62 Tlie Western Pomologist and].Gardener. 1872 



Caster Crab. 



Bt The Associate Editou. 

 Fruit very large for a crab; weight from two to five ounces; form round, but often 

 oblate ; skin greeuish yellow, covered with dull red and bright crimson ; dots irregular- 

 large, numerous, grey ; stem long, slender ; cavity wide, deep, regular, russeted ; eye small 

 closed ; segments long ; basin shallow, narrow, furrowed ; core medium, regular, slightly 

 open; carpels large, wide; seeds rather large, dark brown, plump, ovate; flesh yellowish 

 white, rather tough, sharp astringent acid, making a strong, heavy, clear juice ; use cider, 

 preserves ; season November to April. 



Tree healthy, very productive, bears in clusters, much hardier than Hughes' Virginia 

 Crab, and lully its equal for cider, if not superior. Origin, Kentucky ; introduced into 

 Kansas by Dr. Wm. M. Howsley, from whom we received it in 1860. 



Tbe Pbilosophy of JUuIclif ng— \fU}' and How Is it Beneaclal to Plants? 



Bt the Corresponding Editor. 



This subject was discussed at some length during the session of the Kansas State Horti- 

 cultural Society's meeting, held at Lawrence, December, 1871. 



It is almost uniformly objected, by both writers and speakers, to the introduction of 

 theories in discussions of this kind. For ourselves, we are at a loss to know how the truth 

 can be reached where we are tied down to a simple detail of facts. Take the Strawberry 

 for example, as was taken on the occasion referred to, and at what conclusion can we 

 arrive with anything like a certainty. The facts elicited on this occasion were as discrep- 

 ant as one could well conceive. One speaker stating that mulching in summer injured 

 his plants by keeping, as he supposed, the rain and air from penetrating the earth, so as to 

 afford the roots a due supply of these elements. It was also a breeding place for injurious 

 insects. Another would remark that it protected his plants from drouth and produced 

 fine crops of berries. The facts here produced were, many of them, in direct confliction 

 with each other. With some it was of immense value, while with others there was no 

 good derived from it, but rather found it an injury. The same discrepancy from facti 

 arose when the value of the various varieties, both of small and large fruits were under 

 examination. With one party one variety was found to be fine, while with another it 

 proved to be worthless. 



Such contradictory statements as these are, to say the least of them, perplexing and be- 

 wilderin'' in the extreme. Men attend those meetings for the purpose of learning some- 

 thing more than they know of the art and science of fruit growing. Imagine, if you can. 



