48 



Garden and Forest 



[Number 467. 



four to six inches, and the tree attains a height of fifteen to 

 twenty feet. 



The fruit is much larger than in any wild forms which I 

 have seen, perhaps ranging from three-eighths to half an inch 

 in diameter. It also has much less astringency, and what- 

 ever remains of this entirely disappears with cooking. The 

 fruit is much used both for pies and sauce, and is also canned 

 for winter use. Any criticism as to its quality in these forms 

 would be that it lacks in pronounced flavor rather than that it 

 possesses any strong or unpleasant ones. It does not make a 

 rich sauce, but one which is, on the whole, very cooling and 

 agreeable. 



It is not necessary to cook the fruit in order to dispel its 

 astringency. Those most familiar with its use have learned 

 that when the fruit is fully ripe, if it is put into a cloth sack and 

 rolled back and forth or shaken in a closed vessel, this quality 

 disappears. Treated in this way and served with sugar and 

 cream, like peaches or other fresh fruit, it is a dish by no 

 means to be passed by. I do not remember that the fruit was 

 ever used for jelly, but, of course, it might be and perhaps is. 



There are certain qualities possessed by this fruit which 

 seem to make it worthy of being better known than it now is. 

 In the first place, it ripens at a time when other cherries are 

 gone. Furthermore, the tree is uniformly productive,.seldom, 

 if ever, failing to yield a crop. Although small, the fruit is 

 borne in clusters, so that it is quickly and easily picked. It also 

 has the quality of remaining a long time on the tree after 

 ripening, which is a desirable feature for home use. The tree 

 is apparently well able to care for itself, for all of those which 

 I have observed have been growing absolutely without care. 

 It seems further that it must have few serious enemies, other- 

 wise it would not prove so uniformly productive. As to its 

 longevity I cannot testify. Among the trees of my earliest 

 remembrance several are gone, while others, when I last saw 

 them, were still yielding their annual crop of fruit. 



The chief objection against this little recognized claimant for 

 admission to our gardens is its small size and the consequent 

 number of pits. If the suggestion of one of your correspon- 

 dents for a pitting machine were to take tangible shape it 

 would add greatly to the importance of this fruit. Indeed, there 

 seems to be no reason why such a machine should not be as 

 readily devised for cherries of this size as for larger ones. It 

 is possible that the same machine might answer for both, for 

 in size these fruits are about intermediate between the wild 

 choke cherry and the Early Richmond. As commonly served 

 the pits are left in, and in that case it becomes largely a ques- 

 tion of leisure, for while they are easily removed it takes time 

 to do it. 



So far as I have learned the history of this fruit from inqui- 

 ries made in northern Pennsylvania where I have known it, 

 the original trees were brought to that region from Connec- 

 ticut by one of the older settlers. The trees sprout from the 

 roots to some extent, and these sprouts have served as a 

 means of distribution in this farming community, so that it is 

 not at all an uncommon fruit in that immediate vicinity. As 

 to its remoter history I know nothing. Probably it is merely 

 an improved form originally selected from some hedgerow. 

 The variation in size of fruit which these wild groups present 

 certairdy lends color to such a supposition. 



University of Nebraska. Fred IV. Card. 



Notes on the Hybrid of Maize and Teosinthe. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — In the American Museum of Natural History, New 

 York City, there is an ear of corn displayed in the room on the 

 ground-floor at the left-hand side of the main entrance which 

 was collected by Carl Lumholz, the explorer, among the timid 

 Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. It is identical in all respects 

 with the form which I described in Garden and Forest 

 (vol. ix., page 522), as produced by crossing, for three seasons 

 successively, Teosinthe and Maize. It is interesting to note 

 the occurrence of this form among a wild tribe which comes 

 little in contact with white men. 



Dr. Nicolas Leon, of Mexico, informs me that this hybrid is 

 encountered among the Mixes and the Zapotecs inhabiting the 

 state of Oaxaca, and that there it is called Maiz de los gentiles. 



Another interesting fact concerning Maize and Teosinthe is 

 one made known by Dr. William Trelease, of the Missouri 

 Botanical Garden. It is well known that Corn smut, Ustilago 

 Zea-Mays, fastidiously confines itself to the Maize-plant, being 

 found on no other plant. Dr. Trelease discovered that it also 

 grows parasitically on Teosinthe, a fact which also points to 

 the close affinity of Maize and Teosinthe, if they are not 

 identical. 



University of Pennsylvania. /• W, Harshbergc'r. 



Meetings of Societies. 



The Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



"THE twenty-eighth annual meeting of this society, recently 

 *■ held at Lincoln, was devoted largely to forestry and land- 

 scape-gardening. In the first paper presented, Mr. Peter 

 Youngers, of Geneva, spoke of the trees which had proved 

 especially adapted to the conditions and climate of Nebraska. 

 The American Elm leads all other trees as a shade-tree for that 

 state, although, of course, it is not as good as some others 

 for its timber. The Honey Locust and the Green Ash have 

 been almost universally satisfactory, while the Scotch and 

 Austrian Pines in their younger stages are thrifty growers. 

 The Black Walnut flourishes in moist soil, and the wild Black 

 Cherry makes a rapid growth for a hardwood tree, although it 

 has suffered from sun-scald during recent dry years. There has 

 been an astonishing mortality among Mulberry-trees during 

 these same dry years. Mr. Harrison, of Weeping Water, also 

 spoke in high terms of the Honey Locust, especially for its 

 power of resisting drought. 



Dr. C. E. Bessey, in speaking of the distribution of the forest- 

 trees in Jhe state, defined native trees as all those which were 

 found here by white settlers, although it is possible that the 

 Indians may have introduced some of these. Pinus ponderosa 

 has come down the streams from the west, and remnants of 

 these trees are found much farther eastward than they now 

 grow. Some discussion about the Diamond Willow followed, 

 and persons most familiar with the woodcraft of the state were 

 evidently not ready to relinquish their belief in this tree as a 

 distinct type or species. Many others thought that its peculiar 

 formation is due to individual peculiarities or the work of 

 insects. Dr. Bessey gave an interesting account of the range 

 of most of the well-known trees of the state, and, among other 

 things, he stated that the Hickories have had a very hard time 

 in Nebraska, and for the most part only creeping up the 

 streams a little way. 



Professor F. W. Taylor made a trip through Russia last sum- 

 mer, and in speaking of horticulture in that country he stated 

 that little fruit is grown in the latitude of St. Petersburg — a few 

 strawberries and fewer bush fruits, and no apples what- 

 ever. The latter fruit is hardly seen as far north as Moscow, 

 although the traveler going south begins to come into the 

 region of cherries at this point. The Cherry-trees are all short- 

 lived, grown on their own roots, and new sprouts are allowed 

 to come up about the base to take the place of the old trunk 

 as soon as that fails. It is not probable that these trees would 

 last ten years in the climate of Nebraska, being all dwarfs of 

 the English Morello type. Russian varieties of Apples are 

 very local, and they are poor, as a rule. There are no great 

 nurseries which serve as centres of distribution, and therefore 

 these varieties are confined largely to the immediate sections 

 where they originated. This is the reason for the confused 

 and hopeless state of the nomenclature of the Russian fruit- 

 trees which have been sent to this country. No doubt, some 

 of these Russian fruits have enabled the farmers of the north- 

 west to grow some kind of an apple in a more trying climate 

 than would have been possible with our ordinary varieties, but 

 the more we know of the Russian Apples the less we find in 

 them of value. 



Dr. Ward talked in an entertaining way of the impressions 

 which he had received of the forest-gardens of the Harz 

 Mountains. This region is some fifty miles long and half as 

 broad, and one who looks from the summits of the ranges is 

 impressed by the smoothness of the landscape and the check- 

 ered appearance of the woods made by the alleys running 

 between forest blocks. These alleys run perfectly straight 

 without regard to the contours of the land, and are kept clean 

 and free from all vegetable growth. The squares are of dif- 

 ferent sizes, but all the trees in the same square are of the 

 same size. For a small fee people have permission to gather 

 limbs or forest material from the ground, but no axe is allowed 

 to be taken into the woods. A cart for carrying away the col- 

 lected material may be brought and left at the roadside, but 

 cannot be taken into the forest. Trees to be cut are marked 

 by the forester and the measure is recorded, so that when the 

 wood is piled up at the roadside the amount must correspond 

 with the measurement. At various points selected with refer- 

 ence to their soil and aspect there are clearings for the homes 

 of the foresters surrounded with beds of forest seedlings. The 

 woods are very carefully protected against any intrusion, no 

 one being allowed to light a fire anywhere, with no smoking 

 even in the grass by the roadside, and no hunting except by 

 Government permits issued to the foresters and to individuals 

 at a certain fee. Visitors, however, can go where they will, 



