166 



iardmr's JHon 



Many persons have an idea that a tree growing to 

 such an enormous size as the White Pine, naturally, 

 cannot be brought to form a hedge. Such, how- 

 ever, is not the case, as a visit to Wellesley will tes- 

 tify. We have specimens not over 8 feet high, 17 

 years of age, one dense mass of fohage, showing, as 

 yet, no visible signs of decay : and if rightly cared 

 for in the future, they will be equally beautiful a 

 half-century hence. 



[We did not mean "keep in" exactly, but would 

 these hedges be undisturbed by horned cattle? 

 In this part of the country, animals of this char- 

 acter seem to have a peculiar spite against ever- 

 greens. No matter how close or dense the 

 evergreens may be, they butt at them like a 

 bull at a red rag ; and, although the trees may 

 be set close enough to keep the cattle in, 

 we fear they would " hook " the branches about so 

 as to disfigure and spoil the whole thing. What 

 we are anxious to know is, whether any one who 

 has an evergreen hedge has had it tested by horned 

 cattle. ^ 



The idea seems a very good one, — but in view of 

 the great disappointment which would ensue on ex- 

 tensive failures, we should like to know of the 

 hedge having been actually tried by cattle before 

 recommending it for general adoption. — Ed. J 



GRAFT. HYBRIDS. 



BY P. B., ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



The Editor of the English Gardeners'' Chronicle, 

 in the number for March 9th, 1867, speaks of the 

 exhibition, at a recent meeting of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society, of a russet Apple, produced on the 

 Orange Pearuiain,^' by opening up the question of 

 graft-hybrids. He asks, "Is it or is it not true that 

 an intermediate form, a sport, or a reversion to the 

 characteristics of either stock or scion, may be pro- 

 duced by grafting, and if so, on what conditions?" 



This is a very interesting question. I have seen 

 many remarkable sports among Apples, but not 

 knowing the fruit of the stock, could not, of course, 

 determine whether the sport was an intermediate 

 production between stock and graft, or a reversion 

 to the stock. 



A short time ago, a gentleman gave me a speci- 

 men of the ^sopus Spitzenberg, from a tree in his 

 orchard in Livingston Co., in this State, which was 

 the most remarkable sport, as regards color, I have 

 ever met with. On the ordinary red color of the 

 Spitzenberg, there were bands of dark, purplish- 

 crimson running from the eyes or crown to the 



* I think this should be " Orange Pippin," as I do not know of 

 any "Orange Pearmain," and think there is no such variety. 



stalk, — as clearly and smoothly defined on the edges 

 as if they had been laid on with the brush, — giving 

 the apple the appearance of a child's fancy ball. I 

 have seen russet apples produced on the branches 

 of varieties that were never seen with a particle of 

 russet on them. 



The "sweet and sour" greening is a sport of this 

 sort which has been perpetuated. The apple is 

 much more distinctly ribbed than the greening, and 

 some of the divisions are sweet and some acid. 



Now, we all believe that the stock does really ex- 

 ercise a certain influence on the graft ; we have 

 ample evidence of that in all directions : but that 

 this influence should extend so far as to produce new 

 or intermediate forms, colors and characters, making 

 a real graft hybryid, or graft-blending, is a point 

 worthy of investigation. 



In the Gardeners' Chronicle of Sept. 8th, 1866, 

 there is an interesting article on this subject, trans- 

 lated from the original, by Prof Caspary, in Transac- 

 tions of the International Congress of Botany and 

 Horticulture, held at Amsterdam, in 1866. If any of 

 your readers possess any facts bearing on this sub- 

 ject I hope they will make them known. 



[There are few subjects more worthy of the atten- 

 tion of scientific horticulturists than this, — and the 

 great variety of climate and circumstances that may 

 possibly influence such hybridization, if found to 

 exist, give great opportunities to the American ob- 

 server. In Europe, notwithstanding Prof. Caspary's 

 interesting paper, very little has been learned since 

 the introduction of the Cytisus Adami, a variety of 

 Laburnum, believed to have originated by graft- 

 hybridization. With P. B., we hope our readers 

 will send us any facts they may observe. — Ed. J 



THE TILDEN TOMATO.-" PETER HEN- 

 DERSON'S BOOK.' 



BY HENRY TILDEN, DAVENPORT, IOWA. 



Two years ago this spring, after hesitating five 

 years, I concluded to off'er the seed of the Tomato 

 that bears my name to the public. At the time I 

 had less than a pint of seed, and sent it out simply 

 on trial. I little thought ^hat it would awaken such 

 a wide-spread interest as it has ; and most cer- 

 tainly I did not dream, for a moment, that 

 the Tomato would receive, at the hands of promi- 

 nent seedsmen, such unfair treatment as has been 

 shown in more than one instance. 



In sending out the seed I was careful to make no 

 statement that my experience with it would not fully 

 justify. And it has been my purpose, from the first, to 

 not, in anyway, force its further introduction, rather 

 preferring to let it stand, or fall, on its own merits. 



I i 



