April and May 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



63 



Fruit in Minnesota. 



Wc glean the following items from the 

 Farmers' Union, published at Minneapolis, 

 "Minnesota : 

 " The Minnesota State Horticultural Society- 

 requests every man and womau who have 

 ever raised an apple in this State to send 

 their names to the Corresponding Secretary, 

 J. W. Harkness, Esq., at Faribault, Rice Co. 

 We hope they will not fail in this, as it is 

 necessary that the Secretary should know 

 those who are engaged in the good work." 



It is said by some that grapes will not 

 mature in this climate. This is not so. 1 he 

 Delaware, Concord, Hartford Prolific, Clin- 

 ton and Oporto all ripen iu this State just 

 as sure as they do in Illinois, and the quality 

 of the grapes is quite equal to those pro- 

 duced iu any other State. The last named 

 variety is too sour to be palatable, but we 

 learn from Chas. Hoag Esq., that it is most 

 an excellent wine grape. 



From two Transcendent trees, William 

 Berkeudorf raised the past season twenty 

 bushels of apples. This will do. We learn 

 that six bushels of transcendents will make 

 a barrel of cider. If this is true we do not 

 know of any reason why Minnesota cider 

 should not Ijc as celebrated in a few years 

 from now as our wheat is at the present 

 time in the East. 



The Curse of Many Varieties. 



No doubt what I have to say will not Vie 

 duly appreciated by the amateur horticul- 

 turist, or by the progressive culturists of 

 either fruits or vegetables, but it is an un- 

 doubted fact, and one which is daily becom- 

 ing more apparent, that the number of vari- 

 eties of both fruits and vegetables is some- 

 thing large — much larger in fact than any 

 person would wish to try at once : and thus, 

 if you intend to plant, you will have to rely 

 on the word of some one for the merits of 

 the kind or kinds in question. I do not say 

 this is wrong, for I believe that all should 

 contribute their stock of information for the 

 good of their fellows; but I do say that 

 there are many more varieties than -ire 

 absolutely neces.sary for the good or the 

 prosperity of the growers. By having such 

 an array of names, it tends to confuse the 

 beginner, leaving him in a very undecided 

 frame of mind, for it is very seldom but that 

 he sees "all" of them marked good, excel- 

 lent, etc., etc., and so he gets a few of each 

 kiud. Sometimes the number amounts to 

 forty or fifty different sorts. Now we will 

 s;iy that this is all right ; but as soon as the 

 trees begin to fruit, the first difliculty pre- 

 sents itself, for there being so few of one 

 variety it is not possiWe to get together 

 enough for market until the second or third, 

 and sometimes the fourth fruiting year; so 

 if the planter is iu moderate circumstances, 

 it may inconvenience him very much, for no 

 doubt he has had glorious visions of golden 

 gains, "all" obtained from the products of 

 the trees. It does not make so much differ- 

 ence with those who plant for experiment 

 and pleasure only, for they generally have 

 plenty of the needful, so it cannot do them 

 nnich harm. 



This mania — I cannot call it by any other 

 name — is not confined to fruit, but has very 

 naturally included vines, vegetables, plants, 

 and in fact almost everything; for should 

 you pick up the catalogue of some extensive 

 grower or dealer you are at a loss to decide 

 which are the most worthy of your attention 

 among the very many that you see named 

 and described ; and a "good rule is aiA to try 

 any "new" thing yourself, but have others 

 di) it, who are more willing, and as a matter 

 of course, more able to stand the less, should 

 there be any. 

 I 



I speak to those who have only ."^midl 

 means, but wlio arc very enthusiastic lo In; 

 culturists of souk; kind, f(U' a little iiU'orma- 

 tion of the riglit kind, and a little fore- 

 thought, may save many dollars for the 

 enthusiast, for we, as horticulturists and fruit 

 growers of several years' standing, know to 

 our sorrow, for we have had a large apple 

 out of that basket, and should we wish to 

 plant fruit again — wluch we shall and are 

 doing constantly — we shall confine ourselves 

 to from two to twelve different varieties. — 

 We do not particularl.y regret our venture, 

 for it has shown us what kinds will succeed, 

 although we did not try near.all the difi'erent 

 sorts. 



Do not always base the value of a fruit on 

 the apjiearance which the .same variety 

 gives when upon show on the table of some 

 horticultural society, for it is always the case 

 that these are the hirgest of their kind, gen- 

 erally forced by some particular process, but 

 the general quality can be had by deducting 

 about one-fourth of its merits, and the 

 remainder will generally give its true value. 



Should more of our farmers or horticul- 

 turists give an account of their experiments, 

 facts, etc., so as to post others, there would 

 be less made by unprincipled dealers, by 

 soiling trees, etc., which they know are not 

 profitable to grow ; and should some grower 

 cut down his list, sayone-half, he would be 

 doing a great good to the fruit growing com- 

 munity, and would prevent the necessity of 

 writing on " the curse of many varieties." — 

 Cor. American Farmer. 



A Country Pl.\ce.— It is a great mistake 

 to cver_/i/u'«7t a country place. As soon as a 

 man has got to the end of planning and im- 

 proving his garden, year by year, he has got 

 near to the end of his highest enjoyment. 

 As long as you can keep your invention at 

 work in devising something new, the imag- 

 ination has play in picturing new scenes and 

 combinations, which shall excel any that 

 have yet been formed. It may be, indeed, 

 the new will not really surpass the old; but 

 the act of planning and executing, and the 

 sight of the novelty keeps one pleasantly 

 employed, with the possibility of a real im- 

 provument. 



Hence, we say, do not be in haste to get 

 done. Have a generiil plan of your grounds 

 drawn up on paper, to which you will ad- 

 here, but leave the details open to frequent 

 alterations. We know a friend who in his 

 flower garden tries his hand a few years at 

 roses, culling the best kinds from all sources 

 far and near ; then he takes to bulbs, aud col- 

 lects a large assortment of every kind. Last 

 year his hobby was rhododendrons, azaleas, 

 and kalmias. And we must confess his 

 grounds were a grand show. He was full of 

 his subject. He could tell you to a nicety 

 the best composition of soils for these new 

 and rather fastidious shrubs, just so much 

 san-d, and so much leaf mould, and so much 

 cemmon earth. What his next passion will 

 be we ain't predict. But he will go year 

 after year, from one specialty to another, al- 

 ways having something new, and never 

 tired of his beloved garden. He is now up- 

 wards of sixty years old, yet is, in feeling, 

 quite a young man. 



So let it be iu the fruit garden. Leave 

 room for new apples, new pears, new grapes, 

 new berries. Keep a look out for new hints 

 in regard lo everything concerning a country 

 place. And thus the routine of country life 

 ■will never grow tiresome, but increase in 

 interest from year to year. — Rural Anterican. 



LASTj'ear, from a grove of 100 maple trees 

 in Berkshire, Alass., 500 pounds of sugar 

 were made in five days. Vermont is tlio 

 largest producer of maple-sugar of all the 

 New England States. 



HajjK'8 Early Peach. — The Journal of 

 Agriculture, {^\.. Louis), says: "In tliis re- 

 gion, and especially in locations south of 

 tins, the Hale's Early, which was very pop- 

 ular a few years ago, has proved for two 

 years past worthless, on account of its ten- 

 dency to rot. We state this as a caution to 

 those who are about buying for the Spring's 

 [danling. The same Journal says of the Mis- 

 souri Mammoth Blackberry : " Nearly all of 

 the reports of this berry since la.st fall, which 

 was about the first of its bearing to any great 

 extent, agree in showing that it is of no val- 

 ue. From all that we have lieard and seen 

 of it, our opinion is that it is a humbug. We 

 have never planted it. 



Birds in New Zealand. — It is said that 

 birds are decreasing in New Zealand, and 

 the cause charged upon the honey bee which 

 has been introduced within a few years past. 

 It is said by some that many species of the 

 .smaller birds there obtained a large portion 

 of their food by thrusting their tongues into 

 the nectaries of flowers ; but the bees are 

 now often found in these flowers, and not 

 liking the intrusion of the tongue sting it 

 and the result is death to the bird. 



Others think that these birds, being more 

 or less insectivorous, mistake the newly in- 

 troduced bee for a native insect on which 

 they prey, and in attacking the bee get fa- 



tiilly stung. 



*-—*■ 



Keeping Squashes. — A correspondent of 

 the American Agriculturist picks and stores 

 his squashes in September and has them 

 sound till the following June. He says, 

 " Gather the squashes for late keeping be- 

 tween September 1st and 10th, taking only 

 those that grow near the root ; put them on 

 the shelves where they are to be kept and 

 keep them dry aud cool . 



Eastern Virginia Fruits. — The Norf >lk 

 Journal notices a very handsome silver med- 

 al awarded to Mr. G. F, B. Leighton, Presi- 

 dent of the NorfollvjHorticultural and Pomo- 

 logical society, for his exhibition of Virginia 

 pears at Boston, by tlie Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society. The Journal says : 



" This is the first medal for fruits given to 

 the South since the war; but the earnest- 

 ness with which our people are entering 

 upon the cultivation clearly indicates that it 

 shall not be the last. So far Mr. L. leads the 

 van in this good work. 



The pears exhibited at Boston by Mr. 

 Leighton arc the same that won the first 

 premium at the show of the Pennsylvania 

 Society at the time of the meeting of the 

 American Pomological Society in Pjiiladel- 

 phia. In a note to us sometime since Mr. 

 Leighton says : 



" There is no good reason why Eastern 

 Virginia may not become the fruit-garden 

 of America. Fifteen bushels of Duchess 

 pears were sent from this county that aver- 

 aged sixty-four pears to the bushel ; and al- 

 tiiough ottered on New York market at a 

 time when peaches were in full blast, not a 

 bushel sold for less than $9. Out of an or- 

 chard of .5,000 trees, not twenty-five have 

 been lost from bliglit or disease. In fact, 

 out of 2,500 Duchess, not one has been lost, 

 and oidy on(; Bartlett out of 800. The straw- 

 berry crop of 1809, in the surroundings of 

 Norfolk, foots uji about tliree million quarts, 

 against one million iu 1868." — Rural Neic 

 Yorlcci: 



