20 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 307. 



this Richardia has not the attractions of the useful old R. 

 ^Ethiopica, or the new yellow-spathed R. Elliottiana and R. 

 Pentlandi, nevertheless the development of the vigorous plants 

 now growing in England will be watched with interest, since 

 they will be worth looking after by hybridizers, and are certain 

 to find many admirers among those who take an interest in 

 what is novel and unorthodox among garden-plants. 



Mr. S. D. Willard, of Geneva, New York, stated at the late 

 meeting of the Ohio Horticultural Society that the Harris is 

 the earliest variety of Apricot grown in western New York, 

 and it ripens fruit about the 15th of July. The tree is of dwarf 

 habit ; the fruit is large and of good flavor. Harris and Mont 

 Gammet are good varieties for home use, and St. Ambrosia is 

 good for market purposes. Some trees near Geneva have 

 borne five or six bushels in a single season, which have sold 

 for ten dollars a bushel. The market, however, is limited, 

 although the canneries would probably use all the surplus. 

 New York state apricots, when canned and sold on their merits 

 in the Boston market, brought titty per cent, more than the 

 same fruit from California. The curculio on the Apricot is 

 fought in the same way that it is on the Plum, but it can be 

 conquered more easily. When Plums are grown near Apricots 

 the curculio seems to give its principal attention to the Plums. 



A late bulletin of the Hatch Experiment Station of Massa- 

 chusetts gives a continuation of some experiments to test the 

 influence of electricity on the growth of plants. A bed was 

 prepared and equipped with an apparatus by which an elec- 

 trical current could be controlled and measured — that is, a 

 given amount could be applied to the soil for a given time. 

 Professor Clarence D. Warner, who made the tests, concludes 

 that some kinds of seeds will germinate more quickly, and cer- 

 tain plants will blossom sooner and ripen fruit earlier when they 

 are subjected to these electrical influences. Plants standing 

 near the electrode developed a larger growth of roots and 

 foliage than those more distant, and vegetables experimented 

 with were not injured by a current of thirty-nine amperes with 

 a voltage of fifty-three, but rather were stimulated in growth. 

 Even it the foregoing inferences are correct, it is admitted that, 

 with our present knowledge, the use of electricity in growing 

 vegetables cannot be considered practical or profitable. 



After the leading article of this issue was ready for the press, 

 a remarkable remonstrance against the abandonment of the 

 uniform practice of this city in treating its parks as works of 

 art was presented to the Park Board. This remonstrance 

 is signed by the presidents and many of the executive officers 

 of all the societies in this city which have to do in any way 

 with art, the list including officers of the Municipal Art Asso- 

 ciation, theSociety of American Artists, the National Academy 

 of Design, the "Architectural League, the American In- 

 stitute of Architects, the Art Students' League, the Sculp- 

 ture Society, the American Fine Arts Society and others. 

 Apart from the interests which they represent, the signers 

 of this protest are individually among the best- known 

 and most highly respected citizens of New York, and the 

 weight of their influence against this departure from the 

 established policy of creating public parks under the direction 

 of trained skill and cultivated taste, ought to induce the ma- 

 jority of the Park Board either to reconsider their plans or to 

 give sufficient reason for their unprecedented action. 



The practice of coloring flowers artificially is not unknown 

 in this country. White Carnations, Chrysanthemums and other 

 flowers are tinted by placing their stems in water which con- 

 tains some dye. Bulbous plants are treated by cutting off the 

 tips of the roots, slicing the bulbs in one or two places, and 

 then allowing the plant to steep in the tincture until the flowers 

 begin to color, when the bulbs are replaced in the pot, covered 

 with some earth, and the flowers are allowed to finish coloring 

 there. Of course, this practice is to be altogether condemned, 

 except in the production of occasional curiosities. Still worse, 

 however, is the artificial coloring of fruit, which, as we learn 

 from the Revue Horticole, is practiced sometimes in France, 

 where, we believe, this ingenious coloring of flowers first 

 originated. It seems that when plums are too green they are 

 coated with acetate of copper or sulphate of copper; that 

 lemons when too pale are tinted up with citronine, the green 

 spots being imitated with " diamond green," whatever that 

 may be. Strawberries are colored also by sprinkling them 

 with some chemical, and peaches are delicately tinted with a 

 mixture applied with a brush through a zinc stencil-plate 

 pierced with holes. In melons a tube is introduced through 

 which atropeoline, with a little essence of melon, is put into 

 the centre, and new varieties of apples and pears are con- 

 trived by using analine dyes. We hope that it will be a long 



time before our fruit-dealers become experts in these devices 

 to make bad fruit salable. 



The Experiment Station of California is sending out to the 

 farmers and gardeners of that state many seeds and plants for 

 testing. All who desire these seeds or plants make an appli- 

 cation, and are required to contribute a small amount to en- 

 sure a personal interest in what they receive, and they assume 

 an obligation to report the results of their experience. Among 

 the plants now offered tor distribution are some varieties of 

 table Grapes from Persia, which have been praised by all trav- 

 elers. The vines belong to the species Vitis vinifera, but the 

 fruit has quite a distinctive character when compared with the 

 varieties grown in the west of Europe. The varieties which 

 have already fruited at the station ripen early, about with the 

 Sweetwater, and as they have a much firmer flesh and tougher 

 skin than that variety, they may prove very valuable for early 

 shipping. The berries are long, oval in form, of large size and 

 good quality. Ten varieties are named, .some of which are 

 bright red, others light yellow, others green and others black. 

 More than forty species of ftalian Wine Grapes, received 

 through the kindness of Count G. di Rovasenda, of Turin, are 

 also offered. The principal value of these Grapes for cultiva- 

 tion in California, where the climate is very similar to that of 

 Italy, is the remarkably high acidity of the fruit, together with 

 the large proportion of sugar. The fruit is astringent, and 

 yields wines which are in large demand for home use and ex- 

 port on account of their good keeping qualities, deep color, 

 agreeable acidity and vinous flavor. Their astringency is re- 

 duced with age, and they become delicate first-class wines. 

 The trees in the nursery of the discontinued Board of Forest 

 Commissioners are also offered to the people of the state for 

 planting on public grounds surrounding state and county 

 buildings, city and village parks and school-grounds. In the 

 bulletin which announces these offerings for distribution the 

 English Oak is said to have proved very satisfactory as a 

 rapid-growing hard-wood and shade tree in the coast region of 

 California, but as it is rather difficult to transplant, the station 

 offers to send acorns to all those who desire to start trees where 

 they are sure of a permanent place. 



Lemons have been remarkably scarce in this city during the 

 past two months ; the few cargoes which arrived in December 

 were quickly distributed here and in western cities, and New 

 York dealers have at times been compelled to draw on Boston 

 for supplies. In November, when the Sicily fruit is due here, 

 there were no imports of lemons, against 120,000 boxes re- 

 ceived the year before during that month. The lemon season 

 was unusually backward, and the very low prices obtained last 

 year, together with the alarm on account of cholera, dis- 

 couraged shipments ; importations have been further delayed 

 by unfavorable voyages of the Mediterranean fruit steamers. On 

 Monday of this week a consignment of 17,000 boxes ot Mes- 

 sina, Palermo and Catania lemons was sold at auction at high 

 prices. Well-known brands brought from $4.25 to $500 a 

 box, while in January, 1893, "fancy" lemons sold at from 

 $2.25 to $2.75, and those of fair quality realized but $1.75 a box. 

 The sale began with high-grade Messina fruit, but so bare was 

 the market that prices advanced as the sale progressed, and 

 toward the close, Catanias, the lowest grade of lemons, sold 

 for as much as the best Sicily fruit. These high prices were 

 forced by large orders from the west, and in an hour and 

 twenty minutes, lemons to the value of $70,000 were 

 sold. An average supply is expected during this month, so 

 that lower prices are likely to follow soon. Along with the 

 lemons were sold 2,200 boxes of Sicily oranges, at $1.80 to 

 $2.10 a box. This fruit, while inferior in flavor to that from 

 Florida, is in demand for its superior keeping qualities, and is 

 therefore preferred by small dealers. The same general con- 

 ditions apply to foreign oranges as to lemons, and but 1,700 

 boxes came into this port during last month, whereas 72,000 

 boxes were received in December, 1892. The orange crop in 

 Florida is larger than ever before, and 406,600 boxes of 

 this fruit had been received in New York alone by local deal- 

 ers at the close of December. Since 1884, when only 600,000 

 boxes of oranges were shipped from Florida, the trade has 

 steadily increased, and it is estimated that shipments this year 

 will reach 4,500,000 boxes. Prices for Florida oranges at this 

 time range from $1.25 to $2.40 a box. Pineapples maybe had 

 throughout the entire year, and various grades are now in 

 abundant supply. Choice fruit from Havana can be bought 

 as low as twenty-five cents at retail. Selected Florida pineap- 

 ples bring as much as seventy-five cents each, while a small 

 supply from the Azores last week sold for a dollar to a dollar 

 and a half apiece. These were considered equal to the best 

 pineapples ever seen here, both in quality and appearance. 



