz : 

 G. Emerson, of the Western Farmer, upon 

 the production of new varieties, showing 

 that this may be done in three ways : Selec- 

 tion of native varieties, new seedlings, and 

 hybridization. He argued that rapid growth 

 though desirable, was not a sure criterion 

 to follow. The first retiuisites are hardiness 

 and productiveness, and the parent stock is 

 not to be ignored if hardy and fruit be good, 

 though not of the most thrifty nature. He 

 cautioned the nurserymen in disseminating 

 new varieties not fully tested. And in the 

 multitude of new sorts now being offered to 

 the public, the experimental garden pre- 

 sented a good and valuable field of labor for 

 the benefit of the State. 



Dr. Andrews, of Marengo, 111., read a 

 very interesting paper upon the origin and 

 dissemination of the Siberian species of 

 apples, so eminently reliable to the entire 

 Northwest. A lively discussion followed. — 

 Mr. Stickney thought we had crabs enough 

 and these should be confined to the lower 

 six rounds of the ladder. But Mr. McAfee 

 put in a rejoinder, and picking up an inch 

 and a half crab held it up, and in triumph 



said: "Nay, the time is coming when our 

 fruit ladder will have one hundred rounds, 

 and crabs will be perched upon it all the way 

 up, and topmost of all we will find one three 

 times t/i£ size of this." 



Mr. Scofield presented a paper in which 

 the whole West is interested, viz : The ne- 

 cessity of an organized action among the; 

 horticulturists to secure the exemption of 

 foreign trees and seeds from tariff duties. — 

 He prefaced it with some remarks showing 

 with what rapidity all timber grew at the 

 West, and the necessity for providing for its 

 encouragement by removing every obstacle 

 to its cheap production. 



Mr. McAfee, of Stephenson Co., Illinois, 

 read a valuable .scientific pajjer upon the 

 timber of that county, detailing their uses, 

 &c. Illustrative of his subject he presented 

 a Lignarium of that county, consisting of 120 

 species, 45 genera. This is a valuable col- 

 lection and worthy of imitation. Suel Fos- 

 ter's paper upon pears will appear in its 

 proper place in the Transactions, as well as 

 Mr. Slickney's upon small fruits, Jtr. 

 Plumb's upon how we grow our trees, and 

 Mr. Kellogg on how to sell our trees. 



The nurserymen present offered liberal 

 nducements to all to become members for 

 the year, thereby securing for themselves a 

 liberal stock of fruit, vines and ornamental 

 trees. A circular containing the particulars 

 of the offer will be mailed on application. — 

 With a happy retrospect, we may recall the 

 first meetings of the W. S. H. S. in 1853, '54, 

 '55, etc., when with a half dozen members 

 tliey hoped onward, until now a large and 

 enthusiastic gathering assembled, to do Po- 

 monas bidding. And after a three days' 

 session the fruit growers went their way, 

 feeling that it was good to have been here. 

 O. S. WiLLET, Sec. 

 Madison, Wis. 



Growing the Pecan Nut, 



CALiFonNiA Fruits— Flavor, etc. — H. G 

 McPiko, an Illinois horticulturist, who visited 

 California last season, says : — " Apples, large and 

 fair in ilavor, not quite equal to ours. Pears, no 

 better in flavor, but larger and higher color. The 

 Tokay grape sells in market for thirty-five cents ; 

 Muscat and Black Hamburg, fifteen cents ; Mis- 

 sion, eight cents. Found Mission grape selling 

 in bulk for H cents, for brandy. Their vineyards 

 are laid ofif something like ours; they use no 

 stakes ; vines grown from stalk about a foot high, 

 from which they are permitted to shoot off and 

 hang to the ground. The vineyards have the ap- 

 pearance of a blackberry patch ; you wade among 

 the vinos in search of grapes ; each cane of the 

 Mission has from three to eight bunches. They 

 have no rain from the time the grapes bloom un- 

 til they are picked. At one place I saw Catawba 

 and Isabella growing on trellis. I think they 

 have tho advantage of us in raising grapes, but 



none in pears. I could see no depredations of 

 insects there, or at Salt Lake. I think they are 

 not flattered with the prospect of fruit-growing 

 for profit. I took some pears and some Catawba 



f rapes along for comparison. Their pears are no 

 etter. Their Catawba grapes may be a little 

 sweeter; I think they are They claimed in San 

 Francisco that their early pears were better than 

 the later ones " 



To an inquiry concerning the propagation 

 of the Pecan tree, the Southern Horticultu- 

 ist gives the following reply. 



The Pecan tree, (Carya Olivoeformis,) be- 

 longs to the Hickorj' family and like all the 

 species of this genus has perfect blossoms. 

 Hence it is a self-fertilizer and every tree is 

 productive. It is almost invariably propa- 

 gated by seMs — as neither the hickories, nor 

 walnuts succeed very well by grafting. In 

 fact it is. by most cultivators, considered im- 

 possible to propagate them in this way but 

 we have frequently grafted them, and always 

 with satisfactory success. Still we do not 

 recommend this mode of propagation as the 

 Pecan reproduces its good qualities very gen- 

 erally from the seed, and by a judicious sys- 

 tem of root pruning and transplanting, may 

 be brought into bearing quite as early as 

 from the graft. The time of coming into 

 bearing varies a good deal, but on an aver- 

 ago is not much greater than the apple — cer- 

 tainly not longer than the pear — say from 

 eight to twelve years. This period may be 

 considerably shortened by root pruning or 

 transplanting every two years, and giving 

 the trees good, rich, deep ctiltivation. In 

 orchard culture the trees should be planted 

 twenty by thirty feet and trained to a single 

 trunk six feet high. At setting out the 

 branches if any, should be pretty thorough- 

 ly shortened in — afterwards no pruning will 

 be necessary. As to transplanting, we have 

 found it no more difficult than with standard 

 pears. But to insure the gre-itest measure 

 of success, the tap root of the seedling should 

 be cut off about the first of August of the 

 season's growth and the first transplanting 

 done at not over two years old. For plant- 

 ing, always select the largest, thinest shelled 

 and best flavored Texas Pecans you can find 

 — plant them in this latitude any time du- 

 ring Jan. or Feb. in shallow drills on slight- 

 ly raised bed and cover an inch deep with a 

 mixture of sand and leaf-mold. Unless the 

 season should bo remarkably wet and cold 

 the young plants will be out of the ground 

 and fit for the first working by the first of 

 April. No freezing of the nuts is necessary 

 but they should bo fresh, i. e. — of the pre- 

 ceeding year's growth. The trees as before 

 stated, are never grafted for sale — but good 

 seedlings of two to four years growth can be 

 bought at Southern nurseries for about $50. 

 per 100 — perhaps less. Any good hickory 

 soil will suit the Pecan, and they, will succeed 

 first-rate in the "bottoms" or rich ridge 

 soils of Florida, Texas or even Mexico. 

 Ashes (nard wood) and leaf-mold are the 

 best manures. At fifteen years old they 

 ought to bear a bushel of nuts each — and 

 live forever. 



Good Texas Pecans now sell readily at $25 

 to $35 per barrel at wholesale. At full ma- 

 turity a tree will bear from 1 to 2 barrells. 

 What better inhc?ritauce could a parent leave 

 to his children than an acre or two of bearing 

 Pecan trees ? 



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