192 
November, 1890 , 
/ ORCHARD 
GARDEN 
already bearing upon this question ? In 
Canada there are many orchards exclusively 
of the Fameuse, or Snow Apple. From thesp 
many seedlings have sprung, and almost all 
of them have some evidence of their ancestry, 
but few if any reproduce the original exact- 
ly. Some years ago the Montreal Horticultur- 
al Society gave considerable time to the dis- 
cussion of the question. "Have we more 
than one kind of Fameuse?” I was in 
attendance at the meeting, and being asked 
to give my view of the subject. I said that 
there were probably more than a hundred 
seedlings in Canada which resembled Fa- 
meuse, some of them very closely, but 
probably not one identical at all points ; and 
I have never seen such, although I have 
acted as a judge at large exhibitions of 
apples for many years. 
We should remember that there is a con- 
siderable, indeed a large variation from the 
original type in all our cultivated fruits, and 
that with these deviations goes a tendency 
to deviate still farther, together with a 
tendency to revert toward the original type. 
There is no tendency toward the reproduc- 
tion, exactly, ot any of these variations, for 
there is no ground for it. as there is for the 
tendency to revert in the sport, or for the 
tendency of the wild types to closely repro. 
duee themselves. I have taken much interest 
in the variations of the Fameuse, and have 
collected and compared as many as possible. 
Some were almost exact in. reproducing the 
external appearance, but to do this and also 
reproduce the internal structure closely 
seemed to be more than nature could do. 
I once got hold of what appeared to be a 
glorious Fameuse seedling, as large as a 
Baldwin, yet otherwise almost exactly the 
parent repeated. But, alas ! when the fruit 
was cut the flesh was not white, but a pale 
green, with what an Englishman would .-all 
a "beastly” flavor. A considerable number 
of these seedlings, however, avoiding the 
tendency to spot and crack, are so like the 
parent that they have been used to "face” 
the barrels for market ; but they have never 
been safe, even for that, and there has no 
one dared to put bodily upon the market as 
genuine any of the “bogus” Fameuses. 
SHIAWASSEE BEAUT V. 
I think I shall do the readers of Orchard 
and Garden a favor in again calling their 
attention to this valuable market apple. It 
is a seedling of the Fameuse, or Snow Apple 
of Canada, and possesses all the merits of 
that apple, and more, without any of its 
faults. Any one who has had the vexation 
of gathering two and sometimes three 
barrels of a variety worth any time, when 
fair, four dollars a barrel, in order to get 
that one fair barrel, (and none too fair at 
that.) will appreciate the pleasure I have 
had in an apple that is always fair, and 
is larger, better, and handsomer than its 
parent. Fully do I respond to an expression 
of wonder made to me some years since by 
Secretary Garfield of Michigan, that this 
remarkable apple has not before this been 
extensively planted. 
It is not an exact reproduction of the 
Fameuse in external appearance, being larger 
and flatter, and with a somewhat different 
shade of red. But it has the same white flesh, 
and the same peculiar and popular flavor, 
with a little more tartness, which is an 
improvement on the original. The tree is 
more healthy and vigorous with me, simply 
because it is more hardy, and endures our 
severe winters better. The Fameuse is a 
good grower, and succeeds perfectly, so far 
as the tree is concerned, in any climate a 
little milder than mine, like that of Montreal, 
— which, though north of me nearly 100 
miles, is so much lower as to give it a milder 
winter temperature. But the Fameuse at 
Montreal, where it once grew fair, is proving 
quite unprofitable from the effects of the 
spot and crack fungus. I send you speci- 
mens of Shiawassee herewith, to show that 
I in no way over-rate its merits. I have 
just ordered 100 more trees of it. The 
season of the Shiawassee is from Thanks- 
giving to Christmas, and the fruit just fits 
the season. 
THE GREEN FAMEUSE. 
This is an apple of which I have received 
specimens from R. W. Shepherd, Jr., of 
Montreal. It has the form, flesh, and flavor 
of its supposed par r nt, the Fameuse, of 
which so many seedlings exist in Canada, 
but without its rich color. It, however, 
does not spot, and for this reason Mr Shep- 
herd is propagating it. The quality is very 
fine, and it may prove worth planting, but 
color goes a long way in selling an apple. — 
T. H. Hoskins. 
Japanese Plums. 
You have taken such an interest in the 
introduction of all valuable fruits, especially 
Japanese plums, that I cannot refrain from 
sending you a few lines. 
Professor C. C. Georgeson has written you 
that the Japanese pick their fruits green, 
and it makes one feel really savage to see 
fine fruits spoilt in this way. From the 
beginning to the end of the season there are 
no pears or plums to be had in the markets 
that are fit to eat raw, so that it is impossible 
to judge how the fruits they have would 
taste if allowed to remain on the tree and 
be ripened by the sun. My aim, since I 
arrived in Tokio on June 21, has been to 
determine the best kind of plum for Amer- 
ica, and to ascertain which was the real 
Botankio and Hattankio (pronounced as if 
the "ft” were “dd,” on account of two 
coming together). Mem, — there is no 
such thing as Hattankin or Botankin. 
There are three plums called Botankio by 
the Japanese fruitmen which are alike in 
shape, but so different in color and taste that 
they ought to have separate names. They 
are roundish, with a rather deep suture, 
slightly flat on the top, without even the 
sign of an indentation, and with a marked 
elevation on one side. If cut through the 
suture, one half would be larger than the 
other. One of these when it ripens has a 
light, golden flesh and skin, and as the 
latter is rather thick, it keeps a long time. 
Another turns, as it ripens, to a rather dirty 
red, and where there is the slightest bruise 
the fruit rots. The third had not come into 
the market when I left Tokio, but is now in 
market here (Osaka), and both the skin and 
flesh are a beautiful red. I considered it 
from the first a very desirable plum, and 
the best of the three. They are all clings, 
but by cutting them through to the stone, 
and giving to each half a rapid turn in 
opposite directions, the stone leaves one 
half of its socket clean. The pit is small, 
and the flesh is sweet and very handsome. 
We have some planted two years ago on our 
Santa Cruz mountain ranch, which ought 
to fruit next season. All these Botankio 
have small pits, but all differ a little in 
shape. The Hattankio is the "Kelsey,” and 
in July they were hard, green, and smali^ 
but we know how successful they are in 
California, and how large they grow there. 
I found five that weighed two pounds, and 
know of larger ones. There are, of course, 
many other plums in Japan, but they are 
mostly small and comparatively tasteless. 
The kinds named are scarce, and sell from 
a half to one cent each. They grow to a 
great size, and one reason given me for 
their not being cultivated more is that the 
fruit is difficult to gather without tall 
ladders. Another is that a large proportion 
fail to unite at the graft ; you knew, the 
Japs do not bud. 
I must not omit the "Boongo” plum. It 
is quite large, and more iike an apricot in 
appearance, but the shape of the pit 
(clingstone) decides it to be a plum. It is 
very sour, and I think it would require too 
much sugar to make it profitable. 
Before closing I wish to call your attention 
to the fact that in the article in the American 
Garden for May there are two wood-cuts> 
said to be copyrighted, and to represent, 
the Satsuma Orange, one of them as "grown 
under glass.” Doubtless the American Gar- 
den has been imposed upon, because these 
are both copies of photographs taken by me 
in Osaka of the "Oonshiu,” grown in the 
open air in my garden here, and the only 
glass they were ever under is the glass 
negative when being printed from. I send 
you some photos for comparison. 
By-the-bye, the Myricq Rubra, or “Yama 
Momo,” does not fruit till fifteen years old, 
and I am surprised at any one recommend- 
ing it for cultivation. The fruit moulds 
after twenty-four hours, and is not to be 
compared in value to a strawberry. There 
are too many seeds in it, or rather too much 
indigestible pulp to make it desirable as a 
preserve. I have known it in China for 
thirty years and there is nothing new about 
it. It grows wild in many parts of Japan, 
and in Chiba I was offered for nothing all 
that a horse could draw. One half of the 
trees do not bear, and those are grafted 
from (he bearing trees. Mr. L. Boehmar 
has over-rated it. I bought some two-year- 
old plants in pots for 20 cents each, but was 
told I should probably not live to see them 
fruit. — H. E. Amoore, Osaka, Japan. 
