354 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 179. 



Michel's Early is a strong, vigorous grower, with tall, erect 

 foliage, berries scarlet in color, of good size and quality, and 

 from four to five days earlier than any others in my collection. 

 It is moderately productive, and is desirable for family use on 

 account of its earliness and quality ; for these same reasons it 

 may be desirable for near markets. Rusk, or Lady Rusk, was 

 much more productive ; it is dark crimson in color, average 

 to large size, but it is in no way noteworthy. It is claimed 

 that this berry dries up without rotting, but this claim did not 

 prove valid. The Parker Earle has more of this quality than 

 Lady Rusk. We shall hold this berry for another season's 

 trial". Haverland is a handsome, perfect-shaped berry, long 

 cone-formed, with a neck and reflexed calyx, of very good 

 quality, and it is productive, all of which are prime requisites 

 in a berry for popular favor. Stayman's No. 1 is a good 

 grower, berry medium to large, scarlet, productive, but rather 

 acid ; it is better suited for market than for amateur purposes. 

 Cloud's Seedling is very nearly a reproduction of Crescent, and 

 is no better, if as good. 



Warfield has been praised without stint, and declared to be 

 the best of all. Grown in stools, thinly, it was of fair size, 

 slightly necked, calyx reflexed, bright, glossy crimson color, 

 attractive and handsome. But grown in matted rows, it was 

 small, ranking with Cloud and Crescent under like conditions. 

 I confess to disappointment as to size, and another season's 

 trial is necessary to determine whether to keep it longer or 

 not. Miami is a large dark crimson berry, more flattened 

 than elongated, fairly productive and a vigorous grower, with 

 no remarkable qualities so far as observed. Pine-apple is the 

 most rank and vigorous grower of all. Its dark green foliage 

 is pleasant to look at, but its few large, long, deformed, light 

 dull scarlet berries are a poor substitute for good strawberries. 

 It seems to be more fruitful in matted rows than in stools. 

 Gandy is a light berry, and is large, handsome and good. The 

 plants are strong and stocky, but do not promise to yield 

 abundantly. Crawford is another large handsome berry of 

 good quality. In stools the growth of plants was satisfactory, 

 but the matted row resulting from plants set last spring, pre- 

 sented a sorry contrast to the fall-set plants, not fifty feet dis- 

 tant. Like the Gandy, it appears to lack the elements of 

 productiveness, but both are deserving of further trial. 



The above ten varieties comprise the bed of fall-set plants 

 mentioned in Garden and Forest last autumn. They gave 

 the best results I ever had from fall-set plants. The plants 

 were taken from matted rows resulting from spring-set plants, 

 thus giving two tests of each variety under the two systems, 

 with results decidedly in favor of the stools from fall-set 

 plants, with the single exception of the Pine-apple, and that 

 is too poor to be taken into the account. 



Shaw is a large berry of the Sharpless type, and the few 

 plants I had in fruit promised as well as that variety ever did, 

 with fewer deformed berries. A further trial is necessary to 

 fix its value. Beederwood promised well ; it is fairly produc- 

 tive, with large handsome berries. I shall give it another sea- 

 son's trial. Bubaeh 132 is a scarlet berry of good size and 

 perfect shape, but seems to melt down if kept over-night, and 

 is therefore not a good market berry. 



Great Pacific is a fine, vigorous grower, but in size of fruit, 

 quality and productiveness it proved a most dismal failure. I 

 shall let a few of the plants set last fall remain over for another 

 season. Gipsey proved little better than Wilson, and is disap- 

 pointing on my soil. 



Saunders, on fall-set plants, is large, handsome and good, 

 and is very promising. This, with Gandy and Crawford, forms 

 a trio of large berries that promise to supersede the Sharpless. 

 Another season will fix their status in the long list of new ones, 

 and the prospect is good for their standing near the head. 

 The best and most remarkable of the new varieties is Parker 

 Earle. The plant is stocky, vigorous and immensely produc- 

 tive. The berries are medium to large. They will not com- 

 pare in size with Sharpless, Gandy, Saunders, Bubaeh, etc., 

 but they are of good shape, handsome, and of good flavor, 

 calyx reflexed, seeds prominent, after the type of Boyden's 30. 

 It sets twice as much fruit as it should, for it is, I think, im- 

 possible for any plant to fully develop and mature so many 

 blossoms. It appears to have good keeping qualities. At the 

 first picking I gathered a quart without moving out of my 

 tracks, a thing I never remember to have done before. Shus- 

 ter's Gem and Lovett's Early were set later in the fall, and no 

 fair estimate can be made ; so far they show no remarkable 

 features. Davis' Numbers Ten, Twenty and Twenty-five are 

 vigorous growers, producing large handsome fruit, but the 

 quality is inferior. Of nearly a dozen other new varieties not. 

 any, thus far, give promise of becoming standard sorts. Out of 

 thirty new varieties fruiting this season, many of which cost 



one and two dollars a dozen, only about one-third seem to be 

 worthy of further trial, and probably not more than half of that 

 number will be regarded as standard sorts five years hence. 



Among the older tested varieties the Pearl stands at the 

 head with me. It is early, handsome, large, perfect in shape, 

 has a reflexed calyx, is productive and very good in quality. 

 ■It possesses more points of excellence than any other variety I 

 know of. Next to Pearl is Bubaeh, altogether a different type 

 of berry, much larger, very productive, but not as good in 

 quality. Jessie is better in quality, but not as large as Bubaeh, 

 and often ripens unevenly. It was better in this respect this 

 season than ever before. Belmont nearly equals the Sharp- 

 less in size and is of better form, but does not produce as 

 heavily. Jersey Queen has many friends ; it is a late, large, 

 handsome berry. With good care it will please those who 

 like a rich acid berry. Jewell is a beautiful berry, but is too 

 uncertain. It is very much given to blight here, from which 

 all varieties have been exceptionally free this season. 



Some large growers around Newark grow the Downing and 

 Champion almost exclusively. About Irvington and Hilton 

 the Great American takes the lead. Having found a berry 

 which satisfies the requirements of their soils, the growers are 

 content to let well enough alone ; but should these varieties 

 fail, as they may in time, they will be compelled, as I have 

 been, to try other varieties, until they find suitable ones to take 

 their places. 



The best variety must be a matter for each grower to deter- 

 mine for himself, and when it is found it should be treated 

 generously and grown as long as it continues to do well. The 

 experiments here recorded are by no means conclusive, and 

 allowance must be made for the soil, season, etc. The soil 

 was a light clay loam, and the results would, no doubt, be 

 different on a sandy loam or a heavy clay soil. Many of the 

 varieties which are nearly worthless with me may prove of 

 value under different conditions. Of course, it is unfair to 

 condemn any variety for its behavior in one soil. Under 

 different circumstances it may be good enough to fulfill the 

 anticipations of its originator, although it must be confessed 

 that these hopes are often more rosy than any experience will 

 justify. 



Montciair, N.J. E. Williams. 



Stray Notes from the Arnold Arboretum. — VI. 



Syringa pubescens (see Garden and Forest, vol. i., p. 415) 

 flowers with the common Lilac. It is a slender upright-growing 

 shrub with dark green ovate leaves, which are much smaller 

 than those of the other cultivated Lilacs. The corolla of the 

 flower consists of a narrow limb, with very short oblong lobes 

 and a long slender tube ; it is rose-colored at first, but turns 

 pale or almost white before fading. The clusters of flowers, 

 which are exceedingly fragrant, are small as compared with 

 those of other Lilacs, but they are produced in the greatest 

 profusion, and quite cover the branches of well-established 

 plants. This species has never flowered as freely or pro- 

 duced such a charming effect as it did during the past spring ; 

 and there is now every reason to believe that it will prove a 

 first-class plant, particularly useful for the decoration of small 

 gardens, in which the other Lilacs might occupy too much 

 space. The seeds from which the principal supply of the 

 plants raised in the Arboretum were derived were sent here 

 in 1882 by Dr. Bretschneider, at that time medical attache" to 

 the Russian legation at St. Petersburg, to whom the Arbore- 

 tum is indebted for the number of valuable and interesting 

 plants. Living plants were received about the same time 

 from the Arboretum Segretzianum, in France, and later it 

 has been sent from other European gardens usually under the 

 name of S. villosa, a very different plant, and a more valuable 

 one, perhaps, from a decorative point of view, as it flowers 

 several weeks after the common Lilac, or about the middle of 

 June — that is, at the time when many shrubs have passed their 

 flowering period. 



S. villosa (see Garden and Forest, vol. i., p. 521) is also a 

 native of northern China and is one of the plants sent by Dr. 

 Bretschneider, and, like the last-described species, promises 

 to be a real acquisition to American gardens. It comes from 

 northern China and seems identical with the Syringa of the 

 Himalayas, 5. Emodi, and with S. yosikcea, of whose native 

 country a good deal was said in a recent issue of Garden and 

 Forest. This, however, is a question which need not be 

 discussed in this connection, and it is sufficient to say that 

 the plant grown here as 6*. Emodi, when it does flower, 

 produces panicles which are smaller and much less beau- 

 tiful than those of the north China plant ; and that S. 

 Josikcea, which flowers a week or perhaps ten days 

 later, is in every respect less beautiful and desirable. The 



