340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
New Raspberries—“ Pride of the Hudson.” 
A friend who has probably had as wide ex¬ 
perience in small fruits as any other, claims 
that there has been no real progress in this de¬ 
partment of pomology during the last 20 years. 
He holds that among 
grapes there is noth¬ 
ing, take it all in all, 
that surpasses the 
Concord; that among 
strawberries the Wil- 
excellent, but requiring protection ; the Phila¬ 
delphia, thoroughly hardy and enormously pro¬ 
ductive, is of very poor quality ; the Herstine, 
of which so much was expected, proves too soft 
for a distant market, and so on through a long 
list, each member of which has some fault 
which prevents it from taking a leading posi¬ 
tion over a wide section of the country. The 
desideratum is a berry which shall combine the 
excellence and firmness of the Hudson River 
Antwerp, and the hardiness of the Philadelphia, 
and our fruit-growers have by no means given 
Fig. 1. —section of watering apparatus.— {Seepage 339.) 
son still remains the leading variety ; that none 
of the later currants equal the Versailles, and so 
on through the list. If we take the market-grow¬ 
er’s view of varieties, there is a good deal of 
truth in our friend’s assertion, and it is unde¬ 
niable, that while all of the leading varieties 
of the different small fruits have striking faults 
and deficiencies, they have also so many desir¬ 
able qualities that they are at present, as they 
long have been, more generally planted than 
any others, notwithstanding the fact that since 
these attained the positions they now hold, hun¬ 
dreds of new varieties have been introduced, 
most, if not all, of which are in some respects 
better than the standard sorts. While with 
other small fruits, there is one accepted as the 
leading variety throughout most of the country, 
up the search for it. One of the most promis¬ 
ing of the newer varieties is the Brandywine, 
found near the river of that name at Wilming¬ 
ton, Del. It has 
suffered in reputa¬ 
tion, plants of in¬ 
ferior varieties have 
been sold for it; it 
was originally sent 
out as the Susque- 
co, the Indian name 
for the Brandy¬ 
wine, and it is a 
pity that the name was changed. The berry is 
of a bright scarlet color, and of remarkable 
firmness; the plant is said to be hardy. As far 
as tried, this has proved a valuable variety, as 
the attention of fruit-growers. One of these is- 
called “Pride of the Hudson,” the fruit of which 
has been exhibited at this office for the past 
two seasons, by Mr. E. P. Roe, of Cornwall-on- 
the-Hudson. One cannot speak confidently of 
a new fruit until he has cultivated it himself, 
nor can its real value be ascertained until it has 
been tested for several years in various locali¬ 
ties. All that we can do in such cases is to 
speak of the fruit itself as it is presented to us, 
and such account of the plant as may be ob¬ 
tained from trustworthy sources. The “ Pride 
of the Hudson” is an accidental seedling found 
in an old garden in Newburgh, N. Y., belong¬ 
ing to a cousin of Mr. Roe, where it some years 
ago attracted attention by the vigor of the 
plant and the beauty of its fruit. Its canes 
being allowed to grow at will against a grape 
arbor, reached the length of 10 to 14 feet, and 
were uninjured in the winter of 1874-5. The 
leaves are remarkably corrugated or crimped, 
and have great substance. The fruit is of large 
size, of a very bright scarlet, and unusually 
firm. We had no other variety at hand for 
comparison, but we think that it will take rank 
in flavor with the best varieties, but rather less 
juicy than the softer kinds. From the branches 
shown, the plant appears to be remarkably pro¬ 
lific ; the fruit, ripening about.a week later 
than the Hudson River Antwerp, and matur¬ 
ing gradually. Mr. Roe, who has the stock of 
this plant, presents its claims in a very mod¬ 
erate manner, well knowing that the merits of 
a variety cannot be decided until it has had ex¬ 
Fig. 2.— PLATFORM FOR WATERING STOCK 1 .— (Seepage 339.) 
tended cultivation. From what we have seen 
of this fruit, we think he is justified in hop¬ 
ing that he has a valuable addition to the now 
quite small list of good market raspberries. 
Messrs. E. & J. C. Williams, of 
Montclair, N. J., have a new seedling 
which we are watching with some in¬ 
terest; it has many good qualities, but 
will not be offered until after further 
trial. There is another new variety 
in Westchester Co., N. Y., and others 
elsewhere, and wc hope that among 
them all, our critical friend above 
referred to, may find one which shows 
that some progress has been made in 
raspberries during the past 20 years. 
such is not the case with the Raspberry. In 
certain localities along the North River, the 
Hudson River Antwerp is the leading variety, 
PRIDE OF THE HUDSON RASPBERRY. 
the fruit may be shipped to a distance without 
injury. There are several new varieties not 
yet in general cultivation that will soon demand 
Pruning the Weigela. —A writer 
in a recent French horticultural jour¬ 
nal gives an account of what he re¬ 
gards as a new discovery in the method 
of pruning Weigelas. It is to treat 
them as one would prune a blackberry 
bush, i. e. , cut out the old wood after 
flowering, and leave the new shoots to 
make canes for next year’s bloom. 
Having done this years ago, we are 
quite surprised to find it announced as 
a new discovery. Ineeed, the manner 
of growth, and the whole appearance 
of the bush at once suggests this as the 
proper treatment, if oue would keep' 
up a supply of new and vigorous wood. The 
work needs to be done at such an unusual time 
for pruning, that it is very easily overlooked. 
