88 
May, 1891. 
ORCHARD 
GARDEN 
May. 
Cultivate young trees frequently and keep 
them free from weeds. 
Train orchard trees as they should grow 
when young: then there will be little need 
for after pruning. 
It is not well to entertain fancy notions 
as to how trees should grow, and endeavor 
to make different varieties conform to it. 
Trees of the same characteristics should 
Ik* grouped together both for utility and 
beauty. 
No feeble-growing variety will grow and 
do well in the midst of strong-growing 
kinds as they are likely.to be deprived of 
their share of sunlight, air, and nourish- 
ment. It is not necessary in this country 
to prune out the tops of our trees for sun- 
light and air. for if we do they will sun- 
scald and blight, and be attacked by the 
flat-headed borer. 
Rub or cut off all the suckers from trees 
before they become limbs. 
Wrap the trunks of apple trees with fine 
wire netting to protect them from the bor- 
ers, or use Prof. Cook's carbolic acid soap 
mixture. 
Spray them with London purple solution 
and kerosone soap mixture for the codlin 
moth and other insects. Spray the trees also 
for the scab and other fungus diseases as 
recommended by Prof. Scribner in his book 
on fungus diseases. Spray them likewise 
for the cureulio as it is, no doubt, more ef- 
fective, convenient, and cheaper, than any 
other remedy. 
Wash the trunks and forks of trees with 
common soft soap, with a little kerosene or 
carbolic acid in it; apply it with a stiff brush 
or broom. 
Mark all trees with good durable labels; 
keep a record of them and then you will 
know where to find them. The name is 
important, for then we may know which 
kind is of value and which are not. We 
prefer zinc labels cut long and pointed that 
they may be wrapped around a small limb or 
nail. Write with a common lead pencil or 
a solution of blue stone (sulphate of copper) 
and the writing will remain good for years. 
Vegetables or small fruit may be grown 
in the orchard until the trees come into 
bearing, then seed the orchard down in 
clover and let it remain so. Fertilizers 
should be applied whenever required to, 
keep the trees in a good healthy growing 
condition. 
Fruit trees may yet be set out if they can 
be procured in a dormant condition. 
The orchardist must be alert as the season 
advances, ready to do up his work prompt- 
ly and in due season, giving careful culture, 
or he will not succeed in raising fine fruit; 
and he must also be ready to destroy his 
insect foes as well as to combat fungus dis- 
eases.— J. STAYMAN. 
The Pawpaw or Custard Apple. 
To those who have read in The American 
Garden “Mrs. Tamer's ” experience with 
Pawpaws, and like her, "want more,” these 
notes may be of interest, and I intend send- 
ing Mr. Lovett a young Pawpaw tree that he 
may grow stock 
from it, and de- 
scribe in his cata- 
logue s o that 
many badgering 
inquiries received 
about it, may be 
referred to him . 
Mrs. Tanyer’s 
descri p t i o n is 
very good so far 
as it goes: — 
“The droll, pa w- 
paw apples, curi- 
ous, green, kidney 
shaped things, which regaled her sniffing 
nostrils with a noble, spicy fragrance even 
before a crack in the box had been started, 
were a revelation in pomology * * It grows 
wild in the woods, as the persimmon does, 
within slight clearances * * * Mrs. Tanger 
took fully two thirds of a mellow specimen, 
and at the first mouthful immediately be- 
came a lovely subject for a great historical 
painting of The Reconciliation of the Sec- 
tions. The seeds, though she had been 
kindly advised of their presence, were so 
much larger, more numerous and slippery 
than she expected, and their reflex action 
upon the sensitive organ of taste so drew 
upon the good lady's emotions that she had 
to be supported and assisted to an arm 
chair. ”- 
All northerners are not so much pleased 
with the Pawpaw, it seems. Mr. Maurice 
Thompson, in his By Ways and Bird Notes 
says: “I once sent a box of Pawpaws to a 
great Boston author, whose friendship I 
chanced to possess, and was much disap- 
pointed to find that the musty odor of the 
fruit was very distastful to him. He fan- 
cied that the Pawpaws were rotten! 1 dare 
say he never tasted them, and if he had 
their flavor would have been too savage for 
his endurance.” Say rather that there are 
aesthetic depths of epicurism which even 
the Bostonian has not yet reached. Mr. 
Thompson adds. “It is genuinely wild, 
rich, racy and, to me, palatable and diges- 
tible.” But then Mr. Thompson is a native 
of Georgia. I would like to hear from Mr. 
Choke on the subject of the Pawpaw, when 
it comes out as a novelty! 
Many horticulturists are of many minds 
with regard to the value of this fruit, but 
the Orchard and Garden wants concise 
articles and as I like the Pawpaw I shall 
give only those who also like it, space here. 
Dr. Asa Gray thought the Pawpaw prom- 
ised great things and believed that by cross- 
ing our hardy Asimina triloba with the sweet- 
er, richer Anona squamosa of the tropics, a 
fine hardy fruit might be obtained. A. S. 
Fuller and Dr. Darlington were of the same 
opinion, and Dr. J. P. Kirtland, a well 
known fruit grower of Ohio, attempted 
something of the sort with unknown results; 
Timothy Flint, in his book,called History 
and Geography of the Mississippi Valley, 
published in 1882, pronounces the Pawpaw 
“the prince of fruit bearing shrubs.” He 
Bays, “The pulp of the fruit resembles egg 
custard in consistence and appearance. It 
has the same creamy feeling in the mouth, 
and unites the taste of eggs, cream, sugar 
and spice. It is a natural custard too lus- 
cious for the relish of most people. The 
fruit is nutritious and a great resource to 
the Indians. So many whimsical and un- 
expected tastes are'.compounded in it that 
a person of the most hypochondriac temper- 
ament'relaxes into a smile when. he tastes 
the Pawpaw for the first time.” 
Asimina triloba is familiar to most norihern 
horticulturists; the further; south one goes 
the larger and sweeter the fruit becomes, 
varying through different species, until at ^ 
the West Indies is found Anona squamosa, 
the finest of all,*, which is there grown for 
market, and at the North ^frequently cul- 
i tivated under glass. 
This species has oblong leaves, glabrous 
and slightly coriaceous. The fruit is about 
four or five inches in diameter and is made 
up of softened carpels, something like the 
straw 7 berry or pineapple. The latter the 
Pawpaw much resembles in size, form and 
general appearance. At maturity the skin 
is still green, but the flesh is white or 
creamy, soft and succulent, exceedingly 
sweet, and has a pleasing aroma. 
When quite ripe the fruit is a poor ship- 
per requiring very careful packing. The 
green fruit is often cooked, adding a little 
ginger, and is found very palatable by some 
people. 
Other varieties of the Anona are indige- 
nous to Florida and the West Indies, but 
this is the best, and is grown the most suc- 
cessfully. It is called “sugar apple,” or 
“sw'eet sap” commonly. y. 
It attains full growth of from 12 to 20 
feet in a few 7 years in Florida, and has the 
general appearance of an apple tree. The 
second and third years it begins to bear 
abundantly. For growing in greenhouses 
it is dwarfed quite successfully. 
“The Pawpaw, being entirely distinct in 
character from any other fruit of temperate 
climate would doubtless find a ready mar- 
ket, if its quality were improved to meet the 
public taste. The small quantities brought 
to the markets of some eastern cities, main- 
ly by negroes, are usually sold to others of 
their own race, or as a curiosity; there are 
some who eagerly seek for it as a delicacy. 
“The northern tree is vigorous and heal- 
th} 7 , of convenient size, bears young, is 
readily propagated by seeds and sprouts, 
and the chief effort needed in the improve- 
ment of the Paw 7 paw is in the direction of 
flavor.” 
The custard Pawpaw of N. C. is larger ^ 
and sweeter than triloba, and may be a hy- 
brid of some Cuban variety. — L. Greenlee. 
Keep the roots of all trees and plants 
moist until put back into the ground. 
The Pawpaw 7 . Fig. 410. 
