48 The Western Pomologisb and Gardener. 1872 



old trees and with such satisfaction that he writes : " I shall top-graft as many as I can of 

 my poor bearers with the Stark. I have never seen so good a sort for top-grafting — 

 making a fine top so quick." 



Fruit large, slightly conical and angular ; skin yellowish green, somewhat red, faintly 

 Striped, and specked with brown dots ; basin medium ; cavity narrow ; stem short to long » 

 flesh yellowish, rather coarse but breaking and juicy ; acid to sub-acid, sprightly and rich. 

 Season, late winter into spring. The Stark bears a striking resemblance to Willow Twig 

 externally, but is very diiferent in taste. 



Tbe I<ady Apple— Does it Do 'Well In Oar Climate? 



Ed. PoMOLOGisT AND Gardenkr. — Can you tell me if the Lady Apple does well in 

 this climate, or is it only a fall apple here ? I see it quoted in the New York market at 

 $8, $18, and finally on the 20th of December last $25 per barrel, when other apples sold 

 for from $3.50 to $4.50. I would like to ask you several other questions, and perhaps I 

 ought to ask pardon for asking so many at one time. But I would like to avail myself of 

 your experience and mature judgment, and you must forgive me for asking one more. 

 What six varieties of winter apples would you plant in a commercial orchard, and in what 



proportion ? Can you furnish a few trees of Black's extra early peach and at what 



price ? If you have none for sale where can they be obtained ? — A. B. Castle, Pleatant 

 Hill, Mo. 



Remarks. — From what we know of the Lady Apple, the only difficulty in growing it 

 in the West so as to meet the requirements of the market is, that in our rich soil the fruit 

 is apt to grow too large and imperfect. It is a fancy apple and to command the fancy 

 prices quoted in the Eastern markets, the fruit must be perfect to meet with favor as an 

 ornament for the table. When grown of the proper size and color it always commands a 

 high price in the Eastern markets, and is one of the most profitable sorts for the orchard- 

 ist. The tree is said to be hardy, prolific, and to produce the finest fruit on rather poor 



soil. For six best winter apples for your locality in starting a " commercial orchard," 



we should say Ben Davis, Wagener, Rawle's Jannette, Jonathan, Wine Sap and Willow 

 Twig, or Stark — the latter of the two, if we knew it to be as good a tree and bearer as the 

 Willow Twig, for it is a better apple. But as we know nothing of it except from hearsay, 

 we do not feel like giving it preference yet over that good old sort, the Willow Twig. But 

 for an orchard we should want both, and also Grimes' Golden and Fameuse. Con- 

 cerning Black's Peach, write the Associate Editor. 



Sops of 'Wine.— Some of Its Good Points. 



Ed. p. & G. — I notice you had a cut in the December number of the Pomologist 

 of the Sops of Wine, and remarked that, "until the last three or four years it has received 

 no special attention in Iowa and the adjoining States." I think that is perhaps true, 

 if we except the attention and notice it received at a meeting of the Alton Horticul- 

 tural Society some six years since. At a regular meeting of that Society, held in 

 Alton in the month of August, and I think six years since, I exhibited the fruit and 

 called special attention to it as a market apple. Whatever its merits, it has become 

 ■very popular with many as a profitable apple for market, and while some do not like 

 it, yet many think highly of it for family use. It is an annual bearer, less subject to 

 the attacks of insects or fungi than any other apple ; of a tough skin, bearing carriage 

 well. It should be thoroughly ripe before eaten. When it is mature it is a beautiful 

 red, a sour apple, yet very mild. Your cut shows it too small. With me it is not a 

 small apple, but from medium to large, and in fact large rather than medium. Pick them 

 when in good shipping order, send them to a distant market, and they will carry bet- 

 ter than any other apple I know of and be in good eating order, and far better than 

 when they were first picked. 



I suppose I have been instrumental in "resurrecting" the Sops of Wine, and believe I 

 have done the public a good thing. — Jona Huggijjs, Woodburn, III. 



