384 



Che 6arkwr's Pontltlg. 



said to be the largest in the State. The fruit is 

 most excellent ; of the variety here designated 

 "June Sweeting." I have had it carefully mea- 

 sured by Mr. Horton himself, expressly for the Gar- 

 dener s Monthly^ and can vouch for its accuracy. 

 It is as follows : — One foot from the ground it mea- 

 sures eleven (11) feet in circumference ; at the first 

 branch, — 8 feet from the ground — nine feet nine'm- 

 ches, and is fifty-seven (57) feet through — id est. 

 The limbs cover a circle fifty-seven feet in diameter. 

 If any of your readers can beat this we would like 

 to hear from them. 



HORTICULTUI^AL HCTES FROM SALT 

 LAEE CITY, UTAH. 



BY JOHN READING. 



Just through with my budding, and thinking there 

 was something yet to be done, it occurred to me 

 that it must be to send you a few notes for the 

 Gardener s Montldy. We have had a very hot 

 time of it this summer and also a pretty sharp time 

 with the G-rasshoppers ; they are here in great num- 

 bers, and I among the re&t suffer severely ; they 

 have headed off my young stock and eaten up my 

 cabbage, carrots and celery. There are some things 

 they are particularly fond of ; the fruit ' of apricots 

 and peaches they eat up and leave the pits hanging 

 on the trees ; the apple trees they strip off the leaves 

 and leave the fruit exposed, which makes the trees 

 have a peculiar appearance. Oats and barley have 

 suffered severely, our wheat was too rip'e for them, 

 the corn crop suffers severely. 



Ripe grapes showed themselves in the market on 

 the 23rd of August, peaches on the 17th. I do not 

 know what variety of either, the grapes were white, 

 we have quite a variety of grapes here ; I will try 

 and get the time when each ripens so as I can send 

 you word. Grapes are sold for 50 to 75 cents per 

 pound. We have a variety .cultivated here com- 

 monly called the California grape, I think it is what 

 is known as the Mission grape ; it is very prolific, 

 and would pay if cultivated extensively ; it makes 

 good wine. Our apples are in great variety, I sup- 

 pose we have over thirty of imported kinds, and 

 seedlings in abundance; we have some seedlings that 

 are very good, will keep till July the following sea- 

 son. 1 think our best imported ones are Red As- 

 trachan. Summer Queen, Porter, Rambo, Rhode 

 Island Greening, Esopus Spitzenburg, Winter Pear- 

 main, Peck's Ple;-ant and Virginia G-reening ; there 

 are others very good, but there is a variety of opin- 

 ion on the subject. Peaches do well, and we are 



improving in quality by importation. Our best 

 apricot is a seedling raised here, it is a little tart, 

 unless it is very ripe. Pears do well. Gooseberries 

 are very fine, the most prolific kind we have is 

 Woodward's Whitesmith ; they do not mildew. Red 

 Dutch Currant is getting in great demand. We have, 

 heretofore had to depend on the wild Currant [Riles 

 Missouriensis)^ I have some very fine ones of that 

 variety ; they measure inches in circumference, 

 and are black ; the yellows average about the same. 

 Strawberries do very well, Wilson's Albany and 

 the Vicomtesse are the best and most prolific with 

 us. 



Raspberries, we cultivate two varieties, Knevet's 

 Giant and Brinbicle's Orange ; Knevet's Giant does 

 far the best, and the fruit is very fine. We are very 

 deficient in ornamental shrubbery, but I think in 

 about 2 or 3 years more we will get the thing moving. 

 We have to lookout for the "staff of life" out here, 

 and have to get a good supply on hand. 



Our potato crop will fall short this season on ac- 

 count of the grasshoppers taking the vines, but in 

 all we will have a plenty to get along with. 



W^e have no Horticultural Society formed here, 

 but we have a Gardeners' Club, poorly, however, 

 attended. 1 think of trying to get a Society started, 

 see what we can do and get the statistics from the 

 different Counties in the Territory, as we have both 

 a temperate and a tropical climate. What do 

 you think of it? Would it be advisable to do so? 

 We can then let you know what we are doing out 

 here in Agriculture and Horticulture. 



[There is no surer way to develop the material 

 interests of anyplace than to establish a Horticul- 

 tural Society. We could give philosophical reasons 

 why this is so, but experience alone shows it to be 

 a fact. In the West, wherever we find a live Horti- 

 cultural Society, you find a more prosperous place 

 than you do in others, as a rule. The social ele- 

 ment which makes Boston, Philadelphia and Cincin- 

 nati so popular as residences^ as well as places to do 

 business in, owes much to long established Horti- 

 cultural Societies of these places. Horticulture is 

 the cheapest of the fine arts. The poorest can enjoy 

 it, and a love of art once originated grows with 

 wealth, when the highest conditions Df refinement 

 and intellectual enjoyments follow in its wake. 



By all means encourage the formation of a Hor- 

 ticultural Society in Salt Lake City, and let us hear 

 from time to time an account of your proceedings,] 



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