January i, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



the value of the Americana and Chickasaw varieties for culi- 

 nary purposes as compared with those of the domestica type." 

 Of the Americana type he placed VVyant first because of its 

 productiveness and quality ; Hawkeye second, a fine large 

 plum of good quality, which produces a better tree than 

 Wyant. He also considered the De Soto, Forest Garden, 

 Rockford and Wolf excellent. Of the Chickasaws, Milton 

 should be placed first, the earliest of all of our native plums, 

 ripening at Atlantic July 10th. Second place should be given 

 to Charles Downing ; quality excellent, a good keeper, with a 

 fine color. Of European plums, the Tutge, a seedling that 

 originated in Benton County, Iowa ; theCommunia, originated 

 in north-east Iowa, has been before the public a much longer 

 time. Mr. Wilson insisted that in order to grow good large 

 plums of the native sorts there should be little fear of giving 

 too high cultivation or too much manure, as no fruits seem to 

 respond more readily to high feeding than our native Plums. 



Mr. H. A. Terry, of Crescent City, in a paper on "Propaga- 

 tion of Plums," considers the Hawkeye, De Soto, Hammer, 

 Wolf and Wyant best of the Americanas ; Milton and Charles 

 Downing best of the Chickasaws. An extensive grower of 

 commercial Plums, J. G. Berryhill, of Des Moines, thought the 

 season of plums could be prolonged by introducing the Japan 

 varieties ; some of those now grown in Iowa do not mature 

 their wood ; in fact, these are still experimental in Iowa. They 

 are good growers and produce good fruit. He considers the 

 Miner a most profitable Plum, but it will not bear if planted by 

 itself. It needs to be associated with some good pollen bearer, 

 like Forest Garden or Wyant. C. L. Watrous also testified to 

 the superiority for Iowa, at least, of our native Plums over the 

 foreign kinds. C. G. Bracked, as director of state horticul- 

 tural experiment stations, found that foreign kinds met with 

 little favor at most of the experiment stations. They are sub- 

 ject to black-knot and bear but little. 



Of Grapes, the old varieties, Concord, Worden and Moore's 

 Early, still meet with most favor. Mr. Elmer Reeves stated 

 that the best general-purpose grape is the Worden. He 

 thought, however, that in the state of Iowa more money can 

 be made in growing cherries and strawberries than by grow- 

 ing grapes of any variety. Mr. M. J. Wragg estimated the 

 net profit from an acre of Grapes in six years at $140, while the 

 net profit from an acre of Cherries the same length of time 

 was estimated at $1,087. The best Cherries for commercial 

 orcharding in Iowa are Early Richmond, English Morello, 

 Dyrhouse. Of the Russians, Cerisede, Ostheim, Bessarabia, 

 Brusslar Braun have met with most favor, especially in north 

 Iowa. 



The subject of Top-grafting the Apple in Commercial 

 Orchards was considered by William Bomberger. It is a well- 

 demonstrated fact that the hardiness of variety may be very 

 materially advanced by top-working. R. P. Speer, of this so- 

 ciety, has strongly advocated this method for several years. 

 The Ben Davis, Arkansas Black, Jonathan, Grimes' Golden, 

 Fameuse, not hardy in central or northern Iowa, are produc- 

 tive, and withstand natural influences much better when top- 

 worked on Duchess, Hibernal, Virginia Crab or Tetofsky. 

 Account must be taken of the growth of the variety which is 

 top-worked. Mr. Bomberger says, " In producing the trees it 

 would be best to confine operations principally to the Virginia 

 Crab, but on light prairie soil Haas is good, and to it could be 

 added the Duchess to work slow-growing varieties upon, as 

 Red June, Early Joe, Wealthy, and for moderate growers 

 Benoni, Dyer." He advocated the use of top-working in town 

 lots that will admit of but few trees. The entire fall list could 

 be on one tree, as Wealthy, Haas, Snow ; the summer list could 

 be grown on another tree, as Duchess, Red June, Sweet June, 

 Benoni ; the winter list on another, as Ben Davis, Jonathan, 

 Grimes' Golden and Janet. A pleasing lot of combinations 

 can be made, not only in regard to color but flavor and 

 time of ripening. 



Professor J. L. Budd, in a paper on The Management of our 

 Hill Soils, said the tree rows or small fruit-rows should run at 

 right angles to the slope of the hill. Hence the rows may be 

 straight or curved, depending on the character of the slope. 

 Hill land may so vary in slope that the rows may be straight at 

 one point and curved at another. The cultivation is all in one 

 direction. If the slope is quite abrupt, Currant or Gooseberry 

 bushes can be planted between the rows to form a network of 

 roots to prevent the water of heavy rains from breaking 

 through the ridges. In south-east France this is called " zone 

 planting." While it may not be necessary in many parts of 

 Ohio to practice zone planting, the writer said it could be 

 used with advantage on the Missouri slope, and more attention 

 should be given to it so that moisture and fertilizing elements 

 can be saved. In his annual report he referred to the unusual 



drought conditions and its effects upon the quality of the 

 fruit, as follows: "Over the state, and, indeed, over all the 

 prairie states, where the fruit was not destroyed by the May 

 freeze, all orchard fruits set a full crop. But at picking-time 

 ■ the size and perfection of the fruit were varied by soils and sub- 

 soils to an extent not before observed. Trees standing on 

 porous soils and subsoils down to the water-level gave crops 

 of large and perfect fruit with unusual high color, but they 

 did not keep as usual, unless they were picked early." But on 

 soils underlaid with blue clay or hardpan too near the sur- 

 face, Cherry and Plum trees showed more or less imperfec- 

 tion of foliage, and the fruit was small and imperfect. 



Professor Herbert Osborn, in a paper on Spraying in Theory 

 and Practice, said that kerosene emulsion can be used in con- 

 densed form in winter for scale insects, and the possibility of 

 the invasion of the San Jos<5 scale should lead all orchard dis- 

 tricts to be prepared to meet it. Professor Pammel's paper 

 treated of botanists and botanical discoveries of the last decade. 

 He said that horticulturists have been specially benefited by the 

 study of fungous diseases and the discovery of effective germ 

 killers. They have also been greatly benefited by the dis- 

 covery of such botanical facts as the appropriation of atmos- 

 pheric nitrogen by leguminous plants. 



Recent Publications. 



Window and Parlor Gardening. By N. Jonsson Rose. 

 With illustrations by the author. Charles Scribner's Sons. 



This neat little volume is correctly described in its sub- 

 title as a guide for the selection, propagation and care of 

 house-plants — a subject well worth a handbook, since it is 

 perfectly true, as the author states, that the practice of 

 growing plants in windows and apartments is one of the 

 most rational and instructive of home amusements. Many 

 people undertake to grow house-plants, and the fact that a 

 large proportion of them make discouraging failures is 

 proof that some plain instruction is needed in the princi- 

 ples which underlie success in the art. Mr. Rose's book 

 begins with a few pages on plant physiology, with instruc- 

 tive illustrations, and then follow chapters on the various 

 appliances needed, on the methods of growing plants from 

 seed and from cuttings, with full directions for giving 

 proper supplies of water, light and air. Then follows a 

 list of the plants which will thrive best in living-rooms, 

 with a description of their appearance and habits and 

 special needs. The reader will find here many plants 

 which are rarely seen in windows, but which will thrive as 

 well as a Geranium ; indeed, one of the most useful fea- 

 tures of the book is this invitation to test unknown or 

 neglected plants for windows, for the trial of new things 

 will give a zest to the pursuit that nothing else can furnish. 

 The cultural directions are plain and judicious, and they 

 have evidently been prepared by one who has experience 

 and who writes out of the abundance of experimental 

 knowledge. Very rarely does a book of this size contain 

 so much direct and helpful instruction, and, no doubt, its 

 neatly printed and well-ilhistrated pages will help to make 

 many a home more pleasant and cheerful. 



Notes. 



The California Wine-makers' Association have sold eighty- 

 five per cent, of the dry wine of the present year's crop at 

 prices which yield a good profit to the growers. This is the 

 first time for years that there has been a combination between 

 the makers of wine and the growers of grapes, and the result 

 is a profit for all and the avoidance of glutted markets. 



Gilbert White writes in The Natural History of Selborne 

 that when timbers were wanted to repair the bridge at the Toy, 

 near Hampton Court, there were found in a small wood in Sel- 

 borne, consisting of a few — we wish he had told just how many 

 — acres, twenty Oak-trees of the dimensions called for, namely, 

 fifty feet long and twelve inches in diameter at the little end. 

 Indeed, several of them were found to answer the description 

 at sixty feet long. The trees were cut probably about 1745, an> I 

 it is interesting to know that a century and a half ago Oaks of 

 this size were sold at twenty pounds apiece. 



Dandelions were opening on the sheltered lawns in the parks 

 and gardens of this city wherever the sun shone on Christmas 



