208 
December, 1891. 
L 
ORCH ARD GARDEN 
and caraek badly generally: it did not wholly 
escape this season. Lindley, was unusually 
fine and well set. clusters much larger than 
usual and. like the Brighton if not thorough- 
ly ripe and only partly colored, it is sweet 
and delicious. Highland and Quassaic are 
too late to be of value but this season they 
reached a good quality. Secretary is also 
uncertain but the finest clusters I ever saw 
were shown at the recent Trenton Fair. 
Black Defiance also approached maturity 
more nearly than usual. Brant and Canada 
would have been fine but split so as to be 
worthless. Among the newer kinds the 
best by all odds, was Munson’s Brilliant. 
This has fruited two or three times with me, 
but this season has exceeded all past experi- 
ence. The vine is of vigorous growth and 
apparently hardy, foliage has mildewed 
some heretofore in bad seasons, but this 
year was perfectly healthy; cluster and 
berries about the size of Lindley or Concord, 
red, and of excellent quality. Such grapes 
it is a pleasure to raise even if they require 
extra care. If it should continue to do as 
well in the future it will put to shame a 
number of recent introductions that have 
been praised for more tliau they are worth. 
The Brilliant, Mr. Munson claims to have 
raised in 1883 from Lindley and Delaware. 
It resembles its mother most strongly, has 
more character than Delaware and with me 
later in ripening, hangs well and the last 
gathered in October seemed to be the best. 
It certainly is a grand acquisition wherever 
it will succeed. Rommel from the same 
source, also Ruby and Denison have grown 
well but have thus far failed to develop 
qualities that especially commend them. 
They will remain on probation a year or 
two longer. Moyer is a feeble grower pro- 
ducing small clusters of small red berries, 
not promising. Berckmans, resembles Del- 
aware in berry, cluster and quality: vine is 
a more vigorous grower, healthy and hardy. 
Mills, is deficient in vigor to promise well. 
Green Mountain promises well to reach the 
position of the best early white grape, and 
to supersede Lady and Martha. The vine is 
vigorous, cluster large, shouldered: berry 
medium. Colerain promises to be a formid- 
able competitor save in earliness, but these 
have fruited for the first this season, and 
their promises may not be verified on fur- 
ther trial. Poughkeepsie Red and Ulster 
prove lacking in vigor on my soil, to promise 
well, .lefferson is late, and cracks so badly 
as to be worthless. Woodruff, a handsome 
red grape, a vigorous grower but cracks so 
badly as to be nearly worthless, very 
moderate in quality. Grein’s Golden and 
Missouri Reisling are large berries on ragged 
clusters, but possess no table qualities. 
Early Victor is even smaller than Delaware, 
of too little value to retain. Pearl, Beauty, 
Montefiore, with Elvira and Noah, are not 
worth growing as table grapes. They may 
do for wine but I would sooner risk the old 
Clinton. All are vigorous, rampant grow- 
ers, their chief merit as grown here. If we 
had no better varieties they might perhaps 
be tolerated.— E. Williams, Essex Co., N. J. 
The Season’s Experience with 
Vegetables. 
An Experiment with FaU-soum Peas. Late Tur- 
nips. The Late Crop of Irish Potatoes. Winter 
Treatment of Fall-sown Cabbage Plants. Notes on 
Tomatoes. Best Early Market Peas. 
N THE seventh of Sep- 
tember I sowed a lot of 
"Yorkshire Hero” peas. 
This was one of a series 
of experiments I am ma- 
king for the purpose of 
testing the capacity of 
our long mild aulumns 
in the production of vegetables whit h our 
mid-summer climate forbids. The York- 
shire Hero is not an early variety, and the 
result of the experiment is not yet apparent. 
Our fall weather has been continuously 
rainless, and the drought has been much 
against this and other late crops. As I 
write (November 5th) these peas are just in 
bloom and the chances are that it is too late 
to expect much from them. But the point 
I wish to emphasize is that their growth is 
peculiarly strong and luxuriant and not a 
sign of mildew has appeared upon them. 
Had they been an early sort like Alpha or 
Premium Gem we would now be probably 
getting peas from them. September 7th is 
probably too late to sow- peas even here ex- 
cept of the earliest sorts, but that we can 
grow good crops of autumn peas seems 
perfectly apparent, for the weather has been 
most of the time, since these were sown, 
unseasonably hot and intensely dry. Of 
the final result I will advise your readers 
later. 
To test how late turnips can be sown here 
and make a crop we sowed the last of Sep- 
tember seventeen varieties. Though the 
weather could hardly have been more un- 
favorable nearly all of them will make good 
roots. The Extra Early Milan, Red Top 
Strap Leaf and White Dutch are all now 
(Nov. 5th) of good fair size for table use, 
and as turnips will grow here for a month 
yet the crop is pretty sure. 
Our late planted Irish potatoes planted 
from middle of August to 1st of September 
are still green and growing as well as the 
dry weather will allow. Those planted the 
middle of August will mature very well 
though of small size on acc mnt of drought. 
Those planted Sept. 1st will not amount to 
much, though I have had in a seasonable 
autumn a good crop from potatoes planted 
at this date. 
Our late sown cabbages have also been 
seriously hindered by the excessively dry 
weather, but as they will grow until Christ- 
mas we may yet have a fair crop. At any 
rate we are satisfied that the only hope of 
raising good winter cabbage here is to have 
good strong plants to set in September. 
Cabbages carried through summer here sel- 
dom amount to much. 
While I am talking of cabbages I would 
note that at t he North where it is necessary 
to carry fall sown plants of early cabbages V 
through the winter in frames, it is important 
to Keep the sashes off them at every oppor- 
tunity. If the mercury is down to 25° and 
sun is shining, keep them open, and use 
every precaution to prevent their getting 
into a succulent growth. In day time, all 
winter, whenever the thermometer marks 
above 25° above zero strip the sashes off en- 
tirely, and slip them back again before sun- 
set. If snow falls let it lie on the cold 
frames where such plants as cabbage are 
being wintered, unless it is very heavy and 
promises to lie too long, in which case it 
will be best to give the plants the sunlight 
when it clears off. Spinach is of such a 
hardy character that few people have ever 
tried it in a cold frame. But in cold lati- 
tudes it is very nice to have some in frames, 
as all scorching of the leaves by frost can be 
prevented. Plants taken from outside and ? 
set in frames the first of this month in a 
mild spell will do well. 
It is good at this season to retrospect a 
little, and look at the failures and successes 
of the season, and try to treasure up the 
matters which experience has taught us, 
whether it was a failure or a success, for 
the lessons of failures are often more valu- 
able than successes, if the reasons therefor 
are properly understood. 
In early peas the Kentish Invicta race are 
still ahead of the Dan’l O’Rourke race as an 
early market pea. It is to be hoped, how- 
ever, that we will ere long have an early pea 
adapted to the wants of the market gardener 
and at the same time of fine quality. The 
little early peas now grown so largely by 
truckers are poor trash on the table to any 
one who is accustomed to good peas. 
The past season has been one of the worst 
here for tomatoes I have known. Great 
floods of rain all summer long, and after 
autumn came we have had continnous sun- 
shine. The result was that early tomatoes 
were late and late ones no where. We had, 
however, a pretty good comparative test of 
varieties and their capacity to stand wet 
weather. My opinion, formed years ago, 
has been confirmed. That is, that smooth 
solid tomatoes of fairly good size like Acme, 
Beauty, Favorite, Perfection, Lorillard, 
Atlantic Prize, Table Queen, Brandywine 
and some others are much better for a crop 
than overgrown things like Mikado and 400. 
This last tomato has had a great sale this 
season. It reminds me very much of the 
old Fiji. It is certainly very large and 
solid, and is probably worth growing for the 
purpose of improving it by selection. Its 
faults are: 1st. Too great a size for practi- 
cable purposes. 2nd. Lack of productive- 
ness; ii made no fruit after the first setting 
of monsters. 3 rd. It has a large, hard white 
core and failed to ripen well up to the stem. 
Some of these faults may disappear in a more 
favorable season, but the fault of great size 
is a serious one, and shuts it out from being 
