572 



H> r N D FA L L S . 



need without the assistance of the old canes, which from 

 their faded looks show they have already performed their 

 function by maturing the crop of berries just gathered. 



I believe that if the raspberries have received the 

 proper attention, and a sufficient supply of manure has 

 been applied, all these objections will be removed. If the 

 young canes are nipped as soon as they are two and a half 

 feet high, they will begin to spread and grow stocky. Per- 

 haps it is best to nip the bud out at two feet high, for 

 they will run up some after they are nipped. By so do- 

 ing and checking the top the roots become larger and 

 stronger and the top branches out more. Then as soon 

 as the fruiting canes are done with their burden, cut 

 them all out. This cutting out of the old canes throws 

 all the strength and vigor of the roots into the young 

 canes, so that by winter they are strong and quite stocky, 

 more able to withstand the winds and less liable to be 

 blown down. 



Where the young canes are not nipped until they are 

 grown it may be best to defer removing the old canes 

 until spring, for in this case the young canes are slender 

 and will not stand much wind. They are not so well 

 matured cannot withstand cold so well, and will need 

 protection. By removing the old canes and burning 

 them, there are many no.xious insects in various stages 

 destroyed that would otherwise live over winter. — T. 

 D. Baird, Kv. 



Green Mountain (Winchcll) Grape. — A grape called 

 Winchell was sent to us this year, with the statement 

 that it is the same grape that has been sent out as Green 

 Mountain. We planted it alongside the Green Mountain 

 received last year. So far, it differs widely in the ap- 

 pearance of its foliage from the Green Mountain. — 

 IV. F. Masscy, N. C. Experiment Station^ in Garden and 

 Forest . 



Japan Plums in Connecticut. — 1 have a few speci- 

 mens of the Satsuma or Blood Plum thisyearalready(July 

 21 ) fully ripe, but much smaller than I expected they 

 would be, the largest being only one inch in diameter. 

 I have trees loaded with fruit of Ogon and Abundance, 

 also a single specimen of Masu (one of the new Japan- 

 ese sorts). — Norman S. Platt, Chesldre, Conn. 



From the Arkansas Valley. — From time immemor- 

 ial there has been much said and written about the kings, 

 emperors and other potentates in gorgeous palaces. But 

 magnificent structures erected by the laboring classes, 

 where they can exhibit their rich products in right royal 

 style, is a much more modern theme, fraught with far 

 more beneficial results to mankind and marking an epoch 

 of a broader civilization. A palace erected mainly for the 

 display of a single product, as of ice, corn, coal or blue 

 grass, we acknowledge is an object of great importance. 

 But the mineral palace opened at Pueblo, Colorado, 

 July 4, is several steps in advance of all that have pre- 

 ceded it. If a facsimile of this gorgeous exhibit could be 

 shown at the great Columbian Fair at Chicago in '93, it 

 would prove an attraction of no little importance. 



The exterior is not so elegant or imposing as some, 

 but the interior is rich in decorative art, and would re- 



quire a Raphael to properly describe its large and bril- 

 liant domes. The display of minerals is tastefully ar- 

 ranged, and is sai-d to be the most extensive exhibit of 

 the kind known. 



Your correspondent has exhibited fruits and flowers 

 for years, at an agricultural fair, in what was, a short 

 time previous to the exhibit, an old, rough boarded 

 horse stable with no repairs, except a little decorating by 

 the superintendent of the fruit and flower department. 

 This in a state where cash enough had been extravagantly 

 expended in the erection of gorgeous palaces of some- 

 what doubtful utility, to have built a magnificent horti- 

 cultural palace of unquestionable usefulness. What we 

 want — and I doubt not what every reader of The Amer- 

 ican Garden would be glad to see— is a beautiful horti- 

 cultural palace in every state in this glorious union, in 

 honor of the first and foremost occupation ever instituted 

 for man by an allwise Creator. — Sam Bucus. 



Old Trees in Central and Southern Europe. — 

 There seems to be no foundation for the popular belief 

 in the existence of oaks and lindens a thousand years 

 old. An oak of 600 years is at least as rare a thing as 

 a man of 100 years, and that a tree of this species ever 

 attained the age of 800 years is doubted by experts in 

 forestry. The most long-lived of German trees are the 

 pines, firs and allied species, which live 500 or 600 years 

 or even longer. The oak appears to exceed other decid- 

 uous trees in longevity. The oldest known specimen is 

 an evergreen oak (steineiche) 410 years old. The oldest 

 of other oaks are 315 and 320 years old and already 

 hollow and decayed. The most celebrated of historic 

 lindens is at Neustadt on the Rocher in Wurtemberg. 

 Its trunk, which is izYz feet in diameter at the base, 

 divides at the height of about six feet into seven 

 branches which lie horizontally, supported by more 

 than a hundred artificial props of wood and stone. The 

 trunk, which is quite hollow, is also strengthened by an 

 internal pillar of stone. The age of this tree has been es- 

 timated at about 700 years ; it is referred to in an old 

 song written in 1408. The maximum age of the beech, 

 elm, ash and maple is about 300 years. The slow 

 growth of the yew points to a still greater age than that 

 of even the pines, but the period of 2,000 years which 

 is sometimes assigned to this tree is probably in excess 

 of the truth. 



The trees of the Mediterranean region are not as a 

 rule more long-lived than those of the north. The larg- 

 est of the famous Algerian cedars, which are popularly 

 supposed to be a thousand years old, has a diameter of 

 6^4 feet and 460 annual rings. The cedars of Lebanon 

 are not much older. On the other hand, there are 

 olive-trees near Palermo which are known to date from 

 the time of the Saracens, and are therefore more than 

 800 years old. As the olive sprouts persistently when 

 cut down it is not imposible that the roots, at least, of 

 the olive trees of Gethsemane date from the time of 

 Christ, or that those in the olive-groves on Mt. Ilissus 

 were planted in the palmy days of ancient Athens. 

 — L. B. Fletcher, Ulster Co., N. Y. 



