46 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



1871 



ner" are nearly always smooth and dark-red, those 

 of the " Wild Goose" plum are of lighter color, and 

 quite downy, especially near the tips, and the trees 

 are less inclined to branch while young. Those 

 trees were of two summers' growth, and were grown 

 from cions obtained from Wm. Parry, Cinnamonson, 

 New Jersey. Mr. Downing describes the Wild 

 Goose plum as follows : "An improved variety of 

 the Chickasaw, evident from the great vigor of tree 

 and increased size of fruit, which is nearly as large 

 as the Green Gage; skin purplish.with a blue bloom; 

 flesh juicy, sweet, adheres to the stone. Last of 

 July." 

 Both of these plums show their Chickasaw very 



plainly. 



* ♦ » 



For the Western Pomologist. 



The Peach— Queries Answered. 



By David Stewart, M. D. Poet Penn, Del. 



Mr. J. F. Mauchey : — Tour favor of the 19th was 

 received on yesterday. With regard to peach cul- 

 ture, I am in a false position, when my opinions are 

 published for seven reasons, and on that account I 

 shrink from notoriety. 



1st. On account of my remarkable success in the 

 midst of many ruinous and total fiiilures of the 

 best of what are called "practical faniicrs." If I tell 

 the truth and assure you that I believe it a riski/ 

 speculation, the public will suspect that I do not 

 want competition, and therefore discourage others. 



2d. On the other hand, if I tell the truth, and at- 

 tribute the almost universal fjiilure to the fact that 

 specific peach food is required, the public will take 

 that with a grain of salt, and snub me for my 

 advice. 



3d. The bulk of peach-growers who have asked 

 my advice criticise my radical theories as directly 

 opposed to the custom of others who have blun- 

 dered into success by accident, sometimes adopt 

 some part of my advice, and hold me responsible 

 for the failure that results and which I could predict. 



4th. The want of capital creates an objection to 

 my plau, which not one in ten will admit is the real 

 difficulty, aud thus make a false issue, or objection. 



5th. It is not agreeable to be suspected of some 

 selfish motive, such as the speculation in land, 

 without I have some land for sale, which is not the 

 case ; nor have I any interest in any such specula- 

 tion. 



6th. During nearly a quarter of a century I have 

 gratuitously contributed to agricultural* literature, 

 and by the most exact and laborious experiments 

 verified my assertions, making many rich while I 

 have not fattened on the public. But I now find 

 not only that my thunder is stolen, but that other 

 "ioriters" seem to take a delight in appropriating it 

 to others! 



7th. In attributing to wood ashes peculiar virtues 

 as plant food for peach trees, I do not assume, as all 

 others do, that Potash is the only essentictl element 

 of the ashes of wood, but that there are other ele- 

 ments not usually recognized or appreciated in wood 

 ashes nec^ssai~y to co-operate, and without which the 

 potash element fails partially or entirely, and will 

 not pay on an average. 



It would be quite as absurd to extol the gluten or 

 gelatine as a substitute for wheat flour as a food for 

 man, or starch or sugar ( which are virtually the 

 same) as a substitute for corn, oats and hay as a food 

 for the horse. It is perfectly annoying to me that 

 so many modern quid nuncs swallow such nonsense, 

 and that some of our best agricultural journals foster 

 it — for these seven reasons I write for a Western 

 Pomological Journal published at Des Moines, Iowa, 

 where I have no interest, and will send you a copy. 



With regard to "others'' within my knowledge— 

 "first cost of land, product, &c.,"— I must refer you 

 to the fact that only one or two others have had 

 three successive crops, and they have been pub- 

 lished most industriously east and west as the only 

 success. Consequently, as I "have only one hundred 

 acres in peaches, and do not wish to rob others of 

 this sort of thunder, I will only remark that the 

 rent of oW of this farm derived by the best practical 

 farmers in Delaware, would not average the rent of 

 my house in Baltimore for many years ; but the half 

 of it has yielded riu three successive crops, aggrega- 

 ting $14,000— or say seven thousand dollars this year, 

 planted in 1865-6 and 7. 



* See American Fainier, 1850, &c.— especially March, 1855. 



For The Western Pomologist. 



Oregon Horttcultaral Notes No. 3. 



By a. R. Shipley, Oswego, O., Dbo. 18, 1S70. 



We are having a little touch of winter. The ther- 

 mometer went down to 18 degrees above zero last 

 night ; at this writing, 9 P. M., it is 33 degrees above. 

 The wind is blowing pretty keenly from the north 

 east and the indications are that we shall have a little 

 snow. The weather for the week past has been 

 perfectly delightful, freezing a little at night, but 

 thawing out during the day, with cloudless skies 

 and pure, bracing air. The season has been favor- 

 able for work in the horticultural department. I 

 finished planting grape-cuttings yesterday. My 

 experience is that the fall is the best time to per- 

 form that operation, the ground never freezing 

 hard enough to heave them. During a residence 

 of 18 years I have never seen the thermometer 

 below zero. I have planted trees during ever^ 

 month of the winter. We made and planted our 

 present fiower-garden during the first and second 

 weeks of February. We have frequently had 

 many flowers in bloom in the open ground during 



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