178 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2. 



Apples. 



We should estimate the difiercnce of prodvct be- 

 tween common seedling apftle irpps and the best se- 

 lected varieties, to be not less than ten to one in favor 

 of the latter ; but the difference of r«/«e will apiienr 

 much greater if we lake into view the ipiaUty as well 

 OB the juantUy. An extensive orchard of seedling 

 trees, originally ; and great numbers growing in o 

 hedge, fully bear Ha out io these conclueione. 



The fruit of seedling trees, is not generally so dili- 

 eient in number as in size, though boih deficiencies of- 

 ten occur ; and in wet summers many apples, which 

 would be of good size in dry seasons, become block 

 knobs in conaequenoe of the Lic/ien ? which spreads 

 oyer them in the form of BCabs. 



It is remorkable that pomologists have generally 

 neglected to notice this circumstonce. Have all of 

 them lived in drier climates than ours ? Be this as it 

 may, some fine varieties are scarcely worth cultivating 

 in Western New-York, solely on this account. The 

 Queen apple may be given as one instance, and the 

 Aututnnnl Swaar as nnother — both fire fruits in dry 

 hot summers, and both without doubt, bct'er adapted 

 to a lower latitude. 



On the other band, russets with scarcely nn excep- 

 tion, are free from this smut. We are also inclined 

 to think that apples with thick skins, like the Black 

 GUtiJlnwer, more generally escape than those with a 

 thinner integument. It is not improbable however, 

 that some variation from this rule may be found. 



The value of apples as food for milch cows, and for 

 ■the fatening of swine, is becoming more extensively 

 known ; and it may serve to console such friends of 

 ^Temperance as were once largely engaged in cider- 

 making. We find that we have never too many, 

 though we make no cider except for vinegar or apple 

 sauce. Many years ago in a dry season, we first tried 

 the experiment of giving bruised apples in mcasiured 

 quantities to our cows ; and their milk \^8 greatly 

 increased. Our hogs also grew fat by feeding on this 

 fruit, without any labor of oars, except to see that a 

 sufficiency falls. As the weather grows colder how- 

 •ever, they gradually lose the relish for this food, espe- 

 cially when they get something better. 



It has long appeared to us that farmers might save 

 themselves Irom much expense, by planting out small 

 orchards expressly for the keeping and fattening of 

 swine. We recommended this measure to the public 

 more than twenty years ago. By selecting the earli- 

 est apples and such as ripen in regular succession, food 

 might be provided in abundance for them during a pe- 

 riod j>f throe mo.^ths. A little swill enriched by milk 

 or meal however, is a valuable auxiliary. 



More than four hundred kinds of apple trees are ad- 

 vertised by some nurserymen ; and among ihem are 

 doubtless great numbers of which we know nothing ; 

 but we are not acquainted witU any apple better adapt- 

 ed to such an orchard than the Sweet Bough which 

 begins to lipen in harvest. It bears every year with 

 us, and every year alike— a full crop without breaking 

 down. The tree is rather compact in its form, not 

 spreading wide, and one hundred and sixty migbt 

 grow on an acre. The fruit continues to drop from it 

 for more than a month, and soraetiniea for nearly two 

 months. 



In plan'ing out such on orchord however, there 

 ought to be earlier apnles than the Sweet Bough, sueh 

 as the Yellov! Hareest ; and some later. We wont 

 apples for swine, several weeks after the Sweet 

 Bough is commonly gone ; and among the multitudes 

 thot ripen ot this season, the farmer cannot be much at 

 n loss to select some that are always productive, and 

 always good. 



In another article we have mentioned the Graren- 

 stein—'' esteemed the be^i apple of GermnBy and the 



Low Countries." We have waited two or three years 

 after the tree began to bear, without propagating it, so 

 that we might fully and fairly test its fruit ; and we 

 have now arrived at the conclusion that it is Jtrst rate 

 in every respect. The tree grows freely — a model of 

 thriftiness without any wild luxuriance. It bears well, 

 and the fruit is large, fair and excellent More than 

 one toster has exclaimed — " I never ate a better ap- 

 ple." 



Its excellence is tl-.e more remarkable on account of 

 its being one of the rc;-y /ViP European sorts that suit 

 our climate. Some years ago we received from Buel 

 & Wilson, a considerable number of such as are most 

 highly recommended by Limlley in his Guide to the 

 Orchard and Fruit Garden ; but with ihiesolitory ex- 

 ception, they ore not worth cultivating here. It is 

 true that the King of the Pippins is beautiful, but it 

 is too austere for our purposes. 



Several things are necessary to constitute a variety 

 of the^rst class. The fruit may be fine, but the tree 

 comporatively unproductive. Such for instance is the 

 case here with the Neictoicn Pippin. It is easier to 

 raise five bushels of the Sicaar, or the Spitzcnhurgh, 

 than one bushel of the former kind. It is a first rate 

 opple in well grown specimens, but there our eulogy 

 must end. ' 



Ripcuuig of Late, or Winter Pears. 



At page 82 of our current volume, we irventioned 

 the effects of an increase of temperature in ripening 

 winter pears. This fall, when we gathered in our 

 Virgalieus, part were put in a warm room, and part 

 in an outhouse. The former ripened mueh sooner 

 than the latter. 



Sicvcn's Genesee pear was nuich later than usuol 

 in coming to maturity. Tlvey turned yellow obout 

 the commencement of our outumnal frosts, and fell from 

 the tree ; bnt remained hard while they lay on the 

 ground exposed to the cold On bringing them into 

 worm room however, they soon became melting. — 

 The Beurre Eiel and several others, under similar 

 treatment, were att-ended by similar results. 



Neither apples nor pears ought to freeze ; but the 

 nearer they are kept to that temperature without freez- 

 ing, the better they will keep ; and we have no doubt 

 that some autumnal pears moy be kept until winter, or 

 even until spring, in an ice house. 



Many apples may be frozen hard without material 

 injury, if the warmth be ofterwards applied very grad- 

 ually. For instance: if they are taken in a frozen 

 slate, not exposed to the sun, and buried in the 

 ground. The intensity of the frost \a of lees conse- 

 quence, than the manner in which it is removed ; 

 and if frozen opples were pneked iji ice, it ia not im- 

 probable they would keep all the yeor. 



But what we want chiefly to inculcate at present is, 

 that the time that winter pears ripen will very much 

 depend on the temperature in which they are kept. 



t 



To Mark Names ou Fruit. 



The Charleston Transcript recommends putting 

 wax on the sunny side of half-grown peaches and nec- 

 tarines, "in any desired shape or form ;" and the 

 wax will hinder the sun from coloring the part that is 

 covered. When the fruit io ripe the wax may be re 

 moved. 



A more convenient method however, may be odopt- 

 ed lor marking pears and apples. Write on the fruit 

 when it is gathered, with a biack lead pencil, or a 

 small stick not sharp enough to cut the skin, and the 

 bruised part will soon change-color. Where the fruit 

 is not deeply colored, the writing v.tU be as plain as if 

 done with ink, and perfectly indelible. We have 

 iound tWs methiij very onnveiiientand \ispful. t 



The Mediterranean Wheat. 



We (baerve thot the attention of farmers in the 

 south.eastern part of Pennsylvania, is becoming moie 

 and more turned towards a new kind of wheal called 

 the Mediterranean, the merits of which have been 

 variously estimated ; but as we have not seen this 

 soil, we shall confine ourselves to loying the opin- 

 ions of others before our readers. 



From a writer in the Farniei'a Cabinet, (Vol. 6, 

 page G9, ) we quote the following : 



" Its diminutive ears, and short strow, its inequoli- 

 ty of sample, and inferiority of flour, render it to me, 

 n very cxceptioiioble variety ; indted I wonder how 

 any good mannger woiddbe content to grow ears two 

 inches in length, yielding oaily twenty grains on an 

 average, with straw so weak and short as to fall be- 

 fore the crop is ripe, and diminishing the size of the 

 dung-hill nearly one half. I have examined many 

 crops of this peciilior species of wheat, and r.m con- 

 vinced in my own mind, that it is tiie real " Tres 

 mois," or Frf nth spring wheat, which as its name 

 imports, becomes ripe in three months from the time 

 of sowing, and of which I hove seen hundreds of acres 

 growing in Europe, particularly in the Channel Is- 

 lands, Guernsey and Jersey, wl.ere it is \«'ued- chief- 

 ly on this account, a charucier for earliness which it 

 has sustained in this country and climate; coming 

 ripe under the same circumstaneee, ten days or a fort- 

 night earlier than any other variety known oniongst 

 us; thus probably escaping the rust which is pretty 

 sure to fall on the late ripening wheat ; but wherever 

 it is sown in Europe, it ia considered a very inferior, 

 crop, and is cultivated only on land that is either too 

 poor or ill-conditior.ed to warrant more then hall s 

 yield of other varieties." 



In the same paper,Ju4ez Jcnkias of West Whitcland, 

 in Chester county, says in regard to the same kind of 

 wheat : 



" It appears to have eecoped the Hessioa fly and 

 the rust. On a rich lot of two acres, I bai-e hor- 

 v.ested 1494 eheaves of usuai size. The crop on two 

 large fields is not heavy, owing it is thought to too 

 large a growth of timothy that hod been sown with it, 

 hut the yield is tolerable and the quality good." 



A correspondent of ours near Downingtown in the 

 same county, says in a letter lately received : — " Our 

 wheat in eastern Peimsylvania, will average about two 

 thirds of a crop ,; but the lately introduced wheat call- 

 ed the Mediterranean has yielded nearly a /nil crop 

 wherever it has been sown ; and as yet it has escaped 

 the attacks of the Ilcssion fly and the miidcw. It 

 mokes good bread, though 6omev>'hat harsh, ond 

 weighs from G'i to 6G pounds to the btishc-l." 



Another of our corrcspendcnts i Bucks county, 

 who resides more than forty miles from llie former, 

 under tlie dote ot -9 mo. 27, eaye : " A kind of red 

 chaff' whent with large kernels not unlike rye in shape, 

 and called the Mediterranca;i, boa been sowji in this 

 vicinity for several yeara past. It is not liable to the 

 ravages of theliessian fly, nor ofTccied by rtiet or mil- 

 dew, like other wheot ; and does not re<jnire such 

 high manuring. It is fully as productive, ond in 

 many instances more so than oiwother sorts of wheat. ; 

 It can be sowed early without donger of the ily, and it 

 is fit to harvest a w.eek or more bolore the usual time. 

 1 he flower made from it this seoson, is better and 

 whiter than any we have bod in our house for a long 

 time. A very deep rooted prqjudice prevails with 

 many, against it, without ever giving it a trial," 



We should like to knew whether this kind of wheat 

 has been introduced into Western New-York, and if 

 so, in what estimation it is held 1 t 



Review. 



"The Orchard: including tlio nionngement of 

 wall ond standard fruit trees, [and the forcing pit ; 

 with selected lists ond synonymes of the most choice 

 vorietiea." By Chorles M'Intosh. Lond.in, 18o9, 

 (Price unknown.) 



This is a large duodecimo, very neatly printed, and 

 ontoining eighteen handsomely colored plotes, and 

 numerous wood cuts, all executed with muih Uis'.e 



