48 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



the pollen is applied. Whatever is employed 

 for protection must be light and translucent, 

 and be removed immediately the fruit is set, or 

 failure will result. 



A few good Apples have been recorded from 

 direct crossing since Knight's time, such as 

 Sturmer Pippin, raised at Sturmer in Sussex 

 from crossing Ribston Pippin with Nonpareil. 

 The late Mr. Thomas Laxton also commenced 

 crossing amongst Apples, but his attention was 

 diverted to Strawberries before he had accom- 

 plished very much, though several of his seed- 

 lings are still in cultivation. In more recent 

 times Mr. Charles Ross, Welford Park Gardens, 

 Newbury, has done some systematic crossing 



Fig. 846.— Hybrid Crab Apple— Leopold de Rothschild (John Downie 

 Crab x Cox's Orange Pippin). (J.) 



with the result that several seedlings appear 

 likely to take a high place, such as Mrs. Philli- 

 more from Cox's Pomona and Mr. Gladstone, 

 and Charles Ross (see Plate) from Cox's Orange 

 and Peasgood's Nonesuch. Messrs. J. Veitch 

 & Sons have also turned their attention to 

 the improvement of Apples, and already they 

 have fruited several remarkable seedlings, such 

 as Langley Pippin from Mr. Gladstone crossed 

 with Cox's Orange, and Leopold Rothschild 

 (fig. 846) from John Downie Crab crossed with 

 Cox's Orange. The latter is a similar experi- 

 ment to some of those tried by Knight, and 

 the resulting cross has small fruits very freely 

 produced, and it is both ornamental and useful. 

 If this is again crossed with other Apples a 

 distinct and valuable type may be produced. 



In the United States Experimental Stations 

 systematic work is being performed with the 

 native Crabs and the Apple, and the results so 

 far achieved were thus referred to by Prof. L. 

 Bailey, of the Cornell University, at the Royal 

 Horticultural Society's Hybridization Conference 



in 1899:— "The Prairie States Crab (Pyrus 

 Ioensis) has hybridized with the common Apple, 

 producing a race which has been described as a 

 species. These hybrids promise something of 

 the mid-continental region. But perhaps the 

 largest crossing experiments ever made in North 

 America is in the amalgamation of various races 

 and varieties of Pyrus Malus, in the hope of 

 securing adaptable varieties for the western 

 Mississippi valley and the cold North, The 

 Russian races of Apples and the Siberian Crab 

 (Pyrus baccata) are some of the stocks which 

 have been used. Budd long ago began this 

 crossing work, and some of the seedlings are 

 now bearing at the Iowa Agricultural College. 

 To give an idea of how extensively this 

 work is prosecuted, I may say that Craig 

 made over 5000 Apple crosses in Iowa in 

 1899. For one thing a man was sent to 

 Arkansas, a distance of 500 miles, to col- 

 lect pollen of given local varieties, and 

 this was used on the Iowa flowers. This 

 work is systematized between the Iowa 

 Experimental Station and the fruit-growers 

 of the State." 



Besides the improvement of the fruit, 

 which is of course the most important 

 object, in crossing attention should be 

 given to securing robust habit, a disease- 

 resisting constitution, and early fertility. 

 It might be possible to obtain varieties 

 whose flowers were better able to with- 

 stand frost, either by changing their time 

 of flowering or from the form and texture of the 

 flowers themselves. That considerable differ- 

 ences in these respects already exist amongst 

 the Apples grown at the present time, comes 

 within the knowledge of cultivators who have had 

 large numbers of varieties under their care, but 

 it is seldom accorded the attention it deserves. 

 Several varieties with large flowers and petals 

 of thick substance, especially if these are turned 

 in somewhat, or cupped at the points, are good 

 frost-resisters. An example of this is furnished 

 by Stirling Castle, which on many occasions 

 within our own experience has been exposed to 

 considerable frost at flowering time, but has 

 escaped with few losses, while other varieties in 

 the same situation have had the whole of their 

 flowers destroyed. 



Flowering Periods. — The time of flowering 

 differs greatly amongst the varieties of Apples, 

 and although this is affected by situation and 

 climate, an approximate order is kept. Three 

 groups may be formed according to the time at 

 which the flowers are fully expanded — namely: 



