THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 85 



THE SNOW APPLE OR FAMEUSE. 



R. S. Shepherd, Jr., of Montreal, writes to the Country Gentleman 

 concerning this apple, as follows: — 



"The Fameuse is by far the most popular apple grown in this Province. 

 In pi'oof of this assertion the report of the Montreal Horticultural Society 

 for 1876 contains the information tha-t fourtee7i out of s-ixteen large orchardists 

 on the island of Alontreal, give the Fameuse as the most profitable ; and of 

 the country orchardists, thirteen ovit of fourteen place it first on list for 

 profit. Although the tree is not so hardy as Duchess of Oldenburgh, Alex- 

 ander, (fee, yet it has no rival for first place. It is our heaviest cropper, 

 and seems to adapt itself to various soils. 



"As a dessert fruit the Fameuse brings the highest price in this market, 

 and within the last few years it has been profitably exported to England 

 fiom this port. It is the favorite apple when parties desire to send presents 

 of fruit to friends in England. Last fall I sold all my selected Fameuse 

 apples at $4 per barrel to a grocer, who had received orders for private 

 exi)ortations of this kind. This was a high price for last season's crop, and 

 I presume the gi-ocer got his profit on the transaction. 1 merely mention 

 this fact as an example of the high esteem we have in Canada for this most 

 delicious apple." 



THE ROSE OF SHAROK 



Not much like our ideal of the queen of flowers is this Rose of Sharon, 

 or Althea. It is neither sweet-scented, graceful or particularly exquisite in 

 color of flower, yet it asserts and proves its value very thoroughly in ita 

 own way. If not graceful, it is straight, sturdy and vigorous, demanding 

 for itself a })rominent position on the lawn, somewhat away from other 

 shrubs, with which its pronounced individuality does not readily blend. The 

 flowers, if somewhat coarse, are bright and cheerful, and very welcome in 

 August, when the lawn is specially destitute of bloom. To me the most 

 attractive althea flowers are the single ones. The purity of outline, simplicity 

 and breadth of color of such altheas are very attractive, particularly in an 

 entirely white variety, which is still quite rare. Altheas seldom receive 

 intelligent pruning. One generally meets monstrosities in this genus, for 

 the very good reason that pruning, as applied to altheas is seldom pruning, 

 but merely trimming or clipping. Instead of removing only a few inches 

 of young wood year by year, the pruning knife should boldly cut back into 

 the old wood, within a foot to three feet of the ground, according to the size 

 and age of the sj^ecimen operated on. This should be done systematically, 

 in winter or early spring, and not in June, as in tho case of early flowering 

 shrubs, for tho reason that altheas bear their flowers on the wood produced 

 during the current year of blooming. The result of such management will 

 dimply be a bush well clothed with leaves and flowers from base to crown, 

 instead of comparatively naked stems, with leaves and flowers chiefly on 

 ilie summit. — S. Parsons, Jb., in CoUntrij GeiUleirum. 



