68 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 416. 



unsatisfied, and a foot more of netting would have been 

 covered. The expense of such an arrangement is light, and 

 the profit and pleasure arising from clean well-ripened fruit is 

 satisfactory in every way. 



Pittsford Mills, Vt. G. A. WoolsOn. 



Habits of Ferns. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Regarding the habits of Aspidium aristichoides (see 

 page 18), I think that an examination with an ordinary lens 

 will show that the fronds become prostrate through the decay 

 of the tissue at a point not far above the ground. To my mind, 

 these fronds are not " protecting themselves from snow," but 

 anticipating death, in order to give way to the new fronds next 

 spring. They are always when prostrate entirely limp at this 

 point just above the surface. 



A specimen at present in our window was taken from the 

 forest in November last. The matured outer fronds are pros- 

 trate, but the younger inner ones are as perfectly erect as ever. 

 At the time this plant was dug most of its neighbors had per- 

 fected the size of their fronds, and were then wholly prostrate. 

 The specimen in question was selected because of its evidently 

 less mature, and still erect, fronds. It is much admired by 

 visitors, few of whom know that it is one of our native Ferns. 



Oanford, N. J. C.S.Valentine. 



Meetings of Societies. 

 The Western New York Horticultural Society. — III. 



WILL IT PAY TO PLANT MORE APPLE ORCHARDS ? 



Mr. Willard thought that apple-growing was still too much 

 neglected. Orchards once profitable are now decaying ; many 

 are practically worthless, and in western New York there are 

 not enough young trees planted to take their places. The 

 acreage of other fruits is increasing, but the one kind of fruit 

 which a young farmer should plant, because he will be sure 

 in later life to reap the benefit of such an outlay, is the Apple. 

 The scab is the worst foe of Apple orchards, and the great 

 need is scab-proof varieties. The old Baldwin is one of the 

 kinds which are the worst affected. If badly attacked one season 

 the effects will continue the next year. The disease can be 

 held in check by spraying, and the trees should be strength- 

 ened by strong feeding. Varieties known to be almost scab- 

 proof should be selected, such as Duchess of Oldenburg, 

 Sutton's Beauty and Hubbardston. Sutton's Beauty is the best 

 variety we have, and will be free from scab in seasons when 

 the Baldwin is ruined. Mr. Willard had one tree with Long- 

 field and Baldwin grafted on the same root. Longfield bore 

 good fruit and smooth, when the Baldwin apples were worth- 

 less. Mr. Morris, of Ontario, said that Canadian apples sold 

 better in the market than the United States apples, not because 

 of freedom from scab, but because they were packed better. 

 Mr. Woolverton said that the Government of Ontario sent 

 three different teams of men to show fruit-growers how to 

 spray. They did the work well — sprayed in thirty different 

 places six times — and it was a very helpful experiment. He 

 found the Cranberry Pippin not superior in quality as a winter 

 apple, but scab-proof. It commands a good price in Liverpool 

 and Glasgow, and has been shipped, when carefully selected 

 and wrapped in tissue-paper, to New South Wales. The Bald- 

 wins did not stand the journey as well as the Cranberry Pippins, 

 which were considered the best apples there. Mr. Fowler said 

 that while the Ben Davis was not found in fancy-fruit stores . 

 the pie-bakers bought it by the carload. With many people 

 the Cranberry Pippin was no better than Ben Davis. The 

 Wealthy is apt to overbear, but, if thinned out, is an excellent 

 apple, and is practically scab-proof. In Chicago the Ben Davis 

 brings $2.50, while Snow apples brought out from cold storage 

 sold for $6. Mr. Van Deman said that the Mississippi Valley, 

 from Ohio to Kansas, was the true home of the Ben Davis, 

 and that the season was not long enough for it in New York 

 or Ontario. He spoke of the York Imperial as a good business 

 apple. Stark is not high enough in color, and is astringent in 

 quality. What the market demands is a rich, bright apple. 

 York Imperial is far better in quality than the Ben Davis. The 

 best fruit of this variety is grown in Pennsylvania, and it 

 stands high in Liverpool markets. Mr. Hale thought that there 

 was no better outlook for fruit-planting than winter apples of 

 high quality and bright color. It would pay in New England. 

 He proposed next spring to plant Sutton's Beauty, feed it well, 

 thin the fruit, and then watch and spray. 



THE CULTIVATION OF THE DEWBERRY. 



According to Mr. J. A. Wilcox, the growing of this fruit 

 began about twenty years ago, but not until within a dozen 



years has any attention been given to it in a large way. Of 

 about a dozen varieties the best for this region is the Lucretia, 

 and often where it is said to have failed the roots planted were 

 not true to name or the plants have received improper care. Mr. 

 Wilcox had increased his plantation from year to year, and with 

 continued satisfaction, and only regretted that he did not do so 

 more rapidly. This Dewberry was found in West Virginia by 

 a Mr. Williams, of Miami County. Some plants were sent to 

 his father and five to Mr. Alwell, in Illinois. These last grew 

 and matured, and from them all the stock has come. Dew- 

 berries do well on gravel, clay, loam and sandy loam. They 

 ripen the earliest on gravel, but the loam is the best in dry 

 seasons. They should not be planted where the roots will 

 heave or where the snow will blow off. They need all the 

 sunshine they can get and, therefore, should never be planted 

 under trees, although wind-breaks help them. They can be 

 transplanted with the green shoots started, if three or four 

 inches of the roots are kept, and they should be set about three 

 inches deep, with the soil compactly pressed about the roots, in 

 rows six feet apart, with the plants three feet apart in the row. 

 The plants should be kept clean and the surface loose by fre- 

 quent cultivation, and a growth of from three to six feet may 

 be expected the first year. Plants increase from the tips, which 

 often will color at the ends when they are ready to root. These 

 tips should be covered to encourage rooting. They will be 

 ready for this covering at different times, so the field should 

 be gone over two or three times to get them all. If covered 

 too soon the tip will keep growing and not root, and the cov- 

 ering will need to be repeated. When the buds start in the 

 spring plants should be pruned, and all the wood that has been 

 winter-killed should be taken out. Three canes three feet 

 long, or, as the bushes get older, five or six canes may be left. 

 A wire trellis, preferably three wires, the lower one being three 

 feet from the ground should be used, and the vines well spread 

 on the wires. The berries should be picked every other day 

 as soon as they are well formed and colored, and they will not 

 turn red if left in the sun after packing as blackberries do. 

 Cultivation after harvesting is not advised, nor is it advised 

 while the plants are in blossom, but the special merits of the 

 Dewberry are its large size and early ripening. Last year the 

 fruit was fit to market on the 30th of June, which was earlier 

 than usual and some two weeks ahead of blackberries. The 

 berries average twelve cents a quart, and the vines yield 

 2,000 quarts an acre, or under heavy fertilization 3,000 

 quarts. The demerits of the fruit are that it is not quite as 

 good as the best blackberries, and the plants are not perfectly 

 hardy. It is safest to protect even old plants, and it requires 

 more skill to grow them than it does the bush berries. So far 

 the plants are comparatively free from disease, the most 

 serious one being an insect which bores at the base of the 

 stalks. 



THE BUSINESS OF FRUIT-SELLING. 



Mr. J. H. Hale, of Connecticut, said that the marketing of 

 fruit begins properly with selecting the right varieties and 

 planting them properly. For complete success the fruit grower 

 must go to the wholesale market, to the retail market, and, if 

 possible, to the consumer, to learn just exactly what is wanted. 

 In this way the grower can, to a certain extent, educate the 

 market, which is also a good thing, but he must understand 

 primarily what the people want. The more time a grower 

 spends in the market the better is the form in which his goods 

 will be placed. A fine appearance opens the consumer's 

 pocket-book, and then quality keeps it open. To make a real 

 success one must have a genuine affection for his fruit. He 

 must believe in it, and he must impress this belief on his pack- 

 age. After he has done all this he must go to the dealer and 

 tell him what he proposes to do and impress this sincere inten- 

 tion upon him. The commission man must be made his 

 partner, and the grower should only take as a partner a man 

 who honestly loves his business, takes an interest in it for its 

 own sake and for his reputation sake, as well as for mere 

 money. The grower should induce the marketman to come 

 and look at his orchards, even if he has to pay his fare. Then 

 he can say, " I know this fruit, I know how it is picked, I saw 

 it packed and taken care of," and he will receive more for it 

 than if his interest was not thus aroused. To catch the eye 

 the fruit must come as near to maturity as possible to get its 

 proper color, and it will then hold the consumer, too, as its 

 finest flavor is only developed in these last hours. The rule 

 should be : Pick quickly, store promptly in a cool place, cure 

 carefully, pack honestly, and use such packages as the market 

 demands, as, for example, baskets for Philadelphia, boxes for 

 Chicago, etc. Honesty is the best policy; well-graded fruit 

 will sell for forty per cent, more than ungraded fruit from the 

 same locality. The Chautauqua grape shippers lose much in 



