Pomology, Gardening, Forestry, Horticulture, Rural Architecture, Bees. 



Vol. I. 



DES MOINES, IOWA ; tEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, OCTOBER, 1870. 



No. lO 



MARK MILLER, 



Editor and Proprietor, - - Dcs Moines, 



J. STAYMAN, Leavenworth, Kansas. 



single Copy $ 1.00 



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For the Western Pomologist. 



The Lawver Apple— More of its History. 



In the Sept. No. of the Pomologist, its 

 Kansas editor criticises somewhat sharply, 

 the history of this uoble fruit. Sharp, 

 shrewd, keen fellows — those Kaiisans who 

 have given birth to Kansas fame. Like the 

 foud mother they see nothing in other chil- 

 dren to be compared to her darllDgs. We 

 often smile at this jealous love of the Kan- 

 saus. Well, they are workers! It would 

 have puzzled a Philadelphia lawyer to have 

 worked up such an apparent, inconsistent 

 history of this apple ! 



Now, I never wrote an article for the 

 Missouri Agricultural Report for 1868. In 

 1867 I had written to some private friends 

 who had asked for a history of this apple, 

 that I had just visited the original tree on 

 the farm of Mr. Buriehter, a neighbor of 

 mine, who said — " .some 15 years ago I went 

 down to Liberty to sell butter, and the gro- 

 ceryman gave me a big apple, like the Mis- 

 souri Superior. My wife said, 'plant the 

 seed ; ' it was in April. I planted it beside 

 a stump— you can sec the roots there now. 

 I thiuk it bore in 5 years from the seed. 

 Once it got broke down, but for 7 or 8 years 

 it has borne some every year. I sold the fruit 

 last year for $-1.00 per bushel in Kansas 

 City." 



Extracts from what I wrote were publish- 

 ed, and I suppose by the time they were cop- 

 pied into the Agricultural Report, Mr. Bu- 

 richter's name, and the quotaticm marks were 

 left out. My particular attention was en- 



grossed in testing the qualities of the apple, 

 rather than to these minor facts. I cannot be 

 responsible for changes others may make. 



I bought the cions and several bushels of 

 apples, and sent them to many Pomologists 

 over the Union, to have them examined and 

 tested. I have had plates painted, framed 

 and sent to leading men and societies, in 

 order to bring into notice so valuable a fruit ; 

 so far the tree does well. Again I wrote 

 in my publication on the Fruits of Western 

 Missouri, that the Lawver originated here, 

 (meaning in Western Missouri). The next 

 discrepancy I never dreampt of till the as- 

 sistant editor pointed it out. In the fall of 

 1868, 1 wrote the article in which I said it 

 was discovered last year. Well, the publica- 

 tion was delayed to the beginning of 1869, 

 in which case it should have said — the year 

 before last, for it was in 1867 it was discov- 

 ered and brought into notice. Again he 

 does me injustice in not publishing the dif- 

 ferent report which he says I made in 1870. 

 I will here give it in full and let it speak for 



itself. 



Lawver originated on the farm of Mr. Bu- 

 riehter, near Parkville, Mo., and named Law- 

 ver as a compliment to A. M. Lawver, Esq., 

 of Southpass, 111., for his industry in collect- 

 ing new Southern and Western fruits. The 

 Prairie Farmer says : "It is one of the most 

 beautiful apples we have ever seen." Judge 

 Norton says : " No description or painting 

 can equal the reality." Our most prominent 

 fruit growers are unanimous in awarding it 

 the standard of beauty and flavor. Dr. War- 

 der speaks of it as " best of its season." It 

 sold last year for double the price of any 

 other apple. Fruit large, dark red, very 

 smooth and glossy ; flesh white, sometimes, 

 slightly stained with red ; crisp, sprightly 

 aromatic, rich cranberry flavor ; popular with 

 the train boys, sells better than oranges. 

 Tree product"ive, thrifty and hardy, and of 

 fine proportions — scarce. 



Geo. S. Parks. 



ParksviUe, Mo., Sejtt. 13, 1870. 



<■»■» 



For the Western Pomologist : 

 Growls From Pottawattamie.— The Sibe- 

 rians. 



Ed. Pomologist: — Give me a chance to 

 poke that modern deciple of that wonderful 

 Egyptian of whom "Cosmo" ao feelingly 

 speaks in the September No. He migrates; 

 he rests at Council Bluffs. 



Being a follower of the Goddess Pomona, 

 he seeks congenial spirits. His heart is 

 made sad by the discovery that but few are in 

 the right path, and the taste of those few 

 so depraved that they were planting largely 

 of Russian and Siberian Crabs. Pray, friend 

 Phillips, what do you mean by Russian 

 Crabs ? Is it that lot of hash consisting of all 

 sorts of crabs, seedlings, and trash that those 

 " Blessings " have so kindly been distribut- 

 ing in this part of the country, and who, by 

 some hocus poeus have succeeded in making 

 our honest people believe they were laboring 

 for public weal, to the detriment of their 

 weasel-skius when they charged them only 

 one dollar each. ? 



If you mean the Tetofsky apple I can as- 

 sure you they are almost as sairce as hens 

 teeth in this region. You say they are "a 

 very poor substitute for fruit." Do you call 

 them nuts or vegetables ? We call tliem good 

 fruit here, especially when we lack for some- 

 thiug extra fiue. For the last two years we 

 Bluffiteshave been sending crabs to Burling- 

 ton, getting four dollars per bushel. Is this 

 sending coals to Newcastle? Or, perhaps 

 they are buying them merely to show the 

 " old settlers " about there, how depraved our 

 tastes are. Mr. Phillips says that our "Mr. 

 J. W. Damon is a practical man, and thor. 

 oughly understands his business," Facts ; 

 but this same practical man is planting crabs 

 by the hundreds, his neighbors in less quan- 

 tities; aud why ? I can tell you why. It is 

 because they bring the fruit. They are 

 as sure to bear as an early Richmond 

 Cherry. Thrown into the ground, stuck 

 in the sod, bruised, broken, forsaken, (except 

 at apple time,) and still they bear ; and des- 

 pised though it may be to some, it is never 

 left alone in its glory to perish. When we 

 fail to be able to tickle our palate with 

 Gages aud Golden drops, do we not seek our 

 native plums and call them first rate ? When 

 the Oxhcart fails us do we not call the Early 

 Richmond A, No. 1? Let us be tliaukful for 

 what we h:ive, ever striving for the belter. 

 What a wonderful improvement iu Siberian 

 crabs has been wrouglit in a few years past. 

 With like progress for two or three years ! 

 and some rara avis will appear, of size like 

 Mammoth Pii)pius, at fabulous prices, put- 

 ting the pottito mania in the shade; and the 

 whole crowd of crab ridiculers will run to 

 see the great prodigy, and eat it too, to 

 please their friends. 



Council Bluffs. H. C. RiTMOND. 



