224 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



begin gathering apples a week earlier 

 — that is, late in September, and can 

 preserve the freshness and aroma of the 

 fruit for several weeks later than in 

 the cellar. If the slight moisture upon 

 the apples can be prevented in the fall, 

 and a low and even temperature can 

 be kept, one can secure a finer flavor 

 and keep apples for weeks longer than 

 by the ordinary careless way. — W. H. 

 Hart, in Farm and Home. 



PRUNUS SIMONI. 



Sir : In looking over the August 

 number of the Horticulturist, Prof 

 Budd is quoted as saying of the Pruniis 

 Simoni or Simon's Plum : " It will be 

 the king of fruits — better than any 

 apricot," &c. From my own know- 

 ledge of Prof. Budd's opinion of this 

 ti'ee and fruit, as expressed publicly 

 and in private, the article referred to 

 seems to flavor of the nurseryman's 

 catalogue rather than of the cautiously 

 expressed opinion of the careful ex- 

 perimenter. 



In reply to recent query about this 

 fruit by the Rural Neiv-Yorker, Prof. 

 Budd says : " I first inet with it in 

 bearing in the Valley of the Moselle, 

 in Eastern France, where it was in- 

 troduced from North-east China by 

 Simon Louis, of Metz, through his 

 brother-in-law, Eugene Simon, when 

 he was French Minister at Pekin. Mr. 

 Louis seemed to place quite a high 

 estimate on its fruit for culinary use, 

 especially for growing in sections where 

 the peach failed to .do well. After 

 ascertaining that the tree endured the 

 summers and winters of Iowa as well 

 as the Chickasaw plums, and after 

 tasting its peach-flavored sauce, I nat- 

 urally recommended it for trial. But 

 this was followed by the positive 

 assurance that it would not be apt to 

 be worth growing in sections where 

 the peach, nectarine, or the best apri- 

 cots succeed moderately well. I said i 



then, and believe now, that on the 

 northern borders of the peach belt it 

 is worthy of trial, as it comes nearer to 

 the peach and nectarine in fl.ivor, when 

 cooked, than any variety of the plum 

 I ever met with. 



"Some good botanists of Europe agree 

 with the writer in the opinion that in 

 tree, flower, and fruit it comes nearer 

 to the almond and peach than to the 

 plum family, and that crosses with it 

 of both peach and plum may bring 

 interesting and valuable results. Aside 

 from its possible value for fruit, I may 

 add that it makes a neat-foliaged, pyra- 

 midal tree for lawn or walk border." 

 Yours truly, 



JOHN CRAIG'. 



FALL PLANTING. 



Sir, — The experience of Mr. T. H. 

 Bice with fall planting given in -Sep- 

 tember Number is the experience of 

 thousands, but I really wish the gentle- 

 man had gone farther and given his 

 opinion as to the cause of the loss sus- 

 tained. To my mind, the fact that a 

 great many fall planted trees are lost 

 throughout the country every year, is 

 not proof that this season is objection- 

 able. I do nearly all my transplanting 

 with the best success in the fall, always 

 being particularly careful to set the tree 

 firmly in the soil, compacting tlie earth 

 closely to every root, and if large, stak- 

 ing to prevent swaying by the wind. 



Frost will have no more effect for 

 injury, on a tree thus planted than it 

 would in the nursery row, provided the 

 soil is dry, and where the benefit over 

 spring planting comes in, is that during 

 the winter the roots heal and callous, 

 the trees get an eai'lier start in spring 

 with the result of 6 to 12 inches better 

 growth the following season. 



I do not wish to be understootl as 

 depreciating spring planting, not at all, 

 but my experience leads me to favor 

 fall planting, properly done. If 



