272 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



these varieties seem to be too plentiful 

 and too cheap. 



Mr. John M. Fisk recommended the 

 following as the five best varieties for 

 table use : Summer — 1. Yellow Trans- 

 parent, or Charlottenhaler, equal ; 2. 

 Duchess of Oldenburg. Fall — 3. St. 

 Lawrence. Early Winter — 4. Fameuse. 

 Late Winter — 5. Golden Russet. 



Mr. C. Gibb of Abbotsford, Quebec, 

 says that the five best varieties of 

 apples for |)rofit in that province ai-e in 

 his opinion, (1) Duchess, (2) Alexan- 

 der, (3) Wealthy, (4) Yellow Trans- 

 pai'ent, (5) Haas. 



Plums for Quebec. — Mr. Shepherd 

 says, " Last year Mj. Wm. Evans asked 

 me to visit his nursery, I think in the 

 month of September, and I was very 

 much struck with the Moore's Arctic 

 Plum. The trees were '• earing, and he 

 allowed them to grow and bear in the 

 nursery rows, and certainly the crop 

 was the most extraordinary I ever saw. 

 The trees were bent to the ground with 

 the weight of fruit. It is a very dark 

 blue plum, very fair size, as large as 

 the Lombaixl." 



Mr. Gibb says : " Mj^ special hopes 

 now are turned toward the improved 

 varieties of the North- Western States. 

 I fruited De Soto and found it an 

 advance on any I have tried. Anothei; 

 I think a good deal of is the Wolf, a 

 large plum of but fairly good quality, 

 and one of those hardy and vigorous 

 trees with rough, coarse leaves, that 

 look as if they could stand any amount 

 of summer heat. I have more hopes of 

 North-West plums from my own 

 experience, and from what I have seen 

 in the West, than I have of even the 

 Russian plums. 



NEW FRUITS. 



During the discussions on this sub- 

 ject at the meeting of the Am. Pom. 

 Society at Boston, the De Soto plum 



was spoken of by many as a special 

 favorite, Mr. Brackett of Iowa placing 

 it at the head of the list for Iowa. The 

 Stevenson's Rareripe peach was stated 

 by Mr. Caywood to be the leading sort 

 on the Hudson ; being " larger than 

 the E. Crawford, better in quality, 

 twice as good a grower, and quite 

 as healthy." The Moore's Early 

 grape was considered valuable only 

 because of its earliness ; otherwise in- 

 ferior to the Concord. The Empire 

 State was jjut do'wai as less productive 

 than the Niagara, the clusters small, 

 and in some places subject to mildew 

 • — but in quality it was acknowledged 

 to be better in quality than any white 

 gi'ape yet introduced. 



THE BALDWIN APPLE FAILING. 



Until the last few years the Baldwin 

 has held tlie first place among market 

 apples. The increased severity of the 

 winters, resulting from the destruction 

 of timber, has caused the Baldwin to 

 suffer above most other popular A'arie- 

 ties. During the winter of 1884-5 50 

 old trees were killed in the college or- 

 chard at Lansing (latitude 40 degrees) 

 of which over 40 were Baldwins, the 

 remainder being mostly Rhode Island 

 Greenings. In fact, there is not a 

 vigorous ti-eee of these varieties left in 

 the orchard. All others among the 

 market sorts wei-e not injured. It is 

 more and more evident that the Golden 

 Russet is one of the best mai'ket apples 

 for this region. The ti-ee is remarkably 

 hardy and vigorous, and a good bearer. 

 The apples are uniform in size and color, 

 very firm, fair, and good keepers. In 

 market they bring 20 per cent less than 

 Baldwins, but this difference is over- 

 balanced by their productiveness and 

 hardiness. Russets should be barreled 

 in the fall to prevent withei-ing. The 

 Spy is a tardy and unreliable bearer ; 

 the apples are often imperfect, and they- 

 are too tender for distant markets. I 



