428 



FIRST FRUITS. 



are only two varieties that are safe to plant as dwarfs — 

 Clapp and Angouleme. Of the varieties to be grown as 

 standards, the following are good for home use ; Summer 

 Doyenne, a small but very early variety ; Osband's Sum- 

 mer, superior in appearance to first named, but poorer 

 in quality ; Bartlett ; Seckel ; Clapp's Favorite ; Angou- 

 leme ; Lawrence and Anjou, the last two being good, re- 

 liable winter pears. Keiffer is good for canning. Vicar 

 should not be planted. A good pear orchard can be de- 

 pended upon for a crop every year. 



Professor W. R. Lazenby discussed the strawberry, 

 in an excellent paper on " Don'ts for Beginners in Straw- 

 berry Culture." Among the points noted are the follow- 

 ing : Don't commence strawberry culture on a large 

 scale. Don't plant largely of untried varieties. Don't 

 try to see how large a strawberry bed you can have, but 

 rather resolve to produce the greatest amount of fruit 

 from the smallest possible area. Don't be content to 

 raise any but best quality of fruit for the family. Don't 

 plant strawberries in the shade of large trees. They 

 resent shade, and the roots of the trees rob the plants 

 of moisture when it is most needed. Don't use highly 

 nitrogenous manures, or you may have a rank growth of 

 foliage at the expense of fine fruit. Don't plant too 

 deep or the crown will rot, nor too shallow or the roots 

 will be too dry. Plant just the right depth, and don't 

 fail to press the earth firmly about the roots. Don't fail 

 to start the cultivator and hoe about as soon as the plant- 

 ing is over, and persist in their use, always keeping a 

 mulch of loose soil about the plants. Don't keep an old 

 strawberry bed after it is infected with insect enemies. 

 Plow or spade it up. Don't fail to select varieties for 

 home use from the following list : Bubach, Haverland, 

 Sharpless, Jersey Queen, Cumberland, Crescent and 

 Warfield. Don't plant Belmont, Bomba or Mammoth. 

 — Secret.'\ry. 



The Spring in California. — Our floods seem to be 

 over. It has been a long, dreary, wet spell, the longest 

 ever known in the state. Now that we have had a 

 chance to look over the ruins during the ten bright days 

 past, we find that we are not seriously injured. Some 

 rolling fields of light soil are badly washed and gut- 

 tered. Some bridges are gone. There are many miles 

 of damaged roads, and little remains of small grains 

 planted, except in the dry interior valleys, where the 

 crop promises to be immense. In this, Sonoma county, 

 scarcely any damage was done, except in the roads, the 

 loss of a few small bridges and the injury of grain crop. 

 This last will prove no great loss, for the land can yet 

 be planted in more profitable crops, though such as cost 

 more labor. The average Californian has no love for 

 a great exercise of his own labor. He prefers to earn 

 his bread by the sweat of his hired man's brow. 



The prospects for fruits of all kinds, it is generally 

 conceded, were never better. Ten days of bright, warm 

 sun has painted our hills, valleys and mountains with 

 Flora's brush, with every rainbow tint. The air is laden 

 with spicy fragrance. The almond put on her pink colors 



a month ago, and still looks fresh and sweet. The apri- 

 cot followed suit a little later, blushing still more brightly 

 at being a little late. The peach is showing tiny globes 

 of crimson, with no fear of biting frosts. The cherries 

 and plums are donning their dresses of white. The apple 

 is in no hurry. This is truly the land of fruits and flow- 

 ers, especially flowers. There has not been a day this 

 winter but that one could form a bouquet from a dozen 

 species of flowers plucked from the open-air gardens of 

 this little city. It seems strange to reach up and pluck 

 from a rose-tree full-blown and perfect roses or buds, 

 when the soft, wet soil is frozen beneath our feet nearly, 

 firm enough to bear one ; yet this is one of the peculiar- 

 ities of this strange climate, proving that it is not the 

 freezing that kills, but rather the sudden thawing out in 

 dry air. These very wet winters seem to come periodi- 

 cally, once in ten or twelve years, and are looked upon 

 as of great benefit to the farmer, especially so in the dry 

 interior, in washing out and flooding away the alkali, and 

 they are generally followed by several extra fine crops. 

 — D. B. WiER, Fc'taluma, California, March ijl/i. 



The American Association of Nurserymen convened 

 at the Park Avenue Hotel, New York City, on Wednes- 

 day morning, the 4th of June, President Sweet's ad- 

 dress detailed the migration of the center of the nursery 

 trade from Western New York, where it existed thirty 

 yearo ago, to Ohio or even farther west. He also men- 

 tioned the fact that prices of nursery stock are steadily 

 declining. The report of the treasurer showed about 

 $1,000 in the treasury. 



H. E. "VanDeman, United States Pomologist, spoke 

 at length of new fruits. He emphasized the importance 

 of giving greater attention to native fruits — that is, fruits 

 of native wild plants. The United States is richer in 

 promising wild fruits than any other country in the 

 temperate zones. There are some 20 uncultivated 

 species of indigenous grapes, for instance, some of 

 which are more promising than Vilis Labriisca was in 

 the wild state. 



The varieties of native plums are promising, especi- 

 ally the offspring of Prumis A/iiericaita in the northwest 

 A number of varieties were alluded to. 



Of Japanese plums, Botan is very promising. It ap- 

 pears to be hardy even in Connecticut. It is much like 

 Kelsey, except that the fruit is less pointed and only 

 about half so large. Ogon, often erroneously written 

 Ogan, is equally hardy. The fruit is nearly round, 

 yellow, the size of the Wild Goose. Burbank is one of 

 the most promising Japanese plums. It has not yet 

 fruited outside of California, but it gives promise of 

 being hardy in the east. It is not much larger than 

 Wild Goose ; purplish and remarkably handsome, very 

 rich, being equally as good as any green gage. The 

 Satsuma or Blood plum will probably prove hardy in 

 the north also. It is large, about two inches in diameter, 

 with a very small stone ; good in quality, medium in 

 season, and blood red inside. The Kelsey is a very 



