.November 25, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



559 



Apples, and the Flemish Beauty Pear. At my lake-shore farm 

 I cannot make them thrive, but they all do much better less 

 than two miles away across the water, and 200 feet higher on 

 my own side of it. 



The cause is not quite the same in all cases. In fact I am 



Fig. 88. — Pelleea Pringlei, n. sp. — See page 555. 



not quite sure that I fully know the cause why fruit-trees that 

 fail on the east shore endure the winter on the west. It may 

 be in the different angle which the trunks of trees on the re- 



spective slopes present to the sun at different times of the 

 day ; or it may be in the greater angle of the western shore, 

 which slopes steeply to the lake, while the eastern is a broad 

 plain that receives the down-pouring cold air-streams from 

 the eastern hills and retains them, while similar air-currents 

 on the west discharge themselves quickly upon and 

 spread over the lake. 



But one thing is certain, namely, that these cold, 

 invisible torrents of air, pouring down from the 

 high valleys, must be taken account of in the se- 

 lection of varieties, especially for a commercial 

 orchard. The land east of Memphremagog rises 

 in great steps, about four miles wide, each forming 

 nearly level areas, upon which are some of the finest 

 grain and dairy farms in New England. On the first 

 and second of these narrow plains or benches corn 

 is grown without difficulty ; but on those higher up 

 it is planted only for fodder and ensilage, on account 

 of late and early frosts ; though otherwise these 

 high farms are rather the best in their yield of the 

 small grains, potatoes and grass, and are by no 

 means inferior for orcharding, the winter's severest 

 cold being less than below, while the shorter spring 

 and fall ensures better keeping quality in the fruit. 

 It would surprise some to know that in our hills, 

 and in northern Maine and Canada, the Oldenburgh 

 apple is often kept far into winter ; and this also 

 throws a clear light upon the fact, often commented 

 upon as unfavorable to the truth of what is stated by 

 Russians in regard to their winter fruits, which, in 

 some cases, hardly keep into winter at all in Iowa 

 and Minnesota. But when we remember the differ- 

 ences caused by both latitude and elevation these 

 discrepancies are reconciled. Seeing the differences 

 made in the same direction within a distance of 

 twenty miles in my own county, I am enabled easily 

 to understand that apples from central Russia, be- 

 tween latitudes fifty and sixty degrees, may be all- 

 winter keepers, while the same fruit grown in Iowa 

 and Minnesota, between forty and fifty degrees, may 

 show very differently. 



Newport, Vt. T. H. HoskltlS. 



Notes on Chrysanthemums. 



S we have had no public competition of Chrysan- 

 themum-growers in New York for some years, 

 the recent show in Madison Square Garden was of 

 great interest to those who have watched the rise of 

 this flower into favor. John Thorpe labored for 

 some years to convince the florists that the Chry- 

 santhemum was destined to become of great value 

 as a market flower, but for a time he had small 

 success. But, judging from the recent show, it 

 would seem that nearly all the prominent market- 

 growers of cut flowers are now large growers of 

 Chrysanthemums, and we have been able to observe 

 the results which have followed their development 

 into true greenhouse plants. The approved method 

 of cultivation now seems to be the growing of plants 

 entirely under glass, planted out either on benches 

 or in solid beds. This method seems to have its 

 dangers. The flowers at the recent show were not 

 lacking in that refinement and purity of color which 

 is shown in flowers grown under glass, and they 

 were of good size and form, with abundant foliage. 

 But why should flowers, some of which were appar- 

 ently as solid as a stone-cutter's mallet one day, melt 

 off the next as rapidly as some roses. This certainly 

 is not the best culture of the Chrysanthemum, which, 

 when properly grown, is one of the most lasting of 

 flowers. Before me, as I write, is a vase of flowers 

 in fair freshness, and they were plucked a fortnight 

 since, and have had to endure the atmosphere of a 

 furnace-heated room. I do not mean to say that 

 soft flowers were universal at the late exhibition 

 here, for there were notable exceptions, but they 

 were so frequent as to be a subject of much com- 

 ment. 



The cultivation of the Chrysanthemum is so well 



understood now, and it is such a simple matter to 



secure large well-formed blooms, that there is little 



excuse for the production of such disappointing 



flowers, the fault, of course, being caused by overheating and 



lack of air in the houses. The fact cannot be ignored that the 



Chrysanthemum is a hardy flower, naturally blooming at a 



A ! 



