This is an open department for the use of all interested observers, from whom correspond- 

 nce is solicited on any topic of horticultural interest. Valuable items are frequently crowded 

 out, but all will appear in due time. 



The Hardy Satsuma. — In regard to the hardiness 

 of the Satsuma orange tree, I can say it has stood the 

 cold for the past six years on my grounds better than 

 any other variety. The cold of iS86 did not kill it ; the 

 cold of last March only hurt a few trees that were full 

 of sap. I have several hundred nursery trees grafted 

 on sweet stocks that did not shed a leaf, although some 

 of them were only a foot high. My experience is, it 

 will stand Florida cold without damage, unless an un- 

 timely frost catches it full of sap. — F. Trueblood, /;/ 

 Florida Dispatch. 



Native Plums. — The native plum is very promising. 

 Some of the later acquisitions are of fine quality, with 

 a quite tough skin. The markets here are well supplied 

 with them in season, and they are of all shades of red 

 and purple ; some have a heavy bloom, while others are 

 entirely free from it. — S. B. Green, St. Anthony Park. 

 Minn. 



Strawberries at Benton Harbor, Michigan. — 



The yield of strawberries in the vicinity of Benton 

 Harbor is said to have been so large the past spring that 

 hardly one-third of the crop could be disposed of at any 

 price. The Crescent was the variety grown. 



A New Apricot. — A seedling apricot which is entirely 

 hardy and very productive is said to have been raised 

 at Geneva, N. Y. The fruit ripens ten days earlier than 

 the Early Golden. The variety known as the Harris 

 apricot, and promises to have great value. 



Importation of Date-Palms. — H. E. Van Deman, 

 United States Pomologist, writes that he has recently 

 imported some of the best named dates. Nine trees of 

 the three best varieties were secured from Bishria in 

 Algeria. These are rooted suckers and in fine condi- 

 tion. They came July gth and are the first named kinds 

 that have ever been landed on this continent. Shortly 

 afterwards 54 more trees from Egypt arrived. There 

 were 8 varieties in this lot and 6 male trees besides. 

 We are on the sure road to have the date given a fair 

 test in the United States and with the best kinds in ex- 

 istence. All now here are seedlings and of course in- 

 ferior. This is particularly gratifying to us because 

 Mr. Saunders, the Superintendent of Gardens and 

 Grounds at Washington, has made the attempt twice in 

 vain. 



Lady Washington Grape. — We notice that Mr. Au- 

 gur, in "Grape Notes ' on (page 336, June issue) omits 

 the Lady Washington. The behavior and merits of this 

 variety have determined us to grow in the vineyard 



instead of in our experimental 

 rows. On our ground it is a 

 most emphatic success. It is a 



heavy, Dersistent bearer, a strong grower, and it has good 

 foliage, which is very essential in this changeable climate. 

 Although its blood is one quarter foreign it has no weak- 

 ness in the vine, and the fruit is the better for it. It 

 ripens with the Elvira, about one week later than the Con- 

 cord. The bunches are large and well shouldered : the 

 berries are persistent, medium in size, and when prop- 

 erly ripened, of a rich yellow color, like that of a good 

 quality of honey. The skin is not tough but of such tex- 

 ture as prevents evaporation, hence I find the grape a 

 good keeper. I lafd some bunches in an open dish in my 

 cellar and they kept better than the Niagara, being in 

 good condition until Nov. ist. They were picked Sept. 

 2oth. I consider the flavor of this grape exquisite, and 

 the consistency of the pulp is' just right. We are more 

 favorably impressed with this variety than with any 

 other we are testing. — W. M. Bomberger, Harlan, la. 



Apple Trees of Great Size. — In the July issue (p. 

 395) is given notice of several large apple trees, one of 

 them "probably the largest apple tree in the United 

 States, if not in the world." "The circumference of the 

 trunk at the smallest place is twelve feet two inches." 



In the Report of the Connecticut Board of Agricul- 

 ture for 1878 is an account of our Connecticut tree, by 

 N. S. Piatt, which is "thought to be the largest in the 

 United States. " 



Mr. Piatt writes in 1878, and as the tree is still vigor- 

 ous, it must have grown enough to substantiate its claims, 

 "an apple tree in the northwestern part of Cheshire, 

 standing in Mr. Delos Hotchkiss' door-yard is thought 

 to be the largest in the United States. Its age can be 

 traced by a family tradition to one hundred and forty 

 years at least, and it may be twenty or twenty-five years 

 older. It is at the present time of symmetrical shape ; 

 the trunk is nearly round, without a scar or blemish on 

 it ; there are eight large branches ; five of them, Mr 

 Hotchkiss tells me, have been in the habit of bearing 

 one year, and the remaining three the next. 



He has gathered in one year from the five branches 

 eighty-five bushels of fruit, and his predecessor had 

 harvested a crop of one hundred and ten bushels from 

 the same five branches. By careful measurement, I 

 find the circumference of the trunk, one foot above the 

 ground, above all enlargements of the roots, to be thir- 

 teen feet eight inches. The girth of the largest single 

 limb is six feet eight inches. The height of the tree 



