572 



Garden and Forest 



[Number 197. 



spikes of flowers expanded on the plants now in the St. 

 Albans nursery. There are no less than fifteen fine flowers 

 on one spike ; another has pure white flowers, others pale 

 rose, and so on to the deep crimson of the variety known 

 as Schrccderianum. 



Vanda ccerulea. — Large importations of this Vanda have 

 recently reached England, chiefly through Messrs. Low & 

 Co. and Sander & Co. Many of the plants arrived in per- 

 fect health, having scarcely lost a leaf on the way. The 

 treatment required by Orchids of even the most delicate 

 constitution during transport is now so thoroughly under- 

 stood by experienced importers of Orchids that many 

 plants, which previously reached England with scarcely 

 any life left in them, are now brought long distances over 

 land and sea without much loss of vitality. As an instance 

 of this I may point to a plant of V. ccerulea, imported last 

 year, and flowered lately in Lord Rothschild's collection. 

 It was one plant, not a made-up specimen, and it bore sev- 

 enteen flower-spikes with over two hundred flowers, all 

 opened together. 



London. W. WatSOIl. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Small Fruits. 



ALLOW me to make a few observatious upon Mr. Hunn's 

 "Small-fruit Notes " in your issue of November nth. I 

 have not found Carman any earlier or better than Souhegan. 

 Lovett's Early and Brackett's 101 fruited with me this season 

 tor the first time, but the drought was so severe I defer an 

 opinion of them till another season. I fear they will prove 

 an easy prey to anthracnose, like all the Black Cap ' family. 

 I think No. 101 will be nearly equal to Gregg in size, more 

 hardy and of better quality, but not as sweet as Palmer. 

 Schaffer, for size and productiveness, beats them all; but it is 

 not hardy here, and suffers badly from anthracnose. 



A few years ago I was one of a club to purchase 10,000 or 

 more of Ouinby's Favorite Raspberry. Investigation as to 

 its origin resulted, in the statement of the party furnishing the 

 plants, that it came to him in a lot of Cuthberts, and proved so 

 superior to them that he was rooting the latter all out and 

 planting all his spare ground to the new foundling. He said 

 that he knew nothing of its origin, and cared less ; that it 

 would not increase its value a particle to know its parentage, 

 etc. When the plants fruited a small proportion proved to be 

 Cuthberts, or, at least, so nearly identical with the Cuthberts 

 I had that I could not detect the slightest difference, and the 

 remainder of the plants, fully two-thirds, if not more, were of 

 feebler growth, and produced a much smaller roundish berry, 

 many of which were imperfect and inclined to crumble. After 

 gathering three orfour crops I became disgusted with the whole 

 patch and tore them out. As far as I have learned, the ven- 

 ture with other- members of the club met the same fate. I 

 have never seen any mention of the variety since, till Mr. 

 Hunn's article met my eye. I had never made any report on 

 it, and should not now but for Mr. Hunn's note. He says : "It 

 resembles in a marked degree Cuthbert, both in growth of 

 canes and the questionable habit of growing a large number 

 of suckers ; in flavor it resembles the Cuthbert also." The 

 only difference he marks is that the fruits average larger, are 

 deep red and very firm ; but Cuthbert is also deep red and firm. 

 I have repeatedly examined Ouinby's Favorite, have picked 

 bushels of them, and am free to say I consider them Cuth- 

 berts, and nothing else. If there are two varieties there ought 

 to be some distinguishing features by whicli they can be recog- 

 nized. Variation in size may come from soil or cultivation, 

 and firmness may depend on the weather. I should like to 

 hear some further testimony. Perhaps Mr. Hunn's Ouinby 

 differs from ours. It is an important matter to have the iden- 

 tity of the plant established. 



Erie Blackberry seems to be mixed — some plants giving 

 heavy crops, a whole cluster ripening together ; others bear- 

 ing very lightly, and ripen gradually. They gave us a better 

 crop this season than they ever did, but they differ but little 

 from the Rochelle. They must be carefully picked and thor- 

 oughly ripened, or they are too sour ; but many persons 

 relish this acidity. The old Dorchester is the only blackberry 

 I ever found that I consider palatable in a fresh state unless 

 fully ripe. This need not be dead-ripe to be good ; but, after 

 all, I have never found the berry that outrivaled the Kittatiny, 

 all things considered. 



Of Black Currants, the English, Naples and Lee's Prolific 

 differ but little, and are the only ones tried. Beyond a few 

 bushes for those who like them, they are of little value. 



Montclair, N. J. E. Williams. 



Apples in 1891. 



Summer Apples.— The Early Harvest, so popular with our 

 fathers, is too far surpassed by recent acquisitions to be worth 

 growing. The Sweet Bough remains our best summer sweet 

 apple. It does not bear as well as formerly, nor are the trees as 

 healthy. All our sweet apples, with the exception of Talman's, 

 are favorites of the codlin moth. Red Astrachan has been over- 

 planted, and is no longer a profitable market sort, but is inval- 

 uable for home use. It is an enormous bearer in alternate 

 years. This year it was nearly a dead loss to large growers. 



Summer Rose is the most delicious of summer fruits. It is 

 a small apple of exquisite coloring, and overbears. It must 

 be thinned early after setting. It is not valuable for market. 

 Yellow Transparent is one of the Russian apples, of fine qual- 

 ity and great beauty. It bears when very young, and continues 

 a heavy cropper. It must not be too largely planted, as it 

 ripens with too many good rivals. Primate is an apple of 

 which too much cannot easily be said either as to quality, looks 

 or liberal yield. It is of Jhe first class. For table use it is not 

 surpassed at this season. Summer Strawberry ; this begins to 

 ripen close after Astrachan, and is not through till October. 

 For a table apple, it is one of the best. I know nothing finer to 

 pick from the tree and eat from hand. It has done admirably 

 this year. 



Autumn Apples.— Alexander, one of the Russian fruits, is 

 a fairly good apple every way — large, handsome, prolific. Fall 

 Pippin is a name given to several kinds of apples, but the one 

 entitled to the name is a large, extra fine, very old fruit, yellow 

 and rich. It drops too easily, and is unprofitable every way. 

 But as it ripens in November it is invaluable as a home fruit. 

 Fameuse, or Snow, surpasses all other late fall apples, either 

 for table or market. It is medium-sized, almost entirely red ; 

 quite a copy of Jonathan in size and color. It bears enor- 

 mously and ripens through October and November. It does 

 not rot easily, and, with a few others, fills the breach between 

 fall and winter fruits. Gravenstein is a September apple of 

 the finest quality and best size. It is equally good for table 

 and cooking. It begins to ripen early in September, and holds 

 out till the middle of October. 



Porter tallies very well in ripening with Gravenstein. It varies 

 in quality on different trees ; is best on old ones. It is a great 

 cropper, and this year thousands of bushels have gone to 

 waste. Autumn Strawberry is a noble apple, of medium size, 

 striped red. It is a first-class dessert fruit, and an excellent 

 cropper. Does rather better in Michigan than here. Hard- 

 ing is a delicious fruit, to which my attention has recently 

 been drawn, just in time to save it from extinction. It is a 

 seedling among the trees planted from seed by Dominie Kirk- 

 land, missionary to the Oneidas, and is one of the most admir- 

 able table apples I have ever eaten. It has been locally called, 

 sometimes, Kirkland ; but that name has gone to another 

 apple. It grows on the farm of Lyman Harding. It is ripe 

 through November, along with Fameuse, and is quite as 

 good and larger. 



Clinton, N. Y. £. P. Powell. 



Carnations. 



''T'HREE years ago my employer imported a number of Eng- 

 -*- lish tree, or winter-blooming Carnations, for the purpose 

 of comparing them with American kinds. The varieties were 

 imported for the best, and, no doubt, they were as good as any 

 grown abroad. We did not find one worth perpetuating, and 

 this was after what seems to have been a fair trial. The plants 

 were imported in the spring, and were evidently layered plants, 

 which had been kept over in a cold frame. As the American 

 method of preparing plants for blooming is very different, I 

 at once began to apply this treatment to them, with the object 

 of testing them along with the ordinary kinds in the green- 

 house the following winter. They were planted out with the 

 others in the open ground, and, being stocky plants, made 

 quite large stools. They were housed at the same time as the 

 others, and in every way were subject to the same treatment, 

 but refused to bloom until late in the spring, and conse- 

 quently were of no value for the purpose for which they were 

 imported. They behaved very much as ordinary summer- 

 blooming, or border Carnations. 



I did not, however, consider that this test was fair, and there- 

 fore I took " pipings " of these along with the American varie- 



