282 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and Montreal, but we found that ex- 

 press men \\ ould not handle it as cai-e- 

 fully as they would the 12 qt. basket 

 with a handle, shown on p. 152; and 

 in packing them on platforms, or in 

 unshelved cai-s. they would set one on 

 another, to the great damage of the 

 fruit. The flat handle basket may be 

 piled several deep without bruising the 

 fruit, if care is taken to set every alter- 

 nate ])air at right angles' with the foi*- 

 mer two. This latter basket is univer- 

 sally used by our Canadian peach 

 growers, costs no moi-e than the truck 

 basket referred to, and is in our opinion 

 the most useful basket. 



For very choice samples of early 

 Crawfords, no doubt the four-quart- 

 basket crate, as shown in Fig. 2 is most 

 desirable. Indeed it or a very similar 



Fm. 2. 



crate has been used by some of our 

 peach growers at Grimsby, and they 

 speak well of it for fancy fruit, but even 

 these growers use the 12 qt. basket for 

 their main crop. 



The paper cell crate is a very ingeni- 

 ous contrivance for carrying extra choice 

 peaches, of uniform size, carrying each 

 one in a sepai-ate cell just as eggs are 

 sometimes packed for shipment. Our 

 plan with such fruit is to row them in 

 the 12 qt. basket, three layers of four 

 peaches wide and eight long, thus gett- 

 ing about one hundred extra choice 

 samples in a basket. Such fruit netted 

 us from $1 to $1.50 per basket during 

 the past season. 



Baxter's Red, or the Pound Apple. — A 

 sample of this beautiful apple was re- 

 ceived from Mr. Geo. Leslie, of Toronto, 

 It is a very large apple, about the size 

 of the King, and much the same in 

 general appearance. The calyx is closed 

 in a deep basin ; the color deep red with 

 yellow specks ; the stem, shoi't slender 

 and deep set, in a slightly russeted cavity. 

 From its large size this ai)j)le has been 

 called the " Pound " apple, but the name 

 Baxter after its originator, seems to be 

 its proper one. 



The tree is said to be perfectly hardy 

 about Ottawa, and if it is an abundant 

 bearer, may prove a most valuable apple 

 for export. 



Macklim's Seedling Pear also sent in by 

 Ml". Geo. Leslie, has every appearance 

 of being a valuable winter Pear. It is 

 too early to test its quality, but its ap- 

 pearance is in its favor. The fruit is 

 large, pyrifoi'm, having some resem- 

 blance to the Vicar, about four inches 

 long, besides a stout stem of two inches 

 obliquely inserted without depression. 

 Skin yellowish green with small brown 

 dots. Calyx large, closed, in a shallow 

 coiTUgated basin. Said to have origi- 

 nated near Markham, Ontario. 



The Kieffer. — A dwarf tree of this var- 

 iety at Maplehurst, the home of the 

 Secretary, has borne this season several 

 beautiful samples. In point of appear- 

 ance it is everything that can be desired, 

 and the tree is a fine grower. But alas ! 

 the disappointment with which one 

 attempts to enjoy the eating ! 



The merits of this pear were discuissed 

 at the meeting of the American Pomo- 

 logical Society, at Boston. It was main- 

 tained that it was valuable in the 

 Southern States at least for cooking ; 

 but it was acknowledged to be of little 

 value at the north. It was agreed that 

 the name should be pronounced as if 

 spelt Keffer, with e short. 



