202 



YELLOW TRANSPARENT AND YORK IMPERIAL APPLES. 



weeping mountain ash, etc. Historically famous is 

 the little office, shown at the right in one of our 

 views, which was the general's work-shop and li- 

 brary ; and also the lane which leads from the rear 

 of the grounds direct to the railway, and through 

 which the visiting delegations marched as they came 

 to greet the party leader. The lane is lined with 

 small forest growth, but our picture can do scant 

 justice to its beauty as we saw it, clothed with all 

 the coloring of mid-autumn. Back on the farm a 

 slow and rushy brook affords a restful stretch of 



rural landscape, pleasing in all its aspects, and a 

 notable feature of the place. 



Altogether the place has a wholesome look and 

 a mosphere about it which would justify its choice 

 as the home of a man who might at times become 

 " weary with the cares of state." It offers the quiet 

 and retirement and restful association with nature 

 which the city home cannot give, and amid its village 

 environment may stand as a compromise between 

 the city and the too remote retirement of the country. 



Ohio. James K. Reeve. 



YELLOW TRANSPARENT AND YORK IMPERIAL APPLES. 



See frontispiece. 



N THE upper part of the frontis- 

 piece is a drawing of the Yellow 

 Transparent apple, made true to 

 nature in size, shape and general 

 characteristics of its internal 

 structure. This variety was first 

 introduced into the United States 

 from Russia by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture in i860. 

 Scions of a great many varieties were imported at 

 that time from that country and distributed 

 throughout the United States, and so far as can be 

 learned. Dr. T. H. Hoskins, of Newport, Vermont, 

 was the only original recipient of scions of this 

 variety, or those which others may have had have 

 not been brought to notice. At least all the stock 

 now in existence, so Dr. Hoskins informs me, can 

 be traced back to his place. There is no doubt 

 that it is a decided acquisition to the list of early 

 summer apples, ripening, as it does, about with 

 Early Harvest and Summer Rose, and being larger 

 than either of those varieties. The color is a very 

 pale yellow, and the surface smooth and usually 

 quite free from scab. In flavor, the fruit is a pleas- 

 ant sub-acid, and although not very rich, it is, when 

 fully ripe, of fair quality to eat from hand, and ex- 

 cellent to cook. The tree is hardy and succeeds 

 in cold countries much better than ordinary vari- 

 eties. It bears most abundantly, as I have had 

 opportunity to observe in several parts of this 

 country. 



The other variety illustrated on the same plate is 

 York Imperial, which is by no means a new apple, 

 as it has been known for more than twenty-five 



years, but like many other fruits of very superior 

 quality, it is only within the last few years that it 

 has been planted by market orchardists in any 

 great quantity. Having originated at York, Pa., it 

 has been known and grown for market by the 

 people of that region, and its culture has extended 

 into Virginia and other adjacent states, in some of 

 which it is known under the synonym, "Johnson's 

 Fine Winter." It is one of the most profitable 

 varieties for winter market in the eastern states. 

 It has also been planted in a small way in the 

 cental and western states, and this year I received 

 specimens for identification from California. It is 

 fast growing in popularity in Illinois, Missouri and 

 Kansas, where it takes rank in profitableness with 

 Ben Davis, Winesap, and other late-keeping apples. 

 The illustration shows an average specimen as to 

 size and form. Nearly every specimen is inclined 

 or lop-sided, and some very much so. An occa- 

 sional specimen is quite flattened in shape, and so 

 oblique in form as to be very difficult, or even im- 

 possible, to pare on a machine. This, indeed, is its 

 chief fault. The color is a solid, purplish red, 

 with scarcely any signs of being striped, varying 

 in degree from a very pale, blush-like color to that 

 so deep as entirely to obscure the yellow under- 

 color. The eye is set in a very deep basin. The 

 flesh is very firm and of a yellowish tint, and the 

 flavor is a rich pleasant acid. It keeps well into 

 spring, and as a market winter apple, all things 

 considered, is one of the most productive and 

 profitable varieties for planting in the great apple- 

 growing regions of the country. 



Washington. H. E. VanDeman. 



