286 



VEGETABLE AND FRUIT NOTES. 



late frost. I intend to set a few trees on a northern ex- 

 posure and give them another trial. The Golden Beauty 

 plum is really the only curculio-proof plum that I have 

 yet grown. The insect attacks it as freely as it does 

 other varieties, and leaves little spots on the surface, but 

 I never found a worm in a Golden Beauty plum. About 

 20 varieties of plums may bloom with me this season, and 

 if they set fruit the curculio will be dosed with Paris 

 green or London purple. There was a time when 

 wormy apples were rare in my orchard, but now 

 they have increased so that it will be absolutely neces- 

 sary to spray the trees if we wish perfect fruit. The 

 man who sends w^ormy and imperfect apples to mar- 

 ket hereafter will find that they "profit him nothing." 

 With recent discoveries as to defeating insects and ptf-e- 

 venting grape-rot, it seems that we are on the high road 

 to successful fruit-growing. My vineyard that has been 

 neglected for a few years is being put in order, and we 

 will try to have grapes again. The prospect for a fair 

 crop of fruit here the coming season is good. — S. Miller, 

 Motitgo7ncyy county, Missouri. 



THE BUFF.^LO-BERRY. 



I am glad to see that some of our nurserymen are in- 

 troducing the buffalo-berry. I am anxious to know how 

 it will thrive here in Ohio, under skies so much grayer, 

 and in soils so much damper and colder than those of its 

 native habitat. 



Down in southeastern Utah it grows in thickets on the 

 sandy flats along little mountain creeks. Apparently it 

 has its limits, growing in the lower and hotter parts of 

 the canons, and up to an altitude of about 6,000 feet, 

 where it gives place to the service-berry, wild gooseberry, 

 and choke-cherry. The soil on which I used to see it 

 growing was very dry, loose, mellow sand, in which, how- 

 ever, moisture could always be found at a certain depth. 

 The bushes generally grew about 8 feet high, although 

 my attention has been called to extraordinary specimens 

 20 feet in height. Individual plants are not showy. The 

 leaves are light grayish green, rather curious and inter- 

 esting, and the shrub is upright in growth. In July the 

 fruit begins to be visible, and soon the whole thicket is 

 aglow with red berries in great profusion. I know of no 

 fruit shrub that bears more abundantly than the buffalo- 

 berry. Every little twig holds as much fruit as can find 

 lodging-place upon it. The berries are the size of cur- 

 rants. They truly vary as much in a natural state as 

 currants do in cultivation. I have eaten buffalo-berries 

 as large as small gooseberries, and others not larger th^n 

 duck-shot. I hope the nurserymen are propagating the 

 larger kinds, which I thought at time of eating were 

 sweeter than small ones. At that time I was foreman of 

 a cattle-ranch. Our nearest neighbor was 25 miles away, 

 and our nearest orchard 100 miles ; so we watched the 

 buffalo-berry with much interest. We would go out in a 

 big wagon to some promising thicket, the company con- 

 sisting of one of my men, his wife and babies and my- 

 self. The babies promised to help pick, but I believe 

 they generally stayed in the shade, and we carried them 

 laden branches to despoil. I never knew a child to be 



injured by eating the fruit, and most children are fond 

 of it. It is slightly astringent, and the Mormon women 

 assured me that it was quite medicinal. We cut off the 

 heaviest laden boughs and carried them into the shade, 

 where we stripped them at our leisure, comforting our- 

 selves with the thought that the fruit would be all the 

 more accessible next year for our pruning. The same 

 destructive harvesting was practiced down on Price river, 

 and the settlers very nearly ruined all the better thickets 

 of fruit. 



During August the berries grow sweeter, and in Sep- 

 tember and October they are in their prime. If the 

 birds will spare them, they remain uninjured until 

 Christmas, and I do not know how much longer. I 

 would not care for a fruit that the birds would leave un- 

 gathered later than that time. We generally ate the ber- 

 ries raw with sugar, though sometimes we had them 

 stewed or in pies. 



It seems to me that the buffalo-berry would make a 

 good hedge, where great strength is not required. The 

 plant is somewhat spiney, and suckers from the root 

 enough to keep the hedge thick. The fruit is not easy to 

 gather from the bush, for the berries are almost sessile 

 about woody stems. I set an orchard on the ranch, and 

 among other fruits set was a row of buffalo-berries. 

 They had made their first season's growth when I came 

 east, but I never heard whether their fruit was finer for 

 being irrigated or not. I brought some plants home to 

 Ohio, and tried to give them good care, but they all died. 

 I mean to try again, however, and shall make a special 

 point of preparing the soil so that it may be light, sandy 

 and well drained. — J. E. Wing, Ohio. 



SULPHATE OF COPPER AS A FUNGICIDE. 



Sulphate of copper dissolved and diluted in water and 

 mixed with various amounts of slaked lime is called 

 Bordeaux mixture. This will prevent rot and other fun- 

 gous diseases in the grape, but there are some serious 

 objections to its use, and I think it entirely unnecessary 

 to use the sulphate in combination with the lime. The re- 

 sulting sulphate of lime clogs nozzles and pumps and has 

 given me a great deal of trouble. The only good reason 

 why lime should be used with the sulphate of copper is 

 to prevent injury to the foliage of plants. But all fun- 

 gous growths are delicate in structure, and may be de- 

 stroyed by applications too weak to harm ordinary vege- 

 tation. Then why not dilute the sulphate of copper so 

 that it will not harm plants on which it is used, yet be 

 strong enough to destroy the fungus growths that prey 

 upon them ? Last spring I commenced to spray with a 

 solution of two ounces of sulphate of copper in 50 gal- 

 lons of water. Result, no injury to the vines, but there 

 being no rot visible at the time I could not tell what ef- 

 fect it might have on the fungus. Three ounces to 50 

 gallons of water did no harm to the foliage ; four ounces 

 burnt the foliage a good deal, so we returned to the orig- 

 inal strength, two ounces to 50 gallons of water, and 

 continued to use this the season through, and the result 

 was entirely satisfactory, better than it ever had been 

 with the Bordeaux mixture. At one time we delayed 



