176 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



1871 



American Sammer Pearmain. 



By the Associate Editor. 



Fruit medium to average ; weight six to eight ounces; form oblong conic, oblique ; skin yellowish 

 green, mixed with broken stripes of scarlet and purplish red; dote small, numerous, elevated, giving a 

 rough surface and somewhat the appearance -""■ 



of bloom ; stem long and slender ; cavity 

 medium, regular, green or russeted ; eye 

 large, nearly closed ; basin deep, round, reg- 

 ular ; core small, roundish, closed ; carpels 

 small; seeds small, short, plump, light 

 brown; flesh yellow, exceedingly crisp and 

 tender, line grained, juicy, aromatic, mild 

 sub-acid, nearly sweet, delicious; quality 

 the very best ; use table and market. Sea- 

 son August and September. Tree stocky, 

 hardy, very healthy, handsome, slow grow- 

 er ; blight and winter proof, tolerably early 

 bearer, and productive. No orchard can 

 be complete without this apple. Brings 

 the very highest price in market. 



Deep Holes for Trees. A correspon- 

 dent of the Southern Gardener does not 

 approve of deep holes for setting trees. "I 

 am strongly inclined to believe why many 

 of our trees die, is the hole diffging plan of 

 planting them. This, too, may be the cause of much of the apple rot in our country. Why not plant 

 largely, and have apples and cider through the winter '? What's to hinder ? Why not have large melt- 

 ing pears all summer, fall and winter ? There is nothing to hinder our enterpri.sing people of the coun- 

 try, but to turn their minds to it. 



Time for Setting Currant Cuttings. 



Ed. Pomologist & Gardener. — But very few 

 who plant currant cuttings do it at the right season 

 of the year. It is usually done in the spring, when 

 in fact it should be done in the fall. I have had a 

 good deal of experience in propagating currants. I 

 always plant my currant cuttings in the fall as soon 

 as the leaves fall off. They will make durable roots 

 two to four inches long the same fall while the buds 

 remain dormant. They will make double the 

 growth the next season if set In the fall, that they 

 will if not set till spring. They should be set in 

 ground that will not heave them out by the effects 

 of frost, and should be covered ju.st before winter 

 sets in with coarse litter. Remove the covering 

 early in the spring and examine the cuttings to see 

 if any of them hove, and if .so press them down 

 again. Should they heave up an inch or more, if 

 well pressed down they will still start and make 

 better growth than cuttings set in the spring. lu 

 either case, however, the cuttings should always be 

 made in the fall. Robert Scott. 



La Pmie, Ind. 



CoLORina OP Frtjit. — The Gardeners' Monthly 

 says : " Fine rich color is always esteemed as one 

 of the criterions whereby to judge the excellence of 

 a fruit. Sun light is of first importance ; but it is 

 not generally known that this is injurious when in 

 excess. In a dry atmosphere, with great sun heat, 

 where the evaporation process goes on faster than 

 the secretive principle, what should. become a rich 

 blush in a fruit is changed to a sickly yellow; and 

 the rich jet black of a grape becomes a foxy red. 

 Some grape growers of eminence, in view of the 

 facts, shade their vineries during the coloring proc- 

 ess; but others, instead, keep the atmosphere as 

 clear and moist as possible. 



Salt for Pear Blight. — We see it stated that 

 several nurserymen in Geneva, N. 1 ., are using salt 

 freely in their Pear Nurseries, at from 200 to 400 

 lbs. per acre yearly, and say that it has a wholesome 

 tendency to correct the tendency to blight ; also to 

 prevent it for the future. Certain it is that where 

 used there have been less indications of its preva- 

 lence than in other parts where it is not used. 



