390 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 396. 



Willard ripens about May 20th, the Abundance from June loth 

 to June 15th, and the Burbank some ten days later. 



New Zealand seems to have a progressive Department of 

 Agriculture, if one can judge from the quality of the bulletins 

 and leaflets which it sends forth from time to time. A circu- 

 lar of suggestions for Arbor Day, containing hints for the way 

 in which the day should be celebrated, and particularly how 

 the trees should be planted and cared for afterward, has been 

 issued in ample time for their spring planting, which is, of 

 course, our autumn. A list of trees which are suitable for 

 various purposes in that country is published, and if the cele- 

 bration is any way general and conducted on the lines laid 

 down, it cannot be other than helpful in spreading the knowl- 

 edge of and love for trees. 



Mr. Andrew S. Fuller writes to American Gardening that 

 young and thrifty roots of Hickories, although smooth and 

 apparently without buds, have great power to generate adven- 

 titious ones, so that they can be used as cuttings for propagat- 

 ing these trees. Mr. Fuller has been growing some Pecans 

 from root-cuttings, and he notices a great variety in the forms 

 of the leaves, some of which, instead of being compound with 

 eleven to fifteen leaflets, have single leaves eight inches long 

 and half as broad ; others have two small leaflets at the base 

 of these which are scarcely larger than good-sized bracts. Of 

 course, this may be nothing but a temporary variation, but it is 

 an interestingdeparturefrom the normal type, especially since it 

 occurs only among plants which are grown from root-cuttings. 



Mr. Carman's Grape-vines were more heavily laden this 

 year than they have ever been, one reason for which he 

 ascribes to the fact that the rosebugs, although as numerous 

 as in other seasons, found all the food they needed on Spiraeas, 

 Viburnums, Magnolias, etc., until the grapes were well set. 

 The insect cares only for the pollen and the Bowers and never 

 attacks grapes of any size. He advises, therefore, intermingling 

 the vines with plants which flower at the same time the Grape 

 does and bear flowers which the chafers prefer to those of 

 the Grape. The insect has very decided preferences, and it 

 will devour the food it most relishes before it will attack any- 

 thing less palatable. For example, on Mr. Carman's grounds 

 it will destrov every flower of the Berckman's Grape, and even 

 eat the thin smooth leaves before it will take up with vines of 

 the pure Labrusca type. 



As an example of plant-breeding on scientific principles, Mr. 

 A. W. Slay maker writes to the Rural New Yorker of the 

 Oriole Strawberry. The blossoms of Bubach, a pistillate 

 variety of vigor and productiveness, were fertilized with pollen 

 from the Hoffman, an early southern variety, with vigorous 

 habit and fine fruit which lacks size. The seeds from this 

 cross were planted and two new varieties have been selected, 

 one named Oriole and the other Ideal. Oriole has all the most 

 desirable characteristics of the Bubach and an extra early 

 ripening season, and in this way it combines the good quali- 

 ties of both berries. It should be said that all the blossoms of 

 the Bubach parent plant, except those which were fertilized 

 with the southern sort, were taken off and the runners re- 

 moved the year before, so as to give the fruit originating from 

 the cross all possible vigor. 



A fortnight ago, in one of our leading fruit-stores, we saw 

 for the first time on sale in this city the apple known as the 

 Red Beitigheimer. They are apples of the first size, cream- 

 colored, with a crimson cheek, white firm flesh, a subacid 

 sprightly flavor, altogether a superior dessert fruit in quality 

 and appearance. Mr. J. B. Wagner, of Blue -Stores, New York, 

 who shipped the fruit, writes that it came from one tree 

 planted twelve years ago, although he has set out many more 

 in a new orchard. He describes the tree as a strong grower, 

 with sturdy branches, dark green foliage and a prolific bearer 

 of fair, even-sized and large fruit. Ellwanger & Barry, who 

 have fruited this apple in their experimental orchard for many 

 years, write that they have been so impressed with the size 

 and beauty of the fruit that they have given the tree promi- 

 nence in their catalogue. Dr. Hoskins writes that while it is 

 said to be of German origin, this variety is not inferior to the 

 Russian varieties in hardiness against cold. The season is 

 about the same as that of the Duchess of Oldenburg, to which 

 apple it is superior in dessert quality. Dr. Hoskins notes that 

 in Vermont the codling moth is very partial to the tree, but 

 this evil can be overcome by spraying. Whether owing to its 

 scarcity, or to its beauty and real value, the apples in market 

 here sold for twice as much as other varieties of the season. 



It is estimated that more than two thousand tons of Paris 

 green are annually used as an insecticide in the United States 

 since it is the most rapid and effective of the arsenical prepa- 



rations used for this purpose. The chief difficulty in using it is 

 the readiness with which it settles to the bottom of the tank of 

 spraying apparatuses. This is because it is less finely divided 

 than London purple, a point in which the latter compound has 

 a certain advantage. In the last number of Insect Life Dr. C. 

 L. Marlatt explains that there is no reason for this coarseness 

 of grain in Paris green, except that the market has demanded 

 a dark-colored article, and the darker color is due to the larger 

 size of the crystals. Paris green would be much more satis- 

 factory as an insecticide if it were reduced to a fine powder, 

 but it would then lose its intensity of color and become whitish, 

 which, in popular estimation, would indicate adulteration. 

 The fact is, that the manufacturer, who for years controlled 

 the market, did so because he had discovered a method of 

 crystallizing the product in unusually large particles, which 

 were, therefore, very deeply colored. Of course, it was less 

 valuable in this form, and yet the dark green large-sized crys- 

 tals were more difficult to manufacture and more expensive, 

 and the country went on using this for years, although a more 

 effective poison could have been made for less money. In 

 testing Paris green when reduced to fine powder. Dr. Marlatt 

 found that it remained in suspension three times as long as 

 the ordinary product did, while, undoubtedly, the fineness in 

 division made it more effective against insects. The last step 

 in the process of manufacturing Paris green is the combina- 

 tion with acetic acid. When, however, this acid is omitted, an 

 impalpable powder, instead of a crystalline product, is secured, 

 and this will remain in suspension almost perfectly for many 

 hours. Experiments are now in progress to ascertain whether 

 this can be used as a substitute for Paris green, to which it is 

 so superior in fineness, while it costs only half as much. 



New Jersey peaches of medium grades continue quite 

 plentiful, 51.50 a basket at retail being an average price, while 

 choice Smocks and Salwaysfrom western Maryland and Penn- 

 sylvania mountain orchards bring much higher prices. 

 Brazen Rareripes and Keyport Whites are now coming from 

 the extreme northern counties of New Jersey, and White 

 Heaths are due. Yellow peaches have, however, preference 

 over white fruit for preserving for home use. A small lot of 

 Rawles Janet apples came from southern California last week, 

 and they were considered by the trade as handsome as any 

 apples ever seen in this city. The largest weighed twenty- 

 four and a half ounces. The color is yellow, shaded with 

 red and striped with crimson. The flesh, which is yellow, 

 juicy and tender, has a vinous flavor, and by some is thought 

 to resemble the Greening apple in taste. This fruit, while 

 very popular in the south and south-west, has not yet been 

 produced in California in great abundance, although many 

 orchards are planted with it. More than 20,000 barrels of ap- 

 ples came into this city last week for local use, a few car-loads 

 of them from western New York and Ohio, the bulk from 

 near-by sections. Firm and well-colored Ben Davis, King, 

 Gravenstein, Alexander and Twenty-ounce Pippins are selling 

 to retail buyers for $2.75 to $3.50 a barrel, and a selected car- 

 load of fancy Jonathans have commanded higher prices. The 

 ordinary grades of apples now coming here can be bought as 

 low as fifty and sixty cents to $1.25 and $1,503 barrel in the 

 wholesale markets. The plentiful supply of apples this year, 

 at home and abroad, has made low prices, and recent sales of 

 American apples in Liverpool have netted hardly more than 

 half the returns of last year at this time. Greenings recently 

 brought $1.50 to $2.37, and Kings $3.00 to $4.62 a barrel at 

 wholesale in English markets, while $1.74 vvas an average 

 price at a recent sale in Liverpool. Up to September 14th 

 only 10,297 barrels of apples were sent to England from this 

 country and Canada, 27,399 barrels less than last year, when 

 our home crops were unusually small, but prices abroad were 

 high. The crop in this country is estimated at 7,000,000 to 

 10,000,000 barrels. Sixty-two car-loads of California fruits were 

 sold here in five days of last week. Among choice pears now 

 coming from that state are Block's Acme. These surpass 

 Beurre Clairgeau in size, and in color, which is olive and rus- 

 set, covered with a blush on one side. Selected specimens of 

 the largest size command the highest prices now paid for 

 pears. The increasing use of Alligator pears is evident in the 

 fruit-stores. In a large collection the variety of color which 

 individual fruits show is worthy of study, ranging from solid 

 green to bronze-purple, while some are almost black and 

 others a rich red. In one of the fancy-fruit stores elaborate 

 instructions for making salad of this fruit are furnished to 

 buyers. The price, twenty-five cents each, indicates the de- 

 mand for this fruit. A small shipment of mangoes arrived a 

 few days ago, and some prickly pears or Indian figs, as they 

 art known in the trade. "The decorative rose-pink specimens 

 of this latter fruit are used in making up steamer baskets. 



