18T1 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



27 



Pears in Northern WiscoNsm. — 'At a meeting 

 of the OshkosU (Wis.) Horticultural Society, Dec. 

 14tli, some time was spent in a discussion on the 

 pear. Mr. Brainard thought that a bushel of pears 

 might be raised there as easily as a bushel of apples. 

 Mr. Crosby had seen a small tree of the Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme in a neighbor's grounds the last season 

 literally loaded down with fine, large fruit, one 

 specimen weighing 38 ounces. Mr. Paddleford of 

 Omro has two promising trees of the Duchesse. 



Mr. Crosb}^ wished to know if any one present 

 had, or knew of any one who had, pear trees grow- 

 ing now that passed safely through the winter of 

 1865. 



Mr. J. H. Osborn said H. Floyd, of Eureka, has 

 a row of pear trees in his orchard which have been 

 pronounced by competent judges to be the finest in 

 the State, all of which [lassed unharmed through 

 the severe cold of that winter. Mr. Cliase has one 

 tree which was grafted on the thorn, which was un- 

 harmed, and bore freely the fiillowing year, doing 

 well. Mr. Chase would place Flemish Beauty tirst 

 on the pear list. Mr. Brainard has two trees of the 

 White Doyenne, which grow and bear well. He 

 presented a sample of the fruit in a bottle, preserved 

 as he said, by simply pouring boiling water into the 

 bottle after putting in the fruit, and .sealing up im- 

 mediately. 



Mdlberkies forthe Birds. — Planting the white 

 mulberry near the cherry orchard is recommended 

 to protect the fruit of the cherry from the depreda- 

 tion.^ of birds. A correspondent of the New York 

 Farmers' Club al,so believes that the presence of the 

 mulberry has a prt.'servative influence upon the tree 

 itself. During the famous morns multicaulus spec- 

 iJation he planted a "lot of them," but which soon 

 became worthless. The sequel was, as he says : " I 

 saved some white mulberries near the carriage 

 house and granary. About the same time I planted 

 a cherry orchard, and a variety of plum trees. They 

 all flourished finely,and soon had fruit in great abun- 

 dance. The mull)erries were ripe about the same 

 time with the cherries, and continued ripenlnguntil 

 late in the autumn. The birds were delighted with 

 the while, sweet fruit, and left the cherries un- 

 touched. In process of time my mulberry trees 

 interfered with rpy buildings, and I was forced, 

 reluctantly, to cut them away. Soon my cherries 

 became knotty, wormy, imperfect, and liut few on 

 the trees. The cherry trees and many of the plums 

 evinced signs of decay ; large black balls or knots 

 on the limbs of old and young trees. This I believe 

 to be the result of cutting away those splendid mul- 

 berries. 1 never saw an apple tree borer in my 

 45^ear old apple orchard until just before I sold 

 ■my farm, four years ago, and after the mulberries 

 were destroyed." 



How TO Test Grapes. — Upon this point F. R. 

 Elliott gives some wholesome advice through the 

 Rural New Yorker, and which, if heeded, might 

 save some enthusiasts from being humbugged by 

 pets of their own creation. Not one out of fifty of 

 the new grapes brought out within the past five or 

 ten years, are worth one brass farthing to the vine- 

 yardist. Mr. E's advice is, that every " person who 

 think they have a good wild grape, to procure the 

 Concord, and plant it along side, and when they 

 both come into bearing make a careful comparison ; 

 and if the wild sort is really superior in size, ten- 

 derness of skin and pulp, and delicacy of flavor, 

 then preserve it for further trial ; but should it fall 

 below the Coilchrd in any particular, throw it away 

 as unworthy of preservation. 



We select the Concord as a standard for compari- 

 son, as no variety inferior to it should be preserved 

 or propagated, jt is true, that we have many vari- 

 eties in cultivation that are greatly inferior to Con- 

 cord, and that is just the reason why no more of 

 this kind is wanted." 



California Wines. 



It is estimated that between 700,000 and 800,000 

 gallons of red and white wines have been made in 

 Anaheim this season, and of a better quality than 

 that of any season heretofiire. The amount is 250,- 

 000 gallons in excess of the yield of any previous 

 year. Owing to the fine weather and extra 

 condition of the grapes, this wine is already so 

 thoroughly fermented that it will be in a marketable 

 condition in 60 days. The grapes are all gathered, 

 and the wine-making is finished for the season. 

 Preparations are making for the immediate setting 

 out of from 300 to 400 additional acres of vines. 

 So, in a couple of years' time, we may expect Ana- 

 heim to produce from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 gallons 

 of wine per season. We have been shown samples 

 of the white Malaga raisin, of unusual size and 

 flav(3r. Between 300 and 400 boxes of these, made 

 this year as an experiment, are certainly superior to 

 any in the market. — Boston Cult vator. 



Cleanliness of Honse Plants. 



The London Cottage Oardener relates an experi- 

 ment showing the advantage of keeping the leaves 

 of plants free from dust. Two orange trees, weigh- 

 ing respectively eighteen and twenty ounces, were 

 allowed to vegetate without their leaves being 

 cleaned for a year ; and two others, weighing re- 

 spectively nineteen and twenty and one-half ounces, 

 had their leaves sponged with tepid water once a 

 week. The first two increased in weight less than 

 halt an ounce each, while of the two latter, one had 

 increased two and the other nearly three ounces. 

 Except the cleaning, the plants were similarly 

 treated. 



