1^ 



263 



ble lady is carrying on the nursery business on the 

 Hudson. We do not think it is so rare an occurrence. 

 We do not know why it should be. At any rate, 

 Miss Trimble has made fruit raising a fair success. 

 Her chief efforts are to raising hot house grapes 

 and early strawberries. When we were there (end 

 of June), the grapes were ripening, many— over 500 

 lbs.— had already been cut and marketed. The whole 

 weight in the houses would be probably 1500 lbs., 

 and the receipts we suppose about that many dol- 

 lars. The house is T shaped, one wing we sup- 

 pose about 100 feet, the other perhaps 75. The 

 houses are plainly, but substantially constructed, 

 and including the hot water boiler and pipes, we 

 should suppose would cost at the time of building, 

 some six years ago $1500. The roots had been 

 allowed to run too deep in the borders, which is 

 unfavorable to healthy fibres, and hence a few bunches 

 had not colored very well, otherwise these houses 

 tilled with beautiful fruit was one of the most per- 

 fect grape shows we have ever seen. Miss Trimble 

 works amongst them herself, with the assistance of 

 one very intelligent assistant. All the bunches 

 were thinned by her, and with a just pride in the 

 use of the scissors, Ishe thinks, thinning grapes should 

 alwaj^s be woman's work. The strawberries are 

 mostly raised in boxes, twenty-five to fifty plants to 

 a box, and these boxes kept near the glass by tem- 

 porary platforms. They are ripe before the grapes 

 much interfere with them, and notwithstanding 

 Southern competition, are found a profitable crop to 

 raise. The nursery business is growing to vigorous 

 manhood in West Chester. 



Otto & Aciielis have added largely to their 

 landed po:^sessions, we were not fortunate to find 

 either partner, — Mr. Otto being in Europe — but a 

 hasty run through with the foreman exhibited to 

 us evidences of prosperity. Apples, Peaches, Pears 

 and Cherries were in immense quantities, and of 

 Potatoes there was probably fifty acres at least, 

 mostly of the new kinds, much sought for, for seed 

 purposes. 



HooPES, Bro. & Thomas, have also a very fine 

 nursery, probably 100 acres in actual nursery, besides 

 many others in the farm crops a well conducted 

 nursery must have to fill in the resting periods, 

 betlveen the crops of trees. The Peach was largely 

 grown, there being perhaps 250,000 ready for this 

 fail sale. In passing through this crop we noticed 

 Van Buren's Golden dwarf and Italian dwarf, 

 which some have thought identical, growing side by 

 side, and very distinct. The apple and cherry were 

 also in immense quantities, and amongst the latter we 

 noticed the Morello kinds were extensively favor- 



ites. This firm has always been noted for its liber- 

 ality in maintaining a fine collection of raio trees 

 and shrubs even during times when they "paid" 

 little better than weeds ; but they now have their 

 reward in the experience which they gained as to 

 the merits of the various things on trial, and have 

 now therefore a good stock of many rare things for 

 which from their adaptation to popular wants must 

 soon have a popular demand. The place is partic- 

 ularly rich in specimens of Coniferous plants which 

 the senior member of the firm takes under his spe- 

 cial protection and study. The result is he has pre- 

 pared a work on this class of trees and shrubs com- 

 bining a popular with a scientific treatment, which 

 we see announced as preparing for publication by 

 Orange Judd & Co., and which we shall look for- 

 ward to with much interest. Returning to Phila- 

 delphia we passed a few hours at 



Fern Hill, the country seat of H. Pratt 

 McKEAN,one of the most liberal patrons of gardening 

 in the State. We have before described this beau- 

 tiful place in our Journal. Mr. Alexander Newitt 

 is the present gardener, under whose management 

 every thing is kept in first-rate order. A few years 

 ago a beginning was made for a collection of Orchid- 

 aceous plants, and now there was a large number 

 of these very valuable andenvious plant^^ gathered to- 

 gether. There were some Epidendriims and Maxilla- 

 ria in flower, and a Stanhopea oculata filled the 

 house with fragrance from a very fine blossom it had 

 pushed through the bottom of the basket. The 

 collections of Ferns and other green and hot house 

 plants were very full and j^et select, and in the open 

 grounds the bedding plants had covered the flower 

 beds very successfully. Mr. Newitt employs the 

 different shades of Geraniums for masses of color 

 with the very best effects. We notice with pleasure 

 that while gaiety was not lost sight of, and these 

 masses of one color employed for that purpose, the 

 real love of flowers for their own beauty was not 

 forgotten, for beds of mixed flowers flanked the 

 sets of flower masses, and in them there was a daily 

 store of novelty and interest with every opening 

 bud. 



STRAWBEI2KIES. 



BY E. FRYER, NAPERVILLE, ILLS. 



We have had a splendid crop of Strawberries in 

 Northern Illinois and Westward this season ; such 

 huge berries — deliciously sweet — pleasing to the eye, 

 the palate, and the pocket, probably the greatest in 

 quantity and best in quality ever raised east of the 

 mountains before. 



Green Frolific beats the Wilson in productivenes 



