170 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



December 



For the Western Poraologist. 



Chips from Crabdom. 



Well, Friend Pliillips, you have driven the 

 nail and clinched it hav'nt you ; but still it 

 don't hold. I le-assert that one of our most 

 enterprizirg citizens has shipped Siberian 

 Crabs to i5urliiigto;i, for the past two sea- 

 sons, and received S4 00 per bushel, and 

 what is more, the supply was not equal to 

 the demand. So much fjr the "fith story." 



Now, Mr. Phillips touches a tenderer spot 

 than my pocket, when he makes the pre- 

 tended cpiotation, "Can't raise anything but 

 crabs at Council Bluffs ? " 



No such sentence occurs in my article, and 

 no such seutiment is implied. I did mean 

 to be understood I hat crabs could be grown 

 with less care than the choicer varieties of 

 apples. I still stand upon the same platform. 

 As well might a person think of going to 

 Pikes Peak, and bj able to pick up a wagon 

 load of auriferous uuggc-ts without labor, as 

 to think of raisiug apples without care aud 

 labor, and those " Old Setkrs," will agree 

 who have sufTereJ " trials, vexations, aud 

 disappointments." 



So far from being one of the " can't raise 

 fruit" kind, I claim that there is not a man 

 in Iowa who has stronger faith in fruit 

 growing than I liave, Mr. Adams not except- 

 ed, and if my life is spared I shall prove my 

 faith by my works. To further this end, I 

 am making use of Mr. Adam's short but most 

 excellent receipt, which I believe is not pat- 

 ented, and I will give it here : " Was?i the 

 trees with brains." 



Mr. Adams brought a large supply from 

 the old Bay State, aud is yearly applying a 

 portion of this Invigorator, lusect extermin- 

 ator and fertilizing material. I have only to 

 say that those who hive not already a suffl- 

 cieu quantity of this indispensable requisite 

 had better not eugagj in the fruit business. 



" What is the fruit worth after you get 

 it " Then you admit that it in fruit. 



Thousands of bushels are annually con- 

 sumed ; wc can therefore safely conclude that 

 they are good for sonirthiug. It is used for 

 every purjiose that other apples are, aud 

 when you purchase tlie next bottle of cham- 

 paigne, it is quite probable that you will get 

 bogus, made from Siberian Crabs. 



" None so blind as those who won't see," 

 you know, but for fear that Friend Phillips 

 will plead real blindness. I will inform him 

 of a few varieties that he can plant in his 

 new orchard, as ornamental trees; if he lias 

 no use for the fruit, the trees well loaded with 

 fruit, with the rich and varied coloring are 

 beautiful to look at, (but hands off', they are 

 of no earthly account.) At a rough guess I 

 estimate that one million of Transcendent 

 crab trees have been sold and planted with- 

 in the past six years. (Merely for ornament 

 of course.) This deservedly popular variety 

 you may place on your list as a market sort. 



The Montreal Beauty, you can plant for cu- 

 linary purposes. I do not know this from 

 my own experience, not having yet been so 

 fortunate (?) as to secure a "cook," (N. B. — 

 No free advertising intended here,) but I 

 have it from good authority that it is espec- 

 iall3'^ desirable for cooking. For the dessert, 

 you may write down Whitncy,s No. 20, 

 which is about the size of the Red Juue, 

 aiid of flue quality. For varieties to extend 

 the season, try Marengo and Hyslop. So 

 many valuable varieties arc being coast intly 

 added to the number, that this short list will 

 s')on need a revision. 



Now, my friends, plant pIciUy of the 

 choicest of fruits, but don't forget to give a 

 la'ge corner to the improved varieties of 

 Siberian Crib.'S. 



H. C. Ray-mokd. 



Council Bluffs. 



For the Western Pumologiet. 



A ne'w Hydrid Siberian Apple— not 

 Slocum's- 



Mark Miller.— i)«ar Sir: B.icl is.d I 

 send you three outlines of a new, probably 

 hybrid Siberian apple, originated by myself. 

 I am certainly iucliued to think it a great 

 acquisition to our list of very hardy fruit.=. 

 The tree is eight years old, and this year 

 bore over a barrel and a half of fruit, by 

 which you may know it was greatly loaded, 

 and from which you can form an idea of its 

 great productiveness. 1 he tree is an exact 

 Siberian crab in appearance, very thrifty 

 and handsome. Leaf lilce the t'ibcrian with- 

 out pubeseuce on the under side, like the 

 Transcendent. Mix them together aud you 

 could pick neither out. Wood aud twigs 

 like the Large Red Siberian. 



The three outlines given are of a medium 

 size — small and very small specimens. You 

 will notice, the smaller the fruit the longer 

 the stem, which is peculiar to this variet}'. 

 The largest specimens have astern no longer 

 than a short stemed apple. It appears (the 

 fruit,) to be made up with all the marked 

 peculiarities of the Siberian crab, and com- 

 mon apple. The color and bloom of the 

 skin is crab, in thickness like the apple. The 

 flesh of the fruit has the consistency of the 

 apple, with the crispiness, juciness, and as- 

 tringency of the crab. It has the aroma of 

 the crab, the core of an apple, the seed of a 

 crab, calyx and stem like a crab. 



DESCRIPTION OF FRUIT. 



Fruit very variable in size, ranging from 

 the size of the Large Red Siberian to the 

 Winesap, but mostly large, very regular, 

 round, slightly conical ; surface smooth ; color 

 dark, bright crimson, with bloom thickly 

 covered with large and small light dots ; basin 

 abrupt, plated, medium in depth, closed; 

 calyx large and closed ; stem cavity regular, 

 narrow, deep ; stem slender, from 3J^ inches 

 to very short ; core wide, clasping the eye ; 

 seeds numerous, angular, plump, dark brown. 



Flavor brisk, sub-acid, astringent, very crisp, 

 and juicy. Uses, for stewing no apple can 

 surpass it, for drying excellent, for dry cider 

 or champaigue cider, it will probably have 

 no superior. The fruit has a strong and de- 

 lightful fragrance. It is one of the hand- 

 somest of fruits. It has been almost entirely 

 free from Larvje of the Codlin moth, in an 

 orchard where nearly all other fruit was 

 ruined by them. The fruit will keep with 

 care through the winter. Its great value is, 

 that I have no doubt but that it can be grown 

 as far north as any of the Siberian apples. 



I propose to name it St. Paul. 



D. B. WiER. 



Lacon, lU. 



Remarks : — We tind in the three outlines 



received a great variation in the size of 



fruit. This variation may be the result of a 



super-abundant crop. The three outlines 



measure in diameter respectively, Ifg — 2^ 



and 2/8 inches. 



-♦♦••» 



Drought and Grapes. 



The Gardener's Monthly says it cannot well 

 be too dry for grapes, and then goes on to 

 say: 



" While even corn died out on the hill- 

 sides, the grape flourished gloriously. Some 

 we know took_up our hints. Many who had 

 but flat ground ridged it up, and set their 

 grapes on these artificial elevations. These 

 have had their reward. But there are many 

 who are not yet convinced. They contend 

 that ' one swallcw does not make a summer,' 

 and the results of one dry season proves 

 nothing. But we rather like these peoijle, 

 and, possibly, though coming in at the 

 eleventh hour, may be as worthy of a full re- 

 ward as those who have been with us during 

 the full day's work. 



" This eleventh hour is now come. An- 

 other 'unprecedented' dry season — another 

 magnificent crop of grapes. Surely here are 

 swallows enough now to satisfy the most 

 skeptical that surely the full summer of 

 grape culture is come. Yet we shall for 

 some time no doubt have, as we have hith- 

 erto heard, the most roundabout excuses for 

 failure — the most unreasonable explanations 

 of why ' our climate is so uusuitcd to grape 

 sulture.' We do not by any means believe 

 that thoroughly dry ground is the whole 

 battle against the foes of grape culture; but 

 we do most confidently assert that with this, 

 half the victory is won." 



Winter Care or Plants. — A lady cor - 

 respondent of the New York Triburie thus 

 writes about protecting tender plants during 

 winter : 



" It may interest some of yotir lady read- 

 ers to know how those who cannot afford 

 the luxury of a greenhouse can keep their 

 tender plants all winter. My cellar is dry, 

 cool, and dark. About the first of November 

 I have the orange, lemon, petersporum and 

 oleanders carried into the cellar. Those are 

 all in large tubs, except the latter which I 

 have placed in one when taken in, aud then 

 the roots covered up with soil. These plants 

 are watered ouce a week while they are in 

 the cellar with tepid water, aud they keep 

 in fine order." 



